Hi folks - sorry to be away but just did a super show in Albuquerque
- the South West Arts Festival. Weather was great and balloons were
fabulous.
Now about the gunk in the patterns - that will happen when you use a
closed vibratory system and either run it too dry, or so long that
the worn off stuff makes the liquid sticky. To keep it from
occurring, either use a flow-thru system or stop the process every
two to four hours, rinse and refill the tumbler with adequate water
and tumbling solution. The manufactured solutions have a surfactant
that helps keep the stuff clean. If you are running one of the
little TV-5 size guys, it takes 300 ml of water or about 1 1/4 cup
of prepared liquid - like Rios Sunsheen deburring compound.
To figure out the right amount of liquid for your tumbler, do this:
filll the tumbler 90% with abrasive media, start the tumbler and add
water until the action begins to slow. Measure the amount of water
you used, subtracting an ounce or two, and use that amount of
prepared liquid when you run for real. Too much liquid and the
tumbler doesn’t work, too littlle and you get niello like gunk.
And to save yourself plumbing bills - never, ever put the dirty
liquid down the drain. Put in the compost or dry it and put it the
garbage or add it to your plants. It will absolutely clog your
drains - remember the niello like hardness, imagine that in your
drain. Just don’t do it.
Good Luck
Judy Hoch in perfect Denver fall weather.