New to This. Am I making the right purchase?

Hi smithnb42 -

To properly answer you question, instead of hastily proceeding to hardness issues, A little more information would be useful because the right machine depends on exactly what you want to do.

If you want to polish small (I stress the small) stones that you find, the 3a might be ok. The stones in the bag that comes with the unit are often slightly large, or disproportionately lacking the necessary small chips, that a good tumble batch needs.

Nothing much larger than 3/4 inch should be done, and 1/2 and 1/4 inch must be mixed in. With experience, you can sneak a 1" stone into the mix - but not several.

So if your size expectation is a little larger, then consider the Lortone 66, or the Thumlers Model B.

Also, do you plan naturally shaped nuggets, possibly with a little knocking/cracking to remove flaws and pointy bits, or do you plan to do flatter pieces that might make rustic jewelry? DO you eventually aspire to do some pre-shaping with a saw or grinder to make more professional looking jewelry? If so, a vibe tumbler might be a better choice.

Also, the kit generally never has enough rough grit. Most stones need repeated charging in the course grit, and they seldom mention this or give enough. So you might consider buying a unit form somewhere that can also provide a few pounds of grit at the same time.

Anyway, say a little more about what you expect and we can say more about what equipment/supplies to consider.

I agree with deb193redux and johnjsgems, their experience counts loads around here.

And the more we know about your endeavors the better the answers with be.

Glad you found us.

Dr Joe

.

Not likely.

Everything since 12-Jul is gone.

I would recommend the qt66 or the 45c.I've had a 45c for 20 years. I bought a 3a at a yard sale and it works for very small batches.I think if you get the 3a you will soon be wanting a larger one,wishing you had gotten one at the start.

snuffy

Hello
You got some great advise here already. I started out with the Tumblers, and I have added two extra barrels (I can only use 1 at a time), so that I don't mix grits and polish. I am looking to buy the Lorton double barrel from Johnsgems. Spread around the board is some great information.
When I started I had some gems to tumble because I discovered the hobby while on a trip. But now I rock hound and buy some stones, and if your are like me you will fall in love with agates.
They are great stones to start tumbling with. Ed