Tumbling for idiots

[Mithras]

Hi all

After a bit of talking about getting someone to tumble for me, I just got a motor and some PVC pipe and started building my own tumbler.

Now I need to know how to use it.  Could someone give me a lowdown on how to tumble

I will start with a bunch of quartz jelly beans to tumble

Thanks

[Wwoofa]

Hi Michael,
I'll tell you everything I know .... stick stuff in a barrel thingy & spin it round for a long time ... then take the stuff out.  Easy eh
Good luck, Paul

PS. Do you call it "tubling" when you use a PVC tube?

[mehoose]

Hehe, that's Bam Bam speak.

[Mithras]

  fixed

 

[mehoose]

Bam Bam,
Send Calx a message. He's into it big time.

I know you have to work through some grits of varying sizes and different lengths of time. I'd rinse the lot between grits, especially before the polish.
Beyond that I haven't a clue.

Merryn.

[Aussie Sapphire]

Here is an article we wrote a while back:

"Getting Started in Rock Tumbling"

There are some links near the top of the article that gives some good basic instructions.

Essentially, you need to tumble the rocks with some water and progressively finer abrasive grit - most people work from coarse (about #80) although you can skip this one if the rocks are already well rounded, then through the medium grinding stages and finally a polishing stage.

There are a whole bunch of different polishes - we have Aluminium Oxide which is very cheap but doesnt work on everything.  We also have Cerium Oxide is a good one to try - it works well on almost everything and is very good on quartz. 

You can reuse the polish slurry a few times before having to replace - the coarser grits will wear out as they grind the rocks and you'll need to replace for each batch. 

Lots of trial and error - ask others for advice but be prepared to experiment to find what works well for you.  Cleanliness is very important.  If you are making your own barrels from PVC which is very cheap, I recommend making extras and keeping them separate for each different grit to avoid contamination of coarser grits in a finer stage which can scratch and is very frustrating.

cheers
Leah

[Mithras]

do I have to line the inside of my pvc drum with rubber matting?

[Aussie Sapphire]

do I have to line the inside of my pvc drum with rubber matting?

Pretty sure the answer is no - Andrew can give you some info on this because he has made some barrels the same way so can talk sizes, fittings, etc.

The only trouble with no rubber lining is that they will be louder than the commercial types where they think the user might run them in a laundry or somewhere inside the house.  If you stick them out in the shed where the noise is not going to bother you, then no problems.

cheers
Leah

[Andrew]

 do I have to line the inside of my pvc drum with rubber matting?

 No you dont,the std PVC plumbers pipe lasts really well,you will just need to grind the notches of the screw on ends so it runs true.
 Cheers A