gatorflash1
spending too much on rocks
Active in Delaware Mineralogical Society, Cabchon Grinding and Polishing, 2 Thumlers B's and a UV-18
Member since October 2018
Posts: 375
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Post by gatorflash1 on Jan 25, 2020 8:51:32 GMT -5
Search the word "FOAM" on this website and you will find lots of conversations about how to handle foam when tumbling. I particularly like foam on my Guinness, just not with my tumbler. Luckily I have never had a problem with it. One of the more creative solutions I read about was to toss a Tums tablet into the mix, supposedly it eliminates the gas build up. I'd be curious to know if anyone has ever tried it. forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/6080/foam-tumbler
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stewdogg
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 388
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Post by stewdogg on Jan 25, 2020 12:39:54 GMT -5
The real grinding happens after the sticky slurry develops. More grit can help it get started quicker. Yes that batch needs to run another week in rough and then you can cherry-pick the smooth ones to pass on to the 2nd stage. I have some amethyst in the HF tumbler that’s doing the same thing. Staying foamy and watery not sticky like mud or clay. I’ll check it tomorrow and if it’s still thin I’ll add kitty litter or mud from my saw. Yeah, I imagine all of the grit is getting stuck in the foam and staying away from the rocks. I have some dry sweep in the garage, maybe I'll try a bit of that as I go along in my experiments. Thanks for the help!
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stewdogg
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 388
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Post by stewdogg on Jan 25, 2020 12:52:45 GMT -5
Search the word "FOAM" on this website and you will find lots of conversations about how to handle foam when tumbling. I particularly like foam on my Guinness, just not with my tumbler. Luckily I have never hade a problem with it. One of the more creative solutions I read about was to toss a Tums tablet into the mix, supposedly it eliminates the gas build up. I'd be curious to know if anyone has ever tried it. forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/6080/foam-tumblerHaha, I didn't even think of searching foam on the website... thanks! I enjoy a bit of foam on my beer as well, but seems to be too gentle on my rocks. I'm thinking I should go out and get some borax today. I checked that batch this morning and it is still very foamy. Seems like it would be easier to just add borax to the batches as a preventative maintenance and not worry about it at all. I guess I should do a search and see if borax has a drawback to using it in every batch...? Tums could get pretty expensive. Plus, I use the soft and chewy Tums, not sure they would have the same effect as the chalk version? Thanks for the conversation!
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Post by knave on Jan 25, 2020 12:56:04 GMT -5
If it’s just a HF tumbler it will have simple tastes. Regular chalky tums will do. Lol
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Post by knave on Jan 25, 2020 13:01:35 GMT -5
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stewdogg
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 388
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Post by stewdogg on Jan 25, 2020 13:09:40 GMT -5
If it’s just a HF tumbler it will have simple tastes. Regular chalky tums will do. Lol Haha, are you saying my Lortone might need a liquid antacid as opposed to an unrefined chalk?
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Post by knave on Jan 25, 2020 13:13:05 GMT -5
Lol! No. I just noticed someone recommended that rug doctor stuff in the other thread.
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stewdogg
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 388
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Post by stewdogg on Jan 25, 2020 13:58:50 GMT -5
It was my attempt at a little joke to your little joke... I did see that as well and thought it must be the most expensive option for getting rid of gas/foam. I imagine both borax and antacid would be cheaper than that. On my way out now to get some borax.
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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 25, 2020 13:59:29 GMT -5
For me, too much foam in stage 1 means too much water, which will never thicken into a good slurry. In stage 1 Ifill the barrel 3/4 full and not much water, well under the level of the top of the rocks.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jan 25, 2020 20:54:17 GMT -5
Yeah, I'm no expert, but those rocks look really wet to me. Looks like too much water.
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stewdogg
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 388
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Post by stewdogg on Jan 25, 2020 21:51:20 GMT -5
Thanks everyone! I ended up finding foam in my other barrel today after about 4 days of tumbling. I think everyone is on the right thinking, that I have too much water in them. I dumped some water out of each barrel and added some borax. I will check them tomorrow and see how it's going. I also stopped by the other Bernie's Rock Shop today and picked up some coarse grit for just over $3/lb. it is 46/70 over the 60/90 I started with, but the price seems decent, so I figured I would check it out. Nice to know i can get stuff locally and for a decent price. I also picked up a pound of Sodalite roughs for running in the tumbler sometime. I couldn't resist the great blue color of the rock. It's a 5.5-6 on the Mohs scale and most of the other stuff I have is 7. Guess I will have to get some more stuff in that 5.5-6 range to run with it... the addiction continues. rockjunquie, I'm thinking with 8 years here, ~20k posts and the title of Global Moderator that you might be an expert...
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Post by knave on Jan 25, 2020 22:06:07 GMT -5
That was pretty funny Tela!
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Post by rockjunquie on Jan 25, 2020 22:09:55 GMT -5
That was pretty funny Tela! I'm a newbie at tumbling, but I've seen enough threads.
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Post by RocksInNJ on Jan 26, 2020 3:08:42 GMT -5
For me, too much foam in stage 1 means too much water, which will never thicken into a good slurry. In stage 1 Ifill the barrel 3/4 full and not much water, well under the level of the top of the rocks. Hey thanks for the tip. I’m gonna try this on my next run.
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Post by knave on Jan 26, 2020 12:10:50 GMT -5
For me, too much foam in stage 1 means too much water, which will never thicken into a good slurry. In stage 1 Ifill the barrel 3/4 full and not much water, well under the level of the top of the rocks. Hey thanks for the tip. I’m gonna try this on my next run. Clink, clank
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stewdogg
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 388
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Post by stewdogg on Jan 26, 2020 15:24:05 GMT -5
Haha, I should have called this thread non stop learning or too dumb to tumble... Just playing, but I seem to be making all the mistakes a novice can make. So, I went down this morning and my mix was still very foamy. I took some rocks, a bunch more water and foam out of the barrels. I think I was being a bit overzealous with my 75% full barrel, I'm thinking I was closer to 80-85% full. So too many rocks and too much water at the same time. I feel much better about how it sounds now... sounds likes rocks tumbling like crazy. I feel better about my chances of seeing some slurry instead of foam in the next couple of days. Thanks for dealing with my noob comments and questions you have all seen a million times in this wonderful community. You have more interest than those around me about hearing the fine details of my new hobby, thanks again!
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Post by aDave on Jan 26, 2020 19:12:21 GMT -5
I also stopped by the other Bernie's Rock Shop today and picked up some coarse grit for just over $3/lb. it is 46/70 over the 60/90 I started with, but the price seems decent, so I figured I would check it out. Nice to know i can get stuff locally and for a decent price. I Don't be surprised if the 46/70 doesn't work as well in your tumbler as the 60/90. In a three-pound barrel, there insn't typically enough mass to break down the more coarse grit, so the grinding action may end up being much more inefficient.
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stewdogg
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 388
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Post by stewdogg on Jan 26, 2020 22:17:39 GMT -5
I also stopped by the other Bernie's Rock Shop today and picked up some coarse grit for just over $3/lb. it is 46/70 over the 60/90 I started with, but the price seems decent, so I figured I would check it out. Nice to know i can get stuff locally and for a decent price. I Don't be surprised if the 46/70 doesn't work as well in your tumbler as the 60/90. In a three-pound barrel, there insn't typically enough mass to break down the more coarse grit, so the grinding action may end up being much more inefficient. Thanks, that's good to know! I guess I'll pepper it in with the 60/90 to get rid of it. Is there an optimal RPM to run with the barrel? I'm sure there are benefits and downfalls to faster or slower speeds. I will look it up, but figured you would know for sure while I would have to decipher the internets answers. My Harbor Freight rig is running about 46 bucket revolutions per minute. The Lortone is running about 62 bucket revolutions per minute.
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Post by knave on Jan 26, 2020 22:25:08 GMT -5
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Post by aDave on Jan 26, 2020 22:35:11 GMT -5
Don't be surprised if the 46/70 doesn't work as well in your tumbler as the 60/90. In a three-pound barrel, there insn't typically enough mass to break down the more coarse grit, so the grinding action may end up being much more inefficient. Thanks, that's good to know! I guess I'll pepper it in with the 60/90 to get rid of it. Is there an optimal RPM to run with the barrel? I'm sure there are benefits and downfalls to faster or slower speeds. I will look it up, but figured you would know for sure while I would have to decipher the internets answers. My Harbor Freight rig is running about 46 bucket revolutions per minute. The Lortone is running about 62 bucket revolutions per minute. Optimal may be different than what is supplied by a given manufacturer. I don't know the diameter of you HF barrel in relation to a Lortone three-pound barrel, but I seem to recall that a Lortone barrel of your size will normally turn around 45 RPMs or so. What Lortone do you have that runs at 62 RPMs? That is one of the highest, if not the highest, RPM numbers I've seen for a Lortone.
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