SOMETHING THAT TUMBLED OUT ... New Amazing Steps Added

• Some mud coated rocks that get tumbled
• Washed and one is
• UV illuminated
• Some even Float

Tumbling is the Art of putting Rocks, Abrasive powder and. Water into a sealed container and slowly rotating it for several weeks 24/7... Yes, there are added steps in Dec 2016 worth seeing !!

After several weeks of grinding ( tumbling ) there is a muddy mixture of smoothed rocks which must be emptied out of the now un-sealed container and washed as the pictures show.

After inspecting the smoothed rocks, some attract my attention as that single Quartz rock which had a very pronounced UV iridescence, please see the tenth picture.

There are also provided color images of that same rock under three different lighting sources amply outlined in the picture notes.

Then see a small Geode ( that is a nodule of Quartz inside a hard rock ball )

Some geodes are hollow (there is a million year old gas trapped inside)..
After two weeks of tumbling to remove 80% of top rock and weeks more to polish.
You get a fashionable Jewel which can be split into two halves to adorn a young finger
or becoming a striking neck pendant.

This is where some rocks can become jewelry..
Enjoy the visuals.

Step 1: See That Blue Marble

Well here is a simple gauge to tell you how rough your tumble has been.

The marble diminished size compared to the original bag of them

lets you see how effective your time and tumble grit has had on the slurry.

Don't expect to see the rocks from a first shaping tumble to look this shiny when dry.

You will need to tumble several finer and finer grits to arrive at polished shiny results.

Step 2: HOLLOW GEODES CAN FLOAT

When the enclosing rock is partially removed by tumbling for weeks, some hollow geodes reveal themselves in a floating expression.

Step 3: A Hollow Geode Rotating

Added For the Holidays

Enjoy the lights :-)

Comments

[Josehf Murchison]

Some how I missed this Instructable Nice.

[iceng]

Thank you, I find rocks are fascinating..
This is not really a serious Instructable but someone wanted to see about tumbling.
I got into trouble with HQ _{not enough text}

Gaining knowledge and photo abilities all the time
For instance Jasper is actually an Agate at the micron level

There is a Big ible coming,  now that I have a bit more equipment and
can buy UV lasers for under $9 us.

[Josehf Murchison]

I should do an Ible on a mass tumbler 50 to 100 lb of stones.

[ChrysN]

Cool! Wish I had a rock tumbler.

[iceng]

Their not hard to build. 

[bajablue]

COOL! It's a natural geode, right? I found one on the Washington coast about 20 years ago. I still treasure it.

[iceng]

Right !

Last month we collected fluorescent geodes just over the Idaho border
just a rock-throw from Jackpot ( North Eastern ) NV.

I'm coming out with at least one Geode Ible do keep tuned !!! 

[bajablue]

úžasné! I'll look forward to that! Saša, please let me know if you ever get close to central Idaho... I'd love to meet you in person.:-)

[WWC]

+1

[iceng]

Thanks for looking :)