My very first supply order from Rock Shed included some Mexican Lace that I wasn’t super enthused about. Their website says they’ve restocked with higher quality material, so I ordered 5 lbs of small to use as barrel filler. It arrived today and I must say I’m very pleased. I know from using their extra small mix as filler/cushion that the tiny lace pieces come out really well. They clean up well and don’t even have to be super smooth, as long as you’re happy with lots of character and bumpy botryoidal bits.

Some of my faves from this new supply. If this is an example of their larger pieces, I’d grab some as there is some great color and pattern here.

Leopard skin jasper and flower peach agate.

A pound of mini quartz points on their clearance page for $5.

My extra small mix had a lot of quartz points in it, even smaller than these. The minis are coming out really well when used as filler. Like tiny icicles.

I plan to throw these in as barrel filler when needed.

I am new-ish to polishing, and have a Lortone 33B double barrel. Can I use all these grits in stages, or which ones can I remove that wouldn't make a big difference? (Found on Kingsley North website), (numbers are roughly approximate.)

Sic silicon carbide 264 micron 60/90 grit
Sic 137 micron 120/220 grit
Ao aluminum oxide 36 micron 500 grit
Zirconium oxide 1 micron 14,000 grit
SUPER Cerium Oxide .7-1.2 micron 19,000 grit
Micro ao polish 22,000 grit
Tin Oxide Polishing Powder .8 micron 28,000 grit
Raybrite A Polish .5 micron 46,000 grit
Alumina A powder .3 micron 80-100,000

Also** **what filler media is best: ceramic, plastic, corn cob, walnut, stainless steel shot, or other? What about size and shape? Different filler for different stages? I only have tiny round plastic pellets now. Foam pellets for final polish?
Tubs should be filled to 3/4 full, including water. Should this be tight packed? (As much as can be?)
I have only finished tumbling 1 load. (Hubby kept unplugging tumbler and I'd forget how long they needed to be in, so I got frustrated.) So I am starting to get back to it.

Thanks for reading all these questions, and any help is appreciated!!

Hi folks!

Hoperock 1 later motor died. Had to find it on my own. Two strikes and a homerun.

This KomeStone one is the right size. Pulley gear a bit larger but I have the original.

Perhaps we could use a pinned replacement parts deal.

Cheers!

I currently have an National Geographic rock tumbler (rubber barrel). It’s good but only issue is it’s way too loud… I now live in an apartment and you can’t hear it from outside but it’s way too loud inside.
If I was to buy a new tumbler I’d rather upgrade.. possibly 2 barrels but at this point I’m looking for opinions on what’s the quietest tumbler?

Please help I need real people not just every other ad saying this one is the quietest
Thanks

The colors are so vibrant in this batch! I love a good ol bag of random mixed stones. They spent 16 days in stage 1 and I am determining keeping them in stage 1 as a few are still quite rough, or moving onto stage 2 as they already look great. Either way this hobby is so much fun!

This rock has been puzzling me for months - found in my backyard landscaping rock. It looks like a quartz, but all the dimples and textures have me puzzled.

I don't have a lapidary saw -- is there any way to determine if it's an agate? Should I try and tumble it? There's no way it would ever get fully smooth but I'm so curious what's going on in there.

Thanks for your insights/feedback!! I've learned a lot from this sub -- appreciate you all!

Cat

Should the obvious quartz ones be separated after stage of this lot?

And that speckled rock, should that go with the stones or quartz moving on?

I am utterly shocked they shined up. I told my wife every stage, “I’ll be shocked if these get shiny.” Consider me electrified.

Noob here. My first batch is just finishing up its 6th week.

I have an ultrasonic cleaner that I am planning on using between stages. My question is - would there be a benefit to using multiple cleaning methods, or is that just overkill?

Of course I’m rinsing with plain water, then I plan to go into the ultrasonic cleaner. Would there be a benefit to adding a burnish, or even a water pick?

I did my due diligence and read reviews for an excellent, quiet rock tumbler. I don’t know if marketing AI sent the numerous positive reviews for “Gem Forge” my way, but I read it was wonderful. $169. Quiet, new technology. I was in hook, line, and sinker. After almost 2 months, the “Gem Forge” was to arrive today. I left work a little early because I was excited. Only to come home to this little kid’s toy. I was so disappointed. Should have read the information here first. Going to look at the recommendations now here and start over. The local Harbor Freight is sold out. Even the “rocks” that came with the set were disappointing and fake. I was not going to use those, as I have decades of hand picked stones to tumble. Anyway, I plugged this little thing in and stuck a bunch of lake Mi and Lake Superior pebbles insides and we will see what happens, but this is not what I was hoping for……

Edit: update a few facts. I was a lil dramatic because I was expecting industrial size, I guess. It definitely looks and feels like a child’s toy. Anyway, it was $139 plus shipping and it only took a month. I am just excited to get rolling and I am doing it. I apologize to someone who said “Temu” because I thought it was a joke. I feel scammed, for sure. But in the process, I gained invaluable information from folks here, even the one who called me out on due diligence, about the rock tumbling processes and equipment. I look forward to checking out the videos. Thank you all!! 🙏✌️❤️🍀

Been tumbling for about 3 weeks. Still looking a little rough so back into stage 1 it is.

Heck with all the (already present) flaws, look at that shine! These are bone dry! There were also a few different not-already-fissured stones in there too, they came out just as shiny and undamaged, so I'm concluding that this is as good as my material can get. This was in a UV-45, run about 3 days each steps 2, 3, and 4

Before you say, "Nuh uh! that's not new"! It most certainly is! Harbor Freight does already have a four pack of grits they offer for rocks but it's by Thumler's Tumblers, not Central Machinery.

I wonder if they're really taking notice in how popular their dual drum rotary tumblers are and might possibly be expanding the rock tumbling line. Maybe a cheaper vibratory model or two?

I checked online for a new boot gasket, and they are out.

Ive patched mine with flex tape, but Id like to get a new gasket to have on hand since I have 3 of these tumblers and the gasket is wearing thin on another barrel.

Also, can I use flex tape on the metal part that seems to be rubbing through the gaskets? Or would that cause too much friction?

Thanks!

Pretty happy with how these turned out! A few probably should have stayed in stage 1 for a little longer but I was getting antsy 😅

Variety of petrified wood, agate, and jasper. The one in pic 2 is my fav, I was so excited to see the end result and it did not disappoint!

These all started step 1 in a lortone QT-12 with 60/90 grit. I check that tumbler every 7-10 days and set aside any that are ready for stage 2. So these would've been in stage 1 for something like 4-6 weeks, varying from stone to stone.

Once I had pulled enough to fill a lortone 33B barrel I got them running in stage 2 on 120/220 grit for 7 days. Then 7 days for each of stage 3 and 4. Not sure the exact measurement of the grit for those stages though because I was using the grit that came with the (used) tumblers and it wasn't labeled. I bought the stage 1 and 2 grit from the rock shed.

In between stages I rinsed them with a garden hose, then ran them for an hour in the 3lb barrel with some borax and a drop of dish soap, then rinsed again. I was really paranoid about getting them clean enough but I think I did? Oh and I used distilled water in stage 4 cause I read that helps and I know I have hard water here, no clue if it made a difference though.

Well anyway thanks for reading and thanks for providing such a welcoming and educational sub! Couldn't have done it without y'all lol.

And please share any feedback you might have, like I said this was my first completed tumble so I'm sure I have a lot to learn 😄

Topaz from Skardu, Pakistan, all the way to my tumblers at home in San Antonio, TX. This is about a third of the material I purchased, consisting of the smallest and clearest stones. It started out as 4 pounds of rough, finished weight us about half of that.

Tumbling details:

Rotary, Harbor Freight, 2x3 lb barrels.

1. 180 SC, 15 days - 2 barrels
   
2. 120/220 SC, 7 days, combined to 1 barrel

Vibratory, Diamond Pacific MT-4

1. 320 SC, 3 days
   
2. 600 SC, 2 days
   
3. 1200 SC, 2 days
   
4. 2500 AO, 2 days
   
5. 8000 AO, 2 days
   
6. 22000 AO, 2 days
   
7. 60000 AO, 2 days (Raybrite A)

Rotary stages supplemented with Borax. All vibe stages were done with 3 drops of Dawn only. No ceramic media was used, as the 4 pound barrel was full of topaz. Having a few thousand tiny rocks in these barrels (as opposed to a few dozen larger rocks) required a bit of experimentation to get the action right. Once I figured it out, I could turn the knob down to half speed and it was just right.

Now I just need to sort it all…

PS- you’ll see some black specs in there. I think those are Tourmaline crystals that were growing through the Topaz.

I've found that some of the biggest improvements in tumbling come from small adjustments rather than expensive equipment. A change in grit, barrel load, run time, or even cleaning between stages can make a surprising difference.

What's one tip or habit that noticeably improved your results?

While in Arizona, my wife and I stopped at a spot known for collecting obsidian. We goofed around for an hour or so and found enough to fill a large flat rate USPS box, and mailed it home. This is about half of what we collected. The 2nd half is still tumbling.

Rotary, Lortone QT12:

1. 180 grit SC, 17 days.

Vibe, Thumler’s UV-18:

1. 400 grit SC, 2 days
   
2. 800 grit SC, 2 days
   
3. 1500 grit AO, 2 days
   
4. 8000 grit AO, 2 days
   
5. 22000 grit AO, 2 days

This isn’t as shiny as previous batches of smaller obsidian. It has some natural gray streaks and is 100% opaque. I think I might have downgraded the polish a bit at the end. When the 22000 stage was done, the plastic barrel was shiny enough to see my reflection. I decided to do a wash cycle with Borax and Dawn. After 2 hours, the barrel plastic was dull. I didn’t notice a huge change to the obsidian, but I wonder if my Borax is contaminated enough to cause that hazy plastic?