Is it possible to tumble crinoids?

Crinoids in limestone will be very soft. You could attempt to do them in a vibratory tumbler, starting with something like 300 grit & checking progress every day. Why not save that pie plate sized death plate as a specimen ? Surely there are many crinoid pieces which have weathered out of the limestone and could be easily picked up.

I usually won't tumble fossils.......Some are very fragile and will break apart............

Very nice death plate. If you buy a piece of 1/8" hardware cloth & build a wooden frame for it, you should be able to screen out bunches of loose crinoid pieces from the soil downhill from where you found that piece. When I was a kid in N.E. Ohio, we used to pick up pockets full in the fields around us.

If you happen upon any trilobites, keep me in mind. I collect them.

Since moving to South Dakota, while screening rocks out of new flower beds, I've found 4 very crudely made early arrow heads, and a couple small pieces of coral which were probably dropped here by the last ice age.

Don

I have found lots of limestone crinoid stems in my area. I've never tried to tumble them. I think it would ruin them if you made them smooth. I have successfully tumbled Petoskey stones though. They're also limestone, so crinoids might be able to be tumbled using the same method. I used corn cob media in a vibratory tumbler. Read about it here. Since that post, I have tried corn cob animal bedding that I bought at Walmart and had good luck with it. I'd try that before ordering some made specifically for tumbling. Let us know how they turn out (or don't turn out).

LOL, My parents moved me away from Ohio way back in 1948. The area where I was a young boy is now covered in asphalt & shopping malls.