I am tumbling unknowns which is quite unusual for me. However this batch of stones is being tumbled and polished for a good friend of mine. Some of the varieties are familiar so my guess is that some of the stones are from Kakanui, some are from Moeraki and some are from Gemstone Beach.
Wherever they are from, they are a colourful array of pretties that’s for sure and I’m excited to see how they turn out for her. After one cycle at Stage 1 only 20 out of the 48 stones were ready for Stage 2 so those 20 stones were put in the “readies drawer” and the rest went back into the barrel to redo Stage 1. I also added another 15 stones (see image below) but ended up removing 4 of those because there were too many in the barrel.
After the second cycle of Stage 1 (Stage 1B) only 17 of the 39 stones were ready for Stage 2 plus another 7 were not perfect but I decided that redo Stage 1 wouldn’t make them any better and it would be worth losing more stone volume from them. The 20 readies from the first cycle were added back into the barrel making up 44 stones ready to start Stage 2. Also added to the 220grit was 1 redo stone from Slope Point. This stone came out of the polish stage with a gouge on the tip so I used my dremel to smooth it out and will put it through the tumbling process again from Stage 2.
Batch 76: 3lb Tumbler 3
Stage 1: F60grit
Number of Stones: 48
Weight in: 986g
3 Tbspns of F60grit
1 Tbspn Borax
No ceramic media added
Days Tumbling: 9
Weight out: 883g – loss of 103grams
Stage 1B: F60grit
Number of Stones: 48-20+11=39
Weight in: 861g
3 Tbspns of F60grit
1 Tbspn Borax
No ceramic media added
Days Tumbling: 12
Weight out: 686g – loss of 175grams
Stage 2: 220grit
Number of Stones: 20+24+1=45
Weight in: Forgot to weigh
3 Tbspns of 220grit
1 Tbspn Borax
Ceramic media added
Days Tumbling: 10
Weight out: g – loss of g
Batch 76: Pretumble (wet)
Batch 76: Ready for Stage 2
Stage 3: 400grit
Number of Stones: 44
Weight in: 564g
3 Tbspns of 400grit
1 Tbspn Borax
Ceramic media added
Days Tumbling: 7
Weight out: 496g – loss of 68grams
Pre-polish Clean
Number of Stones:
1 tspn grated sunlight soap.
24 hours tumbling.
Added 60 stones!
Ready to Polish
To help make up the load another 60 stones from the readies drawer (still my friend’s stones) were added to Batch 76.
Stage 5: Polish Mix
Number of Stones: 44+60
Weight in: 849g
Polish Mix (2nd use) already mixed
Plastic Pellets added for cushioning
Days Tumbling: 10
Weight out: 843g – loss of: 6grams
Polish Complete
Reflection
Even though there’s a real focus on inspecting stones to ensure they are ready to move to the next stage, there’s still stones that don’t end up as nicely polished as I believe they should be! Although I’m not completely happy with the end results, I’m sure my friend will be.
Batch 76 | 3lb Tumbler 3 | Unknown (but possibly Kakanui, Moeraki & Gemstone Beach | 11 July – 29 August 2024