yumchatime
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2024
Posts: 3
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Post by yumchatime on Jan 2, 2024 10:00:50 GMT -5
Hi Everyone, Just wondering if I can please ask for some assistance? I picked up a used Lortone 45c several months ago and finally made it to stage 3. The barrel is 80% full with a mixed load of Mohs 7 and ceramics and has been running for approximately 2 weeks with 8 tbsp of 500 AO. I checked last night and found the stones were not much different from stage 2 - still hazy. Is this normal or should there be some shine to them? Should I clean out and rerun 500 AO or move onto 1500 AO instead? Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure out how to post images... Thanks in advance! ![]() |
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Post by rockjunquie on Jan 2, 2024 10:37:24 GMT -5
Welcome from Virginia!
Try this for pictures.
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Post by chris1956 on Jan 2, 2024 10:49:52 GMT -5
Welcome from Missouri. What type of rocks did you have in the tumbler?
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yumchatime
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2024
Posts: 3
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Post by yumchatime on Jan 2, 2024 13:57:16 GMT -5
Thanks for the upload tutorial!  Rocks are a mixed batch of jaspers, agates, and tiger eye. The stone on the left is after stage 2 while the right is after 2 weeks in 500 AO. Thanks! |
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hplcman
spending too much on rocks
Looking forward to my Friday Night Barrel Clean out!
Member since August 2022
Posts: 493
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Post by hplcman on Jan 2, 2024 15:17:08 GMT -5
Thanks for the upload tutorial! Rocks are a mixed batch of jaspers, agates, and tiger eye. The stone on the left is after stage 2 while the right is after 2 weeks in 500 AO. Thanks! Is it just the tiger eye that's showing this issue? |
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Post by chris1956 on Jan 2, 2024 17:40:16 GMT -5
I was wondering about the tiger eye also. But I did a search and found at least one post where tiger eye was included with other hard rocks and polished well. Might be different for doing all in a rotary but not sure. One thing I am wondering about is if you got all the grit out after stage 2. I may overdo it but I typically rinse the rocks and then add soap or borax and run for at least two hours and then rinse again. If the slurry was thick when I opened it I usually run it with soap or borax for a second time just to make sure.
A few weeks ago, I had a new 12 pound barrel and tried to polish some larger rocks that wouldn't fit in my vibratory tumblers. I had the same thing happen, I couldn't get a polish on them. I have been wondering if it was something to do with a new barrel. Can't think of what it would be but maybe there were places that really held the grit in a new barrel.
At this point, I think I would re-run the 500 and see if it gets better. If not, run the 1500 and see how that polishes. I would think that any grit that was left over from stage 2 should be getting pretty fine after two weeks of tumbling. Make sure your rocks are as clean as possible.
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Post by Starguy on Jan 2, 2024 19:26:32 GMT -5
There isn’t much visible difference between 220 and 500. They might feel a little smoother in your fingers.
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yumchatime
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2024
Posts: 3
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Post by yumchatime on Jan 3, 2024 10:33:34 GMT -5
The pic was only tiger eye but the other agates and jaspers also looked the same. I cleaned out the barrel last night and removed a few stones so the barrel is only 70% full. I also added only 3 tbsp of 500 AO this time around in case 8 tbsp was too much. Will give everyone an update in approximately one week.
Thanks Everyone!
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Post by chris1956 on Jan 3, 2024 13:07:43 GMT -5
The pic was only tiger eye but the other agates and jaspers also looked the same. I cleaned out the barrel last night and removed a few stones so the barrel is only 70% full. I also added only 3 tbsp of 500 AO this time around in case 8 tbsp was too much. Will give everyone an update in approximately one week. Thanks Everyone! Let us know what happens. I thought about the amount of 500 you said you added as being really high but know that is what Lortone says to add. That is one reason I ultimately went to vibratory tumblers for 220 and greater as they require a lot less when it comes to 500 and polish. I only add 1/2 tsp for 3 pounds of rocks in the Lot-O tumbler for 500 and polish. |
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rydersrocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
Likes rocks of all kinds
Member since January 2024
Posts: 109
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Post by rydersrocks on Jan 4, 2024 8:27:06 GMT -5
Hi Everyone, Just wondering if I can please ask for some assistance? I picked up a used Lortone 45c several months ago and finally made it to stage 3. The barrel is 80% full with a mixed load of Mohs 7 and ceramics and has been running for approximately 2 weeks with 8 tbsp of 500 AO. I checked last night and found the stones were not much different from stage 2 - still hazy. Is this normal or should there be some shine to them? Should I clean out and rerun 500 AO or move onto 1500 AO instead? Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure out how to post images... Thanks in advance! ![]() Hey man! If you are using the rotary barrel for all the stages use 1 tablespoon of grit for every pound the barrel is rated for. It will yield identical, probably better results. Usually the rocks never shine even after running it for 12 days. If you are tumbling agates and jaspers, fill the barrel 3/4 full or 80% full with that space being made up of around 35% ceramic and the rest your rock. I do all these stages in rotary and get really nice results. 2nd stage:120/220, Run for 10 days. 3rd stage, 600, or 500 aluminum oxide, run for 12 days. Optional: this might give you a tiny bit better of a shine. Do a 1000 or 1200 grit aluminum oxide stage for 2 weeks. 4th stage: Cerium oxide, tin oxide, or aluminum oxide polish. Buy from a reputable place like Kingsley north or the rock shed. Run that for 3 weeks. In vibratory tumblers apparently in the 500 grit stage, they do actually end up being a little shiny. I'm not sure why. Please make sure to do a burnish cycle in between stages. 2 tablespoons of borax with or without ivory soap. If you do not have either use a drop of dishsoap. Run for 6 hours. Do this for in between every stage starting with the first one after finishing 120/220 or 220 silicon carbide. This is to make sure the rocks are cleaned thoroughly. Do this especially if you have holes or cracks in your rocks that you are going to keep to make the rock look more natural. You don't need to do this after stage 1 just rinse off the rocks really well with a garden sprayer for like 5 minutes. If you are going to polish rocks with holes and cracks, when you are putting them in the ready for stage 2 pile, make sure you sprayed each little imperfection. You could go in there with a toothbrush to be extra pre cautious. But in short yes. It is normal to not have a shine on rock tumbled in a rotary barrel in after 500 AO. Once you reach 1000 grit (if you decide to do that extra step) after the burnish when you rinse off the slurry that the burnish got out, and you spray them off, 9 times out of 10 you will see a low polish. I suggest watching Michigan rocks and how to tumble rocks in a rotary barrel. If you have ANY questions, please message me! By the way setting up the photo thingy is hard but I got it to work. Just follow it step for step, word for word. Happy tumbling! |
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,622
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Post by dillonf on Jan 4, 2024 12:12:05 GMT -5
Thanks for the upload tutorial! Rocks are a mixed batch of jaspers, agates, and tiger eye. The stone on the left is after stage 2 while the right is after 2 weeks in 500 AO. Thanks! I think you should be ok. As others said you can reduce the amount of grit to 4tblspns. With my lortone 45C I pick it up every two to three days and turn it upside down to mix the grit. For some reason with this model (on mine anyway) the grit seems to settle to the bottom and not break down effectively unless I mix it up every once and a while. My other lortones aren't like that  |
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hplcman
spending too much on rocks
Looking forward to my Friday Night Barrel Clean out!
Member since August 2022
Posts: 493
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Post by hplcman on Jan 4, 2024 13:38:29 GMT -5
Thanks for the upload tutorial! Rocks are a mixed batch of jaspers, agates, and tiger eye. The stone on the left is after stage 2 while the right is after 2 weeks in 500 AO. Thanks! I think you should be ok. As others said you can reduce the amount of grit to 4tblspns. With my lortone 45C I pick it up every two to three days and turn it upside down to mix the grit. For some reason with this model (on mine anyway) the grit seems to settle to the bottom and not break down effectively unless I mix it up every once and a while. My other lortones aren't like that  I have experienced this a couple of times on my Lortone 33b. The grit will sometimes settle at the bottom of the barrel and not break down effectively. I completely think this is due to overloading the barrel, and is not a consistent issue. I wonder what's going on with the 45C? |
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,622
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Post by dillonf on Jan 4, 2024 19:06:06 GMT -5
I think you should be ok. As others said you can reduce the amount of grit to 4tblspns. With my lortone 45C I pick it up every two to three days and turn it upside down to mix the grit. For some reason with this model (on mine anyway) the grit seems to settle to the bottom and not break down effectively unless I mix it up every once and a while. My other lortones aren't like that I have experienced this a couple of times on my Lortone 33b. The grit will sometimes settle at the bottom of the barrel and not break down effectively. I completely think this is due to overloading the barrel, and is not a consistent issue. I wonder what's going on with the 45C? Yeah I don't know? It's pretty consistent (by consistent I mean it's rare when it doesn't happen) and doesn't appear to be due to overloading. The 45C is a weird unit the barrel is thinner, and it sits strange in the base. Not saying I don't like it, but it is my least favorite of the lortones I have. It's not much of a big deal for me to mix it up, so I just do that about 2-3 times a week. The weird part is I started doing it with all my barrels (except the 12 pounder) even though they don't need it  |
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dbotte
off to a rocking start
Member since May 2022
Posts: 18
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Post by dbotte on Jan 12, 2024 2:36:05 GMT -5
Hi Everyone, Just wondering if I can please ask for some assistance? I picked up a used Lortone 45c several months ago and finally made it to stage 3. The barrel is 80% full with a mixed load of Mohs 7 and ceramics and has been running for approximately 2 weeks with 8 tbsp of 500 AO. I checked last night and found the stones were not much different from stage 2 - still hazy. Is this normal or should there be some shine to them? Should I clean out and rerun 500 AO or move onto 1500 AO instead? Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure out how to post images... Thanks in advance! ![]() Hey man! If you are using the rotary barrel for all the stages use 1 tablespoon of grit for every pound the barrel is rated for. It will yield identical, probably better results. Usually the rocks never shine even after running it for 12 days. If you are tumbling agates and jaspers, fill the barrel 3/4 full or 80% full with that space being made up of around 35% ceramic and the rest your rock. I do all these stages in rotary and get really nice results. 2nd stage:120/220, Run for 10 days. 3rd stage, 600, or 500 aluminum oxide, run for 12 days. Optional: this might give you a tiny bit better of a shine. Do a 1000 or 1200 grit aluminum oxide stage for 2 weeks. 4th stage: Cerium oxide, tin oxide, or aluminum oxide polish. Buy from a reputable place like Kingsley north or the rock shed. Run that for 3 weeks. In vibratory tumblers apparently in the 500 grit stage, they do actually end up being a little shiny. I'm not sure why. Please make sure to do a burnish cycle in between stages. 2 tablespoons of borax with or without ivory soap. If you do not have either use a drop of dishsoap. Run for 6 hours. Do this for in between every stage starting with the first one after finishing 120/220 or 220 silicon carbide. This is to make sure the rocks are cleaned thoroughly. Do this especially if you have holes or cracks in your rocks that you are going to keep to make the rock look more natural. You don't need to do this after stage 1 just rinse off the rocks really well with a garden sprayer for like 5 minutes. If you are going to polish rocks with holes and cracks, when you are putting them in the ready for stage 2 pile, make sure you sprayed each little imperfection. You could go in there with a toothbrush to be extra pre cautious. But in short yes. It is normal to not have a shine on rock tumbled in a rotary barrel in after 500 AO. Once you reach 1000 grit (if you decide to do that extra step) after the burnish when you rinse off the slurry that the burnish got out, and you spray them off, 9 times out of 10 you will see a low polish. I suggest watching Michigan rocks and how to tumble rocks in a rotary barrel. If you have ANY questions, please message me! By the way setting up the photo thingy is hard but I got it to work. Just follow it step for step, word for word. Happy tumbling! You don't need to run as long as you are for each stage. My recipe is; Stage One - Run for a week (maybe a few more days if the rocks aren't shaped like you want) in 80 Sic - Rotary. Burnish with a couple pinches of Ivory Soap shavings. Stage Two - Run for a week in 120 White AO - Rotary. Burnish with a couple pinches of Ivory Soap shavings. Stage Three - Run for four to five days in 500 AO - Vibe. Burnish with a couple pinches of Ivory Soap shavings. Stage Three and a Half (optional) - Run for three days in 1000 AO - Vibe. Burnish with a couple pinches of Ivory Soap shavings. Stage Four - Run one to two days in Raytech Raybrite (A) Polish (0.5 Microns = 60,000 Grit) - Vibe Burnish with a couple pinches of Ivory Soap shavings. I have a 2X3lb Harbor Freight Rotary for only Stage One. I have a 2X3lb Lortone 33B Rotary for only Stage Two. I have a couple of Raytech TV-5s for only Stage Three and three and a Half. Final Polish is done in my MT-10. All my burnishes are done in one of the Vibes because they're more aggressive in Tumbling and clean cracks and pits more efficiently. You also don't need to use a Tbsp for each pound. I've found even using half a Tbsp of Grit is just as efficient as using a Tbsp or more. A lot of Grit gets compounded to the bottom of the barrel if you use too much, which is easy to do, especially with the info you get from a lot of Tumbling instructions. |
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rydersrocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
Likes rocks of all kinds
Member since January 2024
Posts: 109
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Post by rydersrocks on Jan 12, 2024 21:53:12 GMT -5
Hey man! If you are using the rotary barrel for all the stages use 1 tablespoon of grit for every pound the barrel is rated for. It will yield identical, probably better results. Usually the rocks never shine even after running it for 12 days. If you are tumbling agates and jaspers, fill the barrel 3/4 full or 80% full with that space being made up of around 35% ceramic and the rest your rock. I do all these stages in rotary and get really nice results. 2nd stage:120/220, Run for 10 days. 3rd stage, 600, or 500 aluminum oxide, run for 12 days. Optional: this might give you a tiny bit better of a shine. Do a 1000 or 1200 grit aluminum oxide stage for 2 weeks. 4th stage: Cerium oxide, tin oxide, or aluminum oxide polish. Buy from a reputable place like Kingsley north or the rock shed. Run that for 3 weeks. In vibratory tumblers apparently in the 500 grit stage, they do actually end up being a little shiny. I'm not sure why. Please make sure to do a burnish cycle in between stages. 2 tablespoons of borax with or without ivory soap. If you do not have either use a drop of dishsoap. Run for 6 hours. Do this for in between every stage starting with the first one after finishing 120/220 or 220 silicon carbide. This is to make sure the rocks are cleaned thoroughly. Do this especially if you have holes or cracks in your rocks that you are going to keep to make the rock look more natural. You don't need to do this after stage 1 just rinse off the rocks really well with a garden sprayer for like 5 minutes. If you are going to polish rocks with holes and cracks, when you are putting them in the ready for stage 2 pile, make sure you sprayed each little imperfection. You could go in there with a toothbrush to be extra pre cautious. But in short yes. It is normal to not have a shine on rock tumbled in a rotary barrel in after 500 AO. Once you reach 1000 grit (if you decide to do that extra step) after the burnish when you rinse off the slurry that the burnish got out, and you spray them off, 9 times out of 10 you will see a low polish. I suggest watching Michigan rocks and how to tumble rocks in a rotary barrel. If you have ANY questions, please message me! By the way setting up the photo thingy is hard but I got it to work. Just follow it step for step, word for word. Happy tumbling! You don't need to run as long as you are for each stage. My recipe is; Stage One - Run for a week (maybe a few more days if the rocks aren't shaped like you want) in 80 Sic - Rotary. Burnish with a couple pinches of Ivory Soap shavings. Stage Two - Run for a week in 120 White AO - Rotary. Burnish with a couple pinches of Ivory Soap shavings. Stage Three - Run for four to five days in 500 AO - Vibe. Burnish with a couple pinches of Ivory Soap shavings. Stage Three and a Half (optional) - Run for three days in 1000 AO - Vibe. Burnish with a couple pinches of Ivory Soap shavings. Stage Four - Run one to two days in Raytech Raybrite (A) Polish (0.5 Microns = 60,000 Grit) - Vibe Burnish with a couple pinches of Ivory Soap shavings. I have a 2X3lb Harbor Freight Rotary for only Stage One. I have a 2X3lb Lortone 33B Rotary for only Stage Two. I have a couple of Raytech TV-5s for only Stage Three and three and a Half. Final Polish is done in my MT-10. All my burnishes are done in one of the Vibes because they're more aggressive in Tumbling and clean cracks and pits more efficiently. You also don't need to use a Tbsp for each pound. I've found even using half a Tbsp of Grit is just as efficient as using a Tbsp or more. A lot of Grit gets compounded to the bottom of the barrel if you use too much, which is easy to do, especially with the info you get from a lot of Tumbling instructions. Hi! Wow that is a very different method from what I use. Just one thing. Please add 3 stages after 1000 grit. Use Micro Alumina polish from Kingsley north or the rock shed. Then use French Cerium, then lastly Raybrite A from Kingsley north This should give you a very high shine. With what I know about grit, you can not jump more than 2x what you where already using. For example, you can not go from 120/220 all the way to 1000 grit. I would love to see your results seeing as this is completely different than mine. So far, I only use rotary so I'm pretty limited. I can not make a decision on a vibe. I would suggest though using 120/220 silicon carbide, then use that 120 AO. Happy tumbling! |
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dbotte
off to a rocking start
Member since May 2022
Posts: 18
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Post by dbotte on Jan 18, 2024 0:58:46 GMT -5
You don't need to run as long as you are for each stage. My recipe is; Stage One - Run for a week (maybe a few more days if the rocks aren't shaped like you want) in 80 Sic - Rotary. Burnish with a couple pinches of Ivory Soap shavings. Stage Two - Run for a week in 120 White AO - Rotary. Burnish with a couple pinches of Ivory Soap shavings. Stage Three - Run for four to five days in 500 AO - Vibe. Burnish with a couple pinches of Ivory Soap shavings. Stage Three and a Half (optional) - Run for three days in 1000 AO - Vibe. Burnish with a couple pinches of Ivory Soap shavings. Stage Four - Run one to two days in Raytech Raybrite (A) Polish (0.5 Microns = 60,000 Grit) - Vibe Burnish with a couple pinches of Ivory Soap shavings. I have a 2X3lb Harbor Freight Rotary for only Stage One. I have a 2X3lb Lortone 33B Rotary for only Stage Two. I have a couple of Raytech TV-5s for only Stage Three and three and a Half. Final Polish is done in my MT-10. All my burnishes are done in one of the Vibes because they're more aggressive in Tumbling and clean cracks and pits more efficiently. You also don't need to use a Tbsp for each pound. I've found even using half a Tbsp of Grit is just as efficient as using a Tbsp or more. A lot of Grit gets compounded to the bottom of the barrel if you use too much, which is easy to do, especially with the info you get from a lot of Tumbling instructions. Hi! Wow that is a very different method from what I use. Just one thing. Please add 3 stages after 1000 grit. Use Micro Alumina polish from Kingsley north or the rock shed. Then use French Cerium, then lastly Raybrite A from Kingsley north This should give you a very high shine. With what I know about grit, you can not jump more than 2x what you where already using. For example, you can not go from 120/220 all the way to 1000 grit. I would love to see your results seeing as this is completely different than mine. So far, I only use rotary so I'm pretty limited. I can not make a decision on a vibe. I would suggest though using 120/220 silicon carbide, then use that 120 AO. Happy tumbling! I'll have to take some pictures of my previous tumbles in a little bit but I don't really know how to post pics here. I don't really think I need three more Stages. I have tried using Rockshed's AO before the Raybrite and I've had terrible results. You also shouldn't mix two different Polishes as far as going from like Tin or Cerium to AO. Why would you suggest using 120/220 Sic and then the 120 AO? It's better to use the same type of material as much as possible across Stages. At someone on Reddits behest, I started using the 120 AO after the 80 Sic and it has increased luster in the end. I have a batch of Pet Wood and Mozarkite in the final Polish Stage right now and will post pics of those as well. |
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rydersrocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
Likes rocks of all kinds
Member since January 2024
Posts: 109
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Post by rydersrocks on Jan 18, 2024 14:08:24 GMT -5
Hi! Wow that is a very different method from what I use. Just one thing. Please add 3 stages after 1000 grit. Use Micro Alumina polish from Kingsley north or the rock shed. Then use French Cerium, then lastly Raybrite A from Kingsley north This should give you a very high shine. With what I know about grit, you can not jump more than 2x what you where already using. For example, you can not go from 120/220 all the way to 1000 grit. I would love to see your results seeing as this is completely different than mine. So far, I only use rotary so I'm pretty limited. I can not make a decision on a vibe. I would suggest though using 120/220 silicon carbide, then use that 120 AO. Happy tumbling! I'll have to take some pictures of my previous tumbles in a little bit but I don't really know how to post pics here. I don't really think I need three more Stages. I have tried using Rockshed's AO before the Raybrite and I've had terrible results. You also shouldn't mix two different Polishes as far as going from like Tin or Cerium to AO. Why would you suggest using 120/220 Sic and then the 120 AO? It's better to use the same type of material as much as possible across Stages. At someone on Reddits behest, I started using the 120 AO after the 80 Sic and it has increased luster in the end. I have a batch of Pet Wood and Mozarkite in the final Polish Stage right now and will post pics of those as well. Hi! I suggested using 120 Alumina after the 120/220 Silicon carbide because of the chemical makeup. Silicon carbide was made as an abrasive. It's chemical structure breaks down into sharp pieces. However, Aluminum oxide's chemical structure breaks down into round pieces. This makes it better for polishing. I'm sorry I criticized your method. I have never tried it before and you have never tried my method. I would love to see some of your rocks! Sorry I meant to make it a one or the other choice with the polishes. I don't know much about the process at a microscopic scale (Probally cuz I'm not even in high school). So I can not really make any assumptions. The reason I run them for so long is so the particles can break down more and more. From a wood working perspective you are not supposed to have a grit size gap greater than 1.5 - 2 times. You would have to run many different batches to find out the best method for polishing. In my personal experience, the first stages of tumbling are very important. My method is a modified version of what Jugglerguy uses. Looking forward to see the pictures! - Ryder Smith |
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wseaton
starting to shine!
Member since January 2024
Posts: 30
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Post by wseaton on Jan 19, 2024 16:57:58 GMT -5
I switched to SC 500 vs AO 500 for a lot of these reasons. SC 500 works faster, and there's no ambiguity as to when it's done. It turns to grey pudding and there's no resiude left or felt when its exhausted. AO 500 also tends to stick in cracks more and requires more scrubbing to get rid of it when it's done.
I use two rounded tablespoons in a 3lb barrel for stage 2 and 3 and never had to take more than 3 or 4 days.
I'm also a fan of mixing in ceramic, at least 50%. Or, use 3/4" gravel (works the same). This helps rocks tumble better because it's rounded and gives more surface area. If you fill a barrel to 3/4 full of 1" to 1.5" rocks your times per stage will be much longer.
I also use less water in stage 2 and 3. No more than half a cup. This causes the grit to stick more to the rocks like a cement mixer and has sped things up.
500 SC should leave rocks perfectly smooth with just a bit of sheen. If they are to this point then they will polish in 3 days and diminishing returns sets in after than. Follwing this method I've been able to polish even granite....and this is with a rotary.
Anytime I see somebody taking more than 3-4 days for stage 2 or 3 I feel they aren't loading the barrel right or using too little / too much abrsive.
I only burnish after final polish.
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,622
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Post by dillonf on Jan 19, 2024 20:12:04 GMT -5
In my experience the type of rock I'm tumbling and the method (rotary/vibe) impact what type of grit and the number of stages I use. Tough agates and jaspers (bots/red jasper) are fairly straight forward and I have no issues jumping from 500sc to polish. With quartz I have experienced better results with 500AO and the addition of a 1000 grit stage prior to polish. Also, due to quartzes propensity to bruise I intentionally fill the barrel more to create a more gentle tumbling action - this extends my tumble time. In general I prefer 500AO, but I do use 500SC with tougher material, or when I would like a more aggressive 500 stage.
That said lots of folks get way better results than me using different methods - that's the beauty of tumbling!
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wseaton
starting to shine!
Member since January 2024
Posts: 30
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Post by wseaton on Jan 20, 2024 0:22:55 GMT -5
Yep.....it's like granite. Every body says no way, but I figured it out.
The trick is to grind it by itself after stage 2, and don't try and get it perfectly smooth because it won't get there. I then use lots of cushion / ceramic media and LOT of AO polish. The surface always ends up with bit of orange peel texture if you look close, but they are shiny. A couple weeks in AO polish or maybe 1000 before polish would likely get them perfectly smooth, but I'm not that picky.
One test I encourage beginners to try is to fill up their barrel 2/3 full with either large ceramic or 3/4 inch gravel, and nothing else. You will find that configured this way any hobby tumbler will break down two tablespoons of 120-500 SC in about 3 days. It's the rocks we are tumbling that are the variable. I'm an absolute advocate of loading some media when tumbling.
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