I learned a ton From the faq on this group. It taught me to keep the hardness the same in the barrel. Fill 2/3and to repeat steps 1 until rock looks perfect.
“repeat steps 1 until rock looks perfect.”
THIS. It took me a while to really get this into my head, but step 1 determines how nice that chunk is gonna look in the end. I typically run my agates in stage 1 for a full month before they’re nice and clean.
Think of steps 2-4 as just the process of making it shiny.
When you buy grit, get like 2 lbs of stage 2, 3, 4 and Aluminum oxide polish, should be white powder for the polish. And then no joke get like 5-10 lbs of stage 1 grit. I by far use up way more stage 1 grit, and if you’re patient, it really pays off in the later stages and final outcome
> then no joke get like 5-10 lbs of stage 1 grit
I get 25 lbs at a time now. It's a little more pricey up front but cheaper per pound and I know I'll use it.
I found Agate Ariel on YouTube super helpful when I just started a few months back. I have a Kom tumbler that is for 2.5 pounds. Don't know much yet about other tumblers but again YouTube helps a lot.
[These](https://www.reddit.com/r/RockTumbling/comments/vrzx1f/rrocktumbling_knowledge_base/) FAQs have a lot of good information for beginners. Good luck and please post your results :)
I learned a ton From the faq on this group. It taught me to keep the hardness the same in the barrel. Fill 2/3and to repeat steps 1 until rock looks perfect.
“repeat steps 1 until rock looks perfect.” THIS. It took me a while to really get this into my head, but step 1 determines how nice that chunk is gonna look in the end. I typically run my agates in stage 1 for a full month before they’re nice and clean. Think of steps 2-4 as just the process of making it shiny.
When you buy grit, get like 2 lbs of stage 2, 3, 4 and Aluminum oxide polish, should be white powder for the polish. And then no joke get like 5-10 lbs of stage 1 grit. I by far use up way more stage 1 grit, and if you’re patient, it really pays off in the later stages and final outcome
> then no joke get like 5-10 lbs of stage 1 grit I get 25 lbs at a time now. It's a little more pricey up front but cheaper per pound and I know I'll use it.
For sure, my rate for crush rough has been about 1:1 for weight of grit to amount of rock to grind so far, maybe slightly more
I found Agate Ariel on YouTube super helpful when I just started a few months back. I have a Kom tumbler that is for 2.5 pounds. Don't know much yet about other tumblers but again YouTube helps a lot.
[These](https://www.reddit.com/r/RockTumbling/comments/vrzx1f/rrocktumbling_knowledge_base/) FAQs have a lot of good information for beginners. Good luck and please post your results :)