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Post by RocksInNJ on Dec 14, 2019 12:56:46 GMT -5
I am trying the vodka suggestion now. My speech is slurred and I am having trouble walking, but it seems to be working. I have stopped caring that my tumbler is freezing. You need to make a video of you getting tumbled with vodka lol.
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Dec 14, 2019 18:03:30 GMT -5
Still wouldn't drink the antifreeze though I looked it up, that stuff is ethanol, not methyl alcohol/methanol. UG Uni-proof RV & Marine -50 °F Burst Antifreeze from Home Depot: Ingredient(s) | Common name / Synonyms | CAS No. | % wt./wt. | Water | Not available. | 7732-18-5 | 70 - 80 | Ethanol | Not available. | 64-17-5 | 10 - 20 | 1,2-Propanediol | Propylene glycol | 57-55-6 | 3 - 5 | Phosphoric acid, potassium salt (1:2) | Potassium phosphate, dibasic | 7758-11-4 | < 1 |
Hmmm... wonder how propylene glycol will fair against a rubber barrel if ethylene glycol can cause damage.
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EricD
Cave Dweller
High in the Mountains
Member since November 2019
Posts: 1,142
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Post by EricD on Dec 14, 2019 19:03:10 GMT -5
The Peak brand RV antifreeze I get has an active ingredient of methyl alcohol. Per my automotive experience a glycol of any sort will degrade severely any rubbers on the vehicle that are not EPDM rubber. I also would not drink anything with methyl alcohol in it. Or any alcohol except Everclear.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Dec 14, 2019 19:27:38 GMT -5
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Dec 15, 2019 15:23:39 GMT -5
Sorry. I think I kinda hijacked this thread. Getting back on track, I am about to try tumbling a large white rock that looks magical fluorescent under short wave UV that I collected from an old zinc mine this summer. I will use some of the technique(s) that I read here, except I won't be grinding or cutting as I don't have an indoor place to set up the tools. Good Luck! Fluorescent big rock sounds cool! Also, I don't think you've hijacked the thread, it's winter and a lot of people shut down the tumblers. I think talking a little about how to keep them going in the freezing weather is cool. I've managed to create a space in a closet so I can run these indoors. Though I did quite a bit to dampen the noise but still ensure there was air movement to keep the motors cool. I'll try to post a short vid after New Years of what the setup looks like and how it works because some people might find it useful. jamesp brought up how the barrel lids get knocked around. Since I've gotten the QT12 and QT66 I always find small rock chips crammed in the lip of the barrel right between the gasket. Usually it hasn't been enough to pop the barrel open, but combined with gas buildup, it was enough (photo evidence above). Even though I tightened those pretty good, I wasn't expecting gas from quartz so I didn't check it. Maybe one day when I get a place of my own I'll see about combining TheRock 's recent VFD design with the jamesp barrel design.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Dec 15, 2019 15:56:46 GMT -5
This has been one of the deepest discussions on aniti-freezing tumblers ever. Please carry on. The issue has plagued many over the years.
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Dec 19, 2019 2:07:30 GMT -5
Week 7: 60/90 SiC. 1344g. Running mass loss 18.8% So that'll be the last update on this guy for 2019. Probably wont see another until sometime later in the second week of January. Maybe, if I ever find time, we can go into a bit more about the anti tumbler freezing possibilities. Should be able to come up with some recipes, and maybe find a northerner willing to be a test dummy.
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Post by fernwood on Dec 19, 2019 4:09:41 GMT -5
Looking good.
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Post by RocksInNJ on Dec 19, 2019 9:36:10 GMT -5
That’s looking good. Keep her safe til next year.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,422
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Post by Wooferhound on Dec 19, 2019 19:43:23 GMT -5
Maybe, if I ever find time, we can go into a bit more about the anti tumbler freezing possibilities. Should be able to come up with some recipes, and maybe find a northerner willing to be a test dummy. Put the tumbler into a Picnic Cooler. The motor will keep it all warm enough in there.
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EricD
Cave Dweller
High in the Mountains
Member since November 2019
Posts: 1,142
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Post by EricD on Jan 8, 2020 19:35:43 GMT -5
Week 7: 60/90 SiC. 1344g. Running mass loss 18.8% So that'll be the last update on this guy for 2019. Probably wont see another until sometime later in the second week of January. Maybe, if I ever find time, we can go into a bit more about the anti tumbler freezing possibilities. Should be able to come up with some recipes, and maybe find a northerner willing to be a test dummy. I've been running Peak brand -50 degree pink RV antifreeze in my thumler's A-R12 for the past 8 days with 4 day cleanouts with some quartz and granite. Doesn't stain anything, no gas buildup. Only an odor of alcohol from the slurry which doesn't linger when rocks get rinsed.
The temps are going to plunge below zero for about a week so I put it out in my shipping container that is unheated and out of the sun for 90% of the day. It should see temps down to -25 and possibly -30 or -40 knowing how difficult it is to forecast around here.
If anyone wants any other cold weather testing done I can sure put it on the list.
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MommaGem
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2019
Posts: 312
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Post by MommaGem on Jan 9, 2020 11:30:22 GMT -5
Wow! Now I really, really want to try something like this. I have some pieces that I really don't want to break up - they might be good for a similar experiment
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whyofquartz
spending too much on rocks
So, Africa is smaller than I expected...
Member since December 2019
Posts: 316
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Post by whyofquartz on Jan 9, 2020 12:43:55 GMT -5
This is my take on the big tumbling. mostly I needed more small and medium-small rocks course tumbled but i also thought, 'what if i can make a rock only tumble lengthwise?' so i trimmed down a chunk of Baconite(petrified wood) and we will see Saturday what the progress is like
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Jan 9, 2020 22:08:51 GMT -5
The temps are going to plunge below zero for about a week so I put it out in my shipping container that is unheated and out of the sun for 90% of the day. It should see temps down to -25 and possibly -30 or -40 knowing how difficult it is to forecast around here. That's intense! I'm curious to see how this goes! Other news: I should have another update on this big'n here this weekend... Hopefully it's getting close to moving forward because the holidays provided some new 'friends' that would like to see some tumbling time in that barrel as well.
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Jan 11, 2020 21:36:06 GMT -5
Week 8: 60/90 SiC. 1305g. Running mass loss 21.1% Figured I should show the other sides of the rock. There is some spalling that I'm not sure I'll ever be able to get rid of. I'm thinking I may give it one more week of 60/90 then move it on. Thoughts? Left/Top Back - yick Right/Bottom - essentially just rolled it compared to the prior picture
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Post by RocksInNJ on Jan 12, 2020 8:13:37 GMT -5
Shame that top is so fractured and it’ll probably only get worse with more coarse grinding. At first I was thinking of chiseling it off, but then you’d have the vertical fracture to deal with. Then that would probably have to be chiseled off and you wouldn’t have much of the rock left. So it might be best to carry on to the next stage, but you’re really gonna have to keep an eye on the fractures with grit contamination.
Maybe you could fill the fractures and seal them with something. I’ve seen people talking about it, but know nothing about it. Thanks for the update. Really looking forward to the end results.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,422
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Post by Wooferhound on Jan 12, 2020 11:01:05 GMT -5
I think that Quartz loses color and detail after being polished ending up being kinda bland if polished well. The extra detail provided by your holes, cracks and undercutting will add character and lead your eye around the rock showing it's history. I've tumbled lots of rocks with cracks and holes in them. A good tumble/wash between stages has always made good polish results for me.
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EricD
Cave Dweller
High in the Mountains
Member since November 2019
Posts: 1,142
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Post by EricD on Jan 13, 2020 12:01:43 GMT -5
My cold tumbling went fine for 3 days of below freezing, including 2 days of below 0, until I did a cleanout and let the motor cool down to -10. It wouldn't start turning again even with no load. Moral of the story is it works fine, but your motor better be able to start back up at those temps in order for it to work if you lose power.
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Jan 13, 2020 18:01:16 GMT -5
I think that Quartz loses color and detail after being polished ending up being kinda bland if polished well. I know right? It was looking nice and white at the beginning, now it's looking like it was smeared in dirt. Hoping a polish at least makes it a nice looking door stop. If I can find another that's somewhat optically clear, or at least more translucently white, that'd be nice. I just gave my BIL a big one for xmas that was nice. All the same, the intent was to experiment with grinding time, size of other material, and ultimately see if there are some lessons learned before jumping on the next big rock. (I have a big chunk each of Labradorite, Moss Agate, Mexican Crazy Lace, Tiger's Eye, and Rose Quartz I'd like to try) My cold tumbling went fine for 3 days of below freezing, including 2 days of below 0, until I did a cleanout and let the motor cool down to -10. It wouldn't start turning again even with no load. Moral of the story is it works fine, but your motor better be able to start back up at those temps in order for it to work if you lose power. Good to hear it didn't freeze! Weird that the motor locked up after letting it sit. Do you think some moisture got into moving parts and froze or some sort of thermal contraction locked it up?
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Post by knave on Jan 13, 2020 19:17:36 GMT -5
Just a guess but I think there was ice in the bearing, or the grease got extremely thick. Either way it would start eventually, the motor turns into a heater when it’s powered without rotation. Hopefully it would warm up and go before tripping thermal.
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