Calling all rock tumblers! Tumbling 101 input is needed!

Looking up tumbling recipes online can be a good way to figure out where to start with a particular type of stone...however, there can be many variables in individual technique that are not listed.  I would recommend experimenting with small amounts of material in a single barrel before scaling up (especially with more expensive rough).

Hello, I've been tumbling for about 1 1/4 years. Read about tumbling before you start. There are a few really helpful well written books just for tumbling. Choosing an easy to tumble recommended type rock for the best results on your first tumble is a great tip. Start with a jasper or agate like everyone says is best. What is jasper and what is an agate you might say? If you don't know, or you can't find them in your area then it might be best to search the online rock shops. Be prepared to pay a little more than what you had in mind for a good quality reputable tumbler, it will be worth it. Thanks

Doug

When you go out for a jog in a nice riverrside trail, it's hard to finish your run with rocks in your pockets :-) I learned that this weekend!
So, always bring a small bag to carry found treasures :-)

Here is a post from ingawh that I saved:



May 26, 2018 at 4:27am tkvancil, woodman, and 2 more like this
Quote

Post by ingawh on May 26, 2018 at 4:27am
Hi John,

Welcome to the joys of the Lot-O! I've polished hundreds of loads in my Lot-O, and started with some botched batches, but once I got the hang of it, I fell in love with the darn thing, and now I swear by it!

I agree with the folks that recommend adding water very sparingly. (Too much water can halt the rolling action and the stones just start chattering off each other. Been there, done that.)

My polish slurry is made by starting with damp stones (no standing water), then I add 5-6 pumps of liquid handsoap and 1/4 tsp each of 500 AO and psyllium fiber (Metamucil) as a thickener. I use very small, well-polished quartz and agate filler. I usually let a 7-mohs load run for 24 hours. I check it after about 20 minutes and adjust, as needed, with either a squirt or two of water to loosen things up, or a sprinkle of psyllium if it's too foamy and thin. (My slurry is more of a gel than a liquid.) I check it again in an hour or so, then let it run about 12 hours, and check it one more time, and may add another spray or two of water, but usually not much. I do not follow the instructions that come with it and wash the stones and recharge with barrel after 12 hours. I let it keep running, because the AO is breaking down and becoming it's own polish. Often 24 hours is enough, but with softer stones like obsidian, 48 hours usually does the trick. Still, I do NOT recharge the barrel. I also use the quartz and agate filler with obsidian, (often at 1:1 or more of the filler, especially if you're working with larger pieces).

I know my method is heresy to some folks, but the shine I get makes me really happy, and my method is so easy (once you get the feel of it) it's laughable! I have polished really finicky, chippy, stuff, like porcelanite, and my method is also super gentle and lets me coax a shine onto unusual stuff. I polished basalt recently that came out almost as shiny as my obsidian. (BTW, I make my polished filler out of aquarium gravel from Petco. It works better for me for bringing out a deep, liquid shine on obsidian than ceramic filler.)

To keep the lid from popping off: Chain together some rubber bands (I use just 2 great-big ones, but a number of smaller ones would also work) and run them under the barrel, looping one rubber band around the lid from each side so that they cross each other and hold the lid in place. I like to polish large stones in the Lot-O, and sometimes they push the lid up, the rubber bands will pull it back in place and keep the slurry from drying out.

Clean up is extra easy with my method, because the psyllium captures the grit and particles in the gel, which adheres to itself rather than the rock, so it pops out easily from any pits or cracks. In fact, when you get the recipe right, you'll find that at the end of the tumble, the lid is just damp, but doesn't even seem to have slurry on it. It's all down in the barrel and on the rocks, until you wash it off.

Feel free to ask any other questions - lots of know-how in this group. And I love talking about this stuff!

Best wishes,

Inga

I usually use a 5 stage tumbling process for rotary.
60/80 SIC.
120/220 SIC.
600 SIC or AO depending on what is being tumbled.
1200 AO pre-polish.
Then either 10,000 or AO or TO or Tripoli for final polish.

A lot depends on the rocks/fossils and their hardness. I will add stage specific ceramic tumble media or stage specific tumbling plastic pellets.
Sometimes will reduce barrel size from 3 pound to 1 pound for the last two stages.
All depends on how mush the rocks/fossils reduced in size.

Will also use special rocks/fossil to media ratios for some things. Crystals (quartz/amethyst), Obsidian, and fossils may need more cushioning to prevent cracking or major volume loss.

thats it in a nutshell, we'll stop there haha

Pro-Tip:  Soft stones can still have bits of hard matrix attached.  Run them at #500 AOx grit for a few days and then separate the 'problem' pieces before they ruin your batch.

I found her post before my Lot-O arrived.
I’ve exclusively used her method and it’s excellent.
I do only the rough grit in my two Lortone 3bs and everything is finished in my Lot-O.

I fill with hot water then seal the barrel. When it cools that vapor/air in the headspace will lower in pressure. You see this as you barrel bottom sucked inward. I think it helps offset some gas buildup and keeps the lid on a bit better. Combine that with maybe screwing that nut on a little tighter than they say... I haven't had a blow out in 3 years at this point.

Related... Don't reuse slurry if it has been contaminated by sugar and has had time on air. Yeast set up shop and using that as a slurry additive just gave them a wet, dark, warm, anaerobic environment to ferment. Barrel go boom.

Speaking of slurry additives. They thicken. Increase the viscosity, if you will. Stage 1 it's about getting the grit suspended so the grinding happens quickly. Efficiency relating to most material removal in the shortest period of time. It's the longest stage and can be the limiting factor in your throughput. However, the later stages it's about slowing the rocks down to reduce bruising, chipping, or breaking (this is actually happening in stage 1 as well, btw). Get something between the rocks so they don't hit each other as hard. That concept takes many forms and where you find a lot of different answers. Plastic beads, ceramics, sugar, agar, metamucil, clay, newspaper, sawdust, and corncob are some that come to mind. They all, even in combination, try to provide that cushioning. Save for the ceramics, these additives don't really help polish much on their own. Maybe a little, since they help carry the polishing compound. You may have to extend the polish time to make up for the reduced action.

I think I'm wandering into the rhubarb from "pro tips" to "concept mapping."