Disaster in the Tumbler

I had finished four pieces and I wanted to tumble them before I went to work.  Tumbling is that final process that makes the silver shine and gives you that Ah-Ha moment.  Well, not today.  I put the pieces in the Tumbler, went about my business and as I was leaving the house I stopped at the shop to pull the pieces out.  All of that beautiful silver that went in the tumbler came out of the tumbler a smokey gray.  Once again I amazed myself by the fact that nothing was thrown against a wall.  I simply put the pieces down, turned everything off, got in my car and drove to Manhattan.  

For that drive to Manhattan my favorite IPhone App is Dragon.  A dictaphone app in which you can dictate emails and send them off.  I wrote my teacher and told her that all my pieces had come out gray and please tell me what I did wrong and that I could fix it.  She wrote back and had no idea what could have happened.  Of course it had never happened to her - she's much smarter than that.  I did a lot of internet searching and found a couple of threads but no definitive answer. As soon as I find out exactly what happened I will report it here!

I am also happy to tell you that I was able to clean all the pieces and they seem to have survived the traumatic day.  It is now 2:24AM and I need to put the issue and myself to bed!

The following link was very helpful to guide me in cleaning my steel shot.  How to Clean Stainless Steel Shot