Post by waterboysh on Oct 30, 2023 12:02:02 GMT -5
Link to gallery in case you want to open in a new tab. I tumbled this a long time ago. When I first got my tumbler around the beginning of 2021, I chose Aventurine, Bahia Agate, and Mexican Crazy Lace as my first rocks to tumble. I had also gotten a few pounds of "mixed rock". All from The Rock Shed.
When I first started, I tried to keep a variety of rocks going in stage 1. I also didn't have my Lot-O for the first 6-7 months, just my 33b so it was much slower going than it is now. I thought it was "better" to try and tumble some of all my rock types at once. But this meant every cleanout for a very long time was basically the same. There was some slight variance because of the mixed rock, but basically every cleanout for at least a year was those 3 rock types and a small mix of other rocks. It was actually starting to get a little boring.
So starting with my next batch, Tiger's Eye, I started tumbling one rock type until it was completely done and then start adding the next one into the rough barrel. Now I can more easily wait for an entire rock type to finish before moving it to the Lot-O so I get the satisfaction of having them all done at once. It does mean that cleanouts each week are "the same" but it changes more quickly as I start adding new rocks to replace the ones I take out.
Anyway, I'm going through some of those first batches and taking better pictures of each type together.
When I first started, I tried to keep a variety of rocks going in stage 1. I also didn't have my Lot-O for the first 6-7 months, just my 33b so it was much slower going than it is now. I thought it was "better" to try and tumble some of all my rock types at once. But this meant every cleanout for a very long time was basically the same. There was some slight variance because of the mixed rock, but basically every cleanout for at least a year was those 3 rock types and a small mix of other rocks. It was actually starting to get a little boring.
So starting with my next batch, Tiger's Eye, I started tumbling one rock type until it was completely done and then start adding the next one into the rough barrel. Now I can more easily wait for an entire rock type to finish before moving it to the Lot-O so I get the satisfaction of having them all done at once. It does mean that cleanouts each week are "the same" but it changes more quickly as I start adding new rocks to replace the ones I take out.
Anyway, I'm going through some of those first batches and taking better pictures of each type together.
