Somebody has asked me for help getting started with tumbling rocks (to make jewellery, etc.) I know as much about this as I know about square dancing, i.e., basically zip. However, out in the great GRM world, I am sure that knowledge & tips abound!
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powered spinning barrel, abrasive mix (sand, de earth, keep getting finer), wait.
Surprisingly enough, Harbor Freight carries several tumblers. Both rolling and vibrating. The vibrating tumblers are much faster than the rolling ones. Probably the biggest name in tumblers is Thumblers Tumblers. They have been around forever.
Be patient, some of the harder stones can take weeks to polish. And find a place for the tumbler where it won't drive you nuts. They aren't quiet and you don't want it in your house.
That's my 2 cents.
Unsurprisingly they sound like a bin of rocks spinning around and around and around and around. You don't want this in the house.
Other than that, you usually want to use a group of rocks with the same general hardness, that way they all polish at about the same rate. Start with coarse grit. Polish for a week. Medium grit. Another week. Fine. Extra fine. It takes a while. The results are pretty though.
If the machines have to operate continuously for weeks (I never thought about it, but it makes sense), I assume you don't want an el-cheapo motor or drum. Is there a minimum recommended size, like with compressors?
Most of the tumbulers are built to take it. They just run and run and run. We have one from my wife's grandparents from the 70's that has polished hundreds of pounds of rocks and it's still tumbling along.
I've always been tempted by this, my area is full of quartz and garnets, which I know can be polished. Can just about any rock be polished, with varying degrees of success of course.
Yup. You many need to adjust the tumbling media, but they make media hard enough to polish pretty much anything you pick up off the ground.
in the spirit of DIY:
http://www.mdpub.com/ballmill/index.html
I thought rock tumbling was what happened when you fail at rock climbing??? So confused...
Many thanks to all, but especially Mazdeuce. Very helpful!
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