Batch 67: Kakanui & Karitane Beach

I am down to the last of the stones that were collected from Kakanui and in particular a lot of these stones were picked up on Karitane Beach. They were pretty banged up so I knew that they would probably need a few redos in Stage 1 and I was right!

I am not sure but I think the stones picked up off Karitane Beach are a good mix of chert, or chalcedony or agate but don’t quote me on that!

Karitane Beach is really sandy and the rocks are not like they are on Gemstone Beach – they are quite spread out. I’m not sure if that is usual but it is how it was on the day I went there.

Overlooking Hampden Beach / Karitane Beach — Puketeraki lookout view overlooking Karitane Beach

Batch 67: 3lb Tumbler 1

13 stones from Karitane Beach that did a tumble in F60grit made it into Batch 67 along with 80 Kakanui stones that were in the readies drawers. Rather than go to Stage 2 I decided to see what kind of difference another 10 days in 80/100grit might make.

Stage 1: 80/100grit

Number of Stones: 13+80=93
Weight in: 866g
3 Tbspns of 80/100grit
1 Tbspn Borax
No pellets added
Days Tumbling: 10
Weight out: 772g – loss of 94g

Stage 2: 220grit

Number of Stones: 91
Weight in: 770g
3 Tbspns of 220grit
1 Tbspn Borax
Ceramic media added
Days Tumbling: 10
Weight out: 669g – loss of 101g

Stage 3: 400grit

Number of Stones: 91-6=85
(Removed 6 stones – see image below)
Weight in: 663g
3 Tbspns of 400grit
1 Tbspn Borax
Ceramic media added
Days Tumbling: 8
Weight out: 582g – loss of 81grams

Karitane Beach Stones:
Pre-tumble

3lbT1 - Karitane Beach — Karitane Beach Stones starting in F60grit – will probably need several times in coarse grit as they are quite rough.

Batch 67: Ready for 80/100grit

Batch 67: After 80/100grit

B67 after 80/100grit — Keeping an eye on the top right hand corner 5 stones – putting all through to Stage 2.

Batch 67: Removed after Stage 2

B67 - removed — Not ready for Stage 3 and too small or too thin to survive a redo back in Stage 1 so removed to the garden pots!

As a lot of these stones appear to have different composites I decided to add in a 600grit stage for seven days. That should be gentle enough to not take away too much volume from the stones but gritty enough to ensure that all surfaces are smooth enough to take a polish.

Stage 4: 600grit

Number of Stones: 8513+80=93
Weight in: 582g
3 Tbspns of 600grit
1 Tbspn Borax
Ceramic media added
Days Tumbling: 7
Weight out: 534g – loss of 48grams

Pre-polish Soap

1 tspn grated sunlight soap. 24 hours tumbling.

Very grey water after this tumble so I’m glad I did this.

Ready to Polish

Paragraph explanation

Stage 4: Polish Mix

Number of Stones:
Weight in: 534grams
Polish Mix: 5 Tbspns of polish powder + 200mls of water
Ceramic media added
Days Tumbling: 10
Weight out: 531g – loss of: 3 grams

The polish mix after tumbling for 10 days wasn’t as grey as it has been in the past (that’s a good sign as it means that the majority of grit was washed away before the polish tumble).

Overall I’m very happy with the results of this batch. It will probably be the last of the Kakanui/Karitane/Moeraki stones that I tumble for a while.