Rock Tumbler Instructions: Turning Rough Rocks into Beautiful Tumbled Stones

Summary

Home » Rock Tumbling Tips » Rock Tumbling Instructions Rock Tumbler InstructionsDirections for Turning Rough Rocks into Beautiful Tumbled Stones Working to transform rough rock into beautiful tumbled stones gives most people a great feeling of accomplishment. It doesn't matter how old you are or how many batches of rock you have tumbled in the past - when you finish the last tumbling step, rinse off the polish, and see a super-bright luster on colorful polished stones - you are amazed at what you have done. Rock Tumbling Is Easy Using a rock tumbler to convert rough rock into sparkling tumbled stones is easy if you follow a simple procedure and observe a few rules. We are writing this to share the procedure that we have used for many years with a number of rotary tumblers. This procedure works well with materials that have the following properties: of adequate quality to accept a polish a Mohs hardness between 6 and 7 a size between 3/8" and 1 1/2" Listed below are some of the most commonly tumbled materials that perform well using the instructions detailed below. Chalcedony: agate, bloodstone, carnelian, chrysoprase, jasper, chert, flint, and petrified (silicified) wood. Quartz: amethyst, aventurine, citrine, milky quartz, rock crystal, rose quartz, smoky quartz, tiger's-eye. Rock Types: andesite, basalt, diorite, gabbro, granite, mookaite, novaculite, quartzite, unakite. The "Golden Rules" of Rock Tumbling We follow three "Golden Rules" in all aspects of rock tumbling. They are: "Garbage in means garbage out" "Avoid contamination" "Great results take time." Information on each of these rules is provided below. Tumbling will enable you to turn the rough rock on the left side of this photo into the sparkling tumbled stones on the right side of the photo. The results are amazing! "Garbage in Means Garbage Out" If you start with garbage (low-quality rough), you should expect low-quality tumbled stones. So, don't hesitate to discard a rock that is porous, fractured, mi...