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[montanajohn]

  One shortcut I've grown fond of is the finish tumbler.  Throw 300 or so shaped cabs and some other related items in the vibratory for 10 days and they come out perfectly polished, no scratches to refinish and no hours of mindlessly boring hand polish work.  Shaping is such fun, and there is more time for that now.

[peruano]

Yes and the backs are polished. Some folks will complain that the edges are a bit softened, but then some folks tend to put an edge that is  too sharp to safely mount anyway.  A ten day shake sounds like a patient operator.  Can you detail your procedure for that 10 day period.?

[montanajohn]

  I've been using Tom and Jim Harmon's formula from their book on How to's of cabbing and carving.  They use 3 days of 220 grit washing daily, 3 days of 5/600, then 4 days of polish.  For polish they recommend lusterite #2 and a bit of tin oxide.  Primarily Montana agates but I usually have others in the batch and they mostly do well.
  There's only 3 pages of tumbling information in the book but its the best I've used, uncomplicated and concise.  There is a good bit of recommendations on amounts of water and soap etc which is lengthy for a reply but I'd be glad to forward what I have if you do not have access to a copy.

[bilquest]

I agree wholeheartedly! Shaping is much more fun than sanding. However, 10 days? Either my vibe runs extra speedy, or I'm not doing it right. I get a mirror polish in as little as 3 days. Here's my recipe:

- shape stone and sand to 400 grit SC on the wheel
To the vibe:
- 24 hours with 600 grit
- 24 hours with Tripoli (pre-polish)
- 24 hours with TXP (or Aluminum Oxide)
If still hazy
- 24 hours with Raybrite

I have the Tumble Vibe (model: TV-5.) The only downside is the wait. Not waiting for the vibe to finish, but waiting until I have enough cabs to run a batch.

[irockhound]

Yeah it takes a lot out of the process when you run large batches.  I used to cab 40 or so stones at a time and to keep my trays clean would take the whole batch thru each wheel before moving on.  That wears on you because you have a huge time sink with no gratification till you get them across all the wheels.

[montanajohn]

Bilquest your recipes sound interesting.  I assume everyone develops their own best, and there is a lot of polishes out there.  I just take stones through the 220 hard wheel and quit.  3 days in the 220 grit at that point may be overkill but I do hate getting to the end of it and having to start over.
  On another note, I wonder if any of you have run across a way to tumble polish nephrite jade to a shine?  I've tried a lot of methods and none worked.