new
rockinronda
starting to spend too much on rocks
First Tumble Ever: Nat Geo Pro w/Gem Foam Dec 14, 2023 12:10:54 GMT -5 via mobile 1dave , quartzilla , and 4 more like this
I did a lot of don’ts, some on purpose, some from ignorance. Some trying to stay true to the Nat Geo way just to see what the outcome would be. I did separate the batch out that came with the kit and only tumbled half. I wanted a practice run that didn’t waste a lot of material and I put a cpl I thought were pretty as the carrot before the horse type thing. That was ignorant. I bruised and fractured a lot of it. I did not follow their timeline but I did max out each stage and reran my 1st stage to get rid of more blemishes. It did work but I lost a lot of volume. I did know to cherry pick the “dones” from the “not dones” but I only have this kit’s grits and have to see it through. The gem foam did put a basic shine on the rocks more than I thought it would.
I have done a deep dive down the tumbling rabbit hole and learned a lot while this batch was in process. Though I’m hoping some of you will see what else I may be missing and educate me further, this is what I’ve learned so far. I do know that I need 2 sizes ceramic media (have lrg n sml coming, couldn’t find med/lrg combo)and at least AO polish. Tho I’ve seen comparison videos and Tin Oxide I think (personal opinion) it gives the absolute best polish. I do plan on getting a small amount for some super special rocks, but for me, economically it doesn’t make sense to use all the time. I don’t know how to tell a good AO from not so good AO. I do know the NG will be best for course grit stage as it tumbles too fast(that’s ok now I wanna vibro). Or maybe just more cushioning with media? Or maybe a mod/bigger wheel will turn more slowly?
And has anyone tried going vertical with a rotary tumbler to turn other barrels using the same energy? I imagine on a grand scale-something like a carnival Ferris wheel 🎡 but the gondolas rotating by daisy chaining wheels and belts. I’m sure I’m missing something here, please fill me in.
Thanks for helping a new Tumbler out,
Ronda
P.S.
Is there a way to post pics on mobile version?
pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher 
IMO the rocks that came with Nat Geo aren't super beginner friendly. If I remembered correctly, they intentionally chose a colorful collection of rocks such as sodalite, aventurine, amethyst and some kind of jasper, agates and quartz. They don't have uniform Mohs scale, and some of them are challenging to tumble even for the non-beginners. Also, if you start with some less brittle rocks (by inspecting if there is too much crack when dry), the journey will be much more enjoyable.
And definitely fill the barrel 3/4 full, with a mixed variety of sizes. If the rocks came with the tumbler are not enough, you can always add small pebbles as fillers. I used to tumble red gravel pebbles and they are super easy to polish.
For posting pictures, I feel the easiest thing would be to upload the pictures to flickr and insert the image into the posts here.
Last Edit: Dec 14, 2023 13:10:16 GMT -5 by pebbleskyrockinronda
starting to spend too much on rocks
First Tumble Ever: Nat Geo Pro w/Gem Foam Dec 14, 2023 13:56:23 GMT -5 via mobile 1dave , dshanpnw , and 2 more like this
Yeah that’s why I tried to separate by hardness, like I left the tigers eye out cause I read that’s pretty soft. But I also purposely put a couple eye candy rocks in there, hardness be damned, because it’s my first run and I wanna see pretty rocks ^_^ Also, because my small knowledge base, I couldn’t positively identify each rock type and its hardness so there’s that as well.
velodromed
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2023
Posts: 1,418
One big issue is those 3 speed type tumblers rotate very fast, even on the lowest speed. As suggested by someone on here, I bought a cheap 7v power supply off Amazon and swapped it with the existing 12v on mine. It spins proper slow now and does a much better job. Other issues include poor quality grit/polish supplied with the machine, low quality/hard to tumble rock and the (crap) instructions. You came to the right place though, you’ll get all of the advice and recommendations to help you get going here.
rockinronda
starting to spend too much on rocks
First Tumble Ever: Nat Geo Pro w/Gem Foam Dec 14, 2023 16:12:36 GMT -5 via mobile 1dave , dshanpnw , and 1 more like this
Yup that sums up what I was reading. While I’m pretty handy and not scared of much, I’ll admit I’m intimidated by messin with electrical stuff. Tho that does present as the best answer for rn. Thanks so much the both of you
As far as grit, how do I tell a good quality one from a crappy one? I see references to mil size or something like that? I couldn’t find any measurable number in specs of grits I was looking at. Was that my first clue it was not a good one?
velodromed
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2023
Posts: 1,418
Yup that sums up what I was reading. While I’m pretty handy and not scared of much, I’ll admit I’m intimidated by messin with electrical stuff. Tho that does present as the best answer for rn. Thanks so much the both of you
As far as grit, how do I tell a good quality one from a crappy one? I see references to mil size or something like that? I couldn’t find any measurable number in specs of grits I was looking at. Was that my first clue it was not a good one?
It’s just plugging in a new power supply, super easy. Here’s the one I got. The source is the best way to tell. The Rock Shed and Kingsley north are very well know for quality grits. I’ve gone with 60/90 SiC (silicon carbide) for course in a small tumbler, and you’ll need much more of that then the others since it’s normal to run several or more course runs to get the rocks in shape. Then 180 or 220 for stage 2, which you’ll typically run just once, same with the rest of the stages. Then 500 or 600 for stage 3. Next 1000 AO (aluminum oxide) for pre polish and micron AO (10,000+) for polish. Those stores have great rough rock as well. Jaspers are real good learning rocks and there’s a bunch of different ones available.
This is just my process I’ve spent the last 2 years figuring out and still have so much to learn. There are many roads that lead to a nicely polished rock. Takes some experimenting and lots of patience.
adam5
starting to spend too much on rocks
First Tumble Ever: Nat Geo Pro w/Gem Foam Dec 14, 2023 17:53:52 GMT -5 via mobile dshanpnw , dillonf , and 1 more like this
Yup that sums up what I was reading. While I’m pretty handy and not scared of much, I’ll admit I’m intimidated by messin with electrical stuff. Tho that does present as the best answer for rn. Thanks so much the both of you
Here is the one I bought:
rockinronda
starting to spend too much on rocks
First Tumble Ever: Nat Geo Pro w/Gem Foam Dec 14, 2023 18:39:18 GMT -5 via mobile 1dave , dshanpnw , and 1 more like this
I have one of those! …Just don’t know if it has the variable feature or just different pin hole adaptors…and where did I last see it…🤔
velodromed
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2023
Posts: 1,418
I have one of those! …Just don’t know if it has the variable feature or just different pin hole adaptors…and where did I last see it…🤔
Yup! There’s a good chance you already have something that may work because it’s a fairly standard power supply for small electric things. If not, you can get them as low as eight or nine bucks.
Jugglerguy
gets rocks for Christmas 
Member since December 2011
Posts: 6,862
I made a video on how to use that tumbler that might help you out. I agree on the Rock Shed or Kingsley North for great grit at good prices.
Last Edit: Dec 14, 2023 19:10:32 GMT -5 by Jugglerguyvelodromed
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2023
Posts: 1,418
I made a video on how to use that tumbler that might help you out. I agree on the Rock Shed or Kingsley North for great grit at good prices.
Great video!! The first rock tumbling video I ever watched lol. Helped me immensely as so many of your other videos did. Many thanks Rob!
rockinronda
starting to spend too much on rocks
jasoninsd
can identify rocks - even green ones 
Member since July 2020
Posts: 18,049
Not gonna lie. I read through "most" of the thread! LOL - I think there's two questions I didn't see answered. (If they were, I missed it! LOL)
Good quality grit = Grit from The Rock Shed. It's one of the most popular suppliers for grit on the forum.
Pics on "mobile" = Tapatalk. It's a free app that makes posting pictures from your phone super easy. I did pay for the "lifetime" membership as I post a ton of pictures. but the free version lets you post a limited number each month. It's definitely worth a try.
Favorite Quotes:
"It always seems impossible until it is done." - Nelson Mandela
"Life becomes easier when you learn to accept the apology you never got." - Robert Brault
"You can't wait until life isn't hard anymore before you decide to be happy." - Nightbirde (RIP 2/19/22)
ctxtumblebug
having dreams about rocks
I have a National Geographic tumbler that I use all of the time for tumbling nice rocks. I am very successful at doing this especially after watching MichiganRocks National Geographic tumbler tutorial video on YouTube. Here's a couple of my favorite rocks that were tumbled in a National Geographic tumbler.
rockinronda
starting to spend too much on rocks
First Tumble Ever: Nat Geo Pro w/Gem Foam Dec 15, 2023 13:01:16 GMT -5 via mobile Jugglerguy , 1dave , and 4 more like this
Thank so much everyone for all your help! 🥰
and smh I might’ve had a moment as I did not connect the dots between plug n play psu and hardwired psu 😣 was thinking get my dads old solderer out, yada yada yada.
A little star struck 🤩 Michigan Rocks Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! You sir, are what led me down the rabbit hole, and I thank you for it 😄
Jugglerguy
gets rocks for Christmas
Member since December 2011
Posts: 6,862
Thank so much everyone for all your help! 🥰
and smh I might’ve had a moment as I did not connect the dots between plug n play psu and hardwired psu 😣 was thinking get my dads old solderer out, yada yada yada.
A little star struck 🤩 Michigan Rocks Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! You sir, are what led me down the rabbit hole, and I thank you for it 😄
rockinronda
starting to spend too much on rocks
Results! Finally took pics 🤷♀️
This is what’s left of the rough that came with the kit. I initially separated the rocks into 2 piles. Hard and Less Hard. I was only guessing by comparison to what I knew what was Quartz (Hard) or Tigers Eye (Less Hard). Decided to do the Hard batch first cause they were prettier to me then threw in some stuff that seemed sorta in between.
These are what I think are quartz varieties. Clear, striated, rose, amethyst. There’s a green one that’s very quartz like. Please educate me these are purely uneducated guesses.
These I believe are agates, a druzy agate (or agate w/druzy?) and maybe a carnelian?
Then I have the softer stuff. I think it’s Aventurine, Sodalite and a smaller blue stone I don’t think is Sodalite. Do any of you know? 
All together and The Littles
The Gem Foam is supposed to be reusable up to 6 times so I’ll prolly still put it in pre polish stage. Some kinda polish is inside the sponge part. It squeezes out when I was rinsing it. Oh and these egg carton bins I get for free from my grocery store. Cereal/granola/sports bar aisle. They come in these instead of cardboard trays.
pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
