Vibratory Tumblers in the absence of UV-10 / UV-18

[markymark]

Aug 22, 2024 21:22:21 GMT -5 chaosdsm said:

Here it is running: Load in the video is 9.8lbs total weight of Petosky stones, Labradorite, about 2lbs ceramic media filler, and about 4lbs corncob media.  After recording this clip, I added about 2.5lbs additional corncob media which seemed to smooth out the flow.

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How's is the dry polishing turning out?

[chaosdsm]

I've ended the current tumble, after 72 hours in corncob & 500 grit SiC, most of the rocks are very smooth and starting to develop a matte to egg-shell like sheen.  There are a couple rocks I'm going to have to grind down a bit & throw them in with the next step 2 rotary batch.  I'm still waiting for the UV-10 bowl to get here to start the 1500 grit run.  

Here's a piece of banded amethyst that was in there:


Still a lot of scratches, but the 1500 grit should clear that up!

[chaosdsm]

So, about 3 weeks ago, I ordered the UV-10 industrial bowl from Stone Age Industries.... haven't heard a word from them, no text, no email, no status updates, nothing.    Last week I got the notification from Rock Shed that the bowls are back in stock, so I ordered the UV-18 industrial from them.  Also nothing, no status updates, no shipment notification, nada... 

So today, I'm out on the front porch working on the new version of the bottom plate for this tumbler & FedEx pulls up.  Hands me a box from Rock Shed, so I ask driver, "wait, is that it?  Just the one box?" cause I'm looking at the box and thinking that there's no possible way a UV-18 bowl would fit.    He says "that's all there was".   So I open it up & sure enough there's a bowl in it.  Looking at it, I'm thinking this has to be a UV-10 bowl, the 18 can't possibly be this small.... 

I mean look at it compared to the 18lb bowl from Eastwood....


It almost fits inside the Eastwood bowl, heck, the lid of the Eastwood is same diameter as the bowl....   But looking at the spec's this is a UV-18 bowl.  Which means that the Eastwood base is about the same diameter as the UV-45 base.

Here's a look of the Eastwood & UV-18 bowls side by side:


It looks funky sitting on the Eastwood base:

the rubber bowl rests barely touch the UV-18 bowl.  I'm going to have to go pickup a piece of rubber horse stall mat and cut a piece to go between the Eastwood base & the UV-18 bowl.

Biggest difference I noticed (other than size) are:
> thickness - the UV-18 bowl is at least twice as thick as the Eastwood bowl and the two bowls weigh about the same without the lids.
> bowl geometry - the UV-18 has a continuously round surface, the Eastwood has about a 2" wide flat on the bottom of the bowl. Also, the Eastwood has a lot more space between the bowl hold-down nut and the lid.  With the Eastwood lid fully secured, that nut on top is flush with the top of the threaded rod, and the bowl hold-down nut is in about the same place as the lid hold down nut is on the UV-18 in the photo above. 

[pebblesky]

Sept 7, 2024 14:13:47 GMT -5 chaosdsm said:

I've ended the current tumble, after 72 hours in corncob & 500 grit SiC, most of the rocks are very smooth and starting to develop a matte to egg-shell like sheen.  There are a couple rocks I'm going to have to grind down a bit & throw them in with the next step 2 rotary batch.  I'm still waiting for the UV-10 bowl to get here to start the 1500 grit run.  

Here's a piece of banded amethyst that was in there:


Still a lot of scratches, but the 1500 grit should clear that up!

I doubt the 1500 grit would remove the scratch that you can see so clearly. Anything beyond 120/220 SiC will be to remove those invisible/theoretical scratches at a micro-scale level.

[chaosdsm]

Sept 7, 2024 18:01:23 GMT -5 pebblesky said:

I doubt the 1500 grit would remove the scratch that you can see so clearly. Anything beyond 120/220 SiC will be to remove those invisible/theoretical scratches at a micro-scale level.

There aren't any scratches that I can see without the aid of the camera showing the surface at about 6x magnification.  There are some fresh chips that I can see but not really feel.  

[chaosdsm]

Here's the Eastwood running with the UV-18 bowl.




Note: the bowl did not fit at first, had to take a drill bit to open up the hole a little bit to fit the large threaded rod on the Eastwood base.

This batch is about 10lbs rocks, mostly Labradorite, with some Petosky, and some nicely smoothed agate that I'm experimenting with.   About 2.5lbs of 10mm ceramic ball filler, 2oz 1,500 grit SiC, & the rest corncob.  

[chaosdsm]

This is just 36 hours in my pre-polish stage 1 dry run - these are 3 of the best out of the lot.  

[chaosdsm]

Behold:  the all new Tower of Terror 



YES, that IS a joke btw....

At least now, I know why the Stone Age Industries order took so long to arrive, it was a drop ship order.  My UV-10 bowl came direct from Tru-Square Metal Products, which is the parent company of Thumler's Tumblers!

If I had known (drop-ship is not noted anywhere that I can see), I would have just waited for them to come back in stock at Rock Shed.
   

[chaosdsm]

Got the thicker acrylic in and finally got around to cutting a new base.  I abandoned the + pattern in favor of arc's for more consistent spacing and strength.     

In my non-scientific testing, this pattern seems to allow about 15% higher airflow than the original + pattern,  I think mostly because the +'s should have been fewer, but with larger openings.