[Rockhounds] Crater of Diamonds State Park

[Alan Silverstein]

Doug et al,

> We found a lot of jasper for tumbling, although for some reason I
> always had a hard time getting it to take a final polish.

My experience is that even tiny bits of garnet -- and perhaps other
similar minerals?  -- in the tumbler prevent a good polish.  Which
implies that tumbling garnet should be done in barrels containing ONLY
garnet, and even then, a buffer (like plastic pellets) might be needed.

Hmm...  I wonder if you accidentally had any micro-diamonds in with
your jasper.  :-)

Cheers,
Alan Silverstein