Author: Rock Tumbler

Tumbled Rocks: Week 9

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I didn’t even open my rock tumbler last week. The last time I opened my lortone rock tumblers was week #7. Yes, I skipped by week #8. I thought about taking the rocks out but said… I’ll wait. Late this afternoon, I finally got around to opening my three barrels.

Week #9, Stage #1. Tumbled rocks just rinsed.

This is my six-pound barrel containing agates, tiger eye, and obsidian. I rinsed the rocks thoroughly and placed them back into the barrel with water, where they’ll tumble for about a day. I didn’t even add my teaspoon of borax. I will most likely add that tomorrow. As I rinsed the rocks today, I noticed several appear ready to move on to stage #2, and I could have already started stage #2.

Rose Quartz – Week #2

The majority of the rocks have been tumbling for nine weeks. However, the rose quartz rocks are new. This is their second week of being tumbled.

Tumbled Rocks: Some advancing to Stage #2, Remaining back to Stage #1

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Today, I finally removed my rocks from their respective barrels, where they had been tumbling in water/borax for almost five days Week 6 – Checking on tumbled rocks, Stage #1. I wasn’t in a hurry to remove them from the barrels. Since I was busy with other tasks, I let them stay in their barrels, knowing that when I was ready for them, I would remove them and move some of them onto Stage #2 and place the bul back into Stage #1.

Tumbled rocks ready for Stage #2

These are the rocks ready for Stage #2. I had a lot more than this; however, my brother and nephew were visiting today, and my nephew loves rocks as much as I do. I told him to choose whatever rocks he wanted.

My nephew chose a few rocks

He chose the rocks in the above picture. He added a few rough rocks also! My nephew looks forward to seeing them finish tumbling since he wants to see how glossy they will become.

The rest of the rocks went back to Stage #1, and

I even added new rocks to Stage #1,

as shown in my 1.5-pound barrels.

I’m looking forward to that also, but I am in no rush when they’re done, they’re done.  Based on the high sheen we already see with many rocks, only in Stage #1, I imagine they will be gorgeous.

Week 6 – Checking on tumbled rocks, Stage #1

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Last evening, I removed my tumbled rocks from Stage #1.

Freshly rinsed tumbled agates – Stage #1

I rinsed them thoroughly in my five-gallon bucket, checked each one to see if they were smooth enough to move on to Stage #2, or would they be placed back into Stage #1 after going through their rinse cycle.

Rocks ready for Stage #2

Several are ready for Stage #2. The above photo shows a few of them.

After rinsing the Stage #1 grit of the rocks, I placed them back in their respective barrels. I filled each barrel with enough water to cover the rocks and added one teaspoon of borax powder. From my research, numerous rock tumblers recommend rinsing their stones after each stage. This helps remove the grit that might get into cracks or crevices on the rocks. I’ve been letting my rinse cycles run for at least one day, the longest being a little over four days.