r/RockTumbling • u/FrequentAd9210 • 1d ago

Question I just finished step 1 !!

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I just finished step 1, is that enough for step 2?

4 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

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3

u/prochoicesistermish 1d ago

I would throw those in again personally. Did you do 1 week of stage one? Sometimes I do like 6 weeks of stage 1.

1

u/FrequentAd9210 1d ago

I only have one more grit for stage 1 so i can’t so it like 4 times 4 week like google say

2

u/spydrodeth 1d ago

Then buy some more. Unfortunately, the tumbling kits are a lie. I don't know why, but they are. I can't think of stage one I've done that was finished after the first round.

Every imperfection will carry over to the next stage. It will not tumble out. Ideally, your stage one is smooth. The rest is just getting that shine.

This place has tremendously useful information in the guides when you're starting. Read it and improve your success rate from the start.

1

u/FrequentAd9210 1d ago

I have 0$

3

u/prochoicesistermish 1d ago

Check to see if you have a local rock tumbling club. Maybe someone would be willing to sell you grit at a discount when you have a little money. Sorry finances are hard.

1

u/Comfortable_Lab650 13h ago

Another option besides the sandstone if you have no money is to look in the neighborhood for landscaping rocks. The boomers used things such as those red lava rocks and the white dolomite rocks for landscaping over plastic, in their failed attempt to keep the weeds out. Offer up to them that you'll pull the weeds in their bed for payment for a bucket of rocks. If you do a good job then they might even pay you money to purchase grit, but get some good quality grit if paying for it, because the typical Walmart or Hobby Lobby isn't going to have decent grit, IMO. (I got some at Walmart before and it was just useless charcoal dust, not gritty at all). The grit that a a couple lava rocks or dolomite rocks produce would be sufficient to whittle away future batches of the rocks that your are collecting to tumble. You'll have to keep adding more of them in as they break down quickly, but keep the slurry that they produce in the barrel. As the lava and dolomite rocks break down further and further, into finer and finer grits, that's what they do in nature and how clay and siltstones are formed, it will help carry the coarser grit, and the rocks that you have also carry their own grit, so just keep tumbling them until you're satisfied. You can do this hobby with no money but just have to be creative about it.

0

u/spydrodeth 1d ago

Then continue on...

And I guess find another hobby because this one isn't free, unfortunately.

0

u/Ok_Salamander7929 1d ago

Well then this is not the hobby for you. Maybe bird watching?

0

u/Comfortable_Lab650 1d ago

When I had an issue with grit then I used sandstone from the yard. It works, and it's free if you have any outside. (note: it will bubble, make gas, so the container will need to be burped.)

1

u/sefjwm 9h ago

You want something harder than a 7 and sandstone is not.

1

u/Comfortable_Lab650 8h ago

Naw. I already used it and it worked. I used it on agate. Sandstone is comprised of a percentage of quartz grains, other granular sediments, both cemented together. Unrefined, sharp quartz on quartz scratches quartz.

1

u/prochoicesistermish 1d ago

Depends on what results you’re looking for, it’s a personal preference. If there are crevices, grit can get stuck at different stages and you’ll have to clean them more thoroughly in between. Personally I like to do stage one until everything is really smooth so that less cleaning is required but some people like the more natural shapes.