|
Post by BearCreekLapidary on Jun 30, 2004 19:48:46 GMT -5
Hi everyone,
I hate to admit it ... but, I have temporarily given up on my tumbler.
O.K. I did not really give up on the Gy-Roc 3# Vib Tumbler, but I am facing a time dilema. I have a show coming up in the middle of July at a Blurgrass Festival, and my tumbling process was poor ... so I pulled the pieces out and finished them by hand (I know ... that's cheating...). I hate to be in a rush to get a bunch of material finished just before a show, and I was affraid that the tumbler was not going to get things done by my timeline.
I am going to try another batch in a couple of weeks and give it another try. I am going to cut the amount of water in my Gy-Roc 3# tumbler and see if it works any better. Thanks "cookie", I think that you may have helped me out with my tumbler as well. I also believe that the tumbler was underloaded as well. It wont be on this next load!!!
Is there a trick or process that can help in the tumbling of small flats (from nickle sized pieces to silver dollar sized pieces, from 1mm to 3mm thick)? It seemed that the pieces were always stacked on top of each other, not allowing the grit to get between them and do its job.
Too much water, an underlaoded bowl and a timeline of two weeks was just too close for comfort.
Anyway, if I can figure out how to get photo's posted, I'll send some pics!
Enjoy,
John
|
|
|
Post by cookie3rocks on Jun 30, 2004 20:03:28 GMT -5
All I can speak for is the vibe, but I just finished my first good batch and the small, thin pieces polished up the best. The vibe rolls eveything over like a washing machine, so the heavier pieces don't get as much benifit in polish as the small ones. You want the pre polish/polish to form a "paste" on the stones, not too wet, not too dry. And check them often! That paste can tun hard real quick! When you have the time and your not pressed you can experiment a little. The vibe real does knock alot of time off, once you get the hang of it ;D Good luck and show us some pics, no pun intended.
cookie
|
|
|
Post by krazydiamond on Jul 1, 2004 19:28:19 GMT -5
flats and thinner pieces needs a lot of thickening and/or cushioning and you can't overload with too many large flat pieces or they tend to beat each other up. i love the flats when they turn out, but i've had them chip right at the last.....very frustrating.
KD
|
|
|
Post by creativeminded on Jul 2, 2004 9:32:15 GMT -5
That's not cheating that is being sensable and creative.
Tami
|
|
WilliamC
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2003
Posts: 416
|
Post by WilliamC on Jul 2, 2004 10:15:15 GMT -5
Greetings All, Only one way to hurry up the tumbling process and that's to have multiple barrels going. I'm off for a few weeks to the Grand Canyon and California but when I get back I will get the motor on on of my QT's fixed and possibly buy another tumbler too. Especially for the first stage its obvious that the more I can get done at once the more I'll have for the other stages, which typically only need one run each. But for the really hard agates and jaspers and especially for larger pieces of rough five or six runs through 60/90 is not unusual. So having at least two machines going at 60/90 seems essential. Well, nothing is essential unless I can acutally save up and buy it, I just finished paying off the South African rough purchase and that's the last time I'm buying anything on credit, even if I do someday intend to try and make a profit from it. Cash only from here on out Happy 4th of July to all us US'ers ;D WilliamC
|
|