I have always loved interesting stones and fossils. I always thought polished rocks are gorgeous. But I have never tried polishing (or tumbling) rocks at home, until now. My first batch of tumbled rocks have gone through the cycles and while they aren't as shiny and smooth as the polished rocks found at souvenir shops, they are very pretty. And it was a fun adventure. Had I known that it was this easy, I would have begun long ago.
I had recently begun fossil and rock hunting again because my grandson was sending me photos of interesting rocks. Geodes were my favorite to find as a child in the Midwest. But it doesn't seem that geodes occur naturally where I live now in West Virginia. In my research about local rocks, I was seeing gorgeous photos of polished rocks that people in the rock hounding groups were sharing. I decided to purchase a rock tumbler.
Coincidentally, I learned that a child at work also has a great interest in rocks. I told him that we could learn how to polish rocks together. He is delighted with finding rocks, giving them to me, then having them returned clean and shiny.
I've done this first two batches of polished rocks with a tumbler and with a set of polishing grit. Of course, there are many more products that could be purchased. But I had fun results with just this small amount of items. We are learning that some rocks polish and some do not. Some stay approximately the same size and become shiny and others quickly wear away to nothing or crumble apart. Beginning to identify rocks is becoming a part of this process.
Rock Tumbler
I chose the Central Machine rock tumbler from Harbor Freight Tools. I knew NOTHING about rock tumblers when I went shopping that day. But it turns out that I'm very pleased with my purchase.
Central Machine tumbler from Harbor Freight:
- dual drum, 6 lb capacity
- low speed and quiet
- barrels are rubberized to reduce noise
- fan-cooled, V-belt driven
- can be used with all types of polish media (ceramic, glass, resins, and nut shells)
You can find rock tumblers on Amazon. There are unknown brands and brands from companies such as National Geographic rock tumblers and kits for children. There are also rock polishers that work by using vibration. I would recommend the National Geographic tumbler and kit for kids, even thought it is a smaller, single tumbler because it comes with everything needed to try tumbling once; including some rough stones. Great for a one-time adventure in a classroom or with a person who isn't sure they are very interested in tumbling rocks. You can find that National Geographic kit here.
One of the reasons that I'm happy about my Central Machine purchase is the dual drums. Tumbling rocks takes a long time; weeks or more. With dual drums I am able to run two sets of rocks at different stages of polishing at the same time.
If you do not have a Harbor Freight store near you, there are many rock tumblers available on Amazon.Polishing Grit
I chose the grit set because I saw the labels on one of the rock polishing channels that was most helpful to me on youtube.
Polly Plastics rock tumbling kit was the brand she was using so it was the brand I ordered from Amazon. The kit came with 5 separate containers. They included:
- Step 1 Coarse grit
- Step 2 Medium grit
- Step 3 Pre-polish fine grit
- Step 4 Final Polish (Aluminum Oxide)
- container of 1 1/2 lbs of Ceramic Media (used to cushion and protect the rocks during tumbling at different stages).
While I had watched a variety of tutorials on rock tumbling, and everyone seems to have slightly different preferences, the Polly Plastics kit also comes with step-by-step instructions for their set.
If you have ever wondered about tumbling rocks I hope you give it a try. I wish I would have started my rock tumbling adventures years ago.