mnblarneystone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Minnesota Rock Lover
Member since February 2011
Posts: 110
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Post by mnblarneystone on Jul 25, 2011 11:29:41 GMT -5
:help:
Hi everyone, I don't have a lot of experience here, but... Since the forum is RTH, I thought is might be a good place to ask for info.
My husband has a ? 10? pound vibrating tumbler, and has not had success in getting polished slabs from it. Any tutorials, hints or secrets to using the thing to a satisfactory level??
Thanks so much!!
Terri mnblarneystone
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peachfront
fully equipped rock polisher
Stones have begun to speak, because an ear is there to hear them.
Member since August 2010
Posts: 1,745
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Post by peachfront on Jul 25, 2011 11:32:01 GMT -5
A separate barrel for the polishing stage.
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mnblarneystone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Minnesota Rock Lover
Member since February 2011
Posts: 110
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Post by mnblarneystone on Jul 25, 2011 11:44:25 GMT -5
Hi!! I think I found some advice, but will still welcome any further hints, and secrets that y'all might share. Thanks!!
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jspencer
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2011
Posts: 929
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Post by jspencer on Jul 25, 2011 13:08:23 GMT -5
Patience is also needed. If not left in each stage long enough they will never polish right. I leave mine in polish with a teaspoon of Borax for a minimum of 5 days. Polishing stones of the same hardness is important also. Harder stones polish easier than other softer stones.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
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Post by Sabre52 on Jul 25, 2011 13:14:58 GMT -5
Yep, Peach had a good suggestion. Vibe tubs get contaminated real easy so I always have one tub just for grind stages and another for polish and prepolish. Full loads with a mix of lots of small material along with larger pieces are good too as that adds more surface to surface contact. This is especially important with slabs. Use a spray bottle to get the stone just wet enough to carry the grit or polish but not so wet as to have the grit and polish all sink to the bottom of the load or so dry as to bog down. In fine grind, this will destroy your tub. Don't run your grind stages real long in the vibe as that will eat up your tub bottom or walls real fast. Coarse grinding is best done in a rotary tumbler to prevent this sort of wear. I only run fine grind stages in the vibe a couple of days now. I do however do fairly long runs on polish and prepolish ( about five days each). A good burnish with Dreft soap will finish the cleaning at the end of the polish stage. Do only loads of similar hardness rocks as vibes really chew up and often undercut mixed hardness loads and again, watch the moisture level as this can have a lot to do with your results and use lots of plastic pellets to cushion the load in prepolish and polish stages.....Mel
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Post by johnjsgems on Jul 25, 2011 15:42:30 GMT -5
What Mel said but use 70% small non-abrasive ceramic cylinders or small pea gravel when doing slabs. You need a lot of grit carrier to do slabs or other flats. A good (.3 micron) aluminum oxide polish would be good also.
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Jul 25, 2011 16:16:07 GMT -5
I'll add my here.I tumble many slabs in my Lot-o's. I first tumble them in my Lortone 12lb rotaries for 1 coarse charge and let tumble for 2 weeks.This gets them in great shape for my Lot-o. 3 days in 1000 and 3 days in Ao polish and they are done.Sometimes I put almost all slabs in it and sometimes add ceramics and smaller rounded rocks in with them,both ways they come out polished.I am convinced that the prep before they go in the vibe is the most important part of success with the slabs and other stones as well.I dont know the size slabs you are trying to polish. I'm limited to about 4"by 2 1/4" for the largest in my Lot-o's. I also need to add that a smooth saw cut is important to start with too. snuffy
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