Rock Tumbling Tips

A few rock tumbler tips and reminders!

• Plan for disposal of the used grit and tumbling slurry. Do not dump it down a household drain. The grit is very heavy and will can settle into traps and pipes, clogging them and making a barrier that is difficult to penetrate with drain cleaning tools.
  

• Patience is a virtue. If your rocks are not nicely shaped after the rough grid step then run them again. Converting rough, irregular rocks into smooth, rounded gemstones takes time.

• If, after burnishing, the stones are still not shiny, you will need to repeat a few steps. The most common reasons why stones may not show a brilliant gloss are:

  1. Not cleaning the barrel and stones well enough after each step, or tumbling cracked or pitted rocks past the coarse grind. Tiny scratches from leftover grit may cause stones to not polish well.
  2. Filling the barrel too full, which limits the tumbling action.
  3. One of the steps may have been rushed.

• The two biggest keys to success in rock tumbling are patience and thorough cleaning. If the rocks show no shine, repeat the fine grind, prepolish, polish, and burnishing steps. If the rocks show some shine, repeat the prepolish, polish, and burnishing steps. Remove any rocks that are cracked or pitted. Let each step run for its full duration before proceeding to the next. And finally, take care to clean the stones and barrel extra well. With these tips in mind and a little more time, you should be able to see the difference. Keep in mind, though, not all types of rock will polish to a high gloss. Generally speaking, harder stones will take a higher shine. If you are tumbling a batch of low hardness materials, a soft luster may be the end result.

• Don't hesitate to ask for advice. If you purchased tumbling rough from a rock shop they might recommend a specific polishing compound for desired results. If you collected your rock locally, ask experienced rock hounds or members of a lapidary club if the material you collected is capable of developing a polish, or requires a specific tumbling recipe.

• The art of lapidary is, indeed, quite multifaceted. As with any art, it takes practice to achieve optimal results. If you have problems at first, don’t give up! With enough patience and a bit of grit, any beginning rock hound who’s rough around the edges can become a polished expert. Good luck and have fun!