abbynormal
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2021
Posts: 2
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Post by abbynormal on Oct 5, 2021 17:34:54 GMT -5
My son is interested in getting started with rock tumbling. I've been reading a lot and can't find the answer I'm looking for. I see some videos of people tumbling rocks that turn out to be beautiful gems but at the beginning they look like gravel. I think my son would like that kind of surprise rock for lack of a better description. What should I be looking for to buy rock like that?
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Post by jasoninsd on Oct 5, 2021 17:59:10 GMT -5
Dear Abby, Firstly, welcome to the forum from South Dakota! Secondly, there are a ton of different rocks that start out looking like gravel, and if tumbled correctly will turn out amazingly well and look nothing like they did when they started. Might I suggest taking a look through the past "tumbling" threads on here and maybe you'll see an example of a rock that you want to be the "final result" - and then take a look and see if finding that particular rough is possible...
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lparsons
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2020
Posts: 276
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Post by lparsons on Oct 5, 2021 18:44:46 GMT -5
My son is interested in getting started with rock tumbling. I've been reading a lot and can't find the answer I'm looking for. I see some videos of people tumbling rocks that turn out to be beautiful gems but at the beginning they look like gravel. I think my son would like that kind of surprise rock for lack of a better description. What should I be looking for to buy rock like that? Hi Abby, you didn’t mention how old your son is, but speaking for myself, tumbling takes a lot of patience. 🤣 There’s plenty of expert rock tumblers on here that are so good they make it look easy. I don’t want to discourage you, because the results are definitely worth every minute, but getting those beautiful results can take months. I started tumbling18 months ago. I’ve learned so much on this forum and everyone is so helpful, but the toughest part for me has, (and still is) the amount of time it takes from rough to polished. Most people will tell you that jaspers are a great beginner rock to tumble, and there are so many beautiful types to choose from. I wish you luck!
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LazerFlash
Cave Dweller
The more they over-think the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the toilet.
Member since September 2021
Posts: 548
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Post by LazerFlash on Oct 5, 2021 19:03:47 GMT -5
Hi Abby, you didn’t mention how old your son is, but speaking for myself, tumbling takes a lot of patience. 🤣 There’s plenty of expert rock tumblers on here that are so good they make it look easy. I don’t want to discourage you, because the results are definitely worth every minute, but getting those beautiful results can take months. I started tumbling18 months ago. I’ve learned so much on this forum and everyone is so helpful, but the toughest part for me has, (and still is) the amount of time it takes from rough to polished. abbynormal , I agree about the patience part and the age of your son... However, (and this may get me banned from here for life), decent enough results can be obtained for shorter tumbles. We gave a tumbler to our (now) 8 year old grand-daughter, who is definitely part of the 'instant gratification' demographic. With the tumbler, I gave her a mix of rocks in the 6-7 Mohs range for their first tumble, knowing that she and her dad wouldn't want to wait a month start-to-finish. She really liked the results, even though they were far from perfect and took them less than 3 weeks to do. She has even done her own second tumble using river rocks they collected from the shore of the Potomac River.
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LazerFlash
Cave Dweller
The more they over-think the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the toilet.
Member since September 2021
Posts: 548
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Post by LazerFlash on Oct 5, 2021 19:07:20 GMT -5
Most people will tell you that jaspers are a great beginner rock to tumble, and there are so many beautiful types to choose from. I wish you luck! Oh, and as a newb myself, I can agree with this choice 100%. I had a small bag of red jasper and have put one or two in pretty much each tumble I've done to-date. All have come out really good to great! They have made really exceptional out-of-Poppa's pocket for all of the grands... even the "adult" ones.
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abbynormal
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2021
Posts: 2
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Post by abbynormal on Oct 5, 2021 19:26:54 GMT -5
My son is nine. When I search for rough or raw rocks online I'm just not seeing exactly what I'm looking for. I've been reading on here for a couple of weeks. I'll keep researching. Thank you!
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Oct 5, 2021 19:34:19 GMT -5
I don't tumble, but catmandewe Tony just put up some rutilated quartz for tumbling at a killer price in the marketplace.
I don't know if your son would like it, but the rutile really makes the quartz sparkle when it's polished.
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lparsons
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2020
Posts: 276
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Post by lparsons on Oct 5, 2021 19:40:40 GMT -5
 Most people will tell you that jaspers are a great beginner rock to tumble, and there are so many beautiful types to choose from. I wish you luck! Oh, and as a newb myself, I can agree with this choice 100%. I had a small bag of red jasper and have put one or two in pretty much each tumble I've done to-date. All have come out really good to great! They have made really exceptional out-of-Poppa's pocket for all of the grands... even the "adult" ones. You made an excellent point LazerFlash....I definitely stand corrected.🤣 Some people prefer their tumbled rocks to retain a more natural shape and finish and others want a high gloss finish and a uniform shape, and others fall somewhere in between. I guess I’ve developed tunnel vision.🤣🤣🤣
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Post by Bob on Oct 6, 2021 16:19:36 GMT -5
Hmmm...your question seems to be real practical. Here's 3 lbs on Amazon for about $16 www.amazon.com/UFEEL-Bulk-Rough-Madagascar-Stones/dp/B07H3S8QB8/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=tumbling+mix&qid=1633554715&sr=8-3That's just an example. There are many companies that sell these tumbling mixes and that's a place to start. Until you know about rocks, it's easy to be attracted to the prettiest photos, but it doesn't work that way. When you buy one of these, pull out the following and don't tumble them because they are too soft or otherwise require experience to handle properly: lapis obsidian any feldspars like (amazonite, labradorite, moonstone) fluorite (and these mixes often contain quite a bit of these as is so pretty in rough state even though too soft for tumbling)
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LazerFlash
Cave Dweller
The more they over-think the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the toilet.
Member since September 2021
Posts: 548
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Post by LazerFlash on Oct 6, 2021 21:19:54 GMT -5
...pull out the following and don't tumble them because they are too soft or otherwise require experience to handle properly: lapis obsidianany feldspars like (amazonite, labradorite, moonstone) fluorite Sadly, I have learned this the hard (pun intended) way. None of my tumbles that included any lapis, labradorite, or obsidian have turned out any good. Mostly, the rocks got smaller and smoother, but didn't polished up. I still have some up on the top shelf for when I have a bit more experience.
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heathervee
having dreams about rocks
Member since August 2021
Posts: 57
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Post by heathervee on Oct 6, 2021 21:44:15 GMT -5
Hi! If I'm reading your question correctly, it seems like your interested in finding stones that will have a dramatic difference from the beginning or "rough" stone (pre-tumble) and the finished result. Is that correct? You may want to look into tigers eye or some colorful jasper. They are both pretty hard stones and are forgiving which is good for new tumblers, and they transform from boring chunks of rock to stones with VERY cool patterns and colors. I hope that helped!
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SirRoxalot
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 790
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Post by SirRoxalot on Oct 7, 2021 21:06:54 GMT -5
Gravel to gems, hmmmmm. I wouldn’t worry about that. Start with something reasonably hard, in the quartz family, and get it rolling.
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Post by Bob on Oct 11, 2021 14:22:12 GMT -5
Hi! If I'm reading your question correctly, it seems like your interested in finding stones that will have a dramatic difference from the beginning or "rough" stone (pre-tumble) and the finished result. Is that correct? You may want to look into tigers eye or some colorful jasper. They are both pretty hard stones and are forgiving which is good for new tumblers, and they transform from boring chunks of rock to stones with VERY cool patterns and colors. I hope that helped! Oh, if that is the emphasis, I agree. Not only that, but if that is the emphasis, then that is sort of what turns me on the most about tumbling. If that is what you wish to emphasize, then I have only a couple of tips to add to what others have mentioned. Many of the crushed rock mixes for tumbling have more or less rocks all about the same size with fresh rough edges all around. That's because they went through the throat of a conical rock crusher. Before you even start, you see the real rock insides and the proper color and tumbling makes it smooth and pretty and shiny. No surprise finish. You want something in which the true nature of the beast is sort of obscured at the beginning. That's why I explore gravel bars in streams and creeks and beaches and deserts. So if you instead of buying so-called tumbling mixes, which are often mostly crushed rocks, you buy landscape gravel or stream stones or creek rocks etc. from local stores or online sellers, you will end up with rocks that sort of transform themselves over time into something pretty at the end with patterns and things revealed along the way. You will also get losers too. Most gravel yards or big box store sell a landscaping mix, I forget the common name for it, that is multicolored gravels scooped from some stream. It's usually washed. It will often be half quartzite, which sometimes doesn't take a great polish, and the rest of usually various jaspers, cherts, some agates at times, and real misc. Seams like around here it might be called rainbow mix.
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osuguy0301
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2015
Posts: 203
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Post by osuguy0301 on Oct 11, 2021 18:43:17 GMT -5
A few years back, I taught middle school earth science to 8th graders and would take my Lortone 45c into my class and tumble rocks. I taught 4 different classes and I would do a batch every 9 weeks, 1 with each class. Every Friday we would clean the barrel out, clean the rocks, pull ones that were ready for the next stage, and add some more in to bring up the level. They always looked forward to Fridays. They wanted to see how the stones looked, clean them off and see the patterns, and "hope" it was time for the next stage. I live in Ohio, so rock hunting is pretty scarce outside of Flint Ridge, but I always found the best variety came from the medium mixed rock bags from The Rock Shed. I would buy a few 5 pound bags every year, along with other stuff that I picked up from here and elsewhere, and always got great results. All the rocks would go to the students when done, I just kept the smalls for space fillers.
I would highly recommend a couple mixed bags from them. My students loved them, there was a great variety, and they are all about 7 hardness. Stick to a 7 hardness, they are much easier to work with. I am starting to tumble rocks again after a few years off, my grand daughters wanted to do it. 1 is almost 8 and the other is almost 4. The 8 year old used to help me when she was about 4, so she knows its a wait until they are ready. I find it best to keep it out of sight, out of mind for them. My tumblers are in the back storage area of our basement and they never go back there. They are always excited to clean them up though. Try and make it the same day every week so there is something to look forward to and some sort of "pay off". I don't take my tumbler to school anymore because I switched grades and rooms and don't have the same lab style room I had in 8th grade. It makes me happy my grand daughters want to do it though.
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twinpop
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2021
Posts: 4
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Post by twinpop on Oct 12, 2021 22:25:33 GMT -5
I am currently trying to get my son excited about rocks. We purchased some small geodes and cracked them open. He was hooked! Hard to get him to not pick up every rock now (he is five) and he asked me to check each one. It was a learning experience for both of us but he is slowly picking it up. We try to keep the hardness similar for batches so mostly he looks for Shiney rocks that are not wet.
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Post by Bob on Oct 15, 2021 12:57:29 GMT -5
...my grand daughters wanted to do it. 1 is almost 8 and the other is almost 4. The 8 year old used to help me when she was about 4, so she knows its a wait until they are ready. I find it best to keep it out of sight, out of mind for them. My tumblers are in the back storage area of our basement and they never go back there. They are always excited to clean them up though. Try and make it the same day every week so there is something to look forward to and some sort of "pay off"... I have twin girls, and they were 14 when I started tumbling and got real excited with me. For a while, they wanted to be in on everything, including the messy work. But that didn't last long. They love collecting rocks with me in the outdoors the most and next handling them and looking at them when they are all polished up. By luck, I discovered a way to really keep them engaged that I wanted to pass on to you in case useful. I'll give a real example. We spent a day in the desert near Ludlow, CA collecting some gorgeous material to tumble. I kept it all separated at home, and continued so all the way through the tumbling process to the end. This is a royal pain to do over many months w/o making a mistake, given all the containers and rocks waiting for each grit stage. And it was a full year before they were all done--maybe 2/3 got thrown away in the process. But, at the end, surprise to them "Girls, remember all those rocks we collected together out by Ludlow? Well, here they are, all done and pretty! Take any you want to keep since you helped collect it." Boy, they dive in, and remember some of the rocks, and pick their favs to keep by their nightstands or whatever. We have now done this several times and it continues to keep the excitement, and they love it because dad does all the messy stuff for months in between!
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