You should now have a sieve on your hands which contains dirty just rinsed stones which have completed the 80 Grit tumble of Phase 1 (or if you are at Phase 3 dirty stones from Phase 2!)

Prepare the work area by doing the following :-

Move the dirty barrel to one side after giving it a thorough clean and rinse.  Pour the water from the bucket away - anywhere you are allowed but NOT DOWN THE SINK! Rinse it out and refill it with water.

You now need to separate the plastic pellets from the stones with the tea strainer, and then clean the stones.  Place the sieve into the water and immerse it as best you can without the stones falling out.  The plastic pellets will float to the surface and you can skim them off with the tea strainer and pop them back into the previous barrel for re-use in later tumbles.

Run your fingers through the stones when they are submerged to dislodge any pellets which are trapped - you need to get rid of EVERY SINGLE ONE - not one pellet from a previous tumble must make it through to the next barrel.

Once all the pellets are removed, you will be left with just a sieve and the reasonably clean stones.  Rinse and wash the stones repeatedly under the tap or in a bowl until every single bit of sludge is removed, and also more importantly every particle of grit has gone.  Carefully check any stones for pits and crevices where grit can often become lodged.

Once you are satisfied with the stones, place them into the next barrel (220 if you are on phase 2 or 400 if you are now at phase 3).

Place the 220 or 400 grit (depending on your phase) into the barrel with the stones, along with the plastic pellets.  Use the same quantities as in phase one - i.e. :-

2-3 tablespoons of plastic pellets.

1 and 1/2 heaped tablespoons of Grit into the barrel per 1 and 1/2 LB of rock used.

Place the new lid on the barrel, and whichever phase you are on, place the barrel on the tumbler and leave for 8 DAYS.

It should be noted that there is no need to repeat either phase 2 or 3 at 220 or 400 grit respectively.  Phase 1 can be repeated for shaping and sizing, but an 8 day fixed tumble at phase 2 and 3 will completely scour the stones at the grit levels applied, and there is no point in repeating either phase.

Once 8 full days have elapsed, you will be ready to move on to phase 3 or onto the final phase 4 tumble.

Before you do - empty the contents of the barrel through the sieve into a bucket and rinse the stones.

Now you can move on to the final phase or go back to the top of this page and perform phase 3.