Fast Rock Tumble Cheat. "Polished" stones in just 7 days!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 พ.ค. 2024
- Rock tumbling is not as easy as it is sometimes made out. I know that many of you struggle to achieve a real polish on your pebbles with your rock tumbler. This method is a cheats way and will give you nice shiny stones in just a few days.
All this method requires is for you to tumble the first stage only, then follow the instructions in the video to achieve a really glossy polished finish to your pebbles.
This is and easy method of rock tumbling for beginners to short-cut long waiting times and should only take a few days from start to finish.
In this tutorial I show the complete process and show the pebbles before and after.
This method will work on any stone, Agate beach stones or simply picked up pebbles.
The Acrylic coat can be found here: ebay.to/3kKhUEE
Or here: amzn.to/3jjvgqm
Silica carbide tumbling 80 grit: ebay.to/2yVppWE
or here : amzn.to/35f5IG2
Rock tumbler machine amzn.to/2Hke5bb
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Thank you to Dan Lebowitz for the beautiful intro music.
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Other music from the TH-cam free music archive. Thank you - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
Fantastic I have one worry though ,as I worked in shotblasts and lots of chemicals dust etc 46 years the dust from stones does cause bronchitis and you had no ventilation or a mask on mate the reason I say this I loved your techniques they were superb and I have used buffing wheels for brass fire extinguishers the dust and solvol autosol and the acrylic varnish all superb I did some amazing coasters doing same process on a bigger scale ,,,how's that for an idea you are allowed to steal it mate , and any other person reading this ,,, the comment you will get on stone coasters doing your method is fantastic ,,but thanks again for an amazing video 👍😀🇬🇧
Hi James, you are right, in this video I completely neglected to stress the safety side of things. I should have stressed the need to wear a mask and goggles when buffing on the wheel and a good mask and ventilation when spraying. The vapor of of some of these spray cans can be very nasty. I do sometimes forget this side of things in my videos but I am always pretty thorough about mask wearing when working in the workshop myself. Thank you for the reminder. As to stealing my ideas I will definitely sue when you are making millions from my ideas LOL! Cheers.
I need this man to narrate my life!!
Awwww! Thank you!
😂 👏🏾👏🏾
Are you American?
It’s ok, I am too, so I understand our problem
Depression darkness and full of shit and losses
I was just thinking this guy has a fantastic voice…would be a great reader for audio books!
I LOVE IT…. It’s as if “POOH BEAR” had a deeper mature voice. Quite lovely. 🤗
Hi Ethan. I'll settle for being a mature Pooh Bear anytime, thanks for the smile!
Thank you for your advice I will try that in the near future. I appreciate your program and a great teachings.
You are very welcome!
That little nook seems so cozy!!
I am pretty comfortable there! Thanks for watching.
You'd love my house.
Great tutorial and you do beautiful work!!! Much appreciated
Thanks so much 😊 Cheers!
Just tumbled onto your channel! I'm afraid I am a purist when it comes to polishing stones. However, after ten years of having no rock fun, I am back and got the harbor freight two barrel machine. I've had them before. They're good enough but yours is way cool. So fast!! I want to make my own. I think I'm going to really like your vids, can't believe I haven't seen before!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing, it's really nice!?
Thank you, so glad you are returning to tumbling, I am also, believe it or not a purist and far prefer properly polished rocks as you will see if you cruise my rock tumbling playlist. Thank you for the comments and for watching, please feel free to comment on any of my videos even if you don't agree with my views and enjoy your tumbling!
Thanks for the tips! I have learned a lot from your channel. I am now making my own creations out of stone! -Ben
Glad to help! I have subscribed to your channel and will watch with great interest. I do envy you in the US. Your wide choice of tumblers and amazing variety of rocks available to you. Incidentally I am currently editing a video about how I made my stone saw. Really good luck with your channel I am sure it will take off!
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 Thankyou for the encouragement! You could always take a road trip when COVID is over. Ill ship you some rocks someday if you would like! We are based in NY. I enjoy all of the ancient igneous and metamorphic rocks and you will probably see alot of those textures in our videos. Thanks again, -Ben
Subscribed.
Love the way you explain the things. Can this be used for jades. Keeping in view the hardness of nephrite jade as 7 on mohr scale.
Note 10, Sir, I thank you so much for your lesson!
You are welcome!
Good to know. This is how we learn beyond reading theory, from the experiential perspective.
Thank you.
My pleasure!
What a great man you are ! Thanks for putting this vid up I got the idea walking around Blackpool on holiday doing something with stones pebbles ect either shaping or painting or both
Enjoy your new hobby!
This is the first video I watched. I did not notice any shaking, but I like the pictures through your video and at the end. Sometime people move it so fast, I can not focus.🙃 Thanks !! I think i will stick around and look at some Illinois rocks. Keep up the nice job!
Thanks for watching!
You’re just marvellous to listen to. Thank you for this lovely video
Thanks for listening, take care!
I love the whole cheat thing! Thanks!
Hi Debbie, you are very welcome!
Thank you. I have tried to polish stones that I have found, usually getting poor results. This has helped immensely. It stands to reason that weathered stones would react differently than stones freshly mined.
I also love having a peek in the middle of a cycle also. It has never hurt anything as far as I could tell.
Glad I could help! Don't give up on the polishing though, it just takes a bit of experience to get it right. Thanks for watching.
I enjoyed your video, thank you for the info!
You are very welcome
Thank you. I learned a lot.
Cheers!
Thank you so much for ur knowledge and gentle voice very greatful to have found ur channel. Have a fun New Year of discovery !!!
Happy new year to you!
I've been wondering about doing that. Looks like a great idea.
Actually it would be better to learn to polish the stones properly with a tumbler. The sprayed polish will only last a few years at best while a proper hard polish will last pretty much forever!
Love ur videos,this will help in my hobby!
Awesome! Thank you!
I tumbler stone to . I love it
keep tumbling and keep safe :)
Thankyou so much for your video , I’m going to have s go with the auto metal polish and grind stone x
Good luck!
Hi! I'm new to your channel and brand new to tumbling! So new I haven't even bought a tumbler yet but I am so so excited to start this hobby! I have been binge watching videos so I can know as much as possible for when I get the money to buy a tumbler. Anyway on the video I watched earlier they said not to dry the rocks between tumbles because if there is any slurry in the cracks or holes that it could dry and harden and you wouldn't be able to get it out. Like I said I haven't ever even done this before but at @6:00 you were talking about drying and I just thought I would mention it 😉 but I'm excited to give this a try and I'm definitely gonna binge watch some of your videos and get some more info! Thanks! And happy tumbling ✌️😊
Hi, I have read about not drying out the stones as well, but if you don't dry the stones you can't judge how well they are doing. When they are wet they are all nice and shiny. I just wash mine and use a tooth brush on the cracks, seems to work. The magic ingredient in tumbling it time! Take up tumbling and enjoy! Thanks for watching.
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 good idea! I'll have to keep that in mind. I am so excited to try this!
Thanks for this…it’s fired up my wish to do some tumbling again! And I’d stick that tray on a nice big cake turntable to make it easier to spin.
Great idea! I'll try that next time. If you are going to take up tumbling again definitely do try to do a proper polishing job, it is far more satisfying, not this cheat unless you really cant get a polish. best of luck.
Thanks. That was brilliant.
Glad you enjoyed it but I think you should try getting a proper polish as it will last longer!
I like the way you think! 😄 When I was very young I would collect rocks and paint them with clear nail polish, hahaha. Now that I'm retired I thought rock tumbling might be a good hobby for me, but I just haven't the patience (it's a good thing I like nice raw mineral specimens). So thanks for the "cheat" idea.... Be safe with those floating particles and fumes, and thanks!
Thank you, I do have to say that I think proper tumbling makes for a better finish but this way is quick! Thanks for watching.
Thanks for sharing 😊
My pleasure 😊
The David Attenborough of rock tumbling!😂 This is great
Thank you, that is kind, Happy Christmas!
Good thing takes time. Thx
Thanks for watching!
such a nice video I am so glad I found you mr. Troy it makes me miss my dad but it brought back great memories of working with him when he did his tumbling back in the 70s it was more of a family affair then not just dad's hobby. haha because we were always having to add water when he wasn't home or add more polishing Grit and so on, we sure did not want to ruin the Opals he was polishing up! I still have his original Tumblr from the 70s by the way and it works like a charm and all the bottles of the grits and polishes one through five I think 5 is the polisher and then a couple other different bottles of polishers and I've been collecting antique glass opalized in the desert I live in for a few years now and I'm ready to Tumble it only I'm kind of worried about what to use in the tumbler? If I should just use plane water and or maybe just a polisher I know that there are minerals that caused the glass to opalize, anything that is left in the bottle of course which wouldchange the color of the glass in the Sun and I do have a couple of pieces of black glass and red and as you would know that it's very rare to find any of that color still around! I found it on the property of where John Wayne lived when he was a little boy here in my desert so I kind of like to think maybe there's a connection there between the colored glass and the Wayne family hahaha but I don't want to ruin that opalisation on the glass. do you have any tips for me? I know it's been a year since you posted this if not more I hope you're still around Troy it was such a nice video and a pleasure to watch you thank you in advance
Hi Shelli, I am sorry but I can't advise you on opals or opalized glass as its outside of my experience. What are you hoping to achieve by tumbling the glass? If the glass is similar to sea glass, with a frosted finish (is that what you mean by opalised?) most jewellery makers use it just like it is straight off the beach. The connection to John Wayne is fascinating! I just use tap water, and aluminium oxide grits to smooth and round off the glass, but even the finer grits will give the glass a frosted finish. I would try to polish with Cerium oxide, that is what most glass polishers use. Hope this helps!
Thank you so much for your video. I've been collecting stones off my beach for quiet a while now and i finally took the plunge and bought a NATGEO tumbler (shhh don't tell my brother just yet he'll pinch it!) . Anyway, I will try your way initially and I'll just use the polished stones in my plants pots or my fairy garden. Now when I go the 'Full MONTY' I MAY just make up some picture frames with small rocks and various shells off the beach in the middle and send them to cousins in Australia and other parts of the UK as a reminder of their birth places and roots. Also something for my own home and my mums grave. There will always be something or somewhere they can go. Thank you again a short'ish video I really needed.
I do hope you are going to try to polish the stones properly? The cheats way is a short term fix and the varnished polish will not last as long. It will probably only take 2 or three tumbles before you succeed in getting a really hard polish on your pebbles. It is well worth the effort. best of luck and enjoy your tumbling!
Well done--thanks
Thanks for watching!
good info , nice job sweet quick polish subscribed you
Thanks for the sub!
awesome!!
Thank you! Cheers!
You sound like Winnie-the-Pooh it's wonderful watching, I can picture if something would go haywire, you might say ohh bother haha awesome I might get this tumbler
I am very happy to be compared to Pooh, Happy new year to you!
Nice.
On a lark I built a rotary tumbler over the last week. Tonight I powered it up to see if indeed the device works and it does.
Having never tumbled I did not realize most people use a wet tumble. My tumbler was set up for dry, but with a gasket it might handle the wet method.
I also learned a Vibratory tumbler would cut the time down after learning it could take months in a rotary tumbler, if one is picky. Oh well, my tumbler will make a nice ball mill for other things if months is required in the tumbler to polish stones.
Fortunately I have a carbon copy of your variable speed 3 inch grinder/polisher. So at the least, if I gather smooth stones from a fast stream I should get one small polished stone although I had wanted several for a jewelery making adventure this Fall and Winter.
Hi, I have thought about making my own tumbler but never got round to it so well done you! What type of motor have you used? You definitely need water. My understanding (without any experience ) is that rotary tumbling is quicker for the grinding stages and vibratory faster for the polishing stages but a rotary will do the job very well. Concentrating on collecting smooth stones will very much speed up the process. Best of luck and keep in touch how you get on with your home made tumbler.
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490
Believe it or not I started with no clear idea of what type of motor I would use. I watch a lot of Matthias Wandel's videos where as a carpenter/engineer he is always making wooden pulleys and gears and then simple to complex drive trains to match his needs such as the 20 inch band saw he built from wood and a few steel bits.
As it turned out I rummaged around to see what I could salvage. Motors can quickly become complex but I know that the type called a Universal Motor can be run on AC or DC so I looked at old power tools primarily with the idea of just building a transmission that would give me 30 to 60 rpm.
I was about to use a cordless drill when I spied a small food chopper I bought that I hoped could grind or chop coffee but it failed to do a nice job.
I took the food chopper to bits as Tim Hunkin would say. What I found was a very nicely built small motor that had 120 volt AC printed on it. It also had a ring of diodes at two electric supply pins that the plug in chord fed to. I thought I bet that's a Universal Motor that I can run on DC and sure enough it is. It also had about a 1 to 10 reduction gear transmission made of mostly nylon gears in line with the motor shaft.
I first tried the motor on AC at 120 volts here in the States and even with the reduction gears it spun easily 1200 rpm at the shaft one would use to power their device. That would be way too much and need further geared down so before cutting out the diode rectifier I tried 12 volt DC. That worked beautifuly. I had plenty of torque and the rpm was down to around 60 rpm that I could easily manage with the proper size wooden pulley mounted to the motor assembly relative to the pulley on the actual device itself.
After my experimentation it then was just a matter of preserving parts of the machine the motor came in and firmly attaching it with motor to my shop built wooden motor mount.
I did not have any poly belts, thanks for the video on sizing your own, so to test the motor on the tumbler I placed a temporary wooden pulley on the motors shaft, clamped the motor assembly in place and used a #64 rubber band as the belt. Smokers, it worked beautifully. It ran at 30 rpm which is a bit slow but I used a 1 inch pulley on the motor side of things and can easily create any rpm up to about 90 by changing size of pulleys.
That's pretty much the story of the motor. I live near a very fast stream that I hope to get some rather smooth pebbles from and give it a go once I sort out the water tight issue. I actually had a store bought tumbler from Harbor Freight that 6 years ago we used as a ball mill using round lead balls to grind to powder home made gun powder for fire works. The tumbler did a bang up job on the gun powder and that was a dry process. I lost the tumbler in a move so if I can't solve the working wet issue with what I built I'll have a great little ball mill for dry milling.
Yep, this or stone polishing is a new adventure for me. I at 65 soon to be 66 try to keep busy with projects every day and this certainly looks like it has a ton of prospective fun associated with it.
PS Thanks for your videos. I have added you to my list and it's a bit funny how most of the content I watch comes out of Europe, Great Britian and Canada. I am not sure what that says aboutYanks. Also, if I have trouble with a water tight seal on my shop made tumbler I'll pick up another Harbor Freight tumbler for around $54. They also have a double container unit plus one vibratory unit....
Wow! Thank you for the detailed reply, it sounds like you should have made a video of your build. Funny enough I also have a food blender motor in my shed, I will have to see if that is a universal motor, I had not heard of that before (tho my electrical knowledge is pathetic) . I also was talking to a pal who mentioned that the motors on microwave ovens are built to last and geared down so that might be worth a look. The barrels always seem to be the real problem, Chinese made rubber barrels are available on eBay here in the UK I would probably go that route. You can make plastic barrels out of drain pipe with end caps but I hate using those. Anyway thanks for the really interesting input and I look forward to hearing more of your progress. PS are you a Michael, or "p". Best of luck with your tumbling.
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 yes it's a bit of a challenge to source out the container, but for guys like us the fun part is the process of making the result occur and over coming the problems encountered and the end result almost does not matter.
For the container I diverged from normal construction by having the drive shaft be 3/8 inch threaded rod that passes through the center of the container.
For the container I used a 12 ounce metal coffee can that on its open end has a 1/4 inch lip around the circumference of the opening rather than a simple rolled over edge.
On the bottom of the can I epoxied a wooden pulley made of wood that was several layers of 3/8 inch plywood and 1/4 inch oak. The oak was in the middle and what the polybelt rides on. I cut and sanded the outer layers of plywood to exactly fit the can within its rolled edge. As I made each piece I made a carefully centered pilot hole to help align the pieces when glued up.
Once the pulley assembly was created and epoxied to the can I carefully drilled out the hole in the center until it became 3/8 inch.
The cap or other end was also made of wood carefully cut to fit the top and completely seat itself on the 1/4 inch lip. I used one layer of 1/4 inch red oak and one layer of 3/8 inch plywood for the cap. I also carefully drilled out the center for the 3/8 inch rod to pass through.
I then using double nuts and washers set the threaded rod in place within the can with it sticking out 3 inches on both ends of the can.
I then mixed up several ounces of fiberglass resin and with the assembly suspended by string and the open end at the top position I poured the resin into the can. Briefly I turned the can horizontal and slowly revolved it to coat the metal skin with resin too. I then let it hang vertical so that the bulk of the resin settled to the bottom.
Once cured I had about 3/8 inches of resin hardened in the bottom and just covering the nut on the centered shaft. On the circumference of the can I had a thin layer of resin and to this I glued a latex liner to both make it less noisy as well as be what wears out and can be replaced.
At the cap end I fiberglassed the bottom of the cap and cut a latex gasket that forms a seal by being between the 1/4 inch ledge and the wooden cap assembly that hopefully is tight enough to prevent serious leakage when the cap is passed through the rod and firmly compressed against the ledge by tightening a 3/8 inch nut threaded on the rod.
As far as the rest I took a piece of salvaged wood to act as a base. To this I added two supports that are capped with pieces of hardwood. I used redwood. I then cut two of what looks like and acts as a pillow bearing that I carefully mounted to the hardwood caps.
Essentially the supports are high enough and far enough apart for the container to be suspended on them by passing each end of the threaded rod through the wooden beaings.
Alignment is critical. Also the bearing construction is critical and it's important to have a small pilot sized hole located on the bearing over the metal shaft so that drops of oil can be applied to the shaft by dripping onto it.
I chose redwood for the bearings because it's very hard plus it has natural resins that may help it act as a bearing. I capped the supports with redwood because the bearings have to be removed when the container is placed on the supports and then tightly bolted back down. Too soft a wood would likely lead to going out of alignment which is critical for the container to easily spin.
The rest is just making a motor support and mount that fits your salvaged motor. The bigger the pulley that is cemented to the container the slower the can will turn, but it really helps when you can find a transmission attached to a motor that slows rpm. Running a Universal Motor on 12 volts DC instead of 120 or 220 volts AC I found slowed the rpm perfectly without loss of torque.
On the motor I used there was a ring of 4 diodes that rectified the AC right at the input to the motor. I cut those and the cord off and ran DC right to the inputs.
If you make one let me know how things turned out. Hopefully you can come up with better ideas than I did. I consider mine a workable unit but everything can be improved.
Take care,
Mike
@@migalito1955 Wow! I do hope you made a video of this to post to youtube? Amazing ideas, and loads of work. I am sure it will work well and will probably keep tumbling for years. Best of luck!
Thanks for the video. Where do you dump the slurry after the stones are tumbled? I live in the suburbs of a medium sized city and my home is on a 50' x 70' lot and we are on a sewer. Thank you.
Hi Mark, I simply dump mine on the garden as a liquid slurry, as soon as it rains (as it is now) the slurry washed into the soil. It is mostly stone dust so will cause no harm. If this is not an option for you simply put into an old plastic milk bottle and put out with the waste. Thank you for watching.
Thank you!
Reminds me of coating found stones in clear nail polish when we were kids.
I never did that as a kid, but this is the same trick! Cheers!
Hi
enjoyed your demo, I am new to rock tumbling and would like a bit of help on the mediums to use I realise that there are several stages to go through, can you tell me which grade of medium I will require for each stage. Where is the best place to purchase the mediums required I have been on e-bay and its not clear as to which is best to buy and they seem to want to charge the earth for quite small amounts.
Thanks in advance.
Derek
Hi Derek, 1st stage 80 grit, 2nd stage 220 grit, 3rd (pre-polish) 400 to 600 grit. 4th stage Alu oxide or another polishing powder. Try "The little gems rockshop" they sell in 1kg lots. Cheaper than buying small lots, or Manchester minerals for your media. Also Amazon do a mixed box from "Dan & Darci! which is good value for smaller lots. The media can seem expensive but if you compare to the cost of just about any other hobby it's not so bad. Best of luck and enjoy your tumbling!
You would love collecting stones where I live. All our stones are very smooth. Finding a rough one is quite rare.
You must live in wonderland! But seriously many people buy mined or quarried rocks for tumbling, especially the more exotic Agates etc. so it is quite useful to learn how to polish rough rocks. Thanks for watching and enjoy your smooth stones!
Irte me know whats you dietas ser
Let me know how do you do its thas one ser
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 I live next to a huge river. The land our neighborhood was built on used to be part of the river but erosion has changed its course over time. All the stones here were smoothed out by the river currents centuries ago.
@@danerycruz360 I can't understand what you said there. Was it English?
Subscribed.
Love the way you explain the things. Can this be used for jades. Keeping in view the hardness of nephrite jade as 7 on mohr scale.
Hi Kashif, I would not waste good quality stones by cheating in this way, it is really only for beach pebbles. I would persist with the full polishing cycle of tumbling if you are polishing Jade pebbles or properly polish jade pieces using diamond discs etc. I hasten to add that I am not an expert in polishing Jade! Best of luck!
I am in no hurry. My clients love to buy riverstones. I can tumble for a month too. Haste is not required. I was asking is that possible anyway to polish that like natural rivers do. Even if take a month or so?
My takeaway, looks like you are also researching the quickest way to heaven ⚡
That is a kind thing to say, (I think) thank you!
Hello sir. I've watched so many of your videos as my wife bought me almost the same tumbler as yours. I don't know if mine is the newer model or something but it has 3 speed settings. The manual recommends speed 3 (fastest) for the first stage. Then 2 and 1 for the following. Can you think of reasons that one might stray from those recommendations or situations where you think faster or slower would be more ideal? Thanks for the videos. Keep them coming.
Hi Troy, I have seen your tumbler on Amazon and it certainly looks very similar to the Nat geo Hobby. I would guess same manufacturer. Interestingly national geographic are selling my model again after an absence of some months. I am not sure about if the different speeds will make a huge difference, I have three single speed tumblers and though the nat geo version is by far the fastest speed they all polish stones well. Truthfully I don't know, perhaps in a year or so I will have a better idea which is best. The tumbling process is a complicated equation depending on so many factors, hardness and mix of stones, size of pebbles, grit size etc. I suspect the three speed idea is a bit of a sales gimmick, making the process more complicated than it needs to be. It is an interesting question, I would stick to the instructions if you are getting good results then try experimenting. Keep in touch and let me know how you get on. Thanks for watching.
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 for what its worth I've also seen your machine and mine with different colors and brand names. I think NG must buy from a bulk supplier and stamp their name on it. I'm not complaining. It seems like a solid machine
@@troyking4787 It does seem to be a good machine, mine is still running well 18 months on. It is a pity that the manufacturers prefer to remain anonymous, not taking any pride or responsibility for the machines they make. I suppose this is the price we pay for cheap products. Best of luck!
Bravo good luck from Aserbaijan. But I didn't understand what the spray was. Thank you
Thank you too, the spray was an acrylic varnish. Much better to polish these properly!
thank you@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490
i hav dat same rock tumbler. that is insane :)
Thanks for watching, good luck with your tumbling!
Only 2:35 in and I already know this tumbler... is 100% legit! No click bait here, this is going to be a gem.
Hi Luke, hope you were not disappointed!
Last did stone polishing 40 years ago. Was thinking, have you ever thought of doing epoxy resin coating on stones if you are going down the route of applied coatings?
Yes I have, I have bought some water clear epoxy and will post a video when I can get round to it. Good idea and thanks for bringing it up. Cheers
Also I wonder if a person could attach a tumbler container on the front of a shop fan or box fan ??
I have no idea LOL! How you would rig that up is a mystery to me. Give it a go and let us know how you get on. Remember a barrel full of rocks and water is a pretty heavy thing spinning around. keep up the interesting ideas, thank you!
Please explain to the BBC how they should narrate nice & clear without the bed music. I think you just got me interested in polishing stones. I have hand polished hundreds of pieces of Amber so going to buy a polisher drum polish some pebbles and see if the polisher will polish some small pieces of Amber. Thanks for sharing some of your knowledge with us. 🙂☕🍰
I would love to know if you can polish amber, please let us know how you get on, Cheers!
Hi, have you any idea of the cost of running the tumbler for 7 days? Obviously it will depend on the power/speed setting, just a general idea would suffice.
Also how does it cope with rounded edged flat stone like thinnish slate say 2" x 1"
Thanks in anticipation.
I have never calculated the running cost, the motors are only 12v so I am guessing not much. flattish stones will tend to slide round the sides of the barrel and may polish only on the faces though if a few such stones are part of a mixed batch they should be ok. I would add some pea shingle at the first stage and plastic beads at pre polish and polishing stage to encourage tumbling. Be aware that slate will not polish though the tumbler will smooth and round off the edges. Best of luck
I am on stage three of the regular way. I bought borax for the forth stage. I also bought Ivory soap but not sure when to use it. What brand of varnish should I get? Oh I also bought mineral oil.
Hi Kandi, if you have completed the first three stages you wont really need a varnish, you should be able to polish the stones without it. Make sure you run stage three 400 grit for at least 10 days then move on to the polishing stage, Use either a teaspoon of borax or a teaspoon of soap shavings (not both) in with the polishing powder and run for another 7- 10 days. Forget oil, it will not polish the stones just hide a poor polish. Best of luck
Hello sir... I have a question for you. I found a rock in Whitewater California. It is as smooth as glass must have tumbled out of our mountains. It's beautiful with a glass look and a rust swirl going through it. Would you know how long it took this rock to naturally get like this? So interested to know its history. If you have an email I can send you a pic. Thank you.
Hi Julie, I am sorry but I wouldn't know, I am not a geologist. Guessing at millions of years always seems to be a good bet with rocks. There is a young American who seems to be very knowledgeable th-cam.com/channels/oHQzOP2GH5WUiFCIOCX8eQ.html
I hope he can help you!
love the content! what tumbler would you recommend for a beginner? Thanks!
I would say to buy a tumbler with a rubber barrel, plastic barrels are a real faff. My personal choice would be for one of the Chinese made tumblers sold on Amazon. My first tumbler was the national Geographic Hobby, is still tumbling after two years of constant use. It is only a 2lb barrel so no need to collect too many rocks to start with and is a cost effective way to find out is this is the hobby for you. Best of luck and enjoy your tumbling.
Just out of curiosity could you polish a stone but keep it's relatively sharp edges? I get there would always be at least some smoothing when tumbling but I sometimes like a rocks shape but wish it would stay nice looking once it dries. I am trying to avoid using a fake coating as I'm not sure how it would effect my succulents over time
Hi Sarah, you are wise to avoid fake coatings, these are really a short term fix. I doubt very much it is possible to keep sharp edges when tumbling, all of mine come out rounded to some extent. The only way would be to hand polish and thats not easy on random shaped rocks. Sorry I can't kelp more.
Hi Mate, I've never tumbled rock before, but I do collect rocks, what kind of tumbler should I buy, I'm retired so I have the time.
Hi Gary, assuming you are in the UK I would start with either the National geographic Hobby or advanced model or the Dan and Darcy "Advanced professional" tumbler which looks very similar, sold on amazon. My Hobby is still running two years on, is 12 volt so safe, has a rubber barrel and is quiet and has a smaller barrel so you don;t need to collect too many stones. These are the cheapest rubber barrel models available in UK I am growing to loath my plastic barrels, they are a complete faff. avoid. If you are more ambitious I would suggest the "15 LB" twin 3lb barrel model sold on eBay, also with rubber barrels although I have only had mine for 3 months and I am not certain how long it will last. If you have the patience ignore the instructions and tumble at each stage for at least 10 days, this will give a better chance of getting a really good polish first time round. Best of luck and enjoy your tumbling!
Gm. Those are.beautiful what they polished when & spray up with ?
Hi Jennifer, I think it tells you in the video!
I was thinking of making up a quick one of these with an old drill, just for fun. I don't have any medium to hand, is there something else i could use? The stones by themselves do anything?
If you can fit a polishing pad to your drill you could try polishing a single stone with carbide paper discs. This might not work if the stones you use are too hard or might not polish if the stones are too soft so it is a bit chancy. (The stones do anything) not sure what you mean, they just look beautiful when polished and can be used for jewellery making. Cheers!
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 Oh sorry, what I meant was would tumbling the stones by themselves do anything for their appearance or is an abrasive crucial to the process.
I was wondering about your work surface in the video. Is that upside down carpet on your workbench? If so, is it helpful with noise reduction? I don't have my own tumbler just yet, but I've heard that they can be really loud. I read in one of the comments that you have more than one tumbling machine. Would you say that any of them are significantly more loud/ quiet than any of the others? Thanks!
Hi Tiffany, all of my tumbling machines are pretty quiet. The thing that makes a big difference is the barrels, in the early stages of a tumble plastic barrels are really noisy so my advice would be to buy a tumbler with a rubber barrel. Using old carpet makes a big difference as the machines rumble on the bench, really well worth doing. Best of luck with your tumbling!
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 awesome, thanks a lot! :)
@Tiffany MacDonald for what it's worth, I had gotten one similar to his (small, with a rubber barrel). I built a small box of if cheap sawdust grade flat-pack shelf particle board I had laying around. Made I've side a door with two small hinges, and a magnetic latch. Then I drilled a hole lasted enough to pass the tumbler's power jack through.
Then, I took some of the foam you can buy to use as camper bed. I think it's called large cell foam. I used the 2.5in thick stuff, and cut it in half (using a super sharp Bread Knife).
After that I cut down them to the inside size if my box, and pressed them in against their respective sides (they will keep each other held in place if you cut them right). Then for the door, I used some Contact Cement to glue that pad to it, as centered as I could. That was the difficult part really lol If it doesn't close well, it's OK, you can just trim off what's needed of the foam, to get the latch to work (or, use a different latch setup which can withstand any extra pressure from coal that's in the way).
Tossed my tumbler in, used some scrap trimmings of foam to wedge between the tumbler and the other foam on the sides just to brace it better. Then ran the power cord in.
I have it running in the bathroom connected to my bedroom... It is so quiet now that I have to put my hand on the cabinet to check if it's running sometimes 😎
You could also cheat and buy a cheap, small, premade wall cabinet, either for a bathroom or kitchen, and line _that_ with foam... but it might cost a bit more.
Information needed
Could you please tell me what is The Best Rock Tumbler to purchase?
Hi Melissa, are you in the UK?
When the sprayed finished stone looses its luster over time can you respray
Good question! You can over spray (re-coat) the Plastikote varnish at any time so it should be no problem. However as the varnish is UV safe I cant see why it would fade. Only time will tell I guess. Before re spraying maybe it would be worth trying to buff up the varnish with a cleaner/polish? This is a subject I think we will return to in time, so thank you for bringing it up!
I live in an apartment, what kind of tumbler would you recommend?
Hi Cindi, Any tumbler will rumble a bit day and night. I would suggest a smaller rubber barrel machine such as the National geographic Hobby or similar. The rubber barrel will be quieter, the smaller barrel will hold less stones so less noise, and less stones means less slurry to dispose of and less mess when washing of the pebbles between stages. I also would used plastic beads at each stage as I think this might make the process quieter, (I'm not certain about this as I don't have to consider noise). I have made a video "Six things to consider before buying a rock tumbler. " th-cam.com/video/HvLRTchL-us/w-d-xo.html
I hope you decide to go ahead and start tumbling, it is a great hobby! Thanks for watching.
What buffer machine do u use there are so many out there im lost lol
Also which buffer wheel polisher did you use? Felt or wool? X
Thank you x
Hi Thalia, I use the Ferrex mini bench grinder th-cam.com/video/0dwNPlY5QTs/w-d-xo.html this is a nice safe machine for this as it is low power but high speed. but you could use any bench grinder with a felt or cloth wheel. Alternatively you could use a dremel type tool with a small felt wheel. I would not use wool as these are really for surface buffing Hope this helps. PS the ferrex is from Aldi but not always available.
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490
Thank you xxxxxxxx
I’m curious, will stones still have a look polished “wet” look if I paint over them after following this process?
I am not sure, I have never painted stones! Anyway I would strongly suggest you try to achieve a proper polish with tumbling, this would be impervious to just about anything. You can check out my tumbling videos to see how to do this. Hope this helps.
I have a tumbler - can I use very small gravel to use as my grit?
I don't think that would work as an abrasive, you need silica carbide or perhaps alumina oxide grit. Best of luck!
I just joined your channel. Hope to learn more about my hobby. But the cheat way is not for me. I will continue to tumble and polish the regular way.
Quite right too! Getting a good natural polish is not hard it just takes more patience. This was for those who might be thinking of giving up. Let me know how you get on with your tumbling Thank you for the sub and for watching.
I am still new to tumbling but I have finished several batches now. I have a few tumblers but only 2 running right now. I love my new hobby. It's interesting to see them in all the different stages. Im learning so much from a few different channels on here. Just glad there are people like you and them to watch and learn from. Thank you.
hello, thank you for the video. I want to buy from this machine and try this. but I want to know the materials to be bought or used. For example, what is that sand you poured? I would be very happy if you could help with this. I do not know English, I am writing with google translate. I am writing from Turkey, thanks ..
Hi, Silica carbide grit, 80 grit, 220 grit, 400 grit and Zinc oxide polish. Hope the translator works and best of luck with your tumbling.
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 thank you so much
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 could you tumble with fine sand for the first tumble? Or Something else? Also what was borax for?
@@JuicyPumpkins Hi Eugenia, sand would be too soft to do anything in your tumbler (softer than the rocks). Best to stick to Silicon carbide or Aluminium oxide grit. The only use for Borax is to make the slurry more viscous so it sticks to the rocks better. I have used it and it does seem to work though since I started using plastic beads I am not using it so much. Alot of people use soap instead. Happy new year to you!
Hi! Have you ever tried to polish with beeswax? I would like to make jewelry with small smooth rounded pebbles and wondered if beeswax would work. Thanks!
Hi Michele I have not tried this but I think this would only work if the stones were very smooth to start with. It is sometimes possible to pick up pebbles on the beach near polished. Good luck and let me know how you get on.
I've managed to get some rocks to look acceptable, but by no means "polished", by... using....... hair conditioner.... lmao
I use dish soap and a toothbrush (no, not the one I use for my teeth lol) to get it ultra clean, and dry it off.
Then I put just a small drop of conditioner on my finger, and with both hands, basically massage the rock,letting it slip around between them until the conditioner dies.
If the rock has lots of holes or pits, before it's dried, I'll take a dry toothbrush and use that to rub around, pressing into the pits/holes (like dabbing a paint brush).
Then either I'll use that same toothbrush to "brush" the rock all over, which smooths out whatever is in the conditioner that has remained in the rock, to get a waxy shine on the rock.
OR
I'll keep massaging the rock between my dry fingers (after having the conditioner on them), squeezing down hard on the flat portions of the rock, which again, works some sort of magic with the dry conditioner, leaving that shiny appearance.
(For the record, I use Aussie brand 'Mega Moist', so that's what I've used on the rocks. No clue if this process works with any other conditioner types or brands! lol)
I admit, it's weird as hell... and I don't even remember why I thought to try that in the first place 🥴 It works well on smooth rocks though.
PRO: cheap, not permanent, easy to wash off, easy/quick to apply
CON: not permanent, any condensing moisture (sweat, rain) can impact the surface finish, has a 'waxy' luster (irrelevant, given you want to _use_ bee's wax heh)
Where I can buy that machine for tumbling the stone?
Amazon
Hello can I ask what the machine is called you use to polish the stones many thanks
This was my first machine, the National geographic Hobby. It is still in use today two years on. Cheers!
I think that was a grinder with a some sort of polishing wheel and polishing paste
What happens if you use no grit at all with rocks? Is the grit required?
absolutely you do need grit, without it nothing happens.
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 Thank you for the response. My question is more wouldn’t the rocks smashing against one another essentially create grit and potentially grid/soften/polish them down? Not to the extent of using grit of course but I’m just curious.
I only ask as I just started ad giving a test run acting as a placebo. And After about a week I’ll see if they have any significant changes and if I don’t see any I will for sure be adding some grit there and go onward to polishing.
What it’s the borax for?
Good question! I no longer use borax or soap etc at all, I simply rely on plastic beads. Slightly controversial but it really works well. Cheers
I climbed my first mountain on Saturday and collected a piece of rock. It’s a rugged shape lots of uneven angles etc is a light brown colour with what looks like a ice white shiny stuff in it. Properly nothing special but I wanted to polish it and keep it as a memory of my first climb. How could I smooth it out with out a machine? Could I use water and sand and other smaller stones? in a bottle for example? I don’t even know if I can polish it nice but I wanna try.
Any help would be great the hold is about half the size of a fist.
It depends on how hard the stone is, you could try hand polishing with wet and dry sandpaper. If you watch some of my other vids you will see different ways of polishing. Or you could try a sanding disc on a drill? Best of luck!
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 thanks very much. I will try with an electric tool and watch some videos.
Think I will have to buy myself a tumbler
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 another quick question where in the UK is the best place to buy the different kinds of grit needed? I looked on Amazon and it was very expensive to my surprise could you tell me exactly what the name is of the grit as I saw a few different types and aren’t sure what to get. Thanks very much
More tumbling please
Hi, I am trying but tumbling takes time, watch this space! Thank you for watching.
I've used super glue and buffed it out. That works great
Hi, this is interesting and I can see it working on one stone at a time. However I would be concerned about the fumes given off by Superglue if used in larger amounts and in an enclosed space, so anyone trying this please be careful. I hope you don't think I am too negative, this is an interesting idea and thank you for sharing.
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 if you're concerned about fumes.... Paint fumes are bad too. Painting 5lbs of rocks inside🤷♂️
damn i kinda wanna try this out, i could try selling shiny rocks lol.
but do you constantly need to buy that sand needed for polishing? sounds expensive
The grit is either silica carbide or aluminium oxide and it is not that cheap. Buying the grit is an ongoing cost for rock tumblers. Thanks for watching.
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 i see some people fill the barrels with balls to make different fine powders, i wonder if it would be possible to make your own grit that way
Great video. What,do,you do with the polished stones?
This is a good and recurring question, I have made the occasional pendant and key ring but mostly they sit in a box. I am going to post a few new videos about crafting with pebbles, watch this space! Thank you for watching and for the kind comments.
If you don’t have 400 grit can you just add the borax
Hi Diana, I am not convinced that Borax is an abrasive. It is basically a natural salt and dissolves in water. It might work if used dry. I am open to other views! Cheers!
you can polish your stones with ash from wooden to get them shiny, take the white parts of the wooden ash and polish the cleaned stones 7 days in it. first the quartz get shiny later the other ones. between grinding and polishing take the stones in to a snonic cleaner also after the polish process.greatings from vienna!
I did not know this, I will give it a try. Thank you for the interesting input.
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 Thank you for your nice videos! Its Potassiumoxide in the ash, that can polish very well.
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 i do this since 20 years and it costs nothing. i forgot to tell you you need hard wooden ash, dont take the ash from coniver trees!
Howich does the tumbler cost to run?
Peanuts!
I wonder if you had a tumbler that spins much faster if that would speed up your tumbling time?
Hi Tina, I have slow machines and a fast machine, I am not sure it makes much difference. It might that the faster speed actually slows down the polishing process. I suspect the correct mixture of pebble sizes and the correct level of pebbles in the barrel has more effect than barrel speed. However I don't really know. Perhaps in a year or so (when I have used them more) I will have a better idea. Thanks for the interesting thought.
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 any new revilations on faster and slower speed so far?
@@JuicyPumpkins Hi, I am still not sure! I need ti get a smaller barrel for my slower tumblers and do a compare. But thank you for the reminder. Happy New Year!
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 thank you! Happy new year to you too! Can't wait to start tumbling
Why the need for acrylic? The polish will work on the stone alone?
Hi, This is a cheat method, polishing properly is a better finish but takes a lot longer. Thanks for watching.
Just wondered if anyone had worked out the cost of running a tumbler for a week?
Anyone?
If I tumble a mined stone, how long could I expect, start to finish, to have a nice natural polish? Also, can you tumble just one stone, or do you need many tumbling together to polish eachother?
Oh dear! It depends on several factors, how hard the rocks are (what type), how rough they are to start with and how big. You certainly need lots of stones together, they move together to create the friction needed to make the grits work. Generally smaller stones polish quicker than big stones. Ideally a mixture with mostly smaller stones and just a few big ones works best. If you watch some of my other tumbling vids you will see me add small round pebbles to bulk up a load and provide movement in the barrel. I can tell you that very rough hard Agate type stones can take 5-6 weeks just for the first stage. Don't let that put you off, either be patient and get great stones or simply choose smoother stones for your tumble. Good luck!
PS.... can you tumble Sea glass in these tumblers for a short while?
Yes you can, I would look for thicker glass. I am trying to collect old glass ash trays etc and thicker bottle with nice colours (much easier when car boots etc open) so that I can play with this!
Thanks for your reply.
My machine says about a month.. I have done one batch yes i was impatient lol my own fault. Second batch in. They dont seem to have the high shine i was hoping for. They come out feeling a bit waxy and soft but not shiny. :(
Hi Megan, this is very common probably due to not enough time in the tumbler, I would put them in again at 400 (pre polish ) stage for ten days then polish again for ten days. Think about using a small amount of soap or borax and/or plastic beads. They should get a really good polish. Don't give up you will get to be an expert with just a bit of trial and error and patience! Best of luck.
Can you still tumble polish the rocks
With this method?
Yes, even after the varnishing you can tumble them properly, the varnish is easily removed by tumbling. (I hope that is what you are asking?). Thanks for watching.
If I try the spray acrilic method and Im not satisfied with the results. Can I send them through the tumbler on another run of 400 grit?
I have not tried this yet but I am sure you can, I would let the acrylic dry for a week or so before trying it. Mind you, if you are at the 400 grit stage you are close to polishing the rocks naturally!
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490
Okay. Thanks for getting back to me. Have a great weekend and a super Thanksgiving.
valuable? About using a dremmel
Could you enlarge on this comment a bit please?
5:23 it’s because the grit might dry in cracks in the rock or something it’s happened to me a ruined a batch if I want to look at them I pick a perfect rock with almost no holes or cracks or undercuts and I wash it and scrub it with a toothbrush and soapy water untill it’s clean then I’ll dry it off and look at it. If it’s in the polish stage I just don’t look at it because their is no need too
Ps I don’t think many people want fake polished rocks
Me neither!
I was wondering why I couldn't shine them up after all that tumbling.
This is a cheat, better to learn how to achieve a proper polish with your tumbler. This might help..... th-cam.com/video/y7rackq3Hno/w-d-xo.html best of luck!
Now if we go to a rock and gem show, do we have to ask the seller if they put varnish and/or polish on the stones? I would think if you make jewelry to sell using tumbled stones, you'd be pretty peeved to find that there was a fake finish on the stone.
This video is aimed at newbie rock tumblers and as the title says its a cheat!
Hi Steve
Hi Trey!
You look like Boris Johnson ☺️
Thanks you that’s a great idea
Not sure about the Boris comment, I am no fan but glad you enjoyed the vid!
But this layer of polish can fade or peel off with friction, thank you
Yes, it is a short term cheat. Much better to learn to tumble polish properly. Thanks for watching.
What's the name of a good tumblr
Let all Rock and Tumble
Ok Yah!
I woild rather take the extra time to make real polished rocks. They mean a lot more to me if I have to struggle a little or wait 6-8 weeks to get highly polished stones
Me too!
NASCAR fan anybody but his voice is funny
Huh?
That's why I run more that one tumbler so I don't have to cheat. Just my opinion polishing in a tumbler as it was meant to be is much more satisfying. The rocks change in appearance with each stage.
You are right of course, it is more satisfying to persist with getting a proper polish, but some people struggle and this is a way to see some results. thanks for watching.
i found a smoky quartz and i want to tumble it but i dont have a tumbler lol
Buy a tumbler! Cheers!
idk where though, where i live its kinda hard to find one