I Tumble My Rocks Without Grit to See What Happens 

Perfect demonstration of why grit matters: it speeds up the natural process

I love the way they turned out. A tad shiny, but still natural looking. The texture is nice. Would look great decorating an indoor container garden or terrarium.

Would be interesting to try using some outside sand instead of grit. Since naturally tumbled rocks are also helped out by the sand 😊

I'm going to try this myself. I would love to have some polished rocks that retain their basic natural shape.

I kind of like the results for a change of pace from the normal totally smooth grit tumbled rocks. The shiny but still rough look is very interesting.

Honestly I prefer my rocks to retain more of their natural shape so this minimal smothing of the edges and natural shine is exactly what i want anyway. Sure, it'll take a while, but I can just biff em in the tumblr and leave it going without having to faff around with swapping to different grit levels which is a win in my book.

Thanks for uploading this today! My fiancé and I ordered our first rock tumbler last night. Super nervous and excited to start this new hobby! Ever been to haunted Buffalo lake in Buffalo MN? Gorgeous rocks all over the place and a cute tourist town. I’ve been walking the lake each morning lately. Love the content :D

I’d love to see another video with this no grit experiment! I don’t tumble often because I’m too impatient but I remember learning “Junk in, junk out” at some point in my research. Those were beautiful rocks and in a way I like the semi polished/ semi natural shape when they came out. But I agree they weren’t the best quality for tumbling. I think if you want smoother shapes coming out you might want to try smoother shapes going in. 👍🏻

I'd love to see a follow up video. Can you make a video showing what they look like after you use grit and polish them?

Honestly, i love them like that!!

Had an acquaintance years ago that used various types and grain sizes of sand. He gathered most of his sand from local rivers and beaches.

I like the "the natural tumble look" its rough but cool

You should definitely do it again if you haven't already. To me , I would be completely satisfied with how polished.😊

Really interesting experiment. I'd love to see you put them back in the tumbler for a month, with stage one grit. That orange slurry was sludgy. I could try the same experiment, with my smooth beach stones.

I've often wondered the same myself! Thanks for exploring and making this video!

Great idea for those who want a beach natural look

I appreciate your experimenting.

Love to watch your videos and I am a new rock tumbler

Fun experiment! Perhaps adding some much smaller rocks in the batch would've produced smoother rocks. It wouldn't be as dramatic as grit or sand, but would still be fun to see. ROCK ON!! 😁👍🏻🪨⛏️

Great video! Nice comparison. Have you ever tried this experiment with sand?

Red Ochre is the word you're looking for to describe the mud in the tumbler.

Yes!! Do this with more round ones!

I have had some luck using coarse horticultural sand to round down my especially rough rocks before starting the polishes.

I'm pretty impressed actually. I mean grit is the way to go but what a great experiment! Always enjoy your videos.

Yes, more videos more combinations for sure!

I like this look the best for my rocks. I guess what it boils down to is a matter of preference. I like the sorta polished but natural look still. I thi k they came out perfect. Thank you for the video. Your channel is helping me so much

They held more shape though!

Interesting experiment. Thanks. I tried doing a short cycle experiment (3 days per grit level) with the ocean tumbled rocks I find. Like you, the results were mixed. Most had a satin finish & there were more visible defects. I do however save a little money on ceramic media by tumbling my rocks with the small little quartz pebbles I find on the beach. They do a good job of getting in the nooks & crannies of the bigger rocks. When I'm done, not only are my big rocks beautiful, but I also end up with a bunch of little pearls; double bonus.

I really like rocks when still a bit rugged. Like halfway through. Way more personality than perfectly polished!

I’m interested in what they’d look like if they went straight from as they are now into polishing. While they are smoother but still actually shaped like rocks.

I could listen to you say bag all day lol.

I wish we had agates here in Newfoundland 😢… awesome video as usual 👌🏼

Pretty interesting. I have been collecting and saving rocks for tumbling, but i have yet to get a tumbler. Hopefully i will get into it this winter.

I'd say try it with river sand as grit to help grind the sharp edges off faster then prepolish and polish as normal we

I don’t know if anyones mentioned this already but this still isn’t something to put down the sink, it would take a lot, the same as with the grit or clay water but it would do the same thing and eventually cause problems

Can't you just use sand? Different courses....?

I want to try this with the agates I found in my desert back yard...(we have tried growing grass, bit too many rocks)

I’ve got some petrified wood and I’m waiting to start Stage Three tomorrow when the stage three grit that I am out of comes in but they all look pretty damn good, so I’m debating on just polishing them for like nine days straight with the stage four polish grit. I’m worried that they are going to tumble all their shape and size away at this point. And I love a lot of character.

I was thinking of using river sand as a grit. I am using small round pebbles in place of ceramic media to fill the barrel to 3/4 full. I don't have any supplies local to me so I'm thinking of using natural "grit" and then ordering the polish.

Why not use beach sand or river sand as grit? And does glass in a tumbler do anything?

I would love another vid with river rocks❤ as you recently went to Lake Superior you could perhaps try these?

try a batch with just Borax vs just water vs grit?

you gave me an idea to make paint of the sludge

Another good experiment, is to tumble Agates until smooth in stage 1, then tumble in soap powder for 3 weeks, instead of polish.

I tumble my white rocks just with some random sand..for a week. Its a soft rock i tumble and polish a bit so its easier to paint/draw on 😊

I do my 1st rough tumble with like a 5th of the recommended grit. The slurry comes out after a week looking almost the same as with a full batch of grit. I then grind them to a better shape on a flat lap and put them back in the tumbler. Saves a good 3 weeks of rough tumbling and tons of grit when dealing with gnarly/ sharp/weird rocks

I like to pre-shape some of my rocks with the tile saw.

You should do those rocks for another month. They’ll eventually get smooth and shiny but it will take a lot, lot longer

Love the way they came out. Still with some personality. I'm wondering, since grit is so expensive...can it be reused? Seems like such a waste, maybe send it through a cheesecloth or some other fabric?

I so want that black one

Sand is a excellent idea, Lauren. After sand you could try gritty-er tooth paste or maybe Comet cleanser.

I like! The water tumbled rocks have to character - IMHO.

i think it worked

Do it again for one year!

could you use sand, maybe with a few little aquarium rocks?

I just use left over sand I use in my aquariums

I tumble fist sized and larger rocks in a 25 lb tumbler. I got tired of my smaller rocks in with them being chipped and fractured. So my solution is everyday I walk my dog down a gravel road and pick up BB sized up to quarter sized Chert, Jasper and Quartz, any rock near a 7 on the Mohs hardness scale. Most of the rocks have sharp edges from being fractured by vehicles and graders. They can be used over and over until they disappear. The main goal in the first stage is to scratch your rocks. I usually tumble for 21 days

Gotta go all the way... Tumbling without water either. Just the rocks.

I always tumble mine 4 days with borax before I start the process just something I learned from a old timer it helps you should try it nice experiment I wonder how they'd look after 30 days?

I wonder if baking soda could be used as a replacement for grit

Carnelian is one of my favorites?

Just out of curiosity, could children's play sand be used for a stage one grit? Or perhaps course builder's sand for stage one grit and fine children's play sand for stage two? Sand is more akin to natural tumbling in a river or on a seashore.

Is it about the high polish glazed finish or simply about the Matt finish, I go for carector,and all those intricate patterns and designs, How about making beautiful moulded pathways, Simply use a mould fixture in your stone pour a clear resin,it makes for a beautiful finish in the garden,around fish pounds,,Ah imagination let it run, You can even make table coasters,artistic furniture table tops,resin bathroom floored,,with all your most beautiful rocks,,what a finish to any home,bathroom,hallway,even resin wall clocks all from your rocks and resin. Let your imagination become creative.

yes do it again and do it twice

I will say this is weird because I have done this and I did it on and off for 8 months. And it was… I got them smooth! They didn’t polish that well they were like a pre polish. Later I put them in with polish to fill us a different batch and they turned out well

how about using Sand?... I heard that it is coarse and it gets everywhere.

Try it with Smooth rocks pretty please

tbh i like the more natural texture so i might go with this anyways. cheaper as a plus :p

Do the same ones again.😊

I would love to see you just put them back in the tumbler and let them go. Check on them every couple months and see what happens! Maybe a year of water only tumbling will get you something unique.

Do it again then go straight to the polishing stage.

I always wondered if I just spun then for a long time what would happen. And i was thinking beach sand because its prevalent and free. For at least the first tumble . Then polish after.

I think they turned out nice! Super beautiful rocks! I just got a super clear and dark Smokey Quartz tower. You can put it up to your eye at night and see through it. It's so amazing and fascinating! I think your experiment was a pass!

I am impress

Should you clean possible quartz rocks, in the tumbler you use ? Or a different solution? I’m looking for some advice! ❤

Best to use the grits, everything has been tried and tested, grit always wins... Nice to think outside the box though...

I have a question Can you crush up concrete and use that as grit?

Have you tried play sand??

how about sand?

I don’t think it was a great job I would not do that! I have started rocks in grit for sand blasting grit and regular fine sand for a gamble it worked great with both but ran first tumble 14 days

You may want to try another month... for the sake of the experiment 😊

What about with sand? If it were in a river, more times that not they would be sand

But what if you used beach sand as your grit? 🤔 OR river sand with river rocks

Cant you just use sand and/or gravel?

Whose paying the electric bill, and how?

Cool😎

THIS IS INTERSTING

Couldn’t you just use sand?

Have untryed silica sand?

You look so familiar, have you ever been to Alaska? Maybe you just look like someone I know lol

Where you buy polishing grits? Pls🥺❤️

you remind me so much of Suzy Berhau (idk how you spell her last name)

Do you sell tumbled rocks.

How about doing this with agates. It looks like you just tumbled stones you didn’te about.

Let them sit in lime out🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

The right scientific way, would be to Tumble one batch with just water, and compare it to a batch tumbled with Grit for the same time.

I want to try sand... SAKRETE 60 lb. Multi-Purpose Sand ($7.00)

Diamond tip cutting tools are sharpened with diamonds. I don't have the patience for your hobby. It's cool though.