Rock Tumbler!!...

[Gayle]

Hey Guys

Im a newbie to the site. Ive spent literally ALL morning reading through old posts especailly this 'Ask the experts' section.

Ive been interested in Jewellery making and have been dabbling for a few years on and off. My husband bought me a Rock Tumbler from Manchester minerals for christmas last year. I was, looking back, rather ungrateful because didnt actually know what to do with it. Perfume im good at but ya cant wear a rock tumbler!! (he was just as ungrateful for his present but thats an other story!! He doesnt 'DO' christmas!!)

So back to the actual point of my post!!... After all my reading this morning I felt I should give it a go. So its tumbling away in the garage.

So firstly thanks for the inspiration to get out of its box.

*Secondly My question*.....how long would you recommend to do the tumbling, the booklet recommends one week but you guys are the experts that use the equipment.

Thanks

Gayle

[AlexandraBuckle]

hello! glad you are finding a use for your rock tumbler. I've found mine very useful. I use stainless steel shot and I normally find things come out pretty shiny after about half an hour.

[Joe]

Um, I guess you're using your rock tumbler for actually tumbling rocks Gayle? Most of us use them for polishing silver and gold jewellery, hence Alexandra's reply.

I'm afraid I've not much experience with rock polishing, sorry.

[Gayle]

Ha! yes at the moment I am tumbling rocks. Or should i say things such as Amethyst and Quartz in their natural state.

I can see in future it may come in handy for other things!

Hugs
Gayle x

[AlexandraBuckle]

oh I see! Sorry! I've not tumbled any rocks in mine

[nickr]

Rock tumbling is the simplest way of smoothing and polishing rocks. It is done in 3-4 stages and each takes time but requires little attention from the user. First stage is smoothing your very rough lumps. Fill your tumbler barrel to between 2/3 and 3/4 full with your rough rock. Make sure that all the rock is about the same hardness- agates, amethyst, flint and other quartzes are all fine together. Then add 1-2 dessert spoons full of coarse silicon carbide abrasive. This will be typically 80 grit (smaller the number the coarser the grit. Add water to cover the rock and put lid on. Tumble for 3 days and then have a look. The rock should have lost its sharp edges and the body will have become rounded and fairly smooth. We are not looking for perfection, just not too many very jaggd pits and edges. Assuming this is the case wash your stones thoroughly through a sieve and clean the barrel meticulously. Traces of the coarse grit will mar the next stages. Return stones to tumbler and add 1-2 spoonsful of medium grit (220-400 grit), add water and repeat the 3 day cycle. Clean everything thoroughly and then return stons to barrel and add 1-2 spoons of fine grit (600-1200 grit) and prepolish for 1-3 days Finer the grit the less time needed, you are only getting rid of the fine pits and scratches, not removing material from the bulk. Finally wash everything again and add a suitable polish to your barrel. cerium oxide or tin oxide are the commonest. You may want to add a buffering agent to the tumbler, plastic pellets or a couple of spoons full of glycerene are recommended. fill to 3/4 with water and run for a week. Your stones should now have a high polish. If you dont have enough material after stage 1 to fill the tumbler with smoothed stones then return the rough stones and some new rough to the tumblera and tumble as before. The loss of material on the other stages is minimal so you only need to select the smoothed stones once.
For metal polishing you really need a rubber barrel with fins inside it and then burnish with steel shot and polishing soap such as Cooksons "barrel brite". Ideal for polishing castings but I use it for just about anything but chain. You can buy all the grits, polishes and even the spare barrels from Manchester Minerals and others.

Best of luck,
Nick