I am trying something a little different by changing the process for tumbling stones. As a result of not being happy with the final polish of a lot of the stones I have been tumbling recently, I have spent many hours watching videos (mostly Rob, from Michigan Rocks and his series Learn How to Tumble Rocks) and reading New Zealand Gemstones by Lyn and Ray Cooper. I managed to get my hands on this second hand book from Amazon and there’s a wealth of information pertinent to New Zealand “rocks” as well as tumbling and polishing instructions and tips.
The Changes
I have made several changes to my tumbling process with the biggest change being stones in a barrel don’t become a batch until there’s enough “readies” for Stage 3 which is a tumble in 400grit. Not sure if I like this way yet because I really do like tracking a batch of stones from start to finish. Also, I won’t be able to tell how long the stones took to polish as some may have been waiting in the “readies” drawer for a number of weeks.
Other changes I have already shared are following the ⅔ full barrel, less grit (1 Tbspn per lb of stones), 7 days of tumbling (after Stage 1 which is 10 days minimum) and closer inspection of stones both wet and dry before moving onto next stage. Due to how many stones I let go to the next stage that shouldn’t have all because I was trying to keep all the stones together from the start is, in my opinion, the reason why I have been so disappointed in the finished batch.
Batch 56: 4lb Tumbler 1
All stones are from Gemstone Beach. They have been tumbled in F60grit for at least 10 days (some have tumbled twice in F60grit) and have also been tumbled in 220grit for at least 10 days.
Once inspected after the first two stages, the stones are placed in the “readies” drawer until there is enough to make a batch of stones that are ready to tumble in 400grit – Stage 3.
Stage 3: 400grit
Number of Stones: Didn’t count
Weight in: 1670g
4 Tbspns of 400grit
2 Tbspn Borax
Ceramic Media added
Days Tumbling: 7
Weight out: 1583grams – loss of 87grams
Soap Wash
4hour soap tumble to clean off as much grit as possible to protect the integrity of the tumble polish mix. Grit remains can easily scratch stones and ruin the shine.
Stage 4: Polish
Number of Stones: Didn’t count
Weight in: 1583g
2nd use of Polish mix.
Ceramic media added as well as plastic pellets
Days Tumbling: 7
Weight out: 1579grams – loss of 4grams
4 days tumbling in borax for final clean.
Batch 56: Polish Complete
As I reflect sharing the process of this batch, I realise that I really don’t like this way of processing a “batch”. It feels like half of the information about the stones is missing and you can’t really see the journey of the stones which is essentially the purpose of blogging about each batch.
What I have noticed though is the stones are a lot smoother (and more ready for polishing) than before.
Whilst I want to share more than just “a tumbling log” I know I need to share more perhaps about a few of the stones in the batch. I’m thinking that it might be what a few particular stones are and why I think they are those.
Polished Stones of Interest: Batch 56
Batch 56 | 4lb Tumbler 1 | Gemstone Beach | Not sure what date started – Late March? – 6 May 2024