Can Wood be Tumbled in a Rock Tumbler?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ธ.ค. 2023
- I decided to try something different in my tumbler. As usual, I learned something in the process.
- MERCH -
michigan-rocks.myspreadshop.com
- FACEBOOK -
/ michiganrocksrob
- INSTAGRAM -
/ michiganrocksrob
- KINGSLEY NORTH -
Kingsley North is a lapidary store in Michigan's U.P. They make a great cab machine and sell many other brands too. They have a huge selection rough rock, tumblers, grit, jewelry supplies etc. at good prices. I buy most of my coarse grit from here in 45 lb. bags. It's the best price I have found. If you buy using the following link, I make a small commission.
bit.ly/3MerxdI
This is the cabbing machine I use:
kingsleynorth.com/kingsley-no...
- THE ROCK SHED -
I buy a lot of lapidary supplies from The Rock Shed. I don't make money from your purchases there, but they have good prices and good service. This is where I buy my finer grits and polish.
rockshed.com
- AMAZON STOREFRONT -
I also have an Amazon storefront. This is where you can find other products you may have seen in my videos. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn't cost you extra.
www.amazon.com/shop/michiganrocks
- SUBSCRIBE -
On Michigan Rocks you can join me on relaxing rock hunts in picturesque Michigan. I'll also show you how to polish rocks and teach you other lapidary techniques. New videos are posted every Friday and some Tuesdays. Subscribe now so you don't miss any upcoming videos!
th-cam.com/users/MichiganRock... - บันเทิง
My vet pulled my donkey’s tooth today. She suggested I try tumbling the tooth. I’m intrigued and am going to try it.
I highly suggest tumbling in the middle or even softest grades with tumbling media or plastic or even pre-rolled rocks that wont further damage or crack Donkey's tooth where any microfracs may be...
That is intriguing. Will you just do the finer grits and polish to try to shine it up without grinding it down too much?
OMG, I can't stop laughing, er, CACKLING! This thread is hilarious! TUMBLE ON!! 🤣👍🏻🦷⛏️
For a minute I thought "donkey's tooth" was some colloquial name for wisdom teeth, until I re-read it 😂
You know what's not faux? How cool this channel is! Thanks for bringing us cool content and giving us cool ideas on what to do with our tumblers!
Thanks faux the comment!
Old disabled house bound dusty rusty rockhound here: Thanks Rob, this was really interesting!
What a cool experiment. The color change is really unexpected! I thought wood had to be exposed to sun and weather to get to that gray shade. I guess the water and weathering that you created artificially was enough to accomplish the oxidation process by opening up the cells in the wood. Nice!
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
That was the biggest surprise for me. The shaping turned out about like I expected.
I have picked up beach tumbled, bonfire wood pieces. The burnt wood was quite striking because it wasn't completely burned through. So the beach tumbling smoothed, rounded and then accentuated the grain of the campfire wood, while most of the black remained. Makes me want to try some in my tumbler, now that you presented this video!
Go for it! There are so many things you could try with wood.
I have been "making drift wood" in my tumblers for a couple of years now! Love it!
Do you do anything different than I did, and did it make a difference in the results?
Woodworking too!?! Your son's bed is awesome. You're talented. Love your channel.
I do a little woodworking. I built the cabinets in my rock shop. I think that bed, desk and chair in my son's room is the stuff that I'm most proud of.
The idea of tumbling wood had never even crossed my mind before. It turned out pretty cool especially the pieces that started out as boards. I would imagine that true drift wood could have spent many days if not years in the water or may have alternated spending time on the beach baking in the sun and then returning to the water. And then again it has probably spent several seasons of going through freezing and thawing processes so there’s a lot of variables that it could have gone through. The finished product looked pretty dry I just wonder how long it took to dry out. Loved the colors. I have made several batches of beach glass and I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. The slurry ended up being pretty black so I assume the shattered glass was grinding up the inside of the barrel. I’ve saved some plastic containers with the idea of tumbling glass in them but haven’t tried that yet. Nice experiment Rob !
I agree that a lot of driftwood has probably gone through several seasons in all sorts of weather. Mine was only in one specific environment for two weeks. It dried out quickly. I think I made the video three days after it came out of the tumbler, but it was completely dry in two.
I have started tumbling broken tiles to smooth out the pieces for my mosaic floor pieces. Love that you are experimenting with other media!
It's fun when things work out the way you hope they do.
Really interesting experiment.
They look pretty good.
Long time no see Rob! Such a cool idea! Since I'm into rocks...I'll tell you that rocks look sooo good with wood for displays! That natural wood I like the best! It would be really cool to see a piece of wood with branches tumbled! Your ornaments from last year looked great on my tree again this year!
I'll bet those ornaments hold up for even a third or fourth year!
After I pulled this stuff out, I wished I had tumbled a small stick with more branches. Maybe some other time.
@@MichiganRocks I'm sure they'll hold up for the rest of my years!
@@MichiganRocks you'll get the urge once again I bet!
I've tumbled glass to make faux beach glass for my wife to use for decorating and she loves it
Very interesting, wouldn’t expect that. Not sure why you need too many new ideas, I guess being winter you can’t be rock hounding, but love the Chanel Rob. Happy new year to you Nancy and the extended family.
I was out on the beach today. First time in awhile, but the weather has been very mild this year. We were out for about five hours and found some good stuff. You can see next Friday.
Fun video! Hey, given that you were a math teacher and thus several orders of magnitude smarter than me, I would love to see you do a video showing how to calculate pully size increases and reductions needed to build a custom tumbler. Like, how to get from the motor shaft rmp to the barrel drive shaft rpm that would turn a 3# barrel at 40 rmp and the same for 6# and 12# barrels. There is not much on other rock tumbling channels relates to this (at least not well done), and I think your background and great teaching style make you perfect for a how-to video.
I doubt that too many people would be interested in a video like that. Here's on online tool that will do all the work for you though: www.blocklayer.com/pulley-belteng
I never thought to do that . Pretty cool.
Your site is great, always fresh and it’s great to walk along with you when I can’t get out. Cool experiment, it’s thinking outside the box… barrel. The title hooked me in. Thought you were talking about petrified wood. Petrified wood is interesting to tumble… another idea for you. I’ve been experimenting with the float I’m finding in the desert, very cool colors and it helps me to differentiate good float from not so good for tumbling… trees from the pliocene era. Thanks for all the work you put into your videos for us.
I have tumbled pet. wood in the past. I actually have some from my trip to Montana in the tumbler right now. It tumbles well, but the cracks along the grain lines kind of drives me crazy.
I was wondering if you put some of that in there from that trip. I’ve been tumbling it with some of my desert agate on the first week then I hold onto it until I have enough to just do petrified wood together polish number two since it’s a little softer.
@@Gene.Guaazo I don't worry too much about tumbling mixed hardnesses together. I don't like to put really soft stuff in with harder material, but a little variation doesn't usually cause problems. I do most of my last stages in a vibratory tumbler, though, so it might be a bigger deal in a rotary tumbler.
Love that you are trying different types of wood...a small piece of driftwood in a bowl of tumbled rocks with some sand. Your own little beach in a bowl. Remember to put it up when grandkids are around. A vignette of a beach!!!
Yeah, my plate of rocks on the coffee table always has to be moved when the grandkids are here. We're probably at a safe time for them right now. One can't get to the table and the other is too old to be sticking random things in his mouth.
Cool experiment aand the wood turned pretty beautiful👍💕🇫🇮
That was very interesting. Always enjoy your "out of the box" videos. Thanks. HNY!
I'm a little hesitant to do too many non-rocks videos because they sometime result in more people unsubscribing than subscribing. That's a sign that it was not well received. So far for this video, I've lost seven subscribers and gained 14. Happy New Year!
What a fun project to watch. It turned out nice. Thanks for sharing.
I love that you got yourself in a position to push yourself to be creative and try new things. I have a couple channels, I understand!
I still have lots of rock ideas, but coming up with something every week really is a challenge.
@@MichiganRocks love your Wolverines! I’m a Detroiter now in Nashville. Enjoy your channel and watch all your videos.
Lol I do enjoy your style, Rob. Surprised a chuckle out of me with your funny face around 7:00. I always have fun watching your vids, this was an interesting idea and a cool little peripheral to your usual efforts. Thanks for sharing, keep up the great work!
I had to look to see why I made a face. Now I know.
@@MichiganRocks The sound, the hand, the works haha
What an awesome and fun idea! Neat experiment Rob! Hope you & your family had a wonderful holiday season! Great content, as always!
Thanks, Beth!
I'm currently tumbling my first batch of rocks ever in my life with a 3lb tumbler my wife picked out for my Christmas gift . I look forward to watching your channel for the great ideas . PS. Love your Stormy Kromers.
I have plenty of videos that should help you out. If you have questions, don't be afraid to ask.
I love my Stormy Kromers too. I got the blue plaid one first, and then I saw the maize and blue one and had to have it.
Always interesting, Rob!!
Very cool idea! All turned out pretty.
Beautiful results! I love the faux drift wood.
A different topic every week is amazing, and I enjoy them all. Here some topics you might consider (if you haven't done them already): 1) take us on a tour of your polished rock hall of fame-which ones do you like the most, and why? 2) give us ideas for what to do with all those polished rocks, 3) report from a rock show (or rock concert, for that matter).
1) th-cam.com/video/m89j12w3lBI/w-d-xo.html
2) Working on it.
3) Maybe. I think I'd be self conscious wandering around a place with a lot of people talking to my camera. I did something sort of like that here: th-cam.com/video/wGJBTIETEzc/w-d-xo.html
Came out nice! I’ve seen dowels sandblasted to bring out the grain and make them look like saguaro ribs….so, sandblasting works, too. Happy New Year! Thanks.
I think some signs are made by sandblasting. The letters are covered up and the rest of the sign is sandblasted, sort of like a reverse stencil. That leaves raised grain too.
Cool video, Rob! 😊
Video idea--We'd love a tour of your shop!
This is a few years old, but here you go: th-cam.com/video/_kgta1BLOkY/w-d-xo.html
Very interesting.
Very fun, thanks! 😊
Cool. I never thought of putting wood in my tumbler
It took a few years for that to occur to me to. I thought of the idea last year and just got to it on my list of idea.
Excellent video! I would've never thought to do that with wood, and they all came out great!! Thank you for the idea and great video! Have a great New Year! 🥳
Happy New Year!
Always cool to see new ideas, and trying different experiments. Nice work Rob!
Thanks, Mike.
I was wondering just this morning what wood would do in a tumbler, and there you are! Really enjoying your channel!
I'm right inside your head now. There's some weird stuff in there!
@@MichiganRocks haha! You have no idea!
This is a great experiment! I think I might have to try this!
Give it a whirl!
That was fun!
Sticks and stones, looks good. I had thought dry sand might also work. Thank Rob, Happy New Year.🎉
I thought this worked well enough that I skipped the dry sand, although I was prepared to do that.
This is so cool!!! Thanks!!!
What a cool idea! Makes me wonder what other things could be successfully tumbled…Have a happy new year!
I'm sure we could come up with a few things to try. I have at least one other on my list.
I’m a woodworker and I use the vinegar and steel wool method all the time!
My neighbor Sam who you may have seen in my videos just used it on a picture frame he made. I helped him make the frame and he did the staining. I was really impressed with how it turned out for him. It looked very natural.
Awesome experiment! Hope you and Nancy have a Happy New Year! Thanks for sharing!
Happy New Year, Brian!
Fascinating! Before you showed first results I thought you would have a pulverized chowder in the barrel. I was surprised the wood held its shape, and this tells you how little I know about wood. You might consider looking at various hardnesses of hardwood and softwood. It would also be interesting to see how fatwood endures the process. Very interesting results!
What is fatwood?
@@MichiganRocks You might be wondering why I recommend fatwood as a tumbling candidate. Wood in general is composed of cellulose with enormous chambers and inter-fiber channels which can absorb water. Fatwood has fewer channels and chambers, so it is not as subject to water absorption and swelling--and on top of that, all the turpentine-like components are hydrophobic, meaning they're just not attracted to water--they *repel* water. So you could get more interesting effects due to tumbling. Maybe you would end up with a bumpy or striated surface, for instance, rather than a totally smooth surface. Or you might see other strange or interesting effects. Maybe the tiger's eye-like nature of fatwood would be enhanced. It would be interesting to find out!
@@AncientNovelist Where does fatwood come from? I'm still not sure where it comes from or what it is. Is it a particular species of tree?
One commenter said he tumbled beach fire wood, I wonder if pre burning with a torch would help to bring out the grain. Adding holes and gouges might also make for some interesting shapes. I will definitely be trying this in the future, thanks for the idea.
That's an interesting idea. I don't want to make more wood tumbling videos since that's not what most people come here for, but if I did, I'd definitely try that.
I LOVED this video, Rob! Thanks for sharing that. I like how the one in the center came out, I think it was the maple. The natural branches look good, too. I love them all and I think any of those in certain shapes would be great in a shallow bowl or basket as decor. Of all the rock tumbling I've seen, that I also love, this is what's going to motivate me to get a tumbler. 😄 I don't think heard it if you mentioned it, but (even with the jasper in there) I would imagine that the wood tumbling would be quieter than if it were all rocks?
I never thought about the sound. I have so many rocks going that I doubt that I'd hear the difference. I do think wood in a big 12 pound barrel would be quieter than rocks. In a larger barrel, you can really hear the rocks thumping around in there. There's a big difference between the large barrels and the small ones.
@@MichiganRocks That makes sense. And I guess these weren't the only ones you had running in there. We'd have to have a tumbler going in the garage or else just get used to it running, which I remember trying in the basement when I was a kid. We used one of those tumbling kits and it was 30 days of hearing the sound. We only used it the one time. 🙂
@@TruthWillSetYouFree832 My tumblers have been going pretty much nonstop for about 12 years. My big one is insulated so it doesn't make too much noise. The Lot-Os are under the stairs to the garage, which helps, but you can sort of hear a hum when both are running at the same time. It's not bad though and only noticeable if everything else is really quiet.
Wowww!!! So beautiful sharing dear friend great upload have a nice day
It really looks like driftwood.
I might give it a go.
We have tons of driftwood on our local beaches.
I have no reason to make driftwood because it's easy to find here too. I thought it was a fun little experiment though.
@@MichiganRocks it was definitely a fun video to watch
Unless you've done it already it seems like the next item in this series would probably be various types of ceramic items or maybe you could go wild and tumble pieces of concrete ?
Thanks for the video Rob !!!
I'm all done with the non-rock stuff for this winter, I think. I have plenty of rock things lined up. Maybe next winter, I'll try something else that isn't rock.
I love seeing things OTHER than rocks in rock tumblers, I'm just interested to see what happens with it! (provided it doesn't hurt the tumbler of course :) ) really interesting that they all came out a gray color, I wasn't expecting that.
For your questions about weathering, the checking only happens on pieces of wood that are 1. cut across the tree's trunk like those you logs you made your son's bed from, and 2. large enough.
Basically, wood will expand/contract much more on the OUTSIDE of a log than on the inside. Wood is like a big bundle of very long cells. These cells are (almost) all going up and down, and they're shaped like really really REALLY stretched out footballs. The cells around the outside "ring" of the tree are swollen with sap and moisture and are growing. The cells on the inside core of the tree are shriveled up and no longer have a lot of sap or moisture, they're just structural support. (This is why you can sometimes see hollow trees with rotted out/diseased cores, but they're still alive).
When you cut across a tree's trunk to make a log out of it, think of it like a pizza with a soggy crust. The middle of the pizza is the inner dryer wood, the crust would be the outer wet/growing wood. As soon as the tree is cut, it will start losing moisture and shrinking/drying.
When all those stretched out football-shaped cells shrivel up, they don't do it evenly. imagine the crust of that pizza suddenly shrinking, but the middle of the pizza (heartwood) is really hard and dry. So the pizza crust/outer live wood is shrinking and tightening like a rubber band, and it has no way to release that tension aside from splitting apart.
The smaller pieces of wood you have are a real piece of driftwood (probably weathered by many different things that created that unique craggley pattern of cracks, salt, wind, sun, fungi, pests, etc.) and a piece of board that doesn't look big enough to develop a check. It's only a small slice of "pizza"/log, which should deal with its crust/sapwood shrinking just fine.
I hope that was a decent explanation, you should read "understanding wood" by Bruce Hoadley, the excellent illustrations/explanations were EXTREMELY informative
Wow, thank you for the in depth explanation of how checking works. I had a basic understanding of that, but not to that level. The cracking in my small piece of drift wood probably isn't checking like a log would do, but some other sort of cracking like you described in the second to last paragraph of your comment. That's probably not something that would ever take place in a rock tumbler.
Look, I found a piece of driftwood that looks just like a heart! Hmm, I bet Rob was here. Lol
Interesting project. Maybe if you put wood in food dehydrator to achieve the checked/split look. Wonder if you could put leaves in there too; driftwood I find usually is darkened by tannins from leaves.
Putting leaves in would have been a good idea, although the color change I got was pretty good already. I don't have a food dehydrator to try your other idea out. I did briefly consider putting it in the oven, then I realized that I like being married.
@@MichiganRocks Too bad about the oven idea... would your wife know if you put it in the backup (basement) oven?
I found your comment funny. However, it would be me putting it in to the oven!
@@powerlinekid4296 Probably not. I could most likely get away with that but I'm not all that determined to make driftwood.
@@MichiganRocks ok... Happy New Year!
Have a great new year Friend.
Still working on the jig. ( grins )
Have stories catch up then!
Ohh 3000 tumbled since last comment 😇
Thanks, You had part in the process of learning...ahh but then you're a teacher..math right! And that and science was all I could ever relate to so..👍
Happy new year, Scott. I hope all your jigs turn out in 2024.
I love the color! I wonder how walnut shell grit would do? Thank you for another great video and best wishes for the the New Year.
Walnut shell isn't really a grit, but more of a media to tumble in. Some walnut shell might come pre embedded with grit though. I think either way walnut shells would just cushion everything and result in much less wearing away of the wood.
Cool! I can see why you did this. Haooy Bew Year to you and your family!
Happy New Year!
That was cool to watch. Turned out pretty.
Interesting anyhow. I think I picked up that real piece of driftwood for you after you picked up the other stuff. That was the last one though. I used it in a thumbnail picture once.
@MichiganRocks , that's funny. I still haven't had time to do that project with the driftwood yet. I had to put finishing my workshop on hold for now. My husband found 11 house cats that someone dumped out in the woods miles from any houses. So for now they are living in my workshop till I can find homes for them.
@@donnalantz7981 Oh my gosh, that's kind of scary! That's a lot of cats.
@MichiganRocks I actually have 24 cats in total. I feed all the feral cats, and I caught all their babies as well. So I have 8 in my house, 7 outside and 10 in my workshop. I have found homes for 2. I couldn't leave those 11 out in the woods to die. They were so emaciated and several were sick. So they all got a trip to the vet. They are all now spayed/neutered so no more babies. They just need loving homes.
@@donnalantz7981 We have zero pets, so I suppose it's ok if you have a few extras.
Very cool, Rob! Beats sanding by hand, in my opinion. I can’t do it. Nails on a chalkboard! Ew. Happy New Year!
That was interesting......and noone minds any rocksearching vid along the beach ever ;]
You'll get one of those next week.
That was awesome! Did that bring out the patterns of the wood too! Way cool...(I use Lake Superior white beach sand, half and half w/Miracle Grow for my succulents..works awesome!!)
👁👁 happy to drop by 👋
11:24
Interesting.. You do come up with good ideas. Happy New Year, May it bring you Health & Happiness.. ~ Thanks for Sharing..
I don't know if it was a good idea, but it was something different.
I am surprised you hadn't known....Yes, I added some in lieu of ceramic tumbling media....it came out wet and mostly polished
Very cool experiment! The color change surprised me at first too. I'm guessing it's not much different then staining or color washing any wood project. Any tannins left in the wood may have leached into the mix and had a part to play as well.
If you cut into the dimensional stuff, I wonder if the wood has it's natural color. Not sure how long it would take the pieces to soak through.
So many ideas popped into my head watching this. Maybe adding some coarse gravel would wear down the softer parts of wood adding to the weathered appearance. Throwing some steel wool and vinegar "stain" or the actual materials. Add colored acrylic paint to alter the finished color.....I need to get another tumbler😂
Thanks for the video and kick starting my imagination👍👍
Have fun experimenting Mark. Just be careful that you don't put things in the barrel that might degrade it. I wouldn't put vinegar into my barrel, for example.
@@MichiganRocks Good point about vinegar. I'd use a different barrel for any intentional staining attempts.
Probably the best opening line, ever!
I didn't really plan to say that, but that's how I was feeling as I walked up to the camera.
Pretty cool look. Could you make a wind chime with your wood and beach glass?
I suppose I could. I don't have plans to, though.
Interesting 😮
Maybe a year ago, I had the idea to tumble halite with acetone. I don't think that's a good idea since acetone softens plastic, and that would likely ruin the barrel. Maybe instead, you could super-saturate water with salt, and then put the halite in. Since halite is soft though, I'd use sand as grit instead of aluminum oxide. Maybe you could try that since I think that's unique.
That's an interesting idea. I won't be doing that this winter because I think I already have enough projects lined up to get me through to spring.
Weird, Rob. I was just looking at some petrified-looking wood while out walking my puppy yesterday and said to myself, "hmmmm, I wonder if I could tumble this..."
Loving the new wall design, by the way 👌
Now you know that you can!
Thanks for the compliment on my sign. It was one of those projects that turned out exactly how I planned. I love when that happens!
Good video, fun experience. Try laser etching a rock.
I did that in my review of the laser and I am in the process of making another video about that too. It's mostly done and the engraving turned out pretty good.
Thanks!
Whoa, thanks! All that rock tumbling and one wood video results in a tip! Didn't expect that. Thank you very much.
Different for sure 😮
Perhaps another project-video to show.. mold some polished stones in clear expoy for a nice table top.
People have suggested that before. I always wanted to make a coffee table with a glass top and a shallow area underneath to fill with tumbled rocks. That way the tumbling would be shown off better and the rocks be changed out for an ever changing table. I liked my idea, but my wife did not.
Love your videos have you ever got gravel from a pit or field stone I live in southern Michigan and there are many sand and gravel pits and my property is loaded with field stones and they must be about the same kind of stones that come out of the lakes
Yep, most of that rock was dropped off by glaciers whether in the lake in inland, it's all the same stuff.
That was cool! What will you do with the wood now? Maybe a display with some tumbled stones?
I don't really have any use for the wood. Right now it's cluttering up my shop. This was more about the experiment rather than trying to produce something that I needed.
Cool experiment. I like the color change. I was expecting the wood to be ding-ed up not polished. It'll be really interesting to see what happens as the wood dries.
The wood in this video was completely dry as far as I could tell. It had been drying for three days. I suppose there could still be some moisture on the inside, but it didn't feel extra heavy or anything.
I made my tumbler from plumbing parts, the lid has a square hollow that kept trapping rocks so I hammered a piece of 2x2 into the space. That was almost a year ago
Currently it has nice rounded corners and nice polished surface
So it works
Sounds like you did the same experiment, but only tumbled one side of your board. I sure does get smooth, doesn't it?
Cool project maybe add some sharp metal objects to bang up the wood a bit?? Fair play to you for coming up with new ideas!! I love the sign you made and the petrosky stone and puddingstone rock signs why didn't you show how you did those??😮😂❤
I thought about doing a video about my new sign, but decided that was a little too far from my channel's rock theme. I do have a couple laser engraver videos that I'm thinking about doing that involve both wood and stone. I'm excited about both of those, but I can't do them until it either gets warmer out or I get some sort of a venting system for the laser. Cutting wood produces a fair amount of smoke.
@@MichiganRocks I never realised that it would smoke but it makes sense of course! 😂 I don't think your viewers would mind you straying from your rock theme occasionally 🥰 but I get it. Hoping for warmer weather so you can vent the space for the laser!!
That gave me an idea, I have epoxy scraps. leftovers from pours How do they tumble, would be interesting to know
Throw them in and find out! I think that's a great idea.
Regarding the steel wool "tea", the darkening effect depends on tannins in the wood, so higher tannin woods darken more than the others. I haven't tried it, but I've heard that you can soak the wood in black tea before doing the steel wool treatment for a more pronounced color change.
I found one page where a guy did tons of experiments with the steel wool/vinegar stain as well as other stains. He made whole charts of different results on different woods. It was quite impressive. gadgetsandgrain.com/2019/08/02/how-to-oxidize-age-wood-in-a-matter-of-minutes/
The closest beach to us is a Pacific Ocean beach, so I half expected you to add saltwater! I suspect the results wouldn't be much different, though. I'm not a huge driftwood fan, probably because there are such huge quantities of it on the ocean beaches. One type of driftwood I do like is driftwood that is very weathered and completely riddled with wormholes, where the holes are 3/8" to 1/2" in diameter and very convoluted. Recently I ran across a unique piece of driftwood that looked pretty cool. It was on a very large log, and I think what happened is that some time in the past the log was used as a windbreak for a beach bonfire, then got rolled around in the surf for a few years. The surface of the log was covered in deep scallops; there was no remaining hint of burning, giving it an "otherworldly" look.
Ideas for videos? Currently I'm struggling with vibratory tumblers. I don't like the one I have (Raytech Tumble-Vibe) because the rocks and media mix very poorly, nothing like the mixing action you show in your videos of your Lot-O tumbler. I should probably just bite the bullet and spend the extra money for the Lot-O tumbler, but a lot of reviewers give it low marks for quality and reliability, and it ain't cheap. I have a vibration table that I bought years ago at a scrap auction (it was factory new but the speed control didn't work - turned out that it only needed a new 50-cent part to fix). Today I tried attaching the Tumble-Vibe bowls to the vibration tabletop using strong magnets; the attachment worked fine, but the tumbling action was no better than on the Tumble-Vibe base - very poor mixing. My working theory is that the mixing action in the bowl or barrel replicates the motion of the off-balance wheel used to create the vibration, which would explain why the Lot-O tumbler has such a good mixing action. (My vibration table creates vertical motion only). Anyway, if there's any advice you can add to your past videos on vibratory tumblers, I'm all ears/eyes.
My only vibratory tumbling experience is with the Lot-O. I should really try to get a more well rounded knowledge of vibratory tumblers, but I don't really want to spend money on tumblers that I don't need. I asked Diamond Pacific to give me a Mini-Sonic to review after the Lot-O motors became unreliable, but they didn't respond to my email. That one seemed like it had potential, although I've read both good and bad about it.
I'm also kind of curious about a vibrating flat lap like you have. I'd like to get one of those for my channel too, but haven't made much of an effort to get one. I do have a new tool that I might try making later this winter, but that will have to be a surprise. Actually, I'll even be surprised if that gets done before spring!
Vibrating flat lap? Let's see ... Google image searching now ... oh, I see, those look cool, I'd really like to have one of those babies! I actually tried to achieve that effect with the vibration table, but progress was so painfully slow, it would have taken at least a year to flatten and polish a good-sized rock. I blame this on the vertical vibration action of my table - the motor is mounted horizontally to the underside of the tabletop. I imagine a vibrating flat lap creates a horizontal circular vibration, a perfect match for the task. My hope for the vibration table was to be able to vibrate multiple bowls at the same time, the vibratory tumbler equivalent of your multi-barrel rotary tumbler setup. But the vertical vibratory motion of the table seems to be an insurmountable obstacle, it hasn't proven suitable for vibratory rock tumbling, at least with any of the bowls I've tried. I haven't tried a cylindrical barrel, though ... mounted vertically, maybe? Sorry, just thinking out loud here.
@@miltonthecat2240 I'll leave that experimenting to you. Sounds like a fun puzzle to solve though.
Go blue!
Go blue!
An idea. Making a chess board with rock pieces. Potential for the laser etching rig, dremel, saws & tumbler
I don't play chess, but I have a similar idea already brewing. It will involve the laser, wood, and rock. I just need to either vent my laser out a window or wait for warmer weather though. Cutting wood produces smoke.
@@MichiganRocks Oohh. Definitely wait for better weather imo. Our winters are shorter than most of Canada’s at least 🤭
i have some parts of concrete with bigger rocks in it i was gonna try...i need a set up like your tumble cabinet
I would expect the cement to wear away fairly quickly, maybe leaving you with just the aggregate tumbling. I never thought about tumbling concrete.
I Love this video! Thank you!
Have you ever tumbled petrified wood? I have wanted to tumble petrified wood for a few years. I've been afraid to try it, because I don't want to ruin the petrified wood. Any thoughts or suggestions from you are very much appreciated!
Thank you Rob!
I won the Worldwide Rock Tumbling Contest in 2016. The rock that year was Arizona petrified wood. Pet. wood tumbles very well, except that some of the grain lines are sometimes soft or porous. Some people will only tumble the first stage for a week or so to keep it looking more natural.
This is really cool. I'd love to see what happens when it's dry. Hmmmmmm.... What happens when you do rocks dry? Why do we need water in the first place?
I think the water accomplishes two things in a tumbler with rocks.
1) It cushions the rocks so they don't crash into each other, chipping and bruising along the way.
2) It helps the grit get in between the rocks to do some grinding. If it was dry, the grit would just filter down to the bottom rather than getting in between the rocks. As the rocks start to grind in the tumbler, it develops a thicker slurry that helps the grit stick even more.
@@MichiganRocks oh that's interesting.
I could see if you were an artist that lived very far from the beach this would be a good way to get some material for a project.
I found quite a few webpages and videos about people making fake driftwood when doing some research for this video, so there must be a demand for it. Obviously, if you live near a lake, it's easiest to just go pick some up. In my research, I didn't find anyone doing it the way I did though.
Nice experiment. I thought for sure you were going to have a barrel of wood pulp.
Surprise!
You're going to like that desert jasper once you get it polished. I assume that's the same stuff as polychrome jasper, which seems to go by a bunch of different names. If so, it takes a great polish, has interesting colors, and doesn't seem to have very many fractures.
I do love it. I have already polished some. I do think it's exactly the same as Polychrome. I think I bought about ten pounds of it from the Rock Shed just for doing experiments with. It tumbles very easily too.
Very interesting! Have you ever tried tumbling quartz crystals or broken pieces of them?😎
Yes, you can see the results here: th-cam.com/video/cYfU35kjDfo/w-d-xo.html
Just wanting to know what kind of final polish you use? Name brand, grit size and where to get it. Thanks so much.
I usually use "aluminum oxide polish" from The Rock Shed. I have also used Kingsley North's "micro alumina", which seems to be the exact same thing. Both work great and are reasonably priced. There are links to both stores in the description of this video. Sometimes The Rock Shed also sells on Amazon, and you can find that in my Amazon storefront.
Thinking about the checking: everything except the two branch chunks you cut would have been kiln dried, precisely to avoid checking. I wonder if green wood drying out for several months after tumbling might produce more of that ragged texture?
That's a really good point. After weeks of tumbling, the wood should get pretty waterlogged again. I wonder if that would allow it to check again if it dried out naturally? I only tumbled this for two weeks, so it may not have absorbed enough water yet.
I think some cross shapes of wood tumbled like this might make some nice necklaces
Yeah, I can see that. I'm not sure how to make little wooden spheres, but those could make some nice beads. Of course, the beads could also be cubes or some other shape. Lots of possibilities.
Very nice results! I was hoping for success, but I really thought all you'd end up with was splinters and goo. One of those situations where I am happy to be wrong. I got curious about the weight. I assume the wood that got tumbled didn't become light like driftwood. I'm guessing that natural driftwood has it's lignin dissolved by water and time-- lots of both. A quick and superficial search indicates that a fairly wide range of common solvents can dissolve lignin, alcohol being the most user friendly. Acetone, Bleach and Ammonia were also mentioned.
You're right, I think I even mentioned the weight at the end of the video. I'd be very reluctant to put any of the liquids you mentioned in my tumbler for fear of damaging the rubber. I have put dish detergent in my barrel with just water and rocks before and the water comes out very dark, like it took a layer of rubber off.
@@MichiganRocks Oh yeah, I think if the lignin removal was going to be tried, it would have to be separate from the tumbling.
I’d love to see it after about 2-4 months of tumbling.
You'd better get started then!
Good one. 😅
What if you used a jagged rock like lava rock with water and omit the sand. May get the worn look you’re trying to achieve. Just a suggestion.
I thought about using some crushed rock. I don't really have a need for fake driftwood, though. This was just something to play around with. I think for now, my curiosity has been satisfied.
What about tumbling patterned broken plates, cups, ceramics etc. Or maybe trying a really different kind of barrel e.g, a large cylindrical glass or plastic container like a pickle jar?!
Wouldn't the pattern just be on the outside and get tumbled off? Maybe the pattern is put on there in some other way, but I always assumed it was just painted on.
@@MichiganRocks I’ve found small broken sea tumbled China/porcelain pieces on beaches in England where the edges are tumbled smooth but the design is still visible. They could be broken plates, cups or tiles maybe? Often blue and white
@@sandraabshire4923 Maybe they could be tumbled then. Give it a try!
Oooh, what a cool experiment. I thought about tumbling wood for quite a while. I have a lot of tree pearls collected over the years, some are very small. I'd love to polish them and make a rosary out of them. Do you think that is possible in a vibratory tumbler (my rotary is broken)? And if in the vibe: wet or dry? With sand or with walnuts?
First, what's a tree pearl? Is that like a burl or something?
As for tumbling wood, I can't see why a vibratory tumbler wouldn't work. It just wouldn't change the shape as much. I'd probably just throw some in with some rocks and see what happens. Just start with a few to make sure you don't ruin your tree pearls (whatever they are) because they seem like something that's rare.
I love your idea of making a rosary. That's still on my list of things I'd like to make. I just need to figure out the beads. I actually already have the pliers to make a chain rosary and my niece knows how to make them with a cable rather than a chain.
@@MichiganRocks
Tree pearls, well that's what we call them in German... is there another English name for them? I don't know... they are like warts growing on trees and you can rip them off without hurting the tree... they can get quite big. I got some up to the size of a baseball, my husband uses those for wood turning. The wood grain in those things is very unique, no rings but swirls, really cool. Most of my smaller ones are from beech.
I'll try some of them in my next tumble and see what happens. Thanks for your answer.
If you google "Baumperle" you'll find pictures. I did not find any if I search with an translation
I wonder if the color change was the result of staining from the sand and rocks? The tumbling medium seemed to have been darker grays and your finished pieces ended up grayer than i would expect driftwood to be. Try different colored medium and see if that changes the color of the wood.
I doubt that the rocks or sand changed the color, but if they did, that's fine since wood would also be exposed to rocks and sand on the beach.
video idea for your, have viewers send in rocks for you to tumble , so we can see your tumbling skills on various rocks throughout the US
Nope, that would be a nightmare. The problem with tumbling other people's rocks is keeping them separated from my own rocks. The way I tumble, I only take out a few rocks every week so I have to replace just a few rocks each week. At the beginning it's fine, but at the end, there might only be a couple stubborn rocks left and they are mixed in with a bunch of other rocks. It's really, really hard to keep everything straight.
Your idea is really good, otherwise. I think that would be a really popular thing to do and would let more people be involved with my videos. I just know from experience that it drives me crazy to do it.
i can only imagine how many you would get sent too haha
@@MichiganRocks