lovemyrocks
off to a rocking start
Member since May 2021
Posts: 7
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Post by lovemyrocks on May 2, 2021 19:27:46 GMT -5
Hello everyone! I've decided to join the forum since I'd already been using it to try to find some answers. You all seem like such a friendly bunch. (= I have always loved rocks and whenever I go for walks I come home with rocks in my pockets. I don't find a lot of high quality rocks by where I live, but I just pick up what looks pretty to me. I collect pudding stones, and sometimes go north to find Petoskey stones along the beach. I have an uncle in Arizona who really introduced me to rock shaping and polishing. He creates beautiful jewelry and has a great set up with all the gadgets, but unfortunately I don't get to visit as often as I'd like. But as Walking in NM said, I have fallen down the rabbit hole and there's no going back! Anywhere I travel I look up what kinds of rocks are special to that area and try to find some. One of my problems is identifying the type of rocks I'm trying to tumble. I think a lot of it is combinations of quartz and granite. Epidote for sure. My main project right now is trying out my vibratory tumbler. My husband tries to buy me equipment he thinks I will enjoy but sometimes I think it's beyond my skill level. I have a Gy-Roc 10 lbs vibe. Because he spent so much, I feel a lot of pressure to turn out some shiny rocks soon. After reading some of the posts, I am questioning if I was supposed to use the 60/90 like I started out with. I also found that it didn't shape the rocks as I was hoping, and read more about how vibes don't do that as well as rotary. Since I'm still experimenting, I don't have any big investment in the results. I moved on to 120/220 grit and now I have another issue. I added the rocks, ceramic media, grit and water. Because I need to have it add up to at least 10 lbs (says the instruction manual or else it can wreck the mechanisms), I have to fill it pretty much to just below the top. I run it and when I come back 12 hours later to check it, I find all the ceramic media and grit at the bottom with most of the rocks on top. It's not mixing up into a slurry that coats everything. The rocks still are wet looking, but I don't see how any work is being done on them that way. What am I doing wrong? Should I add some borax or soap as I've seen others say? Am I adding too much or too little of something? I used 2 Tbs grit. I've seen people say that's what they use, and I've also read of using 1 oz per pound of work load. I used about a 1/3 cup of water. I will try to get a picture later but I've already taken everything out. Any suggestions?
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Post by jasoninsd on May 2, 2021 20:39:33 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum from South Dakota! There are far more experienced tumblers on here...but I don't believe you should ever use any coarser grit than the 120/220 in the vibe. The 60/90 is too coarse for a vibe. My gut is telling me you have too much in the vibe to get that kind of separation. Again, I'd wait to hear what far more experienced tumblers have to say...
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Post by hummingbirdstones on May 2, 2021 21:32:29 GMT -5
Welcome from Northern Arizona!
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rocket
spending too much on rocks
Quality slabs for quality cabs in 2022
Member since September 2020
Posts: 292
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Post by rocket on May 2, 2021 21:34:25 GMT -5
Welcome from Maryland
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stewdogg
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 388
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Post by stewdogg on May 3, 2021 8:58:12 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum lovemyrocks! What is your process for loading the vibe tumbler? I have a Raytech TVL5 vibe and this is my loading process. 1. Rinse rocks and ceramic media with water 2. Load the vibe bowl (right after the rinse so, so they're still wet) trying to layer the rocks and ceramic media. 3. Turn vibe on and add grit a little at a time to try and incorporate the grit in the rocks/ceramics evenly. 4. Use a spray bottle to add a mist of water to the mix. I add it if the slurry/mix is too thick and not moving fast enough. Add a little at a time (5-10 sprays) because too much can slow things down a bit too. You shouldn't see standing water in the bottom of the bowl, you are looking for a coating of liquid rather than a bath of it. 5. Check every hour or two for the first few hours to make sure it's not drying out too much as it breaks the rocks down. You get more break down in the first two stages and much less in polish. I just use my spray bottle to add water as needed to get my desired speed. Make sure to clean everything between grit changes. I hope you add some rocks pics soon!!
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rads
spending too much on rocks
Making clay each day!
Member since April 2018
Posts: 318
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Post by rads on May 3, 2021 9:18:33 GMT -5
Welcome from Michigan. Most tumbling errors are a result of mixing hardness of stones and contamination from the last stage. There are lots of top class tumblers here who can help you out.
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katie
starting to shine!
Member since May 2021
Posts: 39
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Post by katie on May 3, 2021 17:30:27 GMT -5
Welcome! Congratulations on getting started. I've been watching every vibratory tumbler video I can (there are only a few) and still haven't started. From the videos I've seen the 60/90 grit is hard on the bowl and settles to the bottom for the vibratory (because it's too heavy I think). I don't know if I've seen anyone put a set amount of water in. They usually put it in little by little while watching it. Again, I'm still to scared to do it so, I don't actually know what I'm talking about. Good luck.
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Post by Peruano on May 3, 2021 20:21:28 GMT -5
Is it true that you are tumbling mostly beach stones? They are prerounded and less hard on your bowls and don't necessarily need to start with as coarse of a grit. If you have round stones, use them, if your media and smalls are staying on the bottom, you may have too much water. Wet the stones but pour out almost all of the water, Then squirt a good dollop of dawn liquid, run for a short few moments and then add your grit slowly. If you can see water, now, you probably have too much. If you don't have enough rocks (i.e. things seem to violent after 20 minutes or so, add more rocks (pea gravel, other smalls, etc>) just keep it reasonable. When you have the right balance of moisture, soap film to carry the grit up and around, and media to fill in the spaces. the action should be like a blender heavy with margaritas. If things get too dry, give it a spritz of water, but don't add enough that you can see it in the bottom of the bowl. The little gyroc vibe or the raytech 5 are better to start with because you are working with smaller loads, and its easier to adjust for the proper balance, but you can do it with what you have. Stay calm and go forth with vigor.
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lordsorril
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since April 2020
Posts: 766
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Post by lordsorril on May 3, 2021 20:21:51 GMT -5
I run it and when I come back 12 hours later to check it, I find all the ceramic media and grit at the bottom with most of the rocks on top. It's not mixing up into a slurry that coats everything. The rocks still are wet looking, but I don't see how any work is being done on them that way. What am I doing wrong? I'm not familiar with a gy-roc vibe. If it was a UV vibe I would say it sounds like too much water and/or not enough smalls. The amount of grit and water required to coat the rocks would vary from batch to batch based on the surface area of the stones. I would not recommend using any grit larger than 120 as it will have trouble sticking to the rocks and will most likely collect on the bottom and focus on wearing away your vibe bowl. Below is a video of my UV-45 setup. May or may not help.
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lovemyrocks
off to a rocking start
Member since May 2021
Posts: 7
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Post by lovemyrocks on May 4, 2021 12:19:26 GMT -5
Thank you for all of your suggestions. When I load my vibe, I start with the biggest rocks, then add the smaller ones. I add the ceramics media to trickle down and fill in the spaces. Then I sprinkle the grit all over and spray water. I don't think I'm adding too much water, but then again, I can't actually see the bottom of the bowl anymore by then. I am using some pieces of jasper, and also a lot of rocks I've found around my own property. Some are whole, some I've cut up. Some from Lake Michigan beaches. Pudding stones, epidote. I started up fresh last night after cleaning everything out. I did what manofglass suggested and let it run for a few minutes then added more media. My bowl is full almost to the top and runs pretty smoothly. Then this. Owning i checked it and all the rocks were on top again, media at the bottom. I would like to try a smaller load, but like I mentioned earlier, this is a 10lb machine and needs to have at least that much weight to keep it working properly. I will try to post a picture when I get home from work tonight.
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Post by manofglass on May 4, 2021 12:26:52 GMT -5
Thank you for all of your suggestions. When I load my vibe, I start with the biggest rocks, then add the smaller ones. I add the ceramics media to trickle down and fill in the spaces. Then I sprinkle the grit all over and spray water. I don't think I'm adding too much water, but then again, I can't actually see the bottom of the bowl anymore by then. I am using some pieces of jasper, and also a lot of rocks I've found around my own property. Some are whole, some I've cut up. Some from Lake Michigan beaches. Pudding stones, epidote. I started up fresh last night after cleaning everything out. I did what manofglass suggested and let it run for a few minutes then added more media. My bowl is full almost to the top and runs pretty smoothly. Then this. Owning i checked it and all the rocks were on top again, media at the bottom. I would like to try a smaller load, but like I mentioned earlier, this is a 10lb machine and needs to have at least that much weight to keep it working properly. I will try to post a picture when I get home from work tonight. Just run it they will mix keep it going Only stop it to add water or change to the next step
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Post by Pat on May 4, 2021 12:28:57 GMT -5
Not a tumbler, but welcome from California.
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lovemyrocks
off to a rocking start
Member since May 2021
Posts: 7
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Post by lovemyrocks on May 4, 2021 16:57:21 GMT -5
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Post by manofglass on May 4, 2021 23:41:29 GMT -5
Looks like to much stone not enough ceramic
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stewdogg
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2020
Posts: 388
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Post by stewdogg on May 5, 2021 8:33:31 GMT -5
Maybe too many large stones too... they tend to create a bottle neck with the smaller stuff trying to sneak by.
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lovemyrocks
off to a rocking start
Member since May 2021
Posts: 7
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Post by lovemyrocks on May 5, 2021 12:27:48 GMT -5
So I learned something. My tumbler bowl came with a lid and I always used it because I assumed I should. Well, I decided to let it run without the lid and lo and behold, things started moving better. The biggest rocks still seem to stay on the top layer, but there's a lot more tumbling action and movement against each other. Plus, when I check on it, all of the stones are coated in the grit. I just need to check on it more frequently because it dries out faster. Thanks for everyone's advice! I am going to let it go a couple of days more and then wash it out. I'll let you know how it looks. Another quick question, can anyone give me pointers on using cloudinary? I created an account but when I paste the url into this forum is says "upload preset not found." I tried changing it but I don't understand any of that.
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Post by As I in does tries! on May 8, 2021 6:54:46 GMT -5
Greetings and welcome from Scotland; your problem appears to be too many large stones and not enough smalls or media, I woud not reccomend using a grit heavier than 220 grade as 120 is still too coarse. Posting pictures is easy just edit my () to square brackets []. (img)https://res.cloudinary.com/karegirl36/image/upload/v1620165336/tumbler_qpfiv1.jpg(/img)
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Post by hummingbirdstones on May 8, 2021 9:13:10 GMT -5
So I learned something. My tumbler bowl came with a lid and I always used it because I assumed I should. Well, I decided to let it run without the lid and lo and behold, things started moving better. The biggest rocks still seem to stay on the top layer, but there's a lot more tumbling action and movement against each other. Plus, when I check on it, all of the stones are coated in the grit. I just need to check on it more frequently because it dries out faster. Thanks for everyone's advice! I am going to let it go a couple of days more and then wash it out. I'll let you know how it looks. Another quick question, can anyone give me pointers on using cloudinary? I created an account but when I paste the url into this forum is says "upload preset not found." I tried changing it but I don't understand any of that. Maybe Tommy can help you out with the Cloudinary thing.
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