It took three F60grit (Stage 1) tumble cycles before there were enough Slope Point nuggets (stones) ready to make up Batch 62 to carry onto Stage 2. That makes it a bit hard to track the early days of the batch. I did take quite a few photos of the stones as they went through the F60grit so you can spot the stones that made it into Batch 62 and the ones that didn’t.
Getting to Slope Point
Slope Point is the southernmost point on the South Island of New Zealand and is accessible via a 20 minute walk across private farmland. However, if you drive past the “Slope Point carpark” for a little way, there is place on the side of the road to park and you can walk down a track, go through two gates, and keep walking until you get down to the beach to fossick for stones. My good friend and fellow rock-tumbler JP has a great post here about accessing the place he calls “Bach Beach”. It is also the same post about the trip I joined him on and these stones are from that trip. My post about that trip can be found here.
Batch 62: 3lb Tumbler 2
Stage 1: F60grit (x3)
Stage 2: 220grit
Number of Stones: 66
Weight in: 916g
2 Tbspns of 220grit
No Borax
No Pellets added
Days Tumbling: 9
Weight out: 816g – loss of 100 grams
Stage 3: 400grit
Number of Stones: 66
Weight in: 816g
2 Tbspns of 400grit
No Borax
Ceramic media added
Days Tumbling: 8
Weight out: 746g – loss of 70 grams
Pre-polish Soap Tumble: 24 hours in 2 tspns of grated sunlight soap & water. The water was quite frothy and grey after the soap tumble.
Looked closely at stones but didn’t use the headband magnifier.
Batch 62: After 220grit
Batch 62: After 400grit
Ready to Polish
Usually 5 Tbspns of Tumble Polish powder is mixed with 300mls of water for the polish tumble. Several rock-tumblers that I have been following on Instagram add the powder without mixing it with water so I have decided to give this a try with a couple of batches of stones. I am curious to see what difference this makes to the final shine. I am also decreasing the amount of powder I use as well and using the barrel size ratio – 3lb = 3 Tbspns.
Stage 4: Polish Mix
Number of Stones: 66
Weight in: 746g
Tumble Polish: 3 Tbspns. Note: Did not pre-mix the powder with water.
Ceramic media added for cushioning.
Days Tumbling: 10
Weight out: 745g – loss of: 1 gram
Stage 5: Borax Clean
2 Tbspns of borax, plastic pellets for cushioning – 48 hours tumbling. Loss 2grams!
Polish Complete
Polished Stones of Interest: Batch 62
If you would like a PDF copy of Jocelyn Thornton’s NZ Gemstones, you can download it from here and print it out! It’s a wealth of information especially for stones that you might find in Orepuki (Gemstone Beach) and at Slope Point!
Batch 62 | 3lb Tumbler 2 | Slope Point | 16 April – 20 June 2024