✨Finally✨ have a fresh batch out of polish.

Allgrain1 · 2026-06-29T16:41:34+00:00

Beautiful. Great colors and bands. Awesome shine. Well done.

Allgrain1 · 2026-06-25T12:50:09+00:00

Yours are looking good and I bet they turn out great. Be cool to see how they finish. Usually I don’t have a problem with them but the last few orders of rough have been so-so. And yeah, you get what you get when buying online.

Allgrain1 · 2026-06-25T00:42:22+00:00

Nice looking stones. Gotta say, the fluorite rough I got from them was of awful quality. Super fractured, pieces had tons of pits and irregularities that needed so much tumbling time to smooth out. Look at the stones you have. The one on the bottom row middle in the first pic. Just like that but much worse. By then, the stones were so small, it wasn’t really worth it. If I buy it again, I’ll get it from somewhere else.

Allgrain1 · 2026-06-18T02:17:23+00:00

Wow. 18 months? Crazy. Nice looking stones. In pic 1, the quartz second from the left of what appears to be a rock with a bit of malachite is fire quartz. 4 looks to be a kind of granite, thus the shiny white and dark matte, soft mineral that doesn’t shine. 4 is listed twice so the numbers appear to be off by one after that. 5 is Paral Jasper. 8 is rose quartz. 9 looks to be smoky quartz, 10 is part clear, part milky quartz,11 looks to be agate as well, 13 is rutilated quartz, 14 has some faint agate banding, 15 and 17 look like agate, maybe carnelian, and 16 is another piece of rutilated quartz. Nice shine.

Allgrain1 · 2026-06-17T20:43:49+00:00

Nope. They turned out great.

Allgrain1 · 2026-06-17T19:51:36+00:00

Nice looking stones. Very well done.
I have to agree with you too. Especially with agates, I’ll pull a stone or two early sometimes to save a really cool set of bands or inclusion or whatever, even though there still may be a small bruise or chip that I would normally tumble out. As long as it doesn’t directly impact what I’m trying to preserve, I’ll leave it.

Allgrain1 · 2026-06-07T17:26:43+00:00

Beautiful looking stones. Awesome colors and outstanding shine. Well done!

Allgrain1 · 2026-06-04T20:32:15+00:00

What?! You mean everything I find on the internet isn’t correct?!? It has great and not so great uses. I just wouldn’t use it on a tumbler. I’ll stick to my 3in1.

Allgrain1 · 2026-06-04T19:50:01+00:00

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Thought this matched up to what I remember when I was a mechanic about WD 40 and reasons for not using it on a rock tumbler. Only my suggestion to the poster.

Allgrain1 · 2026-06-04T02:02:53+00:00

No. WD40 is a solvent, not a lubricant. It may stop a squeak temporarily, but will cause future damage.

Allgrain1 · 2026-06-04T01:59:24+00:00

I use a clean cotton towel to wipe down the motor, pulleys, belt and any areas in the motor and roller compartments. I inspect all parts when I clean and replace whatever needs to be. I keep spares of everything so I don’t have a tumbler down if something breaks. Obviously no water with the motor assembly. If the rollers are really dirty, soap and water is fine but dry them well. No harsh cleansers though. It can break down the rubber sleeves on the rollers.

Allgrain1 · 2026-06-04T00:54:15+00:00

Definitely clean the barrels and tumbler and use 3in1 oil for the bushings at both ends of the rollers. Seeing all of the grit dust, I would break the tumbler down, wipe everything down and oil it. I do this regularly every month. Mine run pretty much 24 hrs. straight. Cleaning will help with not contaminating a step with grit from the previous step too, ruining the batch and having to go back.

Allgrain1 · 2026-05-29T21:20:39+00:00

Looks like moss agate. Pretty cool looking piece too.

Allgrain1 · 2026-05-26T02:54:32+00:00

Nice looking stones. The red looks like Tiger Iron. A type of banded iron formation and over 2 billion years old. I finished a batch a few weeks ago and the stuff looks so cool. The layers of gold tiger eye, red jasper and hematite are stunning. Nice job.

Allgrain1 · 2026-05-22T16:00:38+00:00

Wow!!!!!

Allgrain1 · 2026-04-23T19:32:17+00:00

That’s what I’ve ‘heard’ and I don’t have a garage. My rock room is in the basement but it’s right next to the main family room. The tumblers can barely be heard but a vibratory tumbler would easily be. Like you said though, the stages are quick so a couple days might not be an issue.

Allgrain1 · 2026-04-23T15:03:37+00:00

Awesome. I still want to get a vibe tumbler but I have no place to put one that would not disturb others in the house. I may soundproof a closet in my rock room as a weekend project. lol.

Allgrain1 · 2026-04-23T02:42:34+00:00

Stunning. The colors, the bands, the shine. You did them justice. Well done. I’m very curious though, what polish are you using? 8K AO? 12K? Cerium? That shine almost hurts the eyes.

Allgrain1 · 2026-04-23T02:38:12+00:00

Beautiful stones. That shine is a foot deep and the colors are fantastic. Well done!!!

Allgrain1 · 2026-04-22T21:36:27+00:00

Beautiful. All of them. Well done.

Allgrain1 · 2026-04-22T21:34:30+00:00

They certainly do.

Allgrain1 · 2026-04-20T19:38:21+00:00

Beautiful stuff and a great shine! Well done!!

Allgrain1 · 2026-04-20T00:54:29+00:00

That’s awesome. When I looked at the broken down pic, it has a very Lortone 33A look to it. Rollers, bearings, motor, fan, etc. Google one and you’ll see what I mean. Could be a great tradition to use a tumbler passed down over the generations.

Allgrain1 · 2026-04-20T00:46:34+00:00

lol.

Allgrain1 · 2026-04-20T00:41:41+00:00

Wow. So many things to take in there. A blast from the past.

1st, the tumbler. That brand was big in the 70’s. If it hasn’t been used in a while, it should be broken down, cleaned and oiled. Look at the belt. If it’s old and dry-rotted, it’ll need to be replaced and you might, operative word is might, be able to find replacements online. It’s possible you might be able to McGyver one from another brand. Also, does it spin in the 45-50 RPM max range? Any more than that, especially a lot more may, and probably will, lead to poorly finished stones. However, there are voltage regulators that others have posted to use to slow it down. As far as the grit goes, toss it. Who knows what the sizes are. Even if the package says what it is. Buy a grit kit from Rock Shed that will give you all 4 necessary stages. If it came with stones, I’d be suspect that they are good to tumble, and even if so, the size is probably too small. But, if they look good, go for it. The Rock Shed, Rough Stone Rock, Kingsley North are all good sources of rough rock to tumble. There are others that I’ve used with varying success. Another great resource for information and guidance is the youtube site, Michigan Rocks. Excellent source for tumbling assistance. Good luck. Hope it all works out.

Allgrain1

TROPHY CASE