MJR Tumblers round barrels with internal lifter bars promote the required cascading action which is essential for fast and effective polishing results. This design helps MJR Tumblers polish up to 50% faster than traditional hexagon barrels which impede the required cascading effect. MJR Tumblers saves you time while achieving superior results.
How much is in each grit kit?
The rule of thumb is one ounce per rocks you're going to polish of step 1 and step 2 and .5oz per step 3 and step 4.
For example: A 30 pound grit kit doesn't not mean 30 pounds of grit. That would be 32oz of step 1, 32oz of step 2 and 16oz of step 3 and 4.
What stones can I polish?
Here's a simple and easy way to know. It’s recommended that the stones you plan to polish in your rock tumbler to be harder than glass. A very easy test to confirm if your stones are indeed harder than glass is to lay a piece of glass on a flat surface. Then with firm (not excessive) pressure drag a point of the stone across the glass. A powdery streak will be made. Blow away the powder. If there is a scratch in the glass the powder was from the glass itself and your stones are good to go!
How do I break gemstones?
If your gemstones are larger than you want or can tumble you will need to break them
down. Just remember when breaking them down you will lose 30-50% of your stones size in the tumbling process. Therefor leave your stones 30 - 50% larger than what you want your final gemstone to be in size.
My stones are shiny when they’re wet but hazy when dry after the final polishing step?
Try burnishing your stones! Fill your barrel ¼ full of plastic pellets, put your polished stones in the barrel until it’s ¾ full, add ½ tbs of Dawn Dishwashing soap and tumble 24 to 48 hours. This step will clean and polish your stones removing any haze on them.
Can you put too much water in your rock tumbler?
It’s important not to overfill your barrel with water because too much water will inhibit the tumbling action. To achieve the proper water level put your rocks and grit in the barrel and add water until the tops of the rocks are covered with water. Run the tumbler for 24 hours, then open the barrel to release any slight gas build-up during the coarse stage.
Gas build-up in your barrel?
You can add two tablets of Alka-Seltzer, Tums or some baking soda to your load!
Will the stainless steel pins pass through the flash holes?
Yes! The pins are small enough to pass through all flash holes.
Is your Stainless Steel Media magnetic?
Yes it is! If you spill any pins you can pick them up using a magnet. Place a plastic bag over the magnet so you can pull the pins off the magnet.