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Post by wolfcreekwoodcrafts on Feb 21, 2024 10:11:34 GMT -5
I am not impressed with it at all. Went through all the steps and 10 days of polishing and still no shine. I realize now, from reading the replies to other posts, that the polishing grit that comes with these tumblers is not really polishing grit at all. So I have ordered the 8000 grit that the rock shed sells. I didn't see any 12,000 or 14,000 on their website. I am waiting for it to come in so I can try it on these rocks and see what happens. I am posting a picture. These results are enough to discourage anyone just getting started. If I had not found this forum board I would probably throw in the towel LOL The tiger eye in the upper left corner is the biggest disappointment on the shine level. On the size level its the amethyst. Those were big chunks and they wore down to almost nothing. It all wore down except for the top 2 pieces. Nothing else kept any size at all. Honestly I didn't expect that. I knew it would wear down, but not to almost too small to even see and some pieces just wore completely down and disappeared. This is what came with the tumbler so I expected better stock. But maybe I am just too new to the hobby to fully understand. I don't know but I sure would not want to order more sets of this for the tumbler, from the company who sold the tumbler, knowing that some of it will disappear. Okay, waiting patiently for the 8000 from the rock shed lol ![]() ![]()  |
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Post by wolfcreekwoodcrafts on Feb 21, 2024 10:13:23 GMT -5
Also, I ran them all night in the tumbler with some Dawn dish soap. I was amazed at the additional stuff that washed off
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Post by victor1941 on Feb 21, 2024 10:34:33 GMT -5
I am sure members on this board can give you good information so that you can be successful. Knowing your machine type and your exact steps used for your stones would also help when giving advice. Starting with a mixed load of material at the beginning also makes a satisfactory tumble equally hard because of the different hardnesses of the stone influencing the grinding and polishing steps. I use material from The Rock Shed for all steps and feel you will also be successful with a quality starting material and good procedure.
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Post by velodromed on Feb 21, 2024 16:10:44 GMT -5
Unfortunately, they mish mash rocks that shouldn’t be tumbled together in those little kits that come with tumblers. So don’t let it discourage you. Get a batch of jaspers and agates from the rock shed or similar type store. Those a lot range around 7 mohs and they’re really good to cut your teeth on while learning to tumble. Depending upon where you live, you might be able to go outside and go to the park or something and pick up a bunch of rocks to try. Also get quality grits from somewhere like the Rock Shed or Kinsley North. The Amazon grits are not all that great.
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Feb 21, 2024 16:39:22 GMT -5
Please don't give up!! There is a definite learning curve and it doesn't help that these companies give noobs rocks of different hardness to start their journey with. I was you two years ago and now I'm able to get a super shine on my tumbles. velodromed gives great insight into what to try first - harder the rocks, better time you'll have. And the grit/polish does matter. You can always rerun these rocks through (maybe 120/220 start - 60/90 might remove some of those from existence  )stages and you'll see better results. keep us posted on how you are doing - also, when you get some jasper/agate don't be afraid to let it roll in stage one for weeks. It'll take that long for some of them to get nicely rounded and blemish free - unless you like the more natural look then you can move along more quickly. It's really an experiment until you get your groove - you'll get there.  |
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dshanpnw
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2020
Posts: 1,158
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Post by dshanpnw on Feb 22, 2024 7:49:41 GMT -5
You are getting great advice so far. One really good thing about our rocks is their shape, they are very nicely rounded so all you need to do is get them in the right grit and type of stone and redo them. I would start them in the 220 grit cycle because they are well shaped and because you don't want to loos to much more of their size. Thanks for posting.
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Post by wolfcreekwoodcrafts on Feb 22, 2024 20:12:08 GMT -5
Thanks everyone! And those rocks are so pretty!
I am not going to give up. I may not master the craft but I will have fun trying anyway. LOL
I think I might go to the Diamond Mine tomorrow and surface hunt for everything but diamonds to use in the tumbler. You can find just about anything there. All kinds of quartz along with the gemstone rocks, jasper etc. The gemstone rocks are almost as hard to find as the diamonds though. So I don't hold out much hope for finding any of those. I do have some nice little pieces of amethyst from the diamond mine. It is my favorite...I love purple LOL My daughter used to work there and the "regulars" used to give her amethyst to bring to me because all they want is diamonds. LOL
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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 Feb 22, 2024 21:53:14 GMT -5
Make sure you use filler when you run the polish. Ceramics, plastic pellets, or pea gravel. I made the mistake of not using filler on my first batch - that in combination with my first tumbler spinning too fast led to me not being able to get a good polish.
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Post by wolfcreekwoodcrafts on Feb 22, 2024 22:22:52 GMT -5
On the filler, if one has enough rocks to fill it half way or 3/4 of the way full is filler still needed?
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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 Feb 23, 2024 6:51:23 GMT -5
On the filler, if one has enough rocks to fill it half way or 3/4 of the way full is filler still needed? If your barrel is only half full yes. If your barrel is 3/4 full no - as long as your rocks are of various sizes. With that softer material you have in the picture I would have the barrel 3/4 full for polish, and let it run for at least 2 weeks. You should always have your barrel at least 2/3 full. I tend to fill mine a little bit more than that. |
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Post by wolfcreekwoodcrafts on Feb 23, 2024 7:45:40 GMT -5
Won't the ceramics ground them down even more?
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Feb 23, 2024 8:36:15 GMT -5
Won't the ceramics ground them down even more? No, they shouldn't. The ceramics are smooth like the rocks and you typically only run them in stages 2-4. One note though - I would maybe run brand new ceramics through 60/90 or 120/220 first so you aren't throwing 'raw' ceramic in - it's still smooth, but there might be edges that'll scratch anything smoother than the ceramic edge. Once they've been through a tumble though they are good to use for all stages except the first - and mainly because the ceramics do a good job of cushioning that running them in stage 1 will prevent the rounding and smoothing that you want to occur there. |
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Feb 23, 2024 8:38:20 GMT -5
Thanks everyone! And those rocks are so pretty! I am not going to give up. I may not master the craft but I will have fun trying anyway. LOL I think I might go to the Diamond Mine tomorrow and surface hunt for everything but diamonds to use in the tumbler. You can find just about anything there. All kinds of quartz along with the gemstone rocks, jasper etc. The gemstone rocks are almost as hard to find as the diamonds though. So I don't hold out much hope for finding any of those. I do have some nice little pieces of amethyst from the diamond mine. It is my favorite...I love purple LOL My daughter used to work there and the "regulars" used to give her amethyst to bring to me because all they want is diamonds. LOL Thanks! Yours will soon look that way too, and mine aren't even half as good as some other tumblers on here... I wish I had access to a place like that to go rockhound. I have Nether's Farm - Ohio Flint - and that's lots of fun, but I want a new experience lol...thinking of a summer trip to Herkimer, NY. |
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Post by wolfcreekwoodcrafts on Feb 23, 2024 9:23:55 GMT -5
I live really close to the Crater of Diamonds State Park. Locals just call it the diamond mine. I hardly ever go there. Finding diamonds is hard work. Only a lucky few find them on the surface. The regulars have pens they pay for to house all their equipment and they dig holes so deep they use ladders to get in and out. However they find diamonds almost everyday. Diamonds are found on the surface either after it has been raining or after they have plowed the area. To be honest I am just not going to put that much work into it LOL but hunting for other things, yeah, I will do that
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skmcconnell361
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2023
Posts: 125 
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Post by skmcconnell361 on Mar 19, 2024 9:08:05 GMT -5
I had the same results from my first batch, but the 8k Aluminum Oxide polish from the rock shed worked great when I used it for the Step 5 final polish. I found that the grits that come with new tumblers are not good enough for the 4-step process but work great for the first four steps in the 5-step process.
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gemfreak95
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2020
Posts: 127
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Post by gemfreak95 on Mar 19, 2024 23:55:38 GMT -5
Aluminum oxide polish is ok, but if you really want things to shine you should check out cerium oxide and tin oxide. I made this as a proof of concept a while back:  This is the same stone over the course of about a month in my Lortone. It had an okay finish with micro-alumina, but cerium treatment brightened it up a lot, and the tin left it with almost a mirror finish. Beware though, regular cerium oxide polish runs about $20/lb (skip the optical grade stuff), while tin oxide is closer to $50/lb |
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)stages and you'll see better results. keep us posted on how you are doing - also, when you get some jasper/agate don't be afraid to let it roll in stage one for weeks. It'll take that long for some of them to get nicely rounded and blemish free - unless you like the more natural look then you can move along more quickly. It's really an experiment until you get your groove - you'll get there. 
