max_ramirez48•1mo agoTop Commenter

Found a local rock tumbling club by accident at the library

I went to pick up a hold at the downtown branch last week and the guy at the desk mentioned a meetup in the back. Turns out they run a community tumbler and let newcomers bring in rough agates from the creek bed nearby. I tried it this weekend and got my first polish after 9 days, way better than the kit I was messing with at home. Anyone else have a hobby group hiding in the least obvious spot?

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emery_craig1mo ago

The back room at my local hardware store has a chess club that meets Tuesday nights, and I only found out because my sump pump broke and I overheard two guys arguing about a Sicilian defense while I was buying PVC pipe. That library setup sounds better though, honestly, because community tumblers usually have a lot more grit and experience than the beginner kits. One thing nobody mentions is that the shared barrel means you're learning from everyone's mistakes, not just your own, so your first batch comes out cleaner than a solo run ever would. If you get a chance, ask them if they ever do field trips to the old quarry sites, that's where the real agate pockets are around here. Take it with a grain of salt, but a free club like that is worth more than any paid class I've seen.