A few polished chert pieces

[Blackfoot58]

Misc polished pieces found in creek and fields in Iowa. I rarely go for the full, perfectly smooth polish. I like to maintain as much rock size/character as is reasonable.

The 3 pcs (above) on left were rocks picked off of a gravel road. They were not too special when found.
The other 8 are assorted jaspers.

7 top pcs are various brown jaspers/chert.
The bottom 2 are chalcedony, I believe.
A good hobby to fill in times when I can’t metal detect.
I forgot to show a size scale.
These will each fit easily in the palm of a hand; they range from 3/4” to around 2”

 

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[Mud Hut]

Nice! They look great! I like the 3 top ones in the second photo!

 

[Blackfoot58]

Nice! They look great! I like the 3 top ones in the second photo!

Me too. I don’t find many creek rocks that large in my area. Good mixed colors also.👍🏼

 

[ToddsPoint]

Me too. I don’t find many creek rocks that large in my area. Good mixed colors also.👍🏼

Tell me more about tumbling. Are you still using 3 different grits? When you load the tumbler, are all rocks roughly the same size? How full is the tumbler when you start running it? I have an old Thumblers tumbler, model B. I used it for tumbling brass cases for reloading ammunition. I’ve never tumbled a rock and would like to try it.

 

[Blackfoot58]

I’ve been experimenting. I tumble assorted size rocks, but try to keep each batch to a similar Mohs hardness. I’ll do a load exclusively of chert/jasper. I use a KomeStone tumbler. I use 4 grits: step 1, step 2, pre-polish & Polish. I usually run a rinse cycle (water and Dawn liquid) between each grit change and again at the end.
I put 1 pound of rocks in each load.
I usually run each grit cycle for at least 7 days. 👍🏼
Never pour the grit/water down a drain. It can setup and wreak havoc with pipes.