rob58
starting to shine!
Member since September 2022
Posts: 37
|
Post by rob58 on Sept 7, 2022 15:48:09 GMT -5
I bought a tumbler off of Amazon, it is a Dan & Darci set up. Read the reviews and had a lot of positives, so I said what the heck (it also had a $30 off coupon). I didn't read the description clearly, cause when I got it, it was a small one (1lb). But hey, I had a $30 off coupon. Anyways it seems to be a pretty nice little set up, adjustable speeds and a 9 day timer. So my thinking about this hobby is I'll use stuff in my yard before I start spending money on nicer rocks and minerals, to get the hang of it. Gathered up some stuff, chucked it in there and off we go. I neglected to take a picture of the rocks prior to starting. I ran it for 8 days, rinsed everything, (saw a video on this next step), put it back in the barrel with water, media and a drop of dawn dish soap. Ran this for about 2 hours. There was quite a bit of gunk that came off the stone, when I dumped it out. Anyways I'm onto the second step and this is what they looked like just before goi ng in. Not sure what I've got going on here, I know there's some granite, quartz, but other than that, no clue. I'll update this thread in a week or so, after the second step is done. Having never done this before, I'm pretty excited about how they are turning out, cause they sure as hell didn't look this good when I picked them up.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2022 17:05:27 GMT -5
Excited to see your finished results! The quartz in there will turn out really nice. The granite wont fair as well but will do ok. What grit are you using?
|
|
|
Post by jasoninsd on Sept 7, 2022 17:13:08 GMT -5
Way to go!! I agree with ashley, you're going to have some of those that will take a polish and others look like they likely will not. Don't let it get ya down...you'll soon get a hang of which rocks will tumble and which ones won't. (Well...technically they'll ALL tumble...just some won't shine! LOL)
|
|
rob58
starting to shine!
Member since September 2022
Posts: 37
|
Post by rob58 on Sept 7, 2022 17:19:34 GMT -5
That was the first run with 60/90. I could have left them in there a little longer to take down a few more of the bumps, but this is my first time doing this and I'm just kinda experimenting with I guess what is considered the "standard" amount of time between changes of grit. I know I have some different types of stone in here, so I'm thinking I'll have a good idea on what each type may require when I really get going. I've got quartz all over my property and I like the way it looks. Thanks for stopping by, I'm looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.
|
|
dshanpnw
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since December 2020
Posts: 845
|
Post by dshanpnw on Sept 7, 2022 18:07:35 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum from Washington state. Good looking yard rocks. I third what Ashley said, some should fair well while others might disappoint. Starting off as cheap as possible is a good strategy, especially when things work out well in the end.
|
|
rob58
starting to shine!
Member since September 2022
Posts: 37
|
Post by rob58 on Sept 15, 2022 13:50:16 GMT -5
The rocks have made it through the 2nd stage of grit and this is how they're doing. As a side note, because of something I saw on a Utube video, it made sense to me and I have been doing it in between grit changes. After rinsing my stones and media well, along with the barrel, I'll put everything back in, add water and a drop or two of dawn dish soap and run for 45-60 minutes. Then do another rinse and move on to adding grit for whatever stage I'm in. I've included a picture of the water that came out of the wash cycle.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2022 14:10:21 GMT -5
rob58Looking good Rob. (They call the soap and water cleaning “burnishing” some do it, some dont.)
|
|
rob58
starting to shine!
Member since September 2022
Posts: 37
|
Post by rob58 on Sept 15, 2022 14:24:16 GMT -5
rob58 Looking good Rob. (They call the soap and water cleaning “burnishing” some do it, some dont.) Hi Ashley, I've heard that term, wasn't sure if there was a certain amount of time that was needed to be considered "burnishing" or not. I've seen it mentioned here that people will do this for a few hours or longer and call it that. As I had mentioned, I saw this method of giving the stone a quick wash and then going on to the next step. I give my stones a good rinsing prior to the "wash cycle" and I'm still surprised as to how dirty the water is afterwards. Everything I've read or watched, the one thing in common that I've taken from it all, is make sure your stones are clean, you definitely don't want any cross contamination of grits. Besides with these yard stones I'm using, there are a few cracks, crevices, etc., that I want to get as clean as possible, seeing as how I'm not looking for perfect out of this, just practice.
|
|
pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Placed another order in rockshed. Happy 2024 everyone!
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,305
|
Post by pebblesky on Sept 15, 2022 18:55:09 GMT -5
Interesting! I did not expect the burnishing water to be that dirty. Should be fun to try once myself...
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2022 20:41:39 GMT -5
rob58Im not knowledgeable enough to know the time frame for it to technically be called burnishing or just washing! Who knows! It is dirty water through!
|
|
|
Post by jasoninsd on Sept 15, 2022 20:48:41 GMT -5
Way to go Rob! You're gaining on 'em!!
|
|