Hello from Marsville

Welcome and howdy.  You are on your way to a full-time endeavor having the equipment and the raw materials.  Doing a bit of preforming work on the material before it goes in the tumbler is certainly a way to 1. guarantee you will like something on the other end, and 2. speeding the process. (especially with a vibratory tumbler).
I love working with the irregular nature of the stones and letting them determine the final shape and size rather than totally inflicting my will on the end product.  Slicing off some slabettes, working them over on the cab machine, and running them through the polishing process in the tumbler always yields surprises and smiles.  Don't hesitate to pop some pictures up for us to admire. We love photos.  Tom