HIGH SPEED ROCK TUMBLING - BRILLIANT POLISH - WITHOUT CHEATING!

High speed rock tumbling without cheating! I wanted to see how quickly I could do a rock tumble and still have a reasonable polish on the stones. This little test far exceeded my expectations! I managed to produce a brilliant polish on Agate hard beach pebbles, Jasper, Quartz and Agates in just 10 days, no cheating and no secret ingredients.
If you are a beginner at rock tumbling or a bit more experienced but struggling to get a good finish on your stones YOU CAN ALSO DO THIS!
Simply follow the steps laid out in this video and you can be doing super quick rock polishing time after time.
I tumbled these in my National Geographic Hobby tumbler using silicon carbide and Aluminium Oxide grits finishing off with my favorite polish.

[@colin7096]

Brilliantly informative, and great too to have UK based videos on rock tumbling as so many are US.

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Glad you enjoyed it, I have more in the pipeline! Thanks for watching.

[@romfordfossilhunters4646]

As a fossil collector, my wife and I also collect so many beautiful stones for polishing. Thanks very much for posting this very educational video that will hopefully stop me using wallpaper paste to thicken my tumbles and inferior grits. Off to order some tin oxide 👏👏🙌👍🥂

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

I do not use any additives now, no soap or borax, just poly beads and grit. Best of luck!

[@erniesmith4344]

I always wondered about what you've just demonstrated. Thanks for your experience!

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Pampnaylor]

What are great informative video for the novice which I am. I haven’t even finished my first group yet and it’s been a month. I learned a lot from this video. Thank you so much. Pam

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Glad it was helpful! Best of luck with your tumbling!

[@JoshuaHaston]

I’ve been collecting various stones from job sites and parks for a while now. So many I had to purchase a tumbler and give it a go. I’ve watched a dozen of your videos and I’ll be watching plenty more for sure! They give me a lot of information and clarity on what I’m about to get myself into. I look forward to seeing the results based on all your knowledge, time, and effort you’ve made in this. Thank you!

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

You are very welcome and best of luck with your tumbling.

[@nicolagraynewzealandrockho8976]

Those look incredible. I'm enjoying experimenting with tumbling.

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Thank you, trying things out is half the fun! One tip, makes notes! Best of luck.

[@LuckenbachTexas7499]

🍻Good Show, Chap! I've got my first batch of pretty rocks that's been smoothed out to an 80 - 120 grit fineness with an angle grinder and a dremel tool in the tumbler right now. My process is nearabouts the same as what you are doing here. It's looking like they will be completely ready in a week or even less.

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Gosh, smoothing off by hand takes a lot of work! Can I ask why you don't simply let the tumbler do the job? Not criticising just interested. Let me know how you get on. Cheers!

[@zeichner42]

Excellent choice of stones & really nice polish!

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@TheWickedPebbles]

Nice. Happy little tumbles.

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

happy tumbles to you!

[@Specwreck]

Do you still make videos? Love this stuff

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Been out for a while but getting back into it soon, Cheers!

[@tomg3285]

Great information as always I appreciate the layout of the video description✌️

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Glad you liked it! Thanks for watching!

[@helencalnan.30]

.k8

[@xinmao8117]

Super shiny!🎉

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Thank you!

[@queenbee9505]

In the US, Cerium oxide is glass polish and provides a much higher shine than Aluminum oxide at 1500 grit. The specs for cetium is 50k mesh but some describe that as 8 to 12k grit. When I want a candy apple finish on my tumble and have already had the stones in polish,I upgrade to cetium which is vety expensive ( about 35 to 60.00/lb) so cetium is my go to to bump up my finish but I try to be selective with use since it is so expensive. Cetium is also used to polish out small scratches in glass and mirror it is recommended to use a respirator with cerium oxide.

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Thank you for the interesting information. here in the UK it is difficult to find out the grit size of the oxide powders available. Cheers

[@jontypiper9881]

I bought a book on rock tumbling whilst on holiday as a kid back in the 80s, I was fascinated by it but it never went any further than looking through the book. I think one reason I never did anything was a lack of information for that era, fast forward 40 years and I have a daughter that is now interested in the subject so have ordered the same tumbler you use, hopefully we'll have some fun with this, thanks for your content 👍

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Enjoy your tumbling!

[@jontypiper9881]

@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 and you and meant to thank you for your content 👍

[@generalawareness101]

Parallel to my own timeline experiences as well. You are right the library was a gold mine, but you can only do so much with static pictures, and words whereas 40 years later we have videos.

[@jontypiper9881]

@@generalawareness101 definitely there's so much content nowadays it really paves the way in helping. An update is that I had to return my tumbler as it kept switching itself off, with it running the garage this was off no use to me as I had no record as to when it had stopped and how much tumbling time I'd lost, maybe it's something I'll come back to.

[@generalawareness101]

@@jontypiper9881 Yes, I figure I will get into this around Christmas unless the world falls into a global depression which economists say is highly likely. One thing that nothing said in those books that I now have learned is to use the roughing tumble on a drum then the other passes in a vibratory as it will go by faster with far better results. What is bad is not so much the cost of the machine, though they can be expensive, it is the media needed as metal prices have gone through the roof besides just simply not being available.

[@Snidely7]

Impressive. I have a batch tumbling in tin oxide - first time using that grit. I hope they turn out as well as yours.

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

I sincerely hope so too, best of luck!

[@neseirf70]

I'm very new to this and was wondering have you ever heard of using walnut shells ? Have you ever tried it? Great video as always!

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

I think walnut shell is generally used for polishing soft metals such as brass.

[@staceysakkinen1270]

I enjoyed this video. Very interesting and most helpful.

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching

[@WagonPilotAdventures]

Nice polish on those. I need to shop around for a decent price for tin oxide over here in the US.

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

One tip, checkout the descriptions of polishes on stone and marble tool suppliers, the Tin Oxide I buy is marketed as "Malaysian Pote" (Marble polish) But the description tells you it is 99% Tin Oxide. Good luck with your search!

[@homebrewer7]

At 87 years I received a Christmas present from my wife. A small rock tumbler kit. I have it tumbling past three days6

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Best of luck and enjoy!

[@virtualan]

Very good. Just ordered myself some of that tin oxide :)

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@mr.niceguy3760]

This was really informative, thank you

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Glad it was helpful!

[@cityzenkane108]

Hi. I wonder if you could help. I want to polish individual large stones from about half to two kilos. They are smooth without pits. Granite with quartz stripes. Is this possible? If so should I buy a loto- vibrator or standard tumbler. Also my wife is worried about noise. I live in London and would have to have my setup in my house which could be a problem if it’s a constant noise? Thank you. Keep up the great work.

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Hi, I would only consider polishing large stones using a grinder polisher not a tumbler, unless you had a really big tumbler! Also granite does not polish well in a tumbler. I think unless you have a workshop/garage or can work in the garden you are a bit stumped. These vids might help you decide... kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHu0lHR8qtGon9E kzbin.info/www/bejne/hneafWN5nJiYZtk kzbin.info/aero/PLgxE3u0ruJj8KhUvCnGylAqmCbVtwiA6h best of luck.

[@cityzenkane108]

@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 Thats very good advice. Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. Much appreciated.

[@Rockn-UV]

After a couple of tumble sessions, how often do you decide to retire a rock from further polishing due to deep pits and fractures? I find myself removing about 1 rock per week from my rotary tumbler because it doesn't seem like it's ever going to smooth out. Thanks.

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

I do occasionally chuck out a rock because I am sure it will not tumble well/ Hard to quantify as I am pretty fussy what rocks I start with so it does not happen too often. Some holes will never come out they just keep getting deeper!

[@suebland14]

Excellent video and amazing shine on those stone. Can I ask where in the uk you get your grits and polish?

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Hi Sue, the aluminium oxide I get here: www.thepolishingshop.co.uk/abrasives/abrasive-powder-grit/aluminium-oxide-abrasive-grit The tin oxide here, though only in 1kg tubs www.stonetools.co.uk/chemicals/polishing-powders (Pote Malaysia) For smaller lots of polish you can try here: www.ctmpotterssupplies.co.uk/polishingpowders.html. bit of a faff as you have to email them but they are a lot cheaper than tumble shops. Best of luck!

[@dianequince8761]

What brand plastic pellets do you use! I bought some but they're flat, yours look round. I got good results with them but was wondering. Thank you 😃

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Pollypellets, mine are round balls. I use nothing else.

[@dianequince8761]

@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 Thank you, I will look for those.

[@sandylerski9352]

Been rock tumbling for a while. Just wondered if some stones dont end up polished after going through the process should I try and give them a much longer polish time?

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

If other rocks have polished in a batch then the failures are probably slightly softer stones and can be quite difficult to polish.

[@valaquill]

Is there something I can use instead of the plastic beads? Or can I get similar result in longer time without plastic beads?

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

I use plastic beads all the time now, I do not use any other additive, (soap, Borax etc). They work really well and are re-usable over and over and are cheap. Why do you want something different? Best of luck.

[@zoozolplexOne]

beautiful

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Thank you! 😊

[@symonrocks9847]

There is no cheating polishing is polishing, trim your stones, put them in 60 grit and leave for a week, clean and polish for three days.

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

OK.

[@buckfuhtt2083]

A video showing how to cheat like heII. Because I've got ba 3 pound tumbler and just over 350 pounds of hand selected Crowley's ridge agates, citrine, jasper and some impact gems. Dig your video and it helped but I'm afraid even with all the time hacks on KZbin. It would still take 400 , to the store I go

[@johnmarmo9369]

Hello. I am following your fast rock tumble but cannot find the aluminium oxide 400 grit. Could you tell me where you buy it from please. Thank you

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

www.thepolishingshop.co.uk/abrasives/abrasive-powder-grit/aluminium-oxide-abrasive-grit

[@10bc-tenerifebackgammonclub]

Hi, have you ever ran epoxy resin in the tumbler, im considering making some checkers for Backgammon.

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Sorry I'm not sure what you mean, is the resin supposed to coat the stone? I have not tried this anyway and I would guess it would ruin the barrel. Let me know if you try this, cheers!

[@10bc-tenerifebackgammonclub]

@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 No to round off and polish the epoxy resin checkers. Nothing to do with stones.

[@TheDarkSkorpion]

​@@10bc-tenerifebackgammonclub I think I get what you're saying. You want to try basically making some checkers by tumbling resin hardened in a type of mold? Interesting. JB Weld would be too soft, even once hardened. Maybe clear acrylic epoxy would work (but I suspect not), then you could choose colors and even add glitter to get some sparkle. It would seem an unnecessary expenditure, but I suppose for someone with backgammonclub in their username it would be more a labor of love. Perhaps making glass checkers? Glass tumbles well, is available in many colors, is cheap or free, reasonably durable if using thicker glass, and there are numerous tutorials here on youtube.

[@elis1645]

Thanks.How many hours does the tumbler spin?

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Not sure, think of it in days rather than hours and each tumble is different.

[@elis1645]

@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 Thank you

[@propfella]

I'm buying Aluminium Oxide for 2,75 Euro per 100 Gram on-line From Temu... They don't list the particle size, but it is fine. I've had no problems with it or it's delivery.

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Pity they do not list grade, thanks for the info!

[@cowbella1918]

Can you please link the tumbling media you use, as well as the Pote Malaysia? I can not find it on amazon.

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

www.thepolishingshop.co.uk/abrasives/abrasive-powder-grit/aluminium-oxide-abrasive-grit www.stonetools.co.uk/chemicals/polishing-powders Hope this helps.

[@soniasilva503]

No noite! O senhor poderia colocar permissão pra legenda em português? Obrigada. As pedras estão lindas! E 👏👏👏👏😍👍👍👍

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

vou tentar obrigado por assistir

[@218philip]

It would be nice if we could see them under magnification.

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Not sure how that would be helpful?

[@김해아주머니]

영어를 몰라서 답답하네요 ^^, 연마제가 2가지 들어가는 거 같은데 궁금하네요

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

Hi, there are two types of abrasive, Silica Carbide is the most widely used, and Aluminium Oxide grit which I use. SC is generally said to be harder and more aggresive AO is usually much cheaper and in my opinion works just as well. Some people use Sc for the first stage and AO for stages 2 and 3. I use AO at all three stages and get very good results. Best of luck.

[@canadiangemstones7636]

Silicon carbide. No silica in it.

[@thestonecraftingworkshop7490]

OK.