Tumbling and Polishing Rocks. Step 1. The course grit tumble.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2017
- Step 1 in the rock tumbling and polishing process. Putting the rocks in the tumbler, how many rocks? Putting in the 60/90 mesh silicon carbide abrasive (grit) How much? adding the right amount of water. Starting the tumble. How long to tumble.
Now that's rock n roll.
Literally 😂
Nice pun
Yes
lol I love it
I love you and I hate you at the same time.
There is some nice rocks that will be very interesting to see how they turn out, When I was a young lad I remember going on a school field trip to a older fellows basement work shop. He showed us all the geological rocks he had and the tumblers. He gave every one of us a egg carton with 12 polished rocks in it. I won some drawing and got a polished tiger eye rock I still have it some where. Definetly watching this with interest to maybe start up the hobby some day. Thanks for the video.
Very nice tumbling & Beautiful polishing❤❤❤
I don’t even know if I’ve commented on more than a handful of videos, but I just wanted to say thank you for the knowledge! Subbed! I did this as a kid, and now, living in southern Indiana, I’m picking it back up!
i used to do in the late 70's into the 80's. Neighbor showed me how to do it and gave me everything to start the hobby. I was basically a single mom with not money for anything other than food. It was great. I still have some untumbled semi-precious stones and other rocks he had given me. I have the stones I tumbled and some that needed more steps. Glad I saw this video.
Literally snow shoveled for 17 hours. I thought the thumb nail was a pork stew. Which got me excited. I do greatly enjoy the rock videos
So funny, non yobussiness😂 My boyfriend used to do that...it was brutal work, I SO understand the pork stew business!
You are hilarious, I love your comment
I didn't know how much 7 days would make a difference.. I am totally amazed.. now during 2nd step.. I would love to show you pictures..already my rocks look like what I buy at the stores.. Thank you..
im watching this instead of studying. its so soothing
Ahhh im so excited to see this
Whoa… wasn’t expecting them to have to be tumbled so long! I figured you’d do it for ten minutes LOL … so worth it!
For a video like this, the least you could do is reward your viewers with the results of the first stage.
Congratulations, wonderful show, like hugs.
I'd love to have one of those machines here in brasil but I'll have to create something like that very nice video
I love this! I know you have a lot on your plate right now, but I've had a rock in my pocket since I was a little girl and I want to get started! Thanks for posting these...
My Daughter Sara dealt with anxiety issues as a child (something I have fought off and on my whole life) I gave her a rock for her to squeeze when it got overwhelming in school and to this day she still has that rock. It is a pretty polished rock. I wish I had a rock you wanted to get polished (you might not want your favorite one to be ground down in size and changed) I would and will gladly polish it. Thank you. Joe
NorthernSeclusion You are so sweet! Melissa is a lucky gal! 😉I'm watchin' cause I'm learnin' every time you post. I'll be honest, you cooking those green beans or corn on the grill, IN the can rocked my world, Haha! I don't like doing dishes either.
osmadchlo Joe watching your videos really helps me stay calm, so wanted to thank you.
I love how he showed the results of the first stage of tumbling.
?
@@gkess7106 lol pretty sure that was sarcasm
that was really fun. And so pretty.
My 4&6 year old and I were looking up what jasper looks like after reading about it in a Hardy Boys book. They wanted to know why some of the pictures were rough rocks and some were round and shiny. I found this video and we watched all 5 of them. They want you to know that it was really great to see how rocks are tumbled and my daughter said the three pink ones your wife likes were the prettiest rocks of her whole entire life. ❤️ Thank you for a great way to teach them something new.
Your video is so much better than written instruction. Thanks
I think most video instructions are better than text instructions
I read the comments below, now i know what you do with these. for home features and projects for furniture. Makes sense and its free. Nice one Joe. Cheers Moose
Extraordinary
Interesting and cool
Can't wait to see the results!
I was listening to Buddy Holly and it brought me here. I guess this is rock and roll.
Lol
Nice. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Thank you! I have been using my tumbler for a couple of months now with very little change to my rocks and now I know why, not nearly enough grit...my instructions said 1 tbls of grit for my 3 lb tumbler. I am going to try your way now. Thanks for your time.
Where do you get your samp!er and grit at? I'm new at this. A friend sent me a rock tumbler with two cylinders. It's a 2x3 lb. Dual Drum rock tumbler. It came with the first grit but I have to
Get the rest. I'm pretty much no nothing about them but have been wanting one for years.
I read about how to make an industrial tumbler out of a rear axle of a big semi truck with the rims and tires in place. You want to cut an opening in the highest part of the rim to load rocks. The article said a cover is not needed but I always thought if I was going to do one I would have a hinged door sealed with inner tube rubber. The idea is to set up a motor geared down so the tires rotates slowly and all the rocks stay in the lowest part of the tire at all times tumbling over each other. Each tire can hold about 100 lbs of rocks and you have 4 tires going at all times each one with a different grit. Always use same tire for the same grit. You rotate the rocks once a week and you have a 100 lbs of polished tumbled stones each week. I have been wondering if you could use quartz sand as grit for the first stage to do the rough rounding off? I am posting this on all videos about rock hounding to spread the idea, if this is you channel and you do not like that let me know.
The fact that the tumbling will all take place in a rubber tire should help keep the noise down. The rocks should never touch the rim. I have suggested to people that they make a sound proof shed just big enough to be practical so the noise will be minimized. Plus the rubber in a tire is thick and should absorb a lot of the noise. Also you should have a small fan on the motor to keep it cool. A high quality motor will be a must as it will run 24 hours a day. I am no expert but with the proper gearing the motor should not be under too much stress.
I would sell the tumbled stones. Once tumbled, you grade them by quality and type. Some would be really valuable. I bet you could average $10 usd per pound with just good found material and more if you have high grade material. Definitely not for the weekend rock hound but if you sell stones or want to, what a cheap way to start. You could tumble other people's rocks for a fee or shares too. You could make one with car tires for a smaller scale operation. There has to be a lot of people with a 30 year in the making, 3 ton pile of rocks out behind their house. With this they could see results from all that collecting.
I use 1TBS per pound and the rocks do really well. Saves some money. Use it on agates and quartz
Whats "TBS"?
@@IberianCraftsman tablespoons
I would suggest that you make a point of drying the contact area between the rubber lid and the tumbler barrel every time you load it. It won't leak when it's new, but when it gets well used it will start to leak and drying that contact area will stop that. Wiping it also removes debris that collects there and will cause wear on the rubber and the barrel.
I can't avoid picking up interest rocks, fossils, petrified wood, etc. I've got fifty pounds sitting around if not more. THANK you for the interesting instructions. I'll be getting, making or buying a tumbler asap. I'd like to see these babies polished as they're already fantastic just in the rough. On to your 2d video. . . Cheers
I can't wait to see them Joe!
Cool! Louisiana Love Stones & Bayous!
My parents bought me a rock tumbler for Christmas in 1986. After awhile, I took the resulting polished rocks to school for 2nd grade show and tell and everybody thought it was glass and not rocks at all. One in particular was a nice green color and another was a clear-ish yellow. No idea what kind of rocks they were but apparently they're the kind that cause dumb kids to psychologically scar their local nerd by calling his tumbled rocks glass and disavowing a process I witnessed. lol
Good show thanks 4 the info
Hey Joe!! I've collected rocks since I was in my teens but never owned a rock tumbler or ever heard of it until I started watching TH-cam. I would just bring the rocks home and clean them with soap and water then dry them and place them in a tall glass for display, then once a year take them out and wash them again. My biggest rock is the exact same shape as the symbol for the Prudential Life Insurance Company, so, their slogan "get a piece of the rock" is literal for me lol so I named the rock Prudence. Can't wait to see how yours come out :-) Mell~~
I had given my son one of the cheap ones that we bought from hobby lobby back in the 90’s and he loved it but it really wasn’t a good one so it didn’t last long. We got one good use out of it. The stones did come out very nice tho and he ended up making some cute jewelry for me and his grandmothers. I have a bunch, A BUNCH of sea shells I’d like to tumble too.
Get a Lortone...
I'd like to put some of my wife's cookies in that thing, they'd probably come out pretty nice.
Thanks for the chuckle. Good one.
Funny .
I hope your divorce went well. 😂
Vic
My wife made some biscuits that would have broken the tumbler.
Did u marry Ellie Mae?😊
May I use a small portion of this video, with attribution, in a video that I'm making? Only a few seconds(5-10) of it towards the end. Thanks!
Do you have a link to purchase rock tumblers that are 6 pound or larger that you feel are really good tumblers that work really well?
Hi, Thank you for showing how to do it. What is that grit you add to it? Where can you buy it? Can I use sand on that same size of your grit instead? I'm from Philippines.
cool
FYI:. That "black spot" was a fossil.
Woah! That's a lot of grit! I use about half that amount two tablespoons for three pounds of rocks.
Got my 6lbs tumbler a few days ago and my tumbling grits last night so today I was able to start tumbling my first tumbler of rocks at 09:30 this morning. Let the journey begin.
I can't find a 6lb tumbler anywhere. What is the brand of yours?
@@tamaradelacruz3507 The one I have is from LorTone Inc. I bought it from Amazon... but I just checked before writing this comment and I don't see it there any more.
Amazon was the only place I could get from at that time.
we are lucky here in Arkansas there are great tumbling rocks.
Louisiana!!!!! Hello from Vernon Parish!
Rock tumbling is so interesting, makes me wonder what some of the rocks i used to take home are
As a young child I loved collecting rocks but only ones I could see images and I had to play in dirt to dig them out❣️ (my hidden treasures) I would put them in my pockets😀
I will be 50 and I started back collecting and I always wanted to know what I could do more with the rock collection I had in jars and shoe boxes!
Today, I went on bike ride with my son’s 2-God Children 5 & 8 “boys” they were playing on the playground & there I was playing in the dirt and digging out ROCKS 😅1 by 1 both boys came over asked what I was doing and started digging with me and we did this for 2.5 hours!
Both boys said this was the BEST DAY having so much FUN since before virus😀
Sounds like you need a rock tumbler Sue-June.
Finally a use for all my black sand
I did this with my kids about 10 years ago. The tumbler I used was REALLY LOUD with the noise of the rocks tumbling. We had to put it in the garage with an insulated box over it. Are you able to hear that thing from inside the trailer???
I put it on the left side of the "under the carport" fridge so I will not hear it. You have done this so you know that its much quieter in the beginning of the tumble than it is once the rocks grind down and really start tumbling around. If it gets too loud I will move it into the house Lol. Thank you. Joe
Does this add a lot to your electricity bill? I wanna do this but scared I’m gonna use too much energy
I actually figured this out one time. I think it costs about about 10 dollars over the 5 week procedure. That was for my QT66. A little 3 pound tumbler would not be much at all.
$2 a week
This is nice
Can't wait to see how the big one turns out. Hows the black water tank doing in the trailer? No more problems?
Its doing well. She has flushed it every day or every other day since I left. I did a real good flush today by running the 5th wheel flush and then also dumping 5 gallon buckets of water down the toilet. You can see the bottom of the tank just fine. I will do a 5th wheel travel trailer update sometime in the next week.
That is a Old Tumbler, I own the same 1, Great Machine
Yes sir
Good luck picture today Jim Ross 😮😊
would you get the same result with less grit but leaving it to tumble for more time?
That is not what the directions say to do.
I just got my qt12 Lortone. I really like my Lortone. Did yours come with extra belts? Where is the best place to get belts? An auto parts store maybe?
I buy mine on Amazon.
I’m using an old tumbler my dad had in his garage, how do I find out the size? I’ve looked on the internet and found nothing.
I have a tumbler similar to yours with 2 3lb tubs. I marked one polish and only use it only for the final polishing step. The directions on mine say the barrel should be 2/3 ful of rock.
Sounds correct! Keeping your bigger grit barrel separated from the polish barrel is one of the greatest tips from many pros. However, it must be done from new / from the get-go in order to be truly effective! Polish barrels should never have had "grit in it"
Hey my rocks look great until the last step, after the last one completed it made them dull again, almost as bad as it started and some had globs of white caked in.
Label the top of each container with a piece of painters tape. This would eliminate a separate record keeping system. Simply replace the tape with new instructions each time you go to the next step
can i polish agate pebble with liquid glass?
a good filler is pea gravel. sometimes you can get some fair rocks from the street or whatever. do two coarse runs then pick. a load of rocks for fine is a little more than what you get from a coarse load because they are smaller once rounded
I use pea gravel. It works fine for me. Plus sometimes you find some nice pieces that are good for small stuff like ear-rings.
Do you always order rocks to tumble or do you go out and find them? I have ALWAYS wanted to tumble rocks but I want to use ones that I find.
I always find them and then buy some to add to it so I get more "fun" out of it by polishing rocks from other parts of the world as well as the local rocks.
What make and model is that rock tumbler? What is the best retailer to order it from? Thanks
I really enjoyed your videos they are very informative.i loved collecting rocks as kid .now that I am adult i posses the patience to take this on as a lil hobby.my question to you sir is how much would it cost me to buy a rock tumbler and all the polishing compound.i don't plan on selling the rocks just would love to collect some rocks and polish them up and relive a lil of my inner kid .thank you
look at the lortone ones on ebay. same kind this guy has. I had the one he does but the single 12 is faster to clean than 2 sixes, and I sell them, so,.
I honestly thought the tumbling would take about an hour. *facepalm*
HaHaHa... I think if it only took an hour none of our sea shores would have stones left... just ground up sand. It amazes me that I can smooth a rock in about a week with my tumbler. I am also surprised that the week went by at normal speed. I was thinking the week would seem like a month but it went by pretty fast. I am now on my second tumble and even bought a second tumbler with two 3lbs tumblers. Just finished setting them up for another run.
nah it takes about a month for the whole process
A waste of time when you can buy already tumbled and polished stones for a few dollars a bag at rock shops in NM and AZ
@@darrylmcarthur6118 I agree it is time consuming to thumb and polish your oen rocks when you can purchase them almost anywhere. However, the more you tumble and polish, the more you realize that it is an art with many variations on the time, grinding media, and other processes you can try. The most difficult part is the waiting, but as with many things, the waiting makes the end result more amazing.
@@txwaterbird6115 the key is forgetting about it putting an alarm on the phone and do other stuff in the meantime.
I got a NatGeo tumbler for my 7 yr old for Christmas. We just finished our first batch of rocks. They came out pretty well but lack the shine of finished rocks I've bought her in the store. How do we achieve that effect? Thanks.
There's some good info online & some on TH-cam about how to achieve a higher polish on your stones. Sorry that I don't have a link or links for you.
So it feels like metal. Perhaps like carbide?
how much electricity would u use in the 7 days?
I'm very Interested in getting into the rock tumbling and for beginning what kind of tumbler should I purchase and how long do you have to leave the rocks tumbling in the tumbler? Thank you
Get a litte 3 pound tumbler to start with. If you watch the videos I explain exactly how long to do each step.
Silicon is metallic, so you are correct.
Hi, where do you find the raw rocks that you use in your tumbling?
a rock shop or ebay can be good. some rivers some beaches. some places on land. you can pick up petrified wood in west texas. eroded banks with little vegetation are often good. I tumble rocks to sell on ebay, and buy many of them there, but there are some great beaches if you are close to them.
I would appreciate some help please. One year ago I bought a National
Geographic Professional Rock Tumbler Kit and try as I might, I simply can’t get
my stones to shine. I have tried time and time again and followed all the steps
religiously but nothing. I have often repeated the pre-polish and polish stages
and the burnishing, still no joy. I make sure the stones ae similar in hardness
and the barrel is totally clean. I live in a hard water area, so I used only bottled
water, but it made no difference. Then I tried distilled water, but again, no joy. Can you suggest what else I could do?
Ivory soap in the tumbler for 6 hours would burnish it a lot plus National Geographic is not a good tumbler I had a rotary rock tumbler from harbor freight tools and my rocks did the same exact thing no shines until ivory soap . PS use filtered water not sink I live in a hard water place too!
Can you advise of the supplies you use? Tumbler Brand, Grit company, soap company.
Just started this today! Coronavirus stay at home project for me and my step-daughter! Thanks for the video!
Quero comprar um pra poder polir minhas pedras como Faso
I only use one tablespoon per pound of rock, with the grit ..
Sometimes even less .... No matter what the directions say ..
I'm glad I read the comments first and didn't waste seven and a half minutes NOT to see the end result. Could have made one video showing the beginning and end ....
Deixo aqui o meu Joinha
The machine, is it too consuming? electrically speaking
I add ivory snow detergent to the mix... as suggested in the instructions..
Not really necessary, I have done that also but I really saw no difference between batches. You do have easy to clean rocks though.
Is the tumbling process very loud? Could it be done inside or better out in the garage?
garage for sure
When I tumble rocks in the basement, it sounds like it's raining down there!
Can you recover the grit? Can you start with a step 2 grit?
I'm getting back into it. Last time I did it was when I was a kid. Now I'm 57. I hope you don't mind dumb questions.
that course grit is often copper slag, we used to use it sandblasting
That is total B.S. It even says silicon carbide on the box. Maybe copper slag is fine for sandblasting but it sucks for rock tumbling.
I've seen polished rocks in gem shops that people buy as souvenirs. Other than that, what do you do with tumbled stones?
Kathleen Frost crystal healing, meditating, charging water etc...
How much the price will be in terms of pieces of stones or in kilos or grams? What may be the price in the markets for such stones?
Hi sir, may i ask what do you call the powder you used to put in the rock tumbler?
grit. you can buy grit kits on ebay so you have a bag of the right amount for your size of tumbler, 3# or 50# whatever
Good vid just sub'd. I would like to do something like this however, to run it for 7 days 24hrs a day, I would die of shock when I got my electricity bill.
How can i find or buy online in bulk in raw rock form so i can start doing this. Info needed ASAP. I wire wrap all types or Crystal, Gem stones for necklaces and key chains and even make wands with Crystals inlaid inthe tip.
You can buy rock on Amazon or from the Rock Shed and several other places.
Hi!! I want to thank you for your videos. I have just recently started collecting rocks and gemstones and find myself almost addicted to it!! I have a 3lb tumbler that I started using and truly appreciate your instruction videos!! It just makes it so much easier when you can actually see someone doing it!!! I also wanted to ask if you would be able to give any information on where you purchase your supplies and/or gemstones. I would absolutely LOVE to find an area near me to rock hound, but haven't found any yet... Northern VA... Thanks again for your help!!! and Good luck on your move!!
there was a link to rocktumbler.com Im guessing thats where you will find supplies
What kind of tumbler do you use, and what's the weight capacity of the barrel?
his is a lortone double six pound about $250 on ebay
Where did you purchase the grits at. Love the video
Melissa gets them from walmart. She orders them online and gets them delivered.
4 Weeks....well now I gotta rethink my Christmas gifts for loved ones😯😣😉🇺🇸
what do u do with rocks
Logan Hernandez he sells them at the markets along side the dream catchers he makes 😂
Normal Guy yea i dont know what to do i like to hunt and shoot and fish😊
When I did this a lot and had more than a 5 gallon bucket of polished rocks, I made a stream type landscape feature at the house I lived in. It had a small waterfall and then about 5 feet of a straight run before the bigger waterfall into the catch basin. That last 5 feet I lined the whole bottom with polished rocks and agates. It was really a beautiful feature in the yard. My Dad likes to use them sometimes in his workshop projects you see on The Joe and Zach Survival channel also. He likes to bury them in tables under liquid glass. I may get into doing some lapidary projects sometime in the future as well. No matter what what you do or do not do with them it is a fun thing to do because you just never know what they will look like until the end.
For what for?
Ok, I am done.
I was told one needs to burp or release the trapped gas by opening the lid after 24-48 hours or the the slurry can get too thick, is this step really necessary? Thanks
I don`t. Never had a problem.
The rock with the dark splotches, the splotches could be fossils, plant matter or similar.
Thought you might have got caught up in the tornado!!
Can you use glass marbles as filler media for pre polish and polish?
most rocks are silica, much harder than glass. It's a waste of marbles. just get some pea gravel, but pick out the sand stone kind because they will scratch on polish. Use them in coarse then pick them out later when they are clean and easy to see.
Drake Koefoed Thanks! Great explanation. Now it makes sense.
I can't find a 6lb tumbler. Any suggestions? Brand names? Thank you!
My tumblers are both Loretone. The one I used in this video is my QT66 (two 6 pound barrels). I wanted to by a new one but everywhere I look they are out of stock.