Rock Tumbling

If you are interested in my rock tumbling batches, check them out here: Tumbling Batches

Rocks & Minerals to Collect

Igneous Rocks

  • granite β†’ Speckled rock of quartz, feldspar, and mica. Polishes well in smaller-grained pieces.
  • basalt β†’ Dark, fine-grained volcanic rock. Often dull after tumbling but smooth.
  • feldspar β†’ Found within granite and unakite. Pink, white, or green crystals can take a satin polish.
  • quartz β†’ Grey, white, or translucent. A classic tumbling stone with excellent shine.

Metamorphic Rocks

  • gneiss β†’ Banded cousin of granite. Tumbling can highlight its wavy layers.
  • unakite β†’ A mix of green epidote, pink feldspar, and quartz. One of the most striking Lake Ontario tumbling stones.
  • epidote β†’ Green mineral usually seen within unakite. Satin polish with rich colour.
  • marble β†’ Crystalline metamorphosed limestone. Softer (Mohs 3), so requires special care.

Sedimentary Rocks

  • conglomerate β†’ Pebble-rich stone with quartz and other clasts. Polishes into unique patterned stones.
  • breccia β†’ Similar to conglomerate but with sharp, angular fragments.
  • Sandstone β†’ Often too soft for tumbling, but quartz-rich varieties can smooth nicely.
  • Petrified Wood (rare) β†’ Ancient fossilized wood replaced with silica. Can polish beautifully if found.

Microcrystalline quartz Varieties

  • agate β†’ Banded, translucent quartz. Rare but possible along Lake Ontario. Excellent polish.
  • jasper β†’ Opaque red, brown, or yellow quartz. Durable and great for tumbling.
  • Chert / Flint β†’ Hard, smooth cryptocrystalline quartz, often grey or brown. Takes a glossy finish.

Equipment for Rock Tumbling

  • Basic Tools: Bucket, sieve, gloves, and sturdy shoes for shoreline hunting.
  • Tumbler Setup: Rotary or vibratory tumbler, grit stages (coarse, medium, fine, polish).
  • Additional Supplies: Plastic pellets for cushioning softer stones, dedicated polish for quartz-based rocks.

Rock Size
Collect stones between 1–5 cm (Β½ inch to 2 inches) for best tumbling results. Avoid heavily fractured pieces.

Tumbling Tips

  1. Sort by Hardness β†’ Don’t tumble soft marble with hard quartz. Keep similar hardnesses together.
  2. Use Stages Properly β†’ Each grit stage (coarse, medium, fine, polish) should run for at least a week.
  3. Check Frequently β†’ Remove cracked or undercut stones before advancing stages.
  4. Finish Strong β†’ quartz, jasper, and agate will take a glass-like polish. feldspar-rich rocks (like granite) may have a softer sheen.

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Here are all the notes in this garden, along with their links, visualized as a graph.

Notes Graph
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