richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jan 25, 2017 19:23:03 GMT -5
Honest feedback? okay ... those are honestly some good looking tumbles! From the last two rocks pictured, I would recommend running a bit longer in in 500 & especially 1000. That would take them to the next (final?) level of perfection. I don't see that slight grainyness in the other rocks, not sure if it the angle of the reflection of if just the last two rocks didn't take as well to being tumbled. Are you over cushioning (a good thing, just makes it take longer) your final fine grit loads and polish run? Finishing in a vibe or rotary? Not a vibe guy, so if you are finishing in a vibe, my recommendation may not be valid. Again, great looking batch! I agree the last two and all of the ones that aren't pictured are currently back in the tumbler with SiC 500. Hope they can get close to the others. Jeremy can really pick out some nice rocks from the river. I was really impressed with all the color and that almost all of them had very few fractures. I am learning that I need to be a lot more careful when collecting. On the polish I had about 30% ceramic media, half large and half small. Thanks very much for the help.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jan 25, 2017 19:12:51 GMT -5
Very nice! Did you put the final polish on those with a rotary or vibe? You certainly have the polishing skills! These were all done in rotary. SiC 30 for a few weeks then I put in AO 80 and ran for two weeks without checking then did AO polish for a week. Thank for the encouragement
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jan 25, 2017 16:35:38 GMT -5
I finally finished the material that Texasrockhunter was nice enough to send to me in an effort to help me improve my rock hounding skills. Based on the polished samples that he sent along with the rough material that he had collected from the San Jacinto River I think I can safely say I have plenty more to learn when it comes to getting that perfect finish on my tumbles but I feel like I am continuing to make progress. Here’s what I started out with: Here are some of the best samples of the finished product: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Looking forward to getting feedback. Thanks for looking! or looking!
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jan 24, 2017 8:31:44 GMT -5
Cool set! What are 5 and 6?
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jan 22, 2017 22:55:32 GMT -5
This was something that really interested me a couple of months ago so I did some experiments and to make a long story short I determined that doing a total clean out each time does give you the fastest rough grind but it also generates more waste and doesn't give you the most efficient use of grit and clay. After lots of experiments with my 3lb tumbler and 30 grit SiC I have found my optimal operating conditions are as follows (though I am still experimenting). This is for the coarse grind step only if that wasn't already obvious. I charge the barrel 50% full by volume with rough. Then I fill the barrel with water to the top of the rocks. Then I add three tablespoons of clay based cat litter and three tablespoons of SiC 30. This I run for 48 hours then I add another 2 tablespoons of SiC 30 and run another 48 hours. Then I add another 2 tablespoons of SiC 30 and run for a final 48 hours. When this is complete I do a total clean out and start over again. This gives me a fast grind and I can pretty much keep up with the waste generation. Hope this helps someone. This is very helpful. I follow the same pattern on the setup but I don't add grit every 48 hours. I add grit every 4 days but only if I don't see any. I let the barrel set ideal for a couple of hours before I check for grit.Maybe that's too long of time. I use the same grit. SIC 31. I have a 3lb. Tumbler but not sure of the RPM's of the barrel. I need to check that. [ I'm not sure if this helps but my tumbler is a stock 3lb from Harbor Freight.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jan 22, 2017 22:12:37 GMT -5
Im tumbling agates right now and it takes longer than a week so early in the process do you clean out or recharge? It feels gritty, I see some SC and the other grit could be from the outside of the rock. I just hate throwing away gritty material that may work? The time and mess is also a factor. With the process I outlined here the coarse grit is totally broken down by the end. What I mean is that if I take the slurry in my hand it has the consistency of runny pudding and it feels slimy between my fingers instead of gritty. The rocks also have a smooth finish with a slight sheen suggesting that the last 48 hours could be reduced but then I feel like I am wasting too much grit and I also don't really have enough time to change it that frequently. One other thing; when I have gotten to the total clean out step I have occasionally had some grit left over. What I do in that case is to pour the batch through a strainer and catch all of the slurry/rinse water in a bucket. The coarse SiC is quite dense and settles rapidly while the clay/rock dust/broken down SiC stays suspended for a short time. I can decant away the fine material and after three or four rinse/decant cycles I am left with clean coarse grit that I can dry out and reuse.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jan 22, 2017 22:05:48 GMT -5
This was something that really interested me a couple of months ago so I did some experiments and to make a long story short I determined that doing a total clean out each time does give you the fastest rough grind but it also generates more waste and doesn't give you the most efficient use of grit and clay.
After lots of experiments with my 3lb tumbler and 30 grit SiC I have found my optimal operating conditions are as follows (though I am still experimenting). This is for the coarse grind step only if that wasn't already obvious.
I charge the barrel 50% full by volume with rough. Then I fill the barrel with water to the top of the rocks. Then I add three tablespoons of clay based cat litter and three tablespoons of SiC 30. This I run for 48 hours then I add another 2 tablespoons of SiC 30 and run another 48 hours. Then I add another 2 tablespoons of SiC 30 and run for a final 48 hours. When this is complete I do a total clean out and start over again.
This gives me a fast grind and I can pretty much keep up with the waste generation.
Hope this helps someone.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jan 22, 2017 18:17:16 GMT -5
I use about a cup and a quarter for the first time with a third cup of kitty litter and then in a few days add another cup, and then if the slurry isn't too thick I'll add another3/4 cup. I hope that makes sense. I use a high speed model B. Sounds great, that is pretty much what I calculated based on my 3lb tumbler. Thanks
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jan 22, 2017 13:30:53 GMT -5
I recently visited my cousin in California and brought some of my tumbled stones to give him. During my visit we did a little rock hounding and he got very interested in making some tumbles of his own. This morning he called me to let me know that he has purchased a Thumbler Model B 15 lb tumbler and five pounds of 60-90 grit and wanted to know how to charge the barrel.
How much grit do you all typically charge in your Model B's?
My only experience is with my little 3lb HF and when I calculate what to charge based on that the grit charge seems too low.
Thanks
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jan 18, 2017 0:04:39 GMT -5
Those came out great. I'm saving for a vib and the TV5 looked interesting. I really want a Lot-o but I'm getting impatient. I'm very interested to hear your thoughts on the TV5 as you get more experience with it.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jan 12, 2017 21:22:04 GMT -5
Very cool stuff! I really enjoyed checking them all out. What kind of agates are those?
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jan 10, 2017 22:12:23 GMT -5
I really enjoyed looking through these. Photos looks great and some very interesting looking rocks.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jan 10, 2017 17:01:54 GMT -5
Fantastic! I feel like I need to just scoop all that gravel up and bring it hope so I can sort through it one piece at a time because I seem to be having a terrible time finding material half as good as yours. Between you, me, & HankRocks we should be able to find one of the sand company's that will let us pick the gravel piles! That would a lot of fun! Now that is a fantastic idea!
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jan 10, 2017 12:54:10 GMT -5
Fantastic! I feel like I need to just scoop all that gravel up and bring it hope so I can sort through it one piece at a time because I seem to be having a terrible time finding material half as good as yours.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jan 7, 2017 21:18:26 GMT -5
My internet connection is terrible so I didn't see #8 the first time. Wow that is extra special. I would SOOOOO love to find something like that.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jan 7, 2017 15:37:46 GMT -5
Beautiful stuff! I have the rocks you sent me in the tumbler. They had pretty much finished the rough grind so I put them in with some 70 grit aluminum oxide before we went out of town. Excited to see what they did while I was away.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jan 7, 2017 10:47:07 GMT -5
Cool set! Those remind me of Bajia agates.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jan 3, 2017 0:28:02 GMT -5
Yes I need to learn to identify the solid stones. I seem to have a great talent for picking out ones with deep fractures and tiny bubbles... I need 6 rotary and 2 vib. I have two rotary tumblers now. One six pound and one three pound so I guess I had better get pretty motivated about being picky about what I feed them. It would be pretty great if I could get my tile saw running again. I don't know if that will ever happen. It is the $100 one from Home Depot and the inside is all burned up.
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jan 2, 2017 23:23:50 GMT -5
Very nice photography and what a great polish. Here's my take on your concern regarding the "blems" you think you see in the larger piece of pet-wood. These are not your fault in any way. Because it was originally wood, the decay/mineral replacement occurred at different rates or times with different minerals at times. The blems are merely the "grain" of the wood showing up with a little different mineral make-up than the rest. Some minerals are softer than others and will not take the "glass-like" shine. That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it! Thanks for the explanation. I guess I still need to get better at selecting rough. I see so many fantastic photos of rocks from several people here and I really want to get results like those. Before I was trying to convince myself that it was the great photography skills that were making them so good but good ole TXRockhunter sent me a little box of rocks and in there was a little pouch of a few of his tumbled/polished pet wood and on my goodness they were perfect!!! My experience agrees with what you say. There are pieces that I just grind and grind and grind and there are always the grain showing like that. The rock just gets smaller and smaller and the grain pits just move slightly with the wear but they never seem to disappear. I am really getting an appreciation for the challenges of finding a really solid chunk of rock without pits, fractures...
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richardh
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 391
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Post by richardh on Jan 2, 2017 23:13:06 GMT -5
Roy PM sent.
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