Post by herchenx on Apr 11, 2012 2:11:16 GMT -5
Well I started off the evening with every one of my tumblers being due or overdue for a recharge, including the 65-pounder.
I noticed right away that it was very quiet. This morning before I left the house it was its normal, deafeningly loud, clunky self. This evening though, it was almost as quiet as the 12# Lortone tumblers.
I opened it up and the slurry had become very thick and a layer of rock was adhering to all the sides. I sprayed the lid and scraped the inside of the barrel as best I could with my hand and freed up all the rock. I added more 60/90 (this was my first recharge on this guy, started 2 weeks ago with 46/70) and more water than last time.
I did note some progress on the lake superior agate, but not a huge amount as they were generally rounded to begin with. The volume had not changed a lot so I didn't add more rock. The slurry is definitely more now, and the noise is a little less.
Here is a pic when i first opened it and sprayed the lid off:
![](http://daharsh.net/r/sfa.jpg)
Next up i opened up the vibe that finished tonight and cleaned everything up. This was my biggest batch to date, as all of my previous batches have had a lot more ceramic to get the volume.
From the top-left, going clockwise:
![](http://daharsh.net/r/tva.jpg)
It goes without saying that I get a lot of decent tumbling rough from therockshed.
Here is a piece of rutilated quarts
![](http://daharsh.net/r/tvb.jpg)
and another
![](http://daharsh.net/r/tvc.jpg)
and a closer pic of the teepee canyon
![](http://daharsh.net/r/tvd.jpg)
After spending a LOT of time cleaning and sorting that, I ended with a recharge on the 12# Lortone.
There was a nice reduction in volume and a lot of the agate was pretty close to ready to move on, but there were still many small pits so most of it went back in.
![](http://daharsh.net/r/qtxxa.jpg)
right after the first rinse:
![](http://daharsh.net/r/qtxxb.jpg)
I need to get to bed so I didn't get to the rest of the tumblers tonight, but that vibe batch was a lot of fun.
Update with some better pics
![](http://daharsh.net/r/tve.jpg)
![](http://daharsh.net/r/tvk.jpg)
I noticed right away that it was very quiet. This morning before I left the house it was its normal, deafeningly loud, clunky self. This evening though, it was almost as quiet as the 12# Lortone tumblers.
I opened it up and the slurry had become very thick and a layer of rock was adhering to all the sides. I sprayed the lid and scraped the inside of the barrel as best I could with my hand and freed up all the rock. I added more 60/90 (this was my first recharge on this guy, started 2 weeks ago with 46/70) and more water than last time.
I did note some progress on the lake superior agate, but not a huge amount as they were generally rounded to begin with. The volume had not changed a lot so I didn't add more rock. The slurry is definitely more now, and the noise is a little less.
Here is a pic when i first opened it and sprayed the lid off:
![](http://daharsh.net/r/sfa.jpg)
Next up i opened up the vibe that finished tonight and cleaned everything up. This was my biggest batch to date, as all of my previous batches have had a lot more ceramic to get the volume.
From the top-left, going clockwise:
- Montana agate slabs
- a bunch of stuff from Ralph and Mary Ann, including a good amount of Arizona Rainbow Petrified Wood
- misc end cuts from an ebay seller
- top right corner is bahia agate from therockshed
- just inside the bahia, below the misc material is some tahoma jasper (cab and one end cut)
- immediately to the inside of the tahoma is some ocean jasper from therockshed
- left center is some quarts points from therockshed, some citrine, a lot of rutilated quartz, some lace and agua nueva, kambaba and some brecciated jasper to the inside. All from therockshed
- tucked in there is some wonderstone from nmonyx
- lower right corner is all locally collected material, agate, epidote and quartz. There is one epidote pendant in that group
- the next small cabochon to the left of the group of local stuff is my first piece of teepee. I cut this as a slab out of a large piece, and shaped this around some druzy. I have a closer pic below.
- a small piece of jade
- turitella
- the batch to the right of the large pendant in the lower left corner is all pieces and cabs cut from within Mexican Agate Nodules I bought. I bought about 10# from an old collection and this stuff is pretty. I'll try to get some better pics of some of the pieces
- the large cab in the lower left corner is some bloodstone from Randy that he sent me a couple months ago.
- the next strange group is blue quartz, yellow and red jasper, all from therockshed.
- the group below the top-left corner (where I started) is all from wampidy! Some brecciated jasper, some petrified wood and some other cool stuff. I've had this going for a pretty long time so it is nice to see some finally coming out.
- last, in the center, is a bunch of aventurine from therockshed.
![](http://daharsh.net/r/tva.jpg)
It goes without saying that I get a lot of decent tumbling rough from therockshed.
Here is a piece of rutilated quarts
![](http://daharsh.net/r/tvb.jpg)
and another
![](http://daharsh.net/r/tvc.jpg)
and a closer pic of the teepee canyon
![](http://daharsh.net/r/tvd.jpg)
After spending a LOT of time cleaning and sorting that, I ended with a recharge on the 12# Lortone.
There was a nice reduction in volume and a lot of the agate was pretty close to ready to move on, but there were still many small pits so most of it went back in.
![](http://daharsh.net/r/qtxxa.jpg)
right after the first rinse:
![](http://daharsh.net/r/qtxxb.jpg)
I need to get to bed so I didn't get to the rest of the tumblers tonight, but that vibe batch was a lot of fun.
Update with some better pics
![](http://daharsh.net/r/tve.jpg)
![](http://daharsh.net/r/tvf.jpg)
![](http://daharsh.net/r/tvg.jpg)
![](http://daharsh.net/r/tvh.jpg)
![](http://daharsh.net/r/tvi.jpg)
![](http://daharsh.net/r/tvj.jpg)
![](http://daharsh.net/r/tvk.jpg)