Saskrock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2007
Posts: 1,852
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Post by Saskrock on Nov 12, 2007 13:45:53 GMT -5
Well I just pulled them out after 1 week in 60 grit. Unfortunantly I would have to say this idea is a failure. The rocks were more round to begin with, they are kind of getting lop sided. Now I'm working on building the homemade sphere maker that was brought up earlier in this post. Here is a picture of what they turned out like, they look more round in the picture than they really are.  |
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Post by parfive on Nov 12, 2007 21:49:48 GMT -5
Just a wild guess here, but this might be one instance where you want all the same size stones in the barrel. Seems like a full load of sphere preforms might come out rounder if that's all that's in there.
Rich
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stefan
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Nov 13, 2007 9:56:50 GMT -5
INteresting thought there Rich!
Scott- thats about what mine came out looking like- it will be out of burnish tonight
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Saskrock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2007
Posts: 1,852
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Post by Saskrock on Nov 13, 2007 10:52:28 GMT -5
It might help having them all the same size, but they aren't all that easy to cut into a roundish shape. You could probably get them close in size but it would be a lot of work. I've decided to go with Jacks idea with this tomaszewski.net/Kreigh/Minerals/Homemade.shtmlI am just waiting for some bearings which should be in this afternoon. I will post how this experiment goes. I will probably start a new post for it though. |
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zjdp30
off to a rocking start
Member since April 2020
Posts: 2
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Post by zjdp30 on Apr 26, 2020 17:03:36 GMT -5
Hello everyone. I’m new to the forum but the idea of tumbling preforms to make beads or marbles has been on my mind. I don’t have a working flat lap or grinder yet but do have slab and trim saws. I’ve read through this post and seen the less than stellar results but I’m experimenting anyway. I just put a load on today of preforms that I cut from Tennessee Marble Limestone and North Carolina Mt. Airy Granite. These are the official state stones and I’m looking at trying to make beads. I began by cutting 1” slabs and then reducing them to cubes. I then cut off all the edges on my trim saw and got approx 20-30 rough preforms all of the same size/material. I’ve got two 3lb lortone barrels, one filled with each type of stone. I realize the material is on the softer side but I want to try to get them as spherical as possible. I’m starting with 60 grit and will monitor every 2-3 days. I’m prepared to wait it out and see if the lumpiness eventually rounds out. I’ll try to post pics as I go along....
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NRG
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,688
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Post by NRG on May 5, 2020 20:40:47 GMT -5
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