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Post by wolfcreekwoodcrafts on Apr 2, 2024 18:34:56 GMT -5
I have just been about to give up as this hobby seems to be beating me to a pulp  Then this happened. I am still not sure how, but it gives me new hope.  I have no idea what kind of rocks they are. I didn't have any luck tumbling the stones that came with the tumbler. None of them would shine, not any of them. And some of them just disappeared. I thought, darn, they came with the tumbler and still they won't shine. I gathered rocks on my walks with my dogs. They tumbled real pretty but would not shine. Only when wet did they look good. I researched, I bought ceramic beads and corn cob, I thought okay, let me try dry polishing. Nope, nothing worked and I did it just like the rock shed instructed. So I was in the Dollar Tree store one day and saw these little bags of rocks. Just normal little rocks and I thought what the heck, for 1.25 get a couple bags and just have fun with it since nothing seems to want to shine anyway. I put them in the tumbler and ran them for a week in the first step coarse grit for a week. I washed them and of course they just looked like rocks, dull ole rocks. But I would not give up. I put them in the tumbler with step 2 grit, started the tumbler, shut the door and walked away for another week. I opened the tumbler last night. Dumped out the dollar tree rocks. Washed the tumbler. Washed the rocks and put them back in the clean tumbler with borax and let them tumble all night. This morning the water was pretty icky so I rinsed the tumbler and the rocks and put them back in the tumbler with borax and a squirt of dawn...good for baby ducks and rocks... and turned it back on. Came in from the shop at lunch and emptied it out, rinsed the rocks and poured them out on an old towel and went back to the shop. Came inside at the end of the day and glanced at the rocks and stopped in my tracks.... I saw shine...on DRY rocks! I was so happy! Finally I have a shine on the rocks and it is only step 2 ! Is this normal for after only 2 steps? Almost all the rocks are shining. I am just shocked. They have cracks and holes and pits and they are still shining. I am excited to see what they look like after the prepolish is done. I have no idea what kind of rocks these are. I have very little knowledge of rocks as to what they are. But whatever these are they are doing better than anything else I have had yet and that includes the tiger eye, amethyst, rose quartz etc that came with the tumbler. I just thought I would share   |
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Post by Pat on Apr 2, 2024 18:45:21 GMT -5
I see a lot of shine, too! Congratulations!
I’m not a tumbler, but shine IS shine!!
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Post by wolfcreekwoodcrafts on Apr 2, 2024 19:02:16 GMT -5
And I haven't even pre polished yet. I am so excited! LOL
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titaniumkid
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2023
Posts: 499
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Post by titaniumkid on Apr 2, 2024 19:07:58 GMT -5
They look great. If you use a good quality polish, they should be shiny at the end.
I don't know why some companies (or a certain company, actually) give poor polish and a strange mix of rocks with rock tumblers. If they want people to get into the hobby (and spend more money on it), you'd think they'd do their best to make sure people had easy success with shiny rocks, not disappointment. It's a strange marketing tactic.
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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 Apr 2, 2024 19:11:41 GMT -5
Look good.
I recommend grabbing 4-5 pounds of red jasper from the Rock Shed to tumble next.
It is a great beginner rock for tumbling - in my opinion
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Post by wolfcreekwoodcrafts on Apr 2, 2024 19:17:50 GMT -5
I am super excited that finally I have a dry rock that shines, even if I don't know what I have LOL
I would think that anything that comes with a kit would be good quality but I guess that just isn't true.
I might get some jasper from the rock shed. I have looked at their wares, but I only bought the polishing grit so far
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Post by chris1956 on Apr 2, 2024 19:34:59 GMT -5
Looking good! I think you found some harder rocks. The white ones look like quartz or quartzite.
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Post by wolfcreekwoodcrafts on Apr 2, 2024 20:11:55 GMT -5
Maybe so, I thought that might be the case
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Post by Son Of Beach on Apr 2, 2024 21:26:39 GMT -5
Glad you stuck with it 
There might be other batches and rocks that disappoint, but it looks like you are stubborn enough to see good results.
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JayneRubble
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2024
Posts: 3
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Post by JayneRubble on Apr 2, 2024 21:42:05 GMT -5
Great Job!
looks like Some agate, chalcedony and maybe some quartzite.
It’s a process. They have to be washed really well as well as the barrel between stages. I learned at one point that I wasnt washing the tumbler good enough between stages. Then again sometimes the rocks wont shine no matter what. Keep it up!😎
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dshanpnw
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2020
Posts: 1,158
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Post by dshanpnw on Apr 3, 2024 18:45:00 GMT -5
Nice looking batch so far. If they have the shine after stage 2 they should turn out very nicely as long as you do like you did with the clean outs and use a good polish. I'm anxious to see them finished. Glad you stuck with it. Kudos.
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Post by jasoninsd on Apr 3, 2024 19:33:12 GMT -5
wolfcreekwoodcrafts - Way to GO!! There's been a LOT of people who have not been able to get over that first "hurdle" of crappy rocks that came with their tumbler...so, super big kudos to you for giving something else a shot!
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Apr 4, 2024 7:16:25 GMT -5
wolfcreekwoodcrafts - Way to GO!! There's been a LOT of people who have not been able to get over that first "hurdle" of crappy rocks that came with their tumbler...so, super big kudos to you for giving something else a shot! Me!! It's me! Without naming names, I'm pretty sure I know what tumbler and am sorely familiar with the rocks they sent too - I also didn't get a shine with mine. They send rocks that are of different hardnesses and as a result you end up with disappearing rocks (softer) and not shiny rocks (because of crappy polish and softer rocks). But I stuck with it and 2 years later I'm producing mirror shine on my tumbles. Not as nice as some, but pretty darn nice. Keep at it, don't give up - theres a huge learning curve to the process and you'll find your groove. Agree with Dillon - get some nice jasper or agate and some 8000 grit or higher AO polish and you will be on your way. |
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Post by Starguy on Apr 4, 2024 9:35:11 GMT -5
Nice looking batch. Good job sticking with it.
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Post by chris1956 on Apr 4, 2024 11:36:37 GMT -5
wolfcreekwoodcrafts - Way to GO!! There's been a LOT of people who have not been able to get over that first "hurdle" of crappy rocks that came with their tumbler...so, super big kudos to you for giving something else a shot! Me!! It's me! Without naming names, I'm pretty sure I know what tumbler and am sorely familiar with the rocks they sent too - I also didn't get a shine with mine. They send rocks that are of different hardnesses and as a result you end up with disappearing rocks (softer) and not shiny rocks (because of crappy polish and softer rocks). But I stuck with it and 2 years later I'm producing mirror shine on my tumbles. Not as nice as some, but pretty darn nice. Keep at it, don't give up - theres a huge learning curve to the process and you'll find your groove. Agree with Dillon - get some nice jasper or agate and some 8000 grit or higher AO polish and you will be on your way. Well, I will name a name that did this. Lortone. First tumbler I bought had the same thing. Different hardness rocks and some of them wouldn't shine or disapeared. Great tumbler but why did they and others do this with the rocks in the kits? |
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Apr 4, 2024 13:50:47 GMT -5
Me!! It's me! Without naming names, I'm pretty sure I know what tumbler and am sorely familiar with the rocks they sent too - I also didn't get a shine with mine. They send rocks that are of different hardnesses and as a result you end up with disappearing rocks (softer) and not shiny rocks (because of crappy polish and softer rocks). But I stuck with it and 2 years later I'm producing mirror shine on my tumbles. Not as nice as some, but pretty darn nice. Keep at it, don't give up - theres a huge learning curve to the process and you'll find your groove. Agree with Dillon - get some nice jasper or agate and some 8000 grit or higher AO polish and you will be on your way. Well, I will name a name that did this. Lortone. First tumbler I bought had the same thing. Different hardness rocks and some of them wouldn't shine or disapeared. Great tumbler but why did they and others do this with the rocks in the kits? haha!! Seriously Lortone surprises me that they'd do that! My name started with an 'N' and ends with an "e-oh" haha...THEM I understand, not necessarily being in the rock niche = but Lortone should know better! |
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Post by wolfcreekwoodcrafts on Apr 5, 2024 7:58:10 GMT -5
Thanks all of you for the encouragement!
The first rock tumbler I got was Nat Geo and I finally threw it away for a few reasons. I couldn't get the lid off. It sealed shut so tight I almost needed a prior bar to get it off, it was so loud I couldn't take it with the door to the room closed, the rocks that came with, well, you all know about those rocks, and finally, even with a lid that was on that tight, it started to leak. I gave up and junked it.
I now have the K2 Elite Professional Rock Tumbler. I like it so much better. It isn't all that noisy and if I close the door to the room I hear nothing. Which is a plus even though I know tumbling rocks isn't a quiet process, this one is so much better than the Nat Geo was.
I did get the 8000 grit from the rock shed. I did get a polish on a few rocks using it and the corn cob dry method, but nothing to get that excited about. I do have it in one tumbler with those pesky rocks that just will not shine. After many attempts at the dry polish that supposedly works on softer rocks, I said oh well try the regular wet method. I hope it works, but I am not holding my breath on it. It has 3 days to go and I will see what I have there.
The rocks that are getting a shine have 4 more days to go in the pre polish stage. I am very hopeful for them.
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titaniumkid
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2023
Posts: 499
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Post by titaniumkid on Apr 5, 2024 18:04:51 GMT -5
Thanks all of you for the encouragement! The first rock tumbler I got was Nat Geo and I finally threw it away for a few reasons. I couldn't get the lid off. It sealed shut so tight I almost needed a prior bar to get it off, it was so loud I couldn't take it with the door to the room closed, the rocks that came with, well, you all know about those rocks, and finally, even with a lid that was on that tight, it started to leak. I gave up and junked it. I now have the K2 Elite Professional Rock Tumbler. I like it so much better. It isn't all that noisy and if I close the door to the room I hear nothing. Which is a plus even though I know tumbling rocks isn't a quiet process, this one is so much better than the Nat Geo was. I did get the 8000 grit from the rock shed. I did get a polish on a few rocks using it and the corn cob dry method, but nothing to get that excited about. I do have it in one tumbler with those pesky rocks that just will not shine. After many attempts at the dry polish that supposedly works on softer rocks, I said oh well try the regular wet method. I hope it works, but I am not holding my breath on it. It has 3 days to go and I will see what I have there. The rocks that are getting a shine have 4 more days to go in the pre polish stage. I am very hopeful for them. It's like they don't want people to keep with the hobby. I cracked the lid on my (kid level) Nat Geo tumbler trying to open it. I was secretly proud of my sudden strength because I normally need to use a knife to open a jar Maybe this is a wives' tale (so someone correct me if it's wrong), but a way to see if a polished but not so shiny rock will take a shine with further polishing or burnishing is to rub it vigorously on cloth for a bit. If that improves the shine, then it's worth burnishing. Also, some rocks will always be matte, and that's okay. Some of my favourite tumbles didn't shine at all, but the rocks are still wonderful. |
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I have no idea what kind of rocks they are. I didn't have any luck tumbling the stones that came with the tumbler. None of them would shine, not any of them. And some of them just disappeared. I thought, darn, they came with the tumbler and still they won't shine. I gathered rocks on my walks with my dogs. They tumbled real pretty but would not shine. Only when wet did they look good. I researched, I bought ceramic beads and corn cob, I thought okay, let me try dry polishing. Nope, nothing worked and I did it just like the rock shed instructed.
