dillonmania
off to a rocking start
Member since November 2011
Posts: 5
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Post by dillonmania on Nov 7, 2011 4:28:53 GMT -5
Hi there, I've never tumbled before and am gearing up to do so. I have a Thumler's A-R2 with two drums, and before starting would like to know what people recommend I do with them: Should I run two loads at the same stage at the same time (for example, both Coarse), or run different stages at the same time? Or, as I saw someone recommend at one site, maybe reserve one drum for polishing only? What do people with experience prefer to do? I guess running different stages is more efficient, although maybe it makes things more confusing or complicated -- I really don't know. Thank you for any input
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StoneCrazy
spending too much on rocks
Stone Crazy
Member since July 2011
Posts: 331
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Post by StoneCrazy on Nov 7, 2011 5:45:57 GMT -5
Hi, Welcome aboard. I fairly new too. I have done a few loads and definitely recommend that you use one for only polish. I am getting a better finish by doing that. also be patient with your rocks. let them tumble. Have fun its addicting.
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Post by johnjsgems on Nov 7, 2011 7:46:12 GMT -5
Ideally if you had at least one extra drum you could use one for coarse, one for medium and fine, and one for polish. You could keep one turning for coarse and always have a second barrel running with something. Almost every used two drum tumbler I've found has one worn drum and one like new drum so I'm guessing most people reserve one for polish.
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Post by paulshiroma on Nov 7, 2011 9:45:25 GMT -5
I have that model as well. While I first started the batches together on coarse, inevitably, some rocks smoothed out faster than others and one barrel ended up being "ahead" of the other. Like the advice above, I also reserved a single barrel for the polish stage, making sure that I washed out the barrels and rocks really well between stages. And you might want to be prepared to order a few more lids! . I've had three that eventually had holes worn in them and had to repair them; see Charles's thread here on what he did. (http://forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/index.cgi?board=tottumb&action=display&thread=45611). Welcome aboard and looking forward to seeing your tumbles. Paul
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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 Nov 7, 2011 10:06:45 GMT -5
I prefer ,with a two drum set up, to use one for coarse and fine grind ( rinsed between) and one for prepolish and polish ( again cleaned well between). With the set up I used now which is part rotary, part vibe, I run one large two barrel rotary in coarse to keep the vibe fed as most times it takes at least four weeks in rotary coarse grind to properly smooth and round the rocks. I just check the rotary and recharge once a week taking out all the stones which are ready to move on and adding more to keep the barrels full. When I accumulate enough for the next stage, I start it up in the vibe where I have one tub for fine grind and one for polish/prepolish. Whatever I do, I never use grind barrels for polish or prepolish.....Mel
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dillonmania
off to a rocking start
Member since November 2011
Posts: 5
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Post by dillonmania on Nov 8, 2011 1:28:44 GMT -5
Interesting, thank you all for your replies! Looks like I'll end up reserving one drum for the polish and maybe pre-polish stage
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sampson
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since April 2011
Posts: 222
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Post by sampson on Nov 8, 2011 13:48:52 GMT -5
I started with a two drum setup and ended up buying a third barrel just to be reserved for polish since it seems to take me much longer in rough to get the shapes i want than to polish them so i wanted to use two barrels for rough and fine, then the third for polish. I stayed with that for a while until i decided to buy a larger single barrel just for my rough so i now keep my 6lb always tumbling in coarse. I then have one 3lb barrel for fine, one 3lb barrel for pre-polish and my last 3lb barrel for polish. Seems to work well for me although the backlog is still in the coarse stage. I am now looking at building or buying a 12lb or dual 12lb machine for my coarse stages, and bigger specimens too! I know, i know, ... I'm addicted.
Sampson
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