Time to report on our rock tumbling progress after another week has passed us by. Yes the tumbling machines have been hard at it again 24/7 for the last 7 days. This morning they get to talk a short break while we empty the barrels and check the contents.
Before I go on I just wanted to tell you that new motor I fitted a couple of weeks ago has been fine, hasn’t missed a beat!
Our Rock Tumbling Progress Report for 13 August 2018
As normal we began by emptying the polish barrels first, two of them this week . Gave the rocks a good wash in clean water and set them aside. They will go in the ultrasonic cleaner later for a 
final wash.
Then we will just do the normal and do the 400 barrels next followed by the 220 grit barrels and finish up with the 80 grit barrels.
We have been running an extra 80 grit plastic barrel these last few weeks. The reason for this is that we are trying to clean the chalk off a lump of Flint. It’s now just completed it’s second week and progress is good, although not as good as I hoped. The Flint had got stuck in the barrel so wasn’t tumbling properly. Having said that, progress is good, more of the chalk has been removed. ( Last week progress report ) You can see the Flints progress in the video:
View on Youtube
The contents of the barrels have been set aside so they can dry before we our check on the rock tumbling progress. So in the meantime we will do the washing up, washing up I hear you say! Well yes, the barrels, lids and sealing rings all need to be cleaned before they are reloaded, you can see this in this video:
Barrel washing video on Youtube
OK everything is cleaned up, the rocks have been checked and placed in the right barrels ready for the next 7 days of tumbling. Grits and water have been put in the barrels and they have been sealed and are now running on the machines.
Failed Drive Belt
We had a drive belt fail when I started one of the small machines up, it was making a clicking noise, you can see why in the picture. Fortunately we always have a few spare belts in the drawer, otherwise we would have had to wait a few days for a new one to arrive.
So there you go, that’s our rock tumbling progress for another week.
