pugdog
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Dec 26, 2004, 3:34 PM
Post #1 of 1
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There is a lot of mystique about rock tumbling, a lot has been fostered by the sealed barrels, opened once a week, or once a month to refill, and after anywhere from 1-3 months you *may* get something that was suprising.
The only way to really enjoy this, was to run multiple tumblers, in several sizes, with large tumblers doing the coarse grinds, and pre-viewing the rocks, while smaller tumbers did the final shine and polish.
Things have changed a little, with the introduction of vibratory polishers -- especially the Lot-O-Tumbler, which really stands alone.
Something you need to get clearly in your mind, is that there is no "right" way to do anything. There may be ways that _usually_ work better, or *MAY* give better results in a specific situation, but no one way will work all the time, with all tumblers, and with all materials.
Not all tumblers are alike. Vibratory tumblers, especially like the Lot-O-Tumbler, really do have personalities. Different barrels may have a different action, by being softer, harder, thinner, etc. Rotating tumblers can have personalities too. Motors may turn slightly slower or faster, a specific drum or barrell may have a different slant, or any one of a hundred other things may affect a given system.
That said, there are a few "rules" that if followed will save a little disappointment. Some things usually don't work well -- like trying to polish hard and soft materials together.
But, if you read the various message boards, Usenet groups, or listen to a bunch of people talk about tumbling, there will be major disagreements on different points. One person's success story might sound exactly like another persons disaster story. The combination of ingredients that gave stunning results for Person A, was a total disappointment and failure for Person B.
Rock tumbling is an art, and a craft, not a science. It uses science, but there are no hard and fast rules. Only guidelines, suggestions, anecdotes and lore.
What I like about the Lot-O-Tumblers, especially if you have two units (not a double, but two singles) is that you can compress "a lifetime" of learning (or at least several decades) via rotating tumblers into a summer, or no more than a year. What a vibrating tumbler can do in 2-5 days, a rotating tumbler can take 4-6 weeks to do.
Additionally, the Lot-O-Tumbler lets you watch the rocks go around, meddle with their movements, add and remove rocks on the fly, and have a totally hands-on experience.
This is what I mean by the "changes." Grits, and polishes, tumblers and rocks have all been around. What changed is the addition of a unit like the unique Lot-O-Tumbler.
It's not a production unit. Rotating tumblers can do 200, 500 or even more pounds of rocks in a commercial production environment. The Lot-O-Tumbler is a 4-4.5 pound capacity, and often you run less material, with a weight (water, a rock glued to the cap, etc).
So, the first thing you need to know, is that the ONLY way you will learn about rock tumbling is to TUMBLE SOME ROCKS! You can read about it all you want, but since no two people really completely agree, you'll only have a lot of stories to tell. Until you work on your first batch, see what happens to the grits, the rocks, and how they grind and polish, it's only words.
Rock tumbling is active. Nature does it with water, sand and gravel, over a long period of time. We "stir" the pot by adding the mechanical tumbler to it, as well as Silicon Carbide grits, rather than water alone, or silicon dioxide sands.
On to the first lesson.
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