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:
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:
It goes without saying that I get a lot of decent tumbling rough from therockshed.
Here is a piece of rutilated quarts
and another
and a closer pic of the teepee canyon
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.
right after the first rinse:
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
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:
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.
It goes without saying that I get a lot of decent tumbling rough from therockshed.
Here is a piece of rutilated quarts
and another
and a closer pic of the teepee canyon
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.
right after the first rinse:
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