Used slurry uses ?

[RockyBeach]

I seem to remember someone saying that the used grit/slurry that is rinsed off into settling tanks can be used as a cement
.... for mosaics perhaps?

Any input on this would be appreciated.

Tumbling is currently on hold due to machine failure and the collection buckets are sitting there and settling nicely so this would be a good time to start a project if only I knew more of the "how to" and the "is it possible".

[RockyBeach]

Lots of "views" but no "here's how to do it" so that would be a "NO!!!!" then ?

[pebblesky]

My only experience is to pour the used slurry into the cracks and gaps of my house's driveway. They don't condense and don't prevent the weeds from growing out of the cracks.

[Starguy]

Jul 12, 2024 13:04:52 GMT -5 pebblesky said:

My only experience is to pour the used slurry into the cracks and gaps of my house's driveway. They don't condense and don't prevent the weeds from growing out of the cracks.

LOL.  It probably fertilizes the weeds.  I never could find a good use for slurry.  Oily slurry is a lot worse than wet slurry.

[chris1956]

Google "can you use silicon carbide slury in concrete".   Surprisingly, you will find more information about this than you might think including the article below.  I didn't read deeply but  I suspect most of the information deals with raw silicon carbide and not worn down sic after grinding (plus you would have the rock dust in there).   The slurry is pretty hard when dried so not surprised you can substitute it for sand in a concrete or mortor mix.  It would take some experimentation to get the amount right (might still require some sand) and to be careful that you got a consistant color.   Don't know why it wouldn't work as long as you still add enough cement to the mixture.  


mit.imt.si/izvodi/mit205/malek.pdf

[RockyBeach]

Thanks for the replies.   

I wish I could find where I saw the idea of using the slurry AS cement ... not just as a cement additive. 

Will keep looking as there is quite a lot of water needs evaporating. 

[pebblesky]

Jul 12, 2024 15:14:28 GMT -5 Starguy said:

Jul 12, 2024 13:04:52 GMT -5 pebblesky said:

My only experience is to pour the used slurry into the cracks and gaps of my house's driveway. They don't condense and don't prevent the weeds from growing out of the cracks.

LOL.  It probably fertilizes the weeds.  I never could find a good use for slurry.  Oily slurry is a lot worse than wet slurry.

They also made my driveway and the weeds pretty dusty after the slurries dried up. Well I learned my lesson that the cement is not that easily made.

[ThomasT]

Mix it with a bit of Portland cement and some sand a bit of water and then mix in some colored latex/acrylic paint to a stiff consistency...  and you can make all kinds of garden art, creatures. etc.

It works.

[chris1956]

Jul 12, 2024 16:45:33 GMT -5 RockyBeach said:

Thanks for the replies.   

I wish I could find where I saw the idea of using the slurry AS cement ... not just as a cement additive. 

Will keep looking as there is quite a lot of water needs evaporating. 

The problem is that the dried slurry is strong enough to clog your drain, but not strong enough to use as mortor by itself.   Since mortor consists of sand, cement, and water, you don't need to get the slurry dry before starting your experiement.  You can use the water in the slurry in place of water that you would add otherwise.   Real question is:  How much water is in your slurry?   Don't know how mathimatically inclinded you are but you could figure this out.   I would decant off as much water as you can until you get something that is all slurry with no or little free water on the top.   Mix your slurry well, then take a known small sample slurry volume (I am thinking something around a cup although you might want to use metric units), weigh it wet, then bake it in an oven until completely dry (I don't recommend your good oven) and determine how much water is in the slurry.  Once you have that it is a good starting point to try your slurry, some sand and cement and water if needed in different proportions and see what works.   Based on recent heat waves, you could put your known "small" volume of slurry out in the sun and let it dry that way in probably a few days.   

Everytime you have new slurry, it is going to be different so it may not turn out like it did the last time.  

[ThomasT]

I nearly always have a pile of sand for mixing something sometime... so I just dump the water-based slurry on the sand pile and use it with the sand as usual

The oil-based slurry with the consistency of peanut butter out of the saws goes in the gravel parking lot... there, it appears the natural microorganism's that eat oil make quick work out of it, and the rock dust finds itself mixed with all the rest of the rock dust.

[chris1956]

I hadn't ever thought about putting it on our gravel driveway.  Where was my head?  We have a very steep portion where the gravel is always washing away.  Next pail is going there.  Hopefully it will be hard enough to hold some of the gravel.  In fact it could go there wet now that we are in the dry months of summer.   

[RockyBeach]

chris1956, ThomasT

Thanks for your suggestions !

[Mark K]

I have a small bucket that I am going to experiment with using as super fine sand blaster grit.

[jamesp]

Slurry is basically clay. Clays vary depending on what type of rock was ground to make it. Kaolin clay is composed of worn felspar for example. Most clay has high quartz content since quartz is most common.

[JR8675309]

You can use as a binder to make your own soft pastels. Just add pigment. I haven't had time to do this yet.

[docharber]

I dump my slurry on the yard. It'll filter down and become part of the mineral/clay content of the soil. I try not to tumble toxic stuff- copper containing minerals might be an issue eventually and a lot of them contain small amounts of arsenic and heavy metals.

I think it would be interesting to incorporate some of the dried slurry into potter's clay to see what would result. I gave a bunch of dried slurry to a fellow rockhound who's a talented potter to try this out but he never did.

Mark H.

[Bob]

Be careful. The dust from dried slurry can cause silicosis, something you would not want. When I got into this hobby about a decade ago, in my early reading, I ran into much information about this danger. In other words, rock dust from silicates--quartz in all it's forms, can kill. Wet it's not so much a worry because it doesn't get airborne. So I pour my slurry into cardboard boxes sitting on the floor of the garage small enough to lift. When full and dry I carry them carefully and don't breathe any more than I have to while carrying them and GENTLY put in the trash can to be picked up with my other trash.

This is why some forms of diatomaceous earth have warnings about not breathing the dust from stirring it up.  And this is why it kills ants for instance, because the tiny particles are essentially shards of glass and they scratch the exoskeletons of ants and mess up exoskeleton in various ways.

[titaniumkid]

I think both docharber and Bob make good points. If you're going to reuse the slurry, you want to make sure you weren't tumbling anything toxic, and you might want to reuse it in a way that avoids creating dust. The silica itself in the dust is bad for you. Dust inhalation (and ingestion) can be a significant exposure route for heavy metals or other things (such as asbestos fibres) depending on what you've been tumbling.

An interesting article came out today that reminded me of a previous discussion on tumbling galena and concerns about lead-contaminated dust from the slurry. That thread seems to have vanished, so I'll post the article here. The main town the study was done at is Broken Hill, Australia, where kids still continue to have elevated blood lead levels because of contaminated dust. It's something to be aware of when playing with the slurry, especially if you've got kids or pets that might be exposed.

www.abc.net.au/news/science/2024-07-18/sparrows-lead-poisoning-children-blood-levels-health-mining/104075894

[docharber]

Asbestos isn't the only inhalable silicate dust that's bad news. I have seen a patient die of silicosis and it's pretty horrendous. He was a monument maker who didn't like wearing his dust mask. More recently, one of the senior workers installing our granite countertops was not wearing respiratory protection in spite of there being a thick cloud of dust in the room. People just need lots more education. A lot of silicates, including many amphiboles, tourmaline, and quartz, are piezoelectric and/or thermoelectric. When their dust particles penetrate into the lung tissue the weak currents they generate when mechanically or thermally stressed could stimulate tissue growth, particularly fibroblasts, and in some cases promote malignancy. Electrical stimulation is used to speed bone fracture healing. Gentle weight bearing stress also speeds healing/remodeling of bone as the hydroxyapatite in the bones is also piezoelectric.
Keep it wet to keep it safe.

[titaniumkid]

Jul 21, 2024 12:08:44 GMT -5 docharber said:

Asbestos isn't the only inhalable silicate dust that's bad news. I have seen a patient die of silicosis and it's pretty horrendous. He was a monument maker who didn't like wearing his dust mask. More recently, one of the senior workers installing our granite countertops was not wearing respiratory protection in spite of there being a thick cloud of dust in the room. People just need lots more education. A lot of silicates, including many amphiboles, tourmaline, and quartz, are piezoelectric and/or thermoelectric. When their dust particles penetrate into the lung tissue the weak currents they generate when mechanically or thermally stressed could stimulate tissue growth, particularly fibroblasts, and in some cases promote malignancy. Electrical stimulation is used to speed bone fracture healing. Gentle weight bearing stress also speeds healing/remodeling of bone as the hydroxyapatite in the bones is also piezoelectric.
Keep it wet to keep it safe.

It's definitely something to avoid. Engineered stone was recently banned in Aus but there are worries that tradies working on existing benchtops will be at risk of exposure for years for this reason. It's become a legacy issue, like asbestos, and it's sad to hear stories of men who have been affected and are losing their lives. Just another reminder to be careful.