Tumbling Lapis

[Di Sandland]

Guys - lapis has a moh's hardness of between 5 and 6 and should, theoretically, be okay in the tumbler. However, I'm not so sure as I know it's quite porous. Has anybody every put it in the tumbler - and was it okay?

[Solunar Silver Studio]

I have done small 6mm beads before and they did rather lose their shine - not completely but they came out a bit duller...not that they were AAA grade or anything so might have been rather inferior... Personally, I would avoid it if possible.....but see what the experts with heaps of experience say!!

[Di Sandland]

Cheers, Bee. I can get away without it really. I'm just getting everything ready for the weekend and I've made a new clasp for a lapis necklace. Obviously I could tumble the clasp with some other silver bits, but...

Its one of those what would happen if type moments

[kymbi]

I recently tumbled a couple of items that had lapis bezel settings - one was ok but the other lost it shine a little. I managed to restore the shine by rubbing with a tiny bit of almond oil and a soft cloth.

[lesley]

If it's just the clasp that needs tumbling I'd definitely take it off and do it separately.

I put some lapis bead earrings in the tumbler for 30 mins and they were fine.......although I was a bit nervous.

[Di Sandland]

Thanks guys - I knew the answer really. Don't any of you ever think 'what if' though? If I was sensible I'd just leave it at a thought - but also I wouldn't discover new stuff.

Lapis not in tumbler

[glen]

Many stones can be tumbled rather than polished. The tumbling I think you are refering to however is for jewellery cleaning rather than stone polishing.
You can tumble stones in a jewellery tumbler but be very conservative on how long u do it for and what 'shot' and mixture you use. I recc tumbling the piece first then polish it manually after you set the stone. Remember that in many cases the metal is softer than the stone, tumble the item first and if you get tiny dimples in the metal you may not want to risk tumbling the stone. You should be fine tumbling lapis for about 15 - 30 mins in a nice soapy solution.

edit: This also depends on the stone characteristics and features / cut.