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Post by captbob on Feb 12, 2008 20:40:13 GMT -5
Alright, someone has to give this new Board a test ride so I volunteer. Let's see what this baby can do! Okay, first I'm about as new to tumbling as one can be. I found this Forum (and love it!) back in December. Spent some time reading hundreds of pages of old threads and figuring out my way around. I had decided long before coming here that I had wanted to tumble rocks. Just so happens I had some. Well, unless I wanted to beat the rocks apart with a large hammer, I was going to need a saw to make them smaller. So, I got a saw. You have all seen that story... forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/index.cgi?board=Pictures&action=display&thread=21417Now I needed a tumbler ... or maybe a dozen tumblers Asked around here and based on information given and from reading around, decided Thumlers was the way I wanted to go. Also, you should know that I wanted to tumble larger than average pieces. The first tumblers that I ordered were a 15 pound and a 12 pound Thumlers. Naturally, getting them set up required building shelves and wiring electrical outlets and maybe a few beers Mt. Dews. Let's get ready to TUMBLE! Well, like I said, I had some rocks and I wanted to tumble big stuff... so, I break in the saw (which I had never used one of) and cut up some sodalite. Okay, no small stones in the picture... no problem! That's what ceramic media is for. Let's load that baby up. Don't forget the Tums! ... BTW sodalite isn't gassy It's been 7 days now in the 60/90 and the stones are shaping very nicely. I'll add pics soon. (Trying to wrap this up before dinner) Well, 2 stinkin' tumblers surely won't be enough, so I ordered two more. Another 15#er and a 9 pound Thumlers. 9#er got here today. Here's what's going in the second 15#er - a little tiger eye with a couple pieces of tiger iron thrown in for good measure Thank God for ceramic pellets! I figure this load will take a bit longer in the 60/90 as the material is quite harder than the sodalite. This is what I have planned for the 12#er, just cut today and have some other stuff to add. Pictures soon, dinner is almost ready! So, for someone that had never even owned a tumbler up until 2 weeks ago, ... well, at least I'm keeping myself amused. I figure that in about 4 weeks I'll need a few smaller barrels for the finer grit/polish stages. Still plan on building a multi-barrel tumbling contraption, but I'm WAY too busy right now. I'll add more pictures very soon, but right now I smell dinn
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SteveHolmes
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2009
Posts: 1,900
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Post by SteveHolmes on Feb 12, 2008 21:00:50 GMT -5
Cool pics Capt. Bob! Can't wait to see the results. I'm proud that your feeding your addiction. If you don't keep a close eye on it...it may get out of control! Steve
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Rockygibraltar
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,404
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Post by Rockygibraltar on Feb 12, 2008 21:35:13 GMT -5
Those will be great. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished ones.
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geogoddess
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2007
Posts: 287
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Post by geogoddess on Feb 12, 2008 22:07:49 GMT -5
Awesome. Although I have to say, beating rocks into pieces is very theraputic on days where my roommate is pissing me off. When I was doing my masters degree, I had access to a saw... no... I had to use a saw to cut up sample rocks.... and I have to say, hammering them to death is more fun. Of course, then it ends up in the course grit a bit longer to take off the rough edges.
Most sodalite is about a 6 in hardness... and Tiger Eye (not sure about Tiger Iron) is about a 7... so there won't be too big of a difference in how long they tumble. Not like the difference in fluorite (4) and emeralds (8).
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Post by Cher on Feb 13, 2008 2:11:36 GMT -5
Looks good Captbob but way too clean, you need to mess those shelves up some. Leave some rock sitting around, make it look like you're really doing something there. ;D Where'd you pick up your ceramic media?
Keep an eye on that sodalite, seemed to me the stuff I did got small pretty fast.
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Post by Titania on Feb 13, 2008 7:47:40 GMT -5
That looks great, Capt! I LOVE sodalite, so I can't wait to see how yours turns out. I always have good luck with it even in my big mixed hardness batches.
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Post by Condor on Feb 13, 2008 8:54:20 GMT -5
Wow! Look at those tumblers. Brand spanking new. Gotta love it.
Condor
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,455
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Post by Sabre52 on Feb 13, 2008 10:40:15 GMT -5
*LOL* Oh you've got it bad! Those stones should make beautiful tumbles. Took me years to get past the single tumbler stage. Next up for you will be a honkin big slab saw and a Genie. Just wait *L*.....Mel
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Post by deb193redux on Feb 13, 2008 10:43:47 GMT -5
Excellent photos. Good looking batches. Waiting for the pics of their progress.
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Post by Tonyterner on Feb 13, 2008 12:10:35 GMT -5
Hey Cappie it looks like your really getting into it. Those are some serious tumblers. Good choice of materials, can't wait to see them finished.
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Post by Tweetiepy on Feb 13, 2008 12:16:15 GMT -5
Where are Cher's droolies when you need them??? tiger eye rocks! sodalite rocks too and what are those beautiful red rocks? they rock too but I wanna know what they are....
anyone ever put it a lighter and quarter in the batch by mistake? wondering what it would do.... steel shot?
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Post by captbob on Feb 13, 2008 12:34:29 GMT -5
Thanks to all for the replies! "...feeding my addiction? ...may get out of control?" Me?? Never!!! I can quit any time I wan~ < breaks down sobbing > Hi, My name is Bob and I'm addicted to rocks Okay, it was time for the week one bath and grit recharge for the sodalite. The sodalite had a few babies while rolling around in the dark all week! I couldn't find any pieces that they may have broken off of, so I can't really figure out where they came from. And, I suppose that I am way too old to be asking where babies come from! ;D So here are week one photos. I think they are rounding nicely. I took the babies out (my wife will want them) and also removed 5 of the large pieces with mostly black coloring. They shouldn't have even made it in the first spin, but I was in too much of a hurry to get my first batch running to cut more. Anyway, the barrel was pretty overweight all last week, so I removed some lesser quality rock and some of the ceramic media. I added around a pound of plastic pellets to this run for cushioning because the barrel just isn't full enough. How am I supposed to fill the barrel 2/3 to 3/4 full and keep the weight acceptable?? I was running the Thumlers 15# at 22 pounds last week! Got it down to 18 pounds this time. (weights include barrel) So, that's it for the sodalite for awhile, think I'll leave it alone for another week or two (yeah right!). Would like to get the tiger eye load running today. Hope I don't rush out and kiss the UPS guy when he shows up with that other 15#er You saw the red jasper with hematite bands that I cut yesterday, well today I'm cutting some hematite with jasper to add to the mix. Think this stuff will go in the 12#er. Told you I received the Thumler's 9 pounder yesterday. Not sure I like it... it is, as I thought it would be, a very tall barrel and not so wide. I'm thinking that the rocks are going to have quite a fall in that barrel. Maybe I'll find some harder rock to try in that first. Time to get back to work (keeps my mind off waiting for the UPS guy!) hope you all enjoyed the update and thanks for looking. more soon - Bob
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geogoddess
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2007
Posts: 287
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Post by geogoddess on Feb 13, 2008 15:26:36 GMT -5
Those are looking great! Makes me want to go out and check on mine... but they aren't due for a check until friday-ish.
I just fill my 15lber somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 full. As long as it spins, I'm happy!
I would guess, that its 15 lbs of rock, not including the barrel. Not sure how much the barrels weigh, although I think the shipping weight was 17 lbs. But if the barrel weighs 3 lbs, then a total weight of 18 is ok... (just guessing at numbers).
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Post by captbob on Feb 13, 2008 21:37:40 GMT -5
Cher, sorry I missed answering your question before. I got the ceramic media from the rock shed. They have 2 sizes and I ordered the larger size.
Geogoddess, the empty 15#er weighs 5 pounds 13 ounces. I can't remember if I weighed it with the lid or not (duh) so I'll weigh the new one I have due in tomorrow and post any correction. I can't find a definitive answer on whether a tumbler can hold the stated weight in fill or if the barrel weight is to be included in the total.
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Post by catmandewe on Feb 13, 2008 23:26:09 GMT -5
You are supposed to be able to tumble 15# of material. I am not sure if that includes water weight though, I never could find that one out.
Tony
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Wolfden
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2007
Posts: 1,368
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Post by Wolfden on Feb 14, 2008 15:15:46 GMT -5
Hey there Bob , I have some sodalite in my 3.5# also . Mine is in 220 and should be coming out tomorrow I think , I'll have to check my notebook hehehe . Yours are looking great good job. Where did you get yours ? Rockshed ? Thats where I got mine,They have some great looking rocks. If your not happy with the 9# er I have a tumbler rescue , I will gladly give it a nice home LOL Thanks for the great pictures and post Wolf
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Post by captbob on Feb 14, 2008 21:31:31 GMT -5
Geogoddess... the 15# barrel with lid & wingnuts weighs 7 pounds empty.
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Post by captbob on Feb 17, 2008 20:56:52 GMT -5
Filled the 12#er today with red jasper w/ hematite bands the EMPTY 12# tumbler weighs 3 pounds 9.8 ounces. Adding almost 8 pounds of rock, some ceramic media, grit and water brought the total barrel weight to 15 pounds 4.8 ounces. So, just under 12 pounds of fill. I have cut a bunch of this hematite w/ jasper bands up, but not quite enough yet to fill the 9# barrel. Maybe I'll get that going tomorrow. That's about all the rock stuff I did today*, was WAY busy with the Daytona 500 on! unless you count a zero second snipe for a mineral book on eBay ;D now I have 5 items on my eBay watch list ending in the next 2 hours, so maybe my day isn't over quite yet.
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Terry664
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2005
Posts: 1,146
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Post by Terry664 on Feb 21, 2008 20:23:37 GMT -5
Did you get that material on e-bay, or where? I would love to get some of that hematite with Jasper bands. All of your stuff was great. Terry
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Post by captbob on Feb 21, 2008 23:33:29 GMT -5
Hi Terry, I'm positive that I did buy that hematite with the jasper banding on eBay. Don't remember who the seller was for that piece as I have several. The seller "fossiljunky" has been offering similar pieces lately, but doesn't have one listed right now. I'd email him if you are interested in rough as he seems to have quite a bit of this material. cgi.ebay.com/4-LB-13-OZ-BANDED-HEMATITE-SPECIMEN-ISHPEMING-MI_W0QQitemZ250216891270QQihZ015QQcategoryZ3225QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItemIf you just want a slab to play with I can send you one if you PM me an address and let me know how thick. Edited to add: If any members here are from up there (where this comes from) I'd be interested in buying more quality rough.
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