A really great video. It taught me that I definitely do not want to tumble rocks, or stones, or any mineral for that matter. It is a very time intensive process. I have a new respect for rock tumblers or whatever you call that tumble person. Thank you again for showing how it is done in such great detail.
Actually, it's like doing a load of laundry that lasts a week rather than one hour. Not much actual work involved other than checking on it from time to time.
That was amazing. You did the video exactly as us mere mortals needed to see, step by step, nice and slowly to soak up the details. It was a perfect video. The ending was outstanding. I was so impressed and I’m not easily impressed. Thank you so much from the UK 🏴
FYI that petoskey stone will polish right up by hand. Use auto polishing compound and a soft rag after wet/dry sand paper. That's how we do in west MI.
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? 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.
@@RockHunterMark Just thought it was interesting idea and you would enjoy reading about it., I did not think you would do it. One idea for what you are doing is rig up longer roller bars (might need bigger motor) with same size drums so you can run 6 tumblers on same machine. Every single week you would have a batch of new stones finished. Builds a table and mount it directly to the table. If you could sell enough to pay for the grits your hobby would pay for itself. If you could find a texured rubber to cover the roller bars would that help eliminate slippage?
I've heard about using old rigs to tumble too, but the design I heard of involves the drive wheels and a set of free wheels on the other end and using culvert as the barrel. Plug one end and slope it slightly toward that end. Lol! Give me a big enough lever and fulcrum and I'll tumble the world! Of course, this is wheel and axle, but you get the joke....
Fantastic tutorial, thank you for the dry look, it shows how realistic you are. Awesome result for only 2 weeks. Very impressed by your apparatus also, inspiring and soothing, Thank you :)
next time when you hit prepolish add ceramic media to take up the space, you never want to go below 3 quarters full. I always add borax to my grit as well it prevents grit from sticking to the rocks
I have polished several batches of small smooth, already almost-but-not-quite shiny, rocks with just water, borax, and 1 maybe 2 drops of Dawn dish detergent, following a tip from a youtuber. (I am sorry that I have forgotten which one, she deserves the credit). I liked the shine on them better than 6-8 weeks of polishing with the 4 grits. I was out of needed grit and decided that I was going to just clean them up a little with the borax and Dawn, til it came in. Well, you know how it goes. Things that need to be done get in the way and you just put your rock polishing off for a little bit, til you have more time. Meanwhile, they are just tumbling away. By the time I got back to them, it had been a couple weeks. One of her commenters tips was to tumble them a day or 2 in just water to remove grit, dirt, or detergent. Mine seemed a little soap-sticky, even when dry so I put clean water and tumbled them anther couple days. My idea of a perfectly polished rock. Shiny but not so shiny that it looks polyurethaned. I have also used the borax and Dawn to remove the grit in the crevices of the rocks, between grits.
Beautiful job! I saw a video where the guy raised up the idlers roller with about a 1 inch spacer to put more weight on the drive roller. Might be an easy fix for that slipping.
"Look at that bucket of yum-yum"...lol...I LOVE IT!!!!!!!! That's EXACTLY how I feel every time I tumble a bucket of rocks. EXCELLENT video, Mark! From one rock lover to another...you did an amazing job!!!!!!❤
I was going to mention this, Michigan Rocks does a bunch of these, very soft and need special polishing. Can come out really nice but not in a Mohs 7 general tuble.
They turned out beautiful Mark! I haven’t tumbled in so long. We’re moving house so it’s all packed away right now, but if it wasn’t I’d be starting a new batch after watching that mate! Nice show brother 👍👍👍
Thanks Rookie, I’m glad you liked the video. I hope you’re move goes well. Keep on watching, I have rocks in the tumbler right now for my next video. Peace out.
I am so impressed with these! I just started the second stage grit on mine, where can I find the polish? Because I have a National Geographic small tumbler and I just know my rocks will not end up with that shine. Thank and great work dude!!
I’ve just been using Amazon and buy the kit from Polly plastics. There may be better ways but I haven’t looked into it. I used to but from a hobby store near me that closed. Have fun with your polisher! 😎
Great video, Mark! That coral was awesome. I've never seen ond like that before. I'd love to have one of those. I've never seen coral like that here in north AL.
That Petoskey stone was perfect for hand polish after the first stage. Next time don't go any further and bring out the the fine grit sand paper.. 2 hours of sanding and polish you'd have an actual gem.
Like your vids, I think a light box would do wonders for your before and after pics of the stones. Thanks, I'm looking forward to my own tumbling experiences. 😉
3:27 was that a moonstone??? Damn where did he find all these? That little thing he had at the begining to stir the stuff reminds me of this contraption I built when I was little to perpetually spin me while I sat in a bucket 🤣
good stuff but that tumbler has had it ... time to get a new one bro ... every time u were hand spinning that lol ... any way good stuff nice end result
You’re absolutely right. I didn’t know this until I made the video . Now I want to find another petoskey beauty. Thinking about a trip to Michigan even! Thanks for watching.
@@RockHunterMark I just found about 20 Petoskey stones in my back yard gravel pit yesterday. I'm from Michigan. I do those by hand but I'm looking for a rock tumbler for my son for our other rocks. Which tumbler do you suggest?
Hi Miranda - I’m not sure actually. I just have the old one my grandma gave me. Sorry I’m not more help. Those stones sound nice! Exciting your son wants to tumble rocks too.
Hi again!! My rocks finished tumbling but they were a bit dull (it was from the polish I used that came with the kit, I’m planning on buying the Polly plastics kit next) so I rubbed with some coconut oil but I had an idea-have you or anyone else ever tumbled with water and a small bit of oil? I’m thinking I’d like to try but I want to see if anyone’s given that a shot first? If not then I’ll definitely give it a go and let everyone know of results:)
No, I haven’t heard of that before. I think the poly plastics are for adding a space filler so that the rocks don’t chip each other from tumbling. If they were my rocks I would run them again with a week of pre polish then a week of polish. Cleaning them between grits really good.
Did you toothbrush each rock after each stage? I cant seem to get the luster you have achieved. I polished for only one week. I will try two weeks next time.
For some reason this is really relaxing to watch
I so agree.
A really great video. It taught me that I definitely do not want to tumble rocks, or stones, or any mineral for that matter. It is a very time intensive process. I have a new respect for rock tumblers or whatever you call that tumble person. Thank you again for showing how it is done in such great detail.
It is a pleasure to see your nice comments. Thanks for watching
Actually, it's like doing a load of laundry that lasts a week rather than one hour. Not much actual work involved other than checking on it from time to time.
True
That was amazing. You did the video exactly as us mere mortals needed to see, step by step, nice and slowly to soak up the details. It was a perfect video. The ending was outstanding. I was so impressed and I’m not easily impressed. Thank you so much from the UK 🏴
Clare your to kind. Thanks for the wonderful comments.
Great video! Why didn't that Petoskey stone polish up?
I loved seeing the up close before and after shots! These look amazing thank you for sharing!!
Thanks for watching Lana, that’s my favorite part also.
Wow! ALL of the rocks are wonderful. I especially love the Petorsky rock.
FYI that petoskey stone will polish right up by hand. Use auto polishing compound and a soft rag after wet/dry sand paper. That's how we do in west MI.
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? 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.
Wow! I'm happy with doing a small time tumble. Thanks, Jeff!
@@RockHunterMark Just thought it was interesting idea and you would enjoy reading about it., I did not think you would do it. One idea for what you are doing is rig up longer roller bars (might need bigger motor) with same size drums so you can run 6 tumblers on same machine. Every single week you would have a batch of new stones finished. Builds a table and mount it directly to the table. If you could sell enough to pay for the grits your hobby would pay for itself. If you could find a texured rubber to cover the roller bars would that help eliminate slippage?
Haha you’re trying to put me to work. I do need to eliminate the slippage.
I've heard about using old rigs to tumble too, but the design I heard of involves the drive wheels and a set of free wheels on the other end and using culvert as the barrel. Plug one end and slope it slightly toward that end. Lol! Give me a big enough lever and fulcrum and I'll tumble the world! Of course, this is wheel and axle, but you get the joke....
sounds like a lot of work
Fantastic tutorial, thank you for the dry look, it shows how realistic you are. Awesome result for only 2 weeks. Very impressed by your apparatus also, inspiring and soothing, Thank you :)
Some of 'em look like they're from another planet! Thank you for sharing!
nice work, love the outcome. really need a garage or a lab to be able to do this, doing it while traveling is not an option.
My god, that’s a HUGE petoskey!!!! Nice find!!! (I’m obviously a Michigander)
Thanks! I’ve been trying to find another one.
next time when you hit prepolish add ceramic media to take up the space, you never want to go below 3 quarters full. I always add borax to my grit as well it prevents grit from sticking to the rocks
I have polished several batches of small smooth, already almost-but-not-quite shiny, rocks with just water, borax, and 1 maybe 2 drops of Dawn dish detergent, following a tip from a youtuber. (I am sorry that I have forgotten which one, she deserves the credit). I liked the shine on them better than 6-8 weeks of polishing with the 4 grits. I was out of needed grit and decided that I was going to just clean them up a little with the borax and Dawn, til it came in. Well, you know how it goes. Things that need to be done get in the way and you just put your rock polishing off for a little bit, til you have more time. Meanwhile, they are just tumbling away. By the time I got back to them, it had been a couple weeks. One of her commenters tips was to tumble them a day or 2 in just water to remove grit, dirt, or detergent. Mine seemed a little soap-sticky, even when dry so I put clean water and tumbled them anther couple days. My idea of a perfectly polished rock. Shiny but not so shiny that it looks polyurethaned. I have also used the borax and Dawn to remove the grit in the crevices of the rocks, between grits.
WOW!! They came out beautifully!! I absolutely LOVE the white pyramid shaped one and the pink ones. Actually,I love them all!! You're a patient man!!
nice job with the polisher. now we know how it's done !
You sir, are my new hero. Check back in 20 years, and you'll still be my old hero. YOU ROCK!!
Rock on thanks
You had great results, with your method. I have polished 2 batches so far and I am still learning the tricks of the trade.
Beautiful job! I saw a video where the guy raised up the idlers roller with about a 1 inch spacer to put more weight on the drive roller. Might be an easy fix for that slipping.
Thanks! It got a little better after I adjusted the piece of metal that holds the tub in place from the center of the top of the canister.
Literally insane!b It looks so easy while you are doing it.
Great video, my bro and I are tumbling now. Only into the first week. Cant wait to see them. Learned a lot. Thank you Sir.
Thanks for watching and I appreciate your comments
"Look at that bucket of yum-yum"...lol...I LOVE IT!!!!!!!! That's EXACTLY how I feel every time I tumble a bucket of rocks. EXCELLENT video, Mark! From one rock lover to another...you did an amazing job!!!!!!❤
Thanks for the wonderful comments. I love rocks and I love rock people, rock on 🤘
Fossil rock is Petoskey Stone. Ancient coral. Excellent video. Beautiful work. Do u sell u stones or make jewelry?
Thanks, Dawn. The polish on that ancient coral didn't go as expected! I don't sell or make any jewelry.
I was going to mention this, Michigan Rocks does a bunch of these, very soft and need special polishing. Can come out really nice but not in a Mohs 7 general tuble.
@@tonyhamilton9764 yeah they're the official stone for the state of Michigan
Meow
Beautiful stones. Interesting process. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you!
“Bucket of yum yum”. That just sounds amazing
It is
Great video Mark, thanks for sharing that. I'm just starting to appreciate rocks more now.
Awesome good show,and to think we walk around on them pretty rocks...thanks for uploading, high speed mark works fast
High speed mark needs to find some arrowheads 🤣
“Look at that bucket of yum yum! “ 🤣❤️ Love your videos! 😁
Yummiliciuos
Very cool . Thanks for sharing. I'm going to give this a try.
They turned out beautiful Mark! I haven’t tumbled in so long. We’re moving house so it’s all packed away right now, but if it wasn’t I’d be starting a new batch after watching that mate! Nice show brother 👍👍👍
Thanks Rookie, I’m glad you liked the video. I hope you’re move goes well. Keep on watching, I have rocks in the tumbler right now for my next video. Peace out.
Yessir, I wash each stone with a toothbrush between each stage, I've had too many times where the polish was ruined by not being diligent!
that has happened to me also.
Loved your before and after pics - great idea. :)
Thanks for the positive feedback.
Such beautiful stones and agates. There was one special one I’d love to have grabbed through the screen if I could. Rock On!
I love the rocks that have layers! :D
I do too. Thanks for watching.
AMAZINGGG ESP THE FOSSIL IM IN SHOCK ABT HOW CHILL U WERE ABT THAT LOL! 😂
I’m so glad I found this channel!
Thank you very much for your information and for the comment people post below. I really appreciate it all. Good Day to you and you all☀️
So nice of you. Thank you, Ling.
they came out soo prettyyy
Yes, love it!
Great video and they turned out fantastic. Good job
Beautiful video. Thank you for making such amazing videos.
That’s very kind of you . Thank you so much for the compliment
@@RockHunterMark 🙏
My endorphins FLY when I see the finished products!
Yes.
That looks awesome , Thank you so much for sharing 👍🏼
What a great video. My little daughter said the video was really cool and is wondering where u got the rocks. We loved watching it together
Thank you. Found these in river gravel in Missouri
Go to the $ Store & buy a kitchen sieve to wash your rocks! I thought that for sure you would dump some on the ground!
Awesome Mark. I have a rock polisher I use to clean dug coins. Going to have to polish me some stones. Definitely Yum Yum!
Break out the tumbler for the yum yum!
Those are so cool, Mark. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Brian. Appreciate you watching.
Those are really pretty.
Thanks 😊
Thanks ! That's a cool deal. I've got a million tons of quartzite around here. I'd love to see some of it tumbled !
You should get a tumbler! Thanks for watching.
@@RockHunterMark It's crystals, some as big as the 👊 fist, rose,black, smokey, clear as glass . Do ya know how the tumbler would effect it?
I did a crystal before and it didn’t come out as clear as I wanted. I’m not sure though.
@@RockHunterMark thanks Man !
@@michaelhedgepeth5106 quartzite is a 7 mohs, or there about. So should have no trouble tumbling it. Not as much trouble as a softer stone.
This is amazing. Here do you find rocks all these beauties?
Great video. I Love the before and after pictures.
Thanks Bob, good to hear from you. Hope everything is going well.
RockHunter Mark Thanks Mark. We are doing well. Hope you have been keeping busy.
Awesome job man thanks for sharing
I love the huge petoskey stone!
Same. I want to find more!
I really like your tumbler!
Thanks I appreciate your comment. My grandma gave it to me.
I am so impressed with these! I just started the second stage grit on mine, where can I find the polish? Because I have a National Geographic small tumbler and I just know my rocks will not end up with that shine. Thank and great work dude!!
pre polish and then polish . i buy them on line.
@@RockHunterMark any special place?:)
I’ve just been using Amazon and buy the kit from Polly plastics. There may be better ways but I haven’t looked into it. I used to but from a hobby store near me that closed. Have fun with your polisher! 😎
Check out my video from two weeks ago with all petrified wood in the polisher. so shiny
@@RockHunterMark sure will dude! Thanks!!
Great job Mark, with best wishes from someone beyond the seven seas.
Thank you!
Sweet! I can sense the Michigan 😜
Thanks Mark for the video! Very interesting!
Super nice!
Thank you Mark.
Amazing rocks!!!
So cool ,didn't no it took so long in machine.
The rock you called a fossil, is called a Petoskey stone in Michigan.
I’ve just learned this by watching another video on TH-cam thanks for the insight have a great day
Yes its a type of fossilized coral. so your both right.
frickin awesome!
Great video, Mark! That coral was awesome. I've never seen ond like that before. I'd love to have one of those. I've never seen coral like that here in north AL.
I mean, fossil. Is it coral?
I don’t know what rock your talking about
Oh the petoskey stone? I want to find some more of those myself! So pretty.
I think it's wonderful that they have hobbies like this for our special folks!
That Petoskey stone was perfect for hand polish after the first stage. Next time don't go any further and bring out the the fine grit sand paper.. 2 hours of sanding and polish you'd have an actual gem.
I agree
Nice job!
Came out good ✋
Awesome video Enjoyed watching.
Appreciate you watching .
Super awesome
Thanks 😊
Can’t treat that petrosky like an ordinary rock per “Michigan Rocks”
Like your vids, I think a light box would do wonders for your before and after pics of the stones. Thanks, I'm looking forward to my own tumbling experiences. 😉
Thanks for the input and for watching
Great stuff man! Nice video!
Love ur channel!!
Thanks
Really enjoyed your video,thanks.
I assume that none of the grit can be used more that once ?
Some people say the reuse the grit, I never have it’s a mess
Great video!
Thanks for watching. I appreciate your comments
Finally all the rocks are done and my life is over. Hope you like polishing stones.
So beautiful
Thank you very much!
Awesome...
is this asmr or what
I just found my new hobby
I’ll have a new one out soon! Thanks for watching.
Found it ! 😁
That is so cool! Where do you find all your gorgeous rocks?!
In the river.
That bone in the beginning is hugeeee, i have one just like it but i dont know from what animal its from
Great video and channel thanks 🙏
You such a handsome rock polisher!!
😊
3:27 was that a moonstone??? Damn where did he find all these? That little thing he had at the begining to stir the stuff reminds me of this contraption I built when I was little to perpetually spin me while I sat in a bucket 🤣
No moonstone sorry, thanks for watching and your comments
Awesome!
Wow! How much time do you need for this job?
gorgeous!
good stuff but that tumbler has had it ... time to get a new one bro ... every time u were hand spinning that lol ... any way good stuff nice end result
I fixed it, the metal was rubbing on the drum
Your Petoskey stone was a great find!! Too bad they’re too fragile for tumbling. Hand polishing is the best for those :-)
You’re absolutely right. I didn’t know this until I made the video . Now I want to find another petoskey beauty. Thinking about a trip to Michigan even! Thanks for watching.
RockHunter Mark i was disappointed too!
@@RockHunterMark I just found about 20 Petoskey stones in my back yard gravel pit yesterday. I'm from Michigan. I do those by hand but I'm looking for a rock tumbler for my son for our other rocks. Which tumbler do you suggest?
Hi Miranda - I’m not sure actually. I just have the old one my grandma gave me. Sorry I’m not more help. Those stones sound nice! Exciting your son wants to tumble rocks too.
Hi again!! My rocks finished tumbling but they were a bit dull (it was from the polish I used that came with the kit, I’m planning on buying the Polly plastics kit next) so I rubbed with some coconut oil but I had an idea-have you or anyone else ever tumbled with water and a small bit of oil? I’m thinking I’d like to try but I want to see if anyone’s given that a shot first? If not then I’ll definitely give it a go and let everyone know of results:)
No, I haven’t heard of that before. I think the poly plastics are for adding a space filler so that the rocks don’t chip each other from tumbling. If they were my rocks I would run them again with a week of pre polish then a week of polish. Cleaning them between grits really good.
@@RockHunterMark thank you, very insightful! I’ll be doing that with my next grit kit
Is there some reason you don't reuse the grit, And why not just use sand blasting grit?
It’s really messy to dry out the grit and reuse. I’m sure there are ways to do it but I rather start fresh.
Nice
Gorgeous.
Thanks 🙏
What do you do with these rocks when they are done?
Do you have to put so water in or can you do less for a even smoother tumble before the second run?
Good question , I don’t know
sweet nice job
Thanks
Did you toothbrush each rock after each stage? I cant seem to get the luster you have achieved. I polished for only one week. I will try two weeks next time.
I make sure I use plenty of grit , and water just above the rock level. And I make sure each rock is clean. Certain types of rock don’t polish well.
How you make spinny thing.
It’s a craftsman rock polisher that my grandma gave me about 30 years ago. Thanks for stopping by my channel.
Dude, how much do you think it costs to run that inductive motor for a month?
Hi Grifterman. Not enough to worry about. It’s very minimal. Thanks for stopping by 😎