inside at all the pieces ... suggested they were too pretty to throw away. "You know, if
you were to polish those rocks, I'll bet you could sell them at the Knap-Ins." ... Like I
don't have enough irons in the fire! OK ... OK ... I've got my plate of crow in front of me.
I called Kingsley North, Inc. in Norway, Michigan and having no idea what I was doing,
ordered a Lortone QT-12 tumbler. Didn't look too big and certainly didn't look too small.
Anyway, I had them send bulk grit as I felt like I had a pretty good supply of pieces to
tumble. Boy, is that an understatement! It was quite a learning experience, though. The
Agate and harder pieces tumbled without a hitch ... just followed the instructions that
came with the tumbler and presto, had a bunch of beautiful polished rocks! Of course,
following the instructions still took a month. Four steps at a week each. The real fun
began with the glass and Obsidian. Folks, when your told to watch the barrel for expansion
(caused by gas build-up), they mean it. With the Agate, there was a little gas (which is -
from the cortex or outer part of rock) during the first week. It pretty much stopped after
that ... I didn't have to open it everyday and let pressure off. It was kind of a pain anyway,
since you have to wipe everything dry to make sure you have a tight seal on the lid. I
thought that the softer stuff would be a breeze ... WRONG! Take it from me, if you want
to polish the soft stuff ... make sure you open it everyday. The instructions, that came
with the tumbler, says you can skip the first step because it is used to shape the rocks.
That's because it's a course grit and the medium grit in the second step is more than
enough to shape it. Well, I decided, it worked so well the first time why change my luck.
I didn't see any cortex on the glass or Obsidian, so I figured gas build-up wouldn't be a
big problem and since the instruction said I could skip the first step, anyway, I decided to
wave going out to the shop everyday. Sometime around the third day, actually, that's the
first time I went out ... it built up enough pressure to break the seal on top and all the
water and most of the grit ended up on the floor. What I had was dry glass and Obsidian
working it's way to powder! What started out as a drum, 2/3 full, when started, finished
up at about a quarter of a barrel. Oh, by the way, the 12 in QT-12, stands for 12#. When
I called Dan at Kingsley to ask a few questions (OK ... we got on a first name basis be-
cause I called more than once) he informed me that the QT-12 was considered to be a
commercial tumbler and since that's what I ordered, he assumed I knew what I was doing.
Boy, did I fool him! He said most people buy a small gem tumbler and work their way up,
but I figured with all the stone I had ...
The truth is I had a lot of fun doing it. (I need a little more salt for my crow) My wife was
very perceptive. Not only did the kids love them, but several ladies, as well as a few of the
gentlemen, bought them to make into jewelry. Now I know what I can get my wife to do
with all of her free time! Yeah, right!
