doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Feb 14, 2017 12:00:54 GMT -5
Yup, spare shafts. Hate needing something and not having it on hand. Tuck 'em away and hope I can remember where I put them when I need them. Kingsley sells the rubber rollers and the round guides to refurbish shafts, but it's a bitch getting the old rollers off and the new ones on. For 6-8 bucks for the complete shaft it's not worth the battle to redo the old shafts. How often go thru a shaft? I recently broke one of the metal retainer clips because my barrel tends roll a bit unevenly towards one direction.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Feb 10, 2017 11:53:34 GMT -5
Amazing tumbles as always. Love the bots. Can I ask you where you generally bought your botswana material and what camera you use? Thanks! The botswanas came from The Rock Shed. I got some blue bots and 'plain' bots, five pounds each. They have been spread out over batches the last year or so. Still have more to add.
The camera is a Canon 60D. More importantly, the lens is a Canon EF24-105 f/4L IS USM. The lens makes a difference. Probably overkill for rock photos, but I already had the photo equipment.
I'll have to check out that camera and lens. Your photos are gorgeous. I've bought a few pounds of Botswana form therockshed as well, they were decent but pricey at $14/pound. I think some of the stuff I found on ebay were a bit better from a price/quality standpoint. Bots are some of my favorite to tumble as well.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Feb 10, 2017 10:47:29 GMT -5
Amazing tumbles as always. Love the bots. Can I ask you where you generally bought your botswana material and what camera you use?
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Jan 26, 2017 17:25:43 GMT -5
Shotgunner, is it more or less efficient than you would have expected? I have been trying to optimize for grit efficiency by using grits for longer before re-charging, and using less grit per charge. When I started this hobby, using the lortone 33B and following their instructions, I was probably only getting 1/3 as much grit efficiency (rough guess).
Jamesp, I'm a fan of your posts. They are very informative and I've learned much. I actually haven't been using a slurry thickener. With the high speed 15lb Thumler, I find that after two days, I can no longer feel any grit, so it seems unnecessarily to use a slurry thickener. I know you have said before you feel that after a few days, the coarse grit breaks down is no longer useful for shaping. I actually find that after say 4 days, the broken down coarse grit is still effective at shaping, only around 50% slower than fresh 80 grit (rough numbers here, lots of different variables). Of course one variable could be that your use of clay in the slurry has sped up the grit break down process. I think one of these days I'll directly test material removal rates with 30 grit vs 80 grit vs 220 grit, and try to reach some more conclusive findings.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Jan 26, 2017 13:14:59 GMT -5
But what is the rotational velocity? We also need a way to measure grind velocity. I propose a new unit of measure. The number of grams stone removed per hundred grams of grit. This factor can be used to measure all sorts of test parameters. Grit size comparisons, rotational velocity, barrel fill rates, slurry efficiency.... I christen this unit of measure the "Roki Factor". This in honour of the tireless testing and tumbling technological advancements originating at the Roki Shoals Tumbling Laboratory owned by our good friend Jim Price. The Roki Factor! I've been doing a lot of material removal rate experiments with a scale that is accurate to 0.01 of a gram. I'm finding that around 1.2 lbs of 80 grit removes around 1.0 lb of agate hardness rock. I am using a 15 pound high speed Thumler's tumbler. I am also finding the high speed model is significantly more efficient per lb of grit used than the regular speed, and the big 15 lbs barrel is significantly more efficient than a small 3lbs barrel. Additionally, the longer you use the coarse grit the more efficient it is, as I'm finding even after 4 days, the broken down coarse grit still has decent material removal capability. Also, initial experiments suggest the less grit you ad per charge, the more efficient the grit/material removal ratio becomes.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Dec 14, 2016 21:03:28 GMT -5
It sold out because it got news coverage. Anything that gets news coverage will sell because a few people pay money just for the kicks.
Just like how Cards Against Humanity raised 100,000 recently from random people to dig a hole in the ground.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Dec 10, 2016 19:35:03 GMT -5
I'm having trouble posting pictures here, even though I've done it successfully before using the same method, in the past.
I had a flat face polished specimen of a banded agate that broke into two pieces along a big fracture. I tumbled one of the pieces, and although the shine was good, the colors and definition of the banding was diminished compared to the face polished piece. Maybe that particular layer of the agate just had better color? Or maybe the flat face polish highlights agate's banding better? Not sure at this point, but thanks for the responses.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Dec 9, 2016 20:04:53 GMT -5
I've noticed that on a few pieces, the tumbled stone did not have as vivid colors or as well defined banding compared to the rough stone with a flat face cut off.
Does tumble polishing a stone tend to be inferior to face polishing a specimen?
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Nov 23, 2016 19:07:53 GMT -5
I have recently been experimenting on this topic, thanks to a new scale I purchased that is accurate up to 0.01 of a gram.
After about 4 days in a Thumbler's 15 pound model B, I can no longer feel any grit. I believe it should be 150+ sized at this point. However, at this point I found the rate of material reduction is only about 40% slower for the next 4 days than the first 4 days (originally 80 grit). This has led me to believe that grit can be used longer in the stage 1 process than I originally expected.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Oct 31, 2016 22:41:12 GMT -5
Just got a vibe and don't plan on reusing any A/O, but before I was using a rotary, which uses a lot of polish (I think recommended is 1 pound of polish for the 15 pound tumbler). I think I just get satisfaction out of being cheap and using up all the polish and pre-polish in an efficient manner. Did make sure to avoid contamination thru various means, including using separate colanders, etc.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Oct 31, 2016 15:28:19 GMT -5
Shotgunner: basically what rodeodan said, nothing complicated.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Oct 31, 2016 9:53:58 GMT -5
Yes, I think you can re-use both, although the prepolish I'm less sure about. I've re-used both on my last batch and didn't notice any reduction in effectiveness for prepolish and polish. Granted I haven't tried re-using it for more than this one batch. I've heard of many people reusing polish, and some people add like 1/3 fresh polish each time, although I'm not sure what is really necessary. I haven't heard of people re-using A/O prepolish, but it seemed to work for me. Not sure about re-using silicon carbide pre-polish, never tried that.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Oct 29, 2016 16:01:01 GMT -5
That 2nd condor is great..thanks for sharing them!
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Oct 28, 2016 16:42:15 GMT -5
Beautiful rocks! Great photos. Number 3 is my fav.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Oct 27, 2016 20:37:30 GMT -5
Interesting..I've had issues with the dried AO in cracks..I'll keep your method in mind.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Oct 25, 2016 11:09:14 GMT -5
Thanks for the comments!
Rockandroll: Yeah, maybe its my childhood interest in the solar system and space? Its fun seeing things in your rocks, although some people might look at you like your crazy, haha.
James: Didn't see the burger until you mentioned it! Neat.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Oct 24, 2016 18:08:20 GMT -5
Greetings..I've started tumbling about a year ago and have been addicted, tumbling non-stop since. Here are some of the best pieces I've tumbled over that time. 1. Botswana agate IMG_5170 by tom tuo, on Flickr 2. Botswana IMG_5057 by tom tuo, on Flickr 3. Botswana IMG_5060 by tom tuo, on Flickr 4. Mozambique agate IMG_5101 by tom tuo, on Flickr 5. Mozambique agate IMG_5137 by tom tuo, on Flickr 6. Lake Superior IMG_5149 by tom tuo, on Flickr 7. Lake Superior IMG_5005 by tom tuo, on Flickr 8. Back of the above laker, the eyes reminds me of two alien planets. The red mist, a cosmic nebula. IMG_5004 by tom tuo, on Flickr 9. Bunch of my polished lakers.. IMG_5115 by tom tuo, on Flickr 10. Agua nueva IMG_5157 by tom tuo, on Flickr 11. Agua nueva. I took this one to a trim saw to try to remove most of the matrix. Some of the matrix was pretty deep and the final stone ended up a strange shape. Reminds me of a dog. Conveniently a round stone lodged into a cavity that opened up in the head, serving as the eye. IMG_5133 by tom tuo, on Flickr IMG_5134 by tom tuo, on Flickr 12. Agua nueva IMG_5001 by tom tuo, on Flickr 13. Montana Moss IMG_4989 by tom tuo, on Flickr 14. Laguna IMG_5000 by tom tuo, on Flickr 15. Moctezuma. No good fortification pattern but looks really cool and bubbly on the inside. IMG_4976 by tom tuo, on Flickr 16. Laguna lace IMG_5102 by tom tuo, on Flickr Thanks for looking
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Oct 10, 2016 8:28:32 GMT -5
Great looking large tumbles. Really liked that sumatra flame. Tried to find some on ebay but didn't see anything.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Oct 7, 2016 13:49:44 GMT -5
Wow. Must be running a thousand pounds or so at a time.
I thought interesting interesting that he prefers 16/32 grit for the rough stage. This echos Jamesp's comments that he prefers the 30 grit. Wonder how much grit he buys and how much he is able to get it for.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Aug 19, 2016 23:55:59 GMT -5
How does the 10 inch HF tile saw for $215 compare to 10 inch lapidary saws, which run around $1000? What are you getting for all that extra money? Lapidary saws are built to last 40-50 years cutting rocks on a regular basis. Not sure tile saws will take the same kind of daily abuse. All of my saws were built in the 70's and all still work flawlessly. Lapidary saws also use standard components that can be easily purchased when repairs and maintenance are required. In my opinion a $200 20 year old lapidary saw is a better investment then a brand new $200 tile saw. I have purchased 4 or 5 ten inch true slab saws used for between $100 and $300. Don't let any of that stop you. If I tile saw is what it takes to get in the game go for it. Start cutting some rocks and then post some pictures for us Chuck Thanks Chuck. I bought the 7inch tile saw from Home Depot. It is great bang for the buck, and I would recommend it to other beginners. However, you can only cut small rocks with it, so I've been thinking about something bigger.
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