Rock Tumbling FAIL - Stage 2/5 of Rock Tumbling

[@MichiganRocks]

Troy is right about getting the lid off. Stick the washer under the lip of the outer lid and twist it. Putting in too many ceramics in the first stage will have exactly the same effect as too many small rocks. Having a mix of sizes is the best. I only tumble Petoskey Stones with other Petoskey Stones and only for about three or four days at a time. I put in a lot more water than usual with Petoskey Stones so the slurry doesn't get so think. I'd only suggest tumbling Petoskeys through 220 grit. Past that, they start going bad. You can hand polish them pretty easily after 220 stage using automotive wet/dry sandpaper and finishing with aluminum oxide polish on denim.

[@rodenbergrocks]

I should have watched your how to tumble petoskey stones video first before diving head first into it… I appreciate all of the help and suggestions!

[@rachelschildman2327]

Definitely agree with the advice to use the washer to get the lid off 😉 I like using pea gravel and/or ceramic during stage 1&2, and go to straight ceramic for 3&polish. I am also going to try plastic media for 3&4 in my next set. Borax and a toothbrush is definitely your friend 😃

[@rodenbergrocks]

I wash my rocks in borax after all of the stages are completed for around 2 hours, but maybe I should start doing so between every stage 🤔 thanks for the ideas!

[@rachelschildman2327]

@@rodenbergrocks also get a copy of Stephen Hart’s book “Modern Rock Rumbling.” Lots of good tips in there 😃. And it is a trial and error kind of thing, you have to just keep trying different thing until you find what works best for you and your rocks.

[@troylarsen2454]

Use the washer to help pry the lid off. Works a lot better. Also, I tried using ceramics in stage 1 one time. While the rocks had protection, there was also less room for them to move around. It took 3x longer in stage 1 with ceramics added. It's best to use ceramics in stage 2 to 4. Also, pick up some borax or ivory soap, put some in the tumbler barrel with the stones, it does a pretty good job of cleaning, you may have to do some light scrubbing.

[@rodenbergrocks]

I never thought of using the washer… mind blown! I will typically not do ceramics in stage 1 either, but will in stages 2-4 on occasion, but 100% of the time I do in stages 3-4. I use borax after the last stage to clean everything. Do you recommend between every stage?

[@troylarsen2454]

@rodenbergrocks I can't remember wear I saw that little hack with the washer, maybe in one of Rob's videos. Anyway, I use borax to clean in between stages. It saves a little time and effort. I prefer ivory soap after stage 4, I have found that borax leaves a tacky residue.

[@clintstoner13680]

Thank you for posting your not-quite-fail video for us to learn from. I've got the same tumbler and I'm very much a novice still. The one thing I learned the hard way was to only tumble rocks of the same hardness together. Many calcite crystal fatalities, that I thought were something else. I'm also in Michigan but I live in the southern part. I've managed to get about 5 batches through all of the stages and some of them even turned out ok. Rob is right though, granite is very difficult to tumble. I've attempted several different types and failed most of them. I don't find many agates this far south but I've got a TON of chert and it tumbles exceptionally well. Let me know if you'd like some and I can send it your way. Keep at it and learn from the failures. Good luck!

[@rodenbergrocks]

I will keep you in mind when I run out of rocks to tumble 😂 and I appreciate all of the knowledge and recommendations. Got to go through it to grow through it!

[@notinmanitou]

I suggest that you go back and watch Rob's videos on how to tumble rocks. He taught us about Petoskey stones and also about varying sizes of rocks and everything else that someone should know about tumbling rocks. I've seen lots of rock tumbling videos and his are the best. (Must be the teacher in him, ha ha.)

[@rodenbergrocks]

He is a good teacher indeed and I went and watched his video in regards to tumbling petoskey stones specifically… makes sense why they were so worn out after 8+ days 😅