Batch 38 is a bit of a stone mixture. Some of the stones have been grit tumbled before and are redos. The Gemstone Beach redo stones were originally from Batch 33 and the Kakanui redo stones were originally from Batch 34. The rest of the load was made up of Gemstone Beach stones collected sometime this year.
At Stage 2 (220grit) I added a Tbspn of borax (this is new to my tumbling process – read this to find out why) with three redo stones originally from Batch 36. Also added to the tumbler at this stage were four stones collected at Gemstone Beach that didn’t need tumbling in 80/100grit because they were already smooth enough. After finishing Stage 2, I noted that the barrel was not warm like the 4lb tumbler barrel was. I can’t say definitively that there’s any difference in using or not using a tablespoon of borax in with the grit but the warming of the barrel does concern me a little. I’ve decided to stop using borax in with the grit for now.
In the image below (Batch 38: After Stage 2) there’s nine stones I’m keeping a watchful eye on. I did let them go through to the next stage (Stage 3) but will be inspecting them closely after they come out of the 400grit tumble.
Stage 3 (400grit) saw the addition of 13 redo stones that originally came from Batch27-28-29’s polish tumble. I wasn’t happy with their finish and initial thoughts were they needed to repeat the 400grit stage.
Batch 38: 3lb Tumbler 1
Stage 1: 80/100grit
Number of Stones: 52
Weight in: 933grams
4 Tbspns of 80/100grit
No pellets added
Days Tumbling: 10
Weight out: 806grams – loss of 127grams
Stage 2: 220grit
Number of Stones: 52+3+4=59
Weight in: 806+28+64=898g
4 Tbspns of 220grit
1 Tbspn Borax
Pellets added
Days Tumbling: 11
Weight out: 766grams – loss of 132grams
Stage 3: 400grit
Number of Stones: 59+13
Weight in: 766+120=886grams
4 Tbspns of 400grit
Pellets added
Days Tumbling: 10
Weight out: 776grams – loss of 110grams
Pre-polish Soap Tumble (with pellets): 24 hours
After the soap tumble 12 stones were removed as these were not ready for polishing and will need a redo in grit to make them smoother.
Batch 38: Pre-tumble
Batch 38: After Stage 2
The 4lb tumblers are busy with other batches of stones, so Tumbler 1 continued tumbling the polish in the 3lb Tumbler.
I removed the other money agates (from Batch 33) to reunite them all, except for one! It has a lot of chips so it’s not possible to smooth those out and keep it a decent size.
Stage 4: Polish Mix
Number of Stones: 72-1+4=75
Polish Mix (new mix): 7 Tbspns of polish mixed with 400mls of clean water. Pellets added. (Note: 150mls of polish mix did not fit in the barrel)
Days Tumbling: 8
Final Weight Out: 697grams
Batch 38: Polish Complete
Polished Stones of Interest: Batch 38
Batch 38 | 3lb Tumbler 1 | Kakanui & Gemstone Beach redos, Gemstone Beach | 31 October – 13 December 2023