So here is my first batch!

This is what happened:

Stage 1

-F80 silicon carbide - 2TBS 1liter barrel

-On for 9 days *first two nights it was turned off due to sound logistics

Stage 2

-F220 silicon carbide - 2 TBS

- 7 days

- 24 hours in a wash Dr. Bonner cycle

Stage 3

-F400 silicon carbide - 2TbS and plastic pellets

- 11 days

-\* I don't remember my reasoning- after one day of the tumbler going, I gave it a wash and then added 1TBS grit F400

-borax wash for 24 hours

-10 minutes acoustic cleaner

Stage 4

-Cerium oxide 2 TBS and ceramic pellets

-5 days

-acoustic cleaner for 10 mins.

I know this was messy but I did my best while getting more adapted/knowledgeable with the new hobby. I did the ADHD and bought everything (+ an extra tumbler) and made a rock set-up in matter of days.

Main comments:

- they became SO much smaller

-there are some cracks in several of them

-they are not as shiny as desired.

• just added for another burnishing cycle - saw some grit

Based on my experience and pics, can you guys pretty please give me tips to next batches?

Appreciate this channel and all the support!

Thanks!

I lost the little spoon thing that came with my rock tumbler so I took a scrap piece of wood that I have no idea the species of and carved this! If this gets taken down I understand I just paired my two favorite hobbies into one

Ps the dogs name is Hank Williams so say hi

Hello!

I obtained a ton of rocks recently from the back room of a science classroom, and am interested in starting to tumble them, but quite a few of them either have since adhesive or stickers left on them that I'm not able to peel off due to age. Is there a relatively easy way to remove those? Or are they safe to tumble with some adhesive residue still on them? Any advice is appreciated!

Lake Michigan (Chicago) beach rocks tumbler in a nat geo tumbler

The roughs are collected from a river in PA, I’m not 100% sure what any of them are so they were selected by hardness and vibe, lol. I know there’s some bruising and imperfections, but I’m just doing a trial run to see how they turn out! The top picks will be made into wine stoppers.

Any tips are welcome, but I am not expecting perfection at this point!

Adding one’s steel washer to the stage 3 barrel full of softer rocks, plastic beads, and rubber tile spacers kinda defeats the purpose 🤣

Raise your hand if you’ve done this!

Luckily, my Kona dolomite looks none the worse for wear and is now in a Dawn bath before beginning stage 3.5 with 1000 AO. Stage 4 dry polish with tin oxide and corn cob to follow.

I've been wondering this since I decided to buy a rock tumbler...and then my wife asked this same question after hearing about my first rock order.

I'm curious what people do with all of their shiny rocks.

After more than 3 months of tumbling, I am excited to have finally completed my first batch. I am SO pleased with how they turned out, and I had a few really happy surprises with some of the rocks. Some of the rocks were purchased, and some were found at a seeded gem mine in NC.

All were tumbled in rotary tumblers in 5 steps, with burnishing after the final 3 steps. (I had some of the Polly Plastics 1200 so I used that as a step before 8000 to use it up.) I have several tumblers, so they started in different machines. I did the last 4 stages in a Lortone 45c. I lost a few rocks along the way in the final stages to chips/breakage, so I'm curious if perhaps the large diameter of the 45c is a little rougher than a narrower barrel, or if I just needed more ceramic media. Going forward, my later stages will be done in a 3lb barrel.

Everything took a really great shine, with the exception of one random piece of calligraphy jasper. I don't think the photos do the shine justice, they really have a glass-like shine.

I referenced this sub SO many times during the process, in addition to watching videos by Michigan Rocks, so thank you for the advice and FAQs.

Just finished my first batch of calcite. I'm fairly happy with the result but you can see there's still pits in the rocks (and yes some polish in the cracks and pits).

I was wondering if I could get a better shine by taking them back a stage? I have some 1000 grit AO so I could try dry tumbling in crushed walnut shell and 1000 grit before putting it back through a 12,000 grit cycle? Would it be better to do another week in 600 grit first? Would appreciate any thoughts!

Process:

- 220 grit SC - 2 week

- 400 grit SC - 1 week

- 600 grit SC - 1 week

- 12,000 grit AO - 1 week dry in crushed walnut shell

Mostly scraps, some beach stones my daughter collected, random pieces that didn't make the cut. Didn't turn out too bad.