Batch 60: Working the QT12 - Tumble and Polish

I introduced the latest addition to my stone shed in this post. My early thinking was I would only use the QT12 Lortone Tumbler to tumble Stage 1 stones. My reasons for this were that stones are now more carefully inspected after Stage 1 using the awesome Headband Magnifier (I bought this one from Temu) and they can’t move onto Stage 2 unless they are smooth with no holes, pits or crevices that could hold rogue grit!

What I didn’t allow for was that the readies drawer for 220grit would fill up rather quickly! This isn’t a bad thing of course but it did mean that after a couple of 12lb barrel loads in Stage 1 there would be a barrel load of Stage 2 ready stones and no other free tumbler barrels! Hence Batch 60 being completed in the 12lb barrel.

As I begin this post my initial worry is that if I don’t get the ratio of stones, water, and ceramic media right for the polish stage the stones will bruise and I won’t be happy with the final polish. It will be interest to see how Batch 60 pans out.

You might remember from this earlier post that 72 stones were redos from a previous F60grit load in the 12lb barrel plus 188 stones were from a recent fossick on Gemstone Beach that I did with new rockhunting buddies Shona & Lee. The readies from this load and some readies from the drawer made up the 247 stones that started Stage 2 and officially made Batch 60. Stage 2 was not supposed to go for 15 days it’s just life that got in the way!

Batch 60: QT12 (12lb) Tumbler

Stage 1: F60grit

Number of Stones: 72+188=260
Weight in: 4494g
10 Tbspns of F60grit
No Borax
No pellets/media added
Days Tumbling: 11
Weight out: 3624g – loss of 870grams

Stage 2: 220grit

Number of Stones: 247
Weight in: 4045g
10 Tbspns of 220grit
No Borax
Ceramic media added
Days Tumbling: 15
Weight out: 3475g – loss of 570grams

Stage 3: 400grit

Number of Stones: 247
Weight in: 3475g
8 Tbspns of 400grit
No Borax
Ceramic media added
Days Tumbling: 9
Weight out: 3033g – loss of 442grams

EEEK! I completely forgot to do a 24hour soap tumble with these stones! I did give them a good wash during the rinsing off of 400grit but as the water pressure in my hose isn’t that strong, some remnants of grit is always left on the stones. This becomes evident in the polish mix at the end of the polish tumble. There is obvious ‘greyness” floating on the surface of the polish.

Ready to Polish

Batch 60’s polish mix was a combination of a new mix of 600mls of water with 9 Tbspns of polish plus a second use 300ml mix. Unfortunately once poured into the barrel I could already see some grit contamination! We will see how it goes!

60 more stones were added to the polish (these were stones given to me – I felt that they were ready for polish as most were argillite and super smooth already

Added to QT12 B60 — Added to Stage 4 – Polish tumble

Stage 4: Polish Mix

Number of Stones: 247+60
Weight in: 3033+792=3825g
Polish Mix (1st use): 9 Tbspns of polish mixed with 600mls of clean water.
Polish Mix (2nd use): 300mls of water with 5 Tbspns of Tumble Polish Mix
Ceramic media added.
Days Tumbling: 11
Weight out: 3824g – loss of 1 gram

Final Stage: Borax Clean

I’ve stopped using the term burnish because to burnish means “to make shiny especially by rubbing”. I am using the borax to clean any remnants of polish off the stones just like I use sunlight soap to clean off grit remnants before polishing. Batch 60 spent 4 days in borax (just because I had to work!)