Paid Review By Jeremy Zolan
Insta: @leaverite_tycoon
Speedy Tumble is a product released by Cut That Agate that provides the rough material and everything you need to tumble a wide variety of stones to a high, professional looking finish in under 1 month time. The only thing not provided are the tumbler itself, water, and optional Ivory soap. In essence, it is the fast food of tumbling- an inexpensive, highly consistent product that can be made in a comparatively short time. Unlike fast food, the quality of the product is great and I am very satisfied with the fact that there were probably over 50 different kinds of rough in my assortment. You get 4 pounds total. Speedy Tumble also includes a bag of one pound of premier material too. I think my bag had some almandine garnet. I think it’s amazing what they give you for only $30!!
Speedy Tumble Rapid Refil Kit for Tumbled Stones – as it arrives in the mail.
Stone Contents of Speedy Tumble Kit
Instruction Card for Speedy Tumble Kit
Handful of the stones in this Speedy Tumble Refil Kit
Notice the awesome container they give you as well as the colorful, high quality printed materials and instructions. This is a great looking set!!
To test Speedy Tumble, I decided to take the minimal amount of time it instructed to tumble for. So from start to finish, three weeks and one day total time. For my tumbler, I decided to use the most convenient option I could find. That meant I decided to take a trip down to my local Harbor Freight and purchase their Chicago Electric 3lb. rotary rock tumbler. It proved to be surprisingly well made, rigid, and perfect for getting the results I desired. Definitely a surprise.
3 Pound Harbor Freight Rock Tumbler for sale on Amazon or Head into your local Harbor Freight
I decided to leave some headspace in the tumbler barrel, and filled it about two thirds of the way with stones from the set that I lightly prewashed. It’s a bad idea to totally fill the barrel, so the stones can move freely and let the grit work them.
Rotary Tumbled Stone Barrel filled with pre-tumbled stones
I added about 3.5 tablespoons of 400 grit, added some water, sealed the drum, released pressure after 3 hours, then tumbled for one week uninterrupted.
One week later I opened the barrel, placed the rough in a strainer and carefully rinsed off the grit. The material is looking nicer!
Strained and Cleaned of grit, the material is already looking much nicer!
Back into the tumbler with the 800 grit for a week. I repeated the same procedure as that for the 400 in terms of amounts.
Getting more tumbled! I washed this material well and then added about half the envelope of cerium oxide powder and more water.
Bag of Cerium Oxide, a Very Fine Polishing Paste, for the final polish of the tumbled stones
Cerium Oxide in the Rotary Tumbler Ready for Final Tumble.
After a week with cerium oxide, I washed the material well and added a small chunk of Ivory soap and tumbled with a little water to get a higher gloss. There you have it! It’s finished! Let’s take a look:
Tumbled Stones after Final Polish from the Speedy Tumble Rapid Refil Kit
Here is a handful of the beautifully glossy finished product. Ready to go for a craft project or just to enjoy!
Summary: Overall I really like Speedy Tumble and I think the value is amazing. Not only do they do the dirty work for you, but they include the grits you need to finish the job. You get a ton of material and the quality is great. I found many semiprecious stones in my assortment including amethyst, rutilated quartz, agate, sodalite, and turquoise. The only thing I can really criticize is I wish the premier material was something a little more colorful, but I can’t even really complain because of how well executed everything else was. Great job on making an interesting product for all ages, Speedy Tumble
PAID CONTENT – This Article is a paid review and contains links to Amazon to purchase the product.