rock tumbler anyone?

[creslin2]

as odd as this sounds for a aquarium club.....Does anyone have a rock tumbler? I'm looking at getting some Sioux quartzite (the pretty pink rocks you see down at Falls Park. I realize the pink will wash out the color of the fish, but the green plants I want in the tank should help equalize this) for one of the substrates for my FW planted tank, but it will need to be polished. I was looking at buying a rock polisher, but most polishers recommend 7-10 days per load. The cheap ones we can get at places like Walmart will have such pathetically small barrels, it will take literally MONTHS to get enough rock to put on the bed of a tank. So I'm looking at getting a larger one at a hobby shop here in town, but maybe someone already has a rock tumbler? I'd buy the grit if I can use it.....? Pretty please?

[Dakota Reef]

Hey Creslin, I don't know the first thing about rock polishers or where to get them but I if you're looking for a source for your Sioux Quartzite, last year I bought about 4 pickuploads full of the stuff from a quarry in Dell Rapids. I used it to make planter beds for the front of my deck in Madison.

Most of what they sell is large bolders but they also sort and crush smaller pieces there. The place is called LG Everist (sp) in Dell Rapids. I think 4 pickup loads which was almost 3000 pounds cost me less than $40, they'd probably give you what you needed for free.

Congrats on the 100+ posts by the way! I see you and Grant both passed the century mark. I've got to find more time to be on here.

Phil

[creslin2]

Thanks for the help! I just talked to Jody at Dakota Aggregate and she said I could come with a 5 gallon bucket and take what I want (even though they don't really have it sorted out, other than smallish chunks) but they have a minimum of $15. But now I can talk to their competitors! Maybe a better deal with more of what I want, who knows? Still gotta look for a tumbler though. This is gonna suck if I have to polish 3 pounds at a time (findings in research, rocks will lose about 30% of their mass during a tumbling cycle, so I'm gonna need prolly 150-250 lbs) Yeah. Divide that by the 3 pound max of the tumbler I'm looking at buying for $100..... then multiply that by 7-10 days per tumble cycle...... *whimpers*

[creslin2]

Man, the lengths I'm willing to go to for my fish....and soon to be plants.....

[creslin2]

Man, do I start some boring threads.... :hmm6:

well, the latest is I ordered a 12 pound "Thumbler's Tumbler" rock tumbler from Donovan's Hobby shop here in town, and with luck, it should be here by Thursday next week. We'll see.

oh, and the tumble time for each load is 7-10 days PER CYCLE (there's 4 of em). This works out to be 12 pounds of rock started, and maybe 9 lbs finished rock each month. So I might have enough rock to do one of the aquariums by say....August. *sniffle* and that's if I start right now! ah well. I do it for love. Could I get by with buying riverstones at a garden center, yes, but they wouldn't be as unique. Maybe if I can get a load done by the April meeting I can bring some to show off.

[tangdiver]

How is this coming??? Just curious shoould look great when all done...labor of love

addiction in my case

[creslin2]

actually, talking to a friend who may be interested in the other 3/4 ton of rock that I don't need. He's buying a house and is thinking about using it for landscaping. I should know for sure either today or tomorrow. Then I'll go pick it up and start the tumbling! :D

[creslin2]

ok, so today I pulled the first batch of rock. Not sure if I'm gonna tumble it longer or not. I kinda think so. Sioux quartzite is TOUGH! there were prolly 7-8 rocks that weren't quartzite mixed in with the SQ rock, and they are ROUND. The quartzite on the other hand? the edges are slightly rounded, enough so you wouldn't cut your hand on em, but still have very angular edges. I'm thinking I'll tumble it for maybe another 4 days, a week at most, and see how much more I can round them. But lemme tell ya, the rock looks pretty even tumbled for 8 days. I'll prolly do a few different batches to see how they come out, one batch through all the 4 stages, one batch through 3 stages, one batch through 2 stages, and one with just the rough grit. See how much difference it makes if I use all the steps or not. Might be able to get by with just doing the rough tumble and the fine tumble, no pre-polish or polishing.

[creslin2]

Oh, one other thing. I won't be able to tumble the 12 pounds per cycle I was hoping. the 12 pounds is the weight the motor can turn (indefinitely, in theory, without burning out. Ignore normal motor wear, that is.) So.....subtract out the weight of the barrel, and the 1 pound of grit per load, and about .5-1 pound of water per batch, and they only recommend loading the barrel about half to 5/8 full, which works out to be about 6 pounds of rock. So 6 pounds, divided by 300 lbs....that's 50 cycles, at one month plus each....4 years from now I should be done polishing rocks!!! Ok, that's a bit of an overstatement, since some rocks are unsuitable to tumble. Too thin, too angular, too small (little more than dust). This weeding out will cut down on my useable rock. So not quite 300 lbs. Gonna have to learn to love the sound of that motor and rocks tumbling though....

[creslin2]

well. the first batch is done, as far as I can get it with the grit I had. still needs more tumbling. :( So I've been looking around for a cheaper place to get the grit (less than the $6 per pound at the hobby shops. It has been suggested that Sioux quartzite may take 4-5 weeks and several pounds of grit per load/per cycle, and the grit breaks down after a few days of tumbling, so it becomes less and less effective). so far, struck out at the local hardware stores. So I turned to the internet. a quick search on alternative names, and presto! found a place in Michigan where I can get it for about $1.75 per pound, shipping included. That's the cheapest I've found, though. And so, after the wife gets home from work, we'll talk about it and see about ordering it so I can get on with tumbling that rock. :D

[tangdiver]

Sweet cannot wait to see...sioux quartzite is very very hard...but should be some prized rock gravel/substrate when done...cannot wait for pics.

Grant

[creslin2]

The newest part of the Sioux quartzite tumbling saga....

The grit came in today. I expect to start tumbling again later today. Maybe very late in the day, dunno. My nephews are having a birthday party and my wife said we get to attend. (whee.) More as it comes along. :)

Oh, and a word on the toughness of Sioux quartzite. It's 9.5 on Moh's hardness scale (diamond is a 10). Very hard doesn't begin to describe it. But what's gotten along thus far is very pretty. :D

[creslin2]

Ah, the background noise of tumbling rocks and the motor to drive it....

[tangdiver]

Any new updates???


Grant

[creslin2]

more rock tumbled. Come to think of it, this batch prolly is near done or at least needs the grit changed. Been away for almost a week.... So that would be ....er......3 batches that have gone through the first set of tumbles. Gonna keep tumbling the rough stone to get it rounded for a while. Mostly because I don't have the fine grit or plastic pellets for the next 2-3 steps, but partly because I only have 1 barrel to tumble rock in, and it must be cleaned THOUROUGHLY before beginning use of a finer grit. If a piece of course grit is still lodged in the barrel, it can mar the entire batch. So I'll just do big batches of step 1 for a while. :D This will cut down on the need to clean the barrel with something akin to dental cleaning implements.