You should now have a sieve on your hands which contains dirty rinsed stones which have completed the 400 Grit tumble of Phase 3.This cleaning I consider the most important stage of the process.
Wash all of the stones thoroughly with soap and water at least 3 times - rinsing each time. If one single
piece of grit gets into your polish then your stones will have a dull effect which no amount of polishing will ever clear. Remove any chipped or damaged stones from the selection. These can be
placed in later tumbles.
Place your stones into your barrel which should be marked "Polish Only". Place enough plastic pellets into this barrel so that it is just under 3/4 full - you will have
to place quite a lot in, as much of your original material will have been eroded and thrown away by now.
Place 1 table spoon of Cerium Oxide into the barrel per 1 1/2 LB of rock - you do not need as much
Cerium Oxide as you do grit. Pour water into the barrel until the plastic pellets start to move on top as they try to float - this is the point at which the top of the stones will be just about covered
- try not to allow the pellets to rise above 3/4 of the barrel.
Replace the lid and tumble for two days at a time.
Check the stones every two days and you will be able to monitor how they are shining up
- each type of rock takes a different amount of time. You do not need to empty the barrel each time you check, simply dip your fingers in and grab a couple of stones, give them a good rinse and allow
them to dry before rubbing with a dry paper towel and examining. BE PATIENT - when you think you are happy with them - put them back for another 4 days and then remove them - they are ready.
You can
use a sieve in the same way as the other stages - to filter out the liquid from the materials and pellets, but retain the polish as this can be reused next time around.
