Choosing Stones for Rock Tumbling

Rock tumbling is a fun and educational hobby for anyone ages six to sixty. But when you're first starting out, the idea can be a little intimidating. The number one question novice tumblers ask is how to choose the proper rocks for their tumbling adventures. The guide below is designed to help get you started.

Basic guidelines
The type of stones you use for rock tumbling is entirely up to you; what is recommended is that you stick to stones of similar hardness when tumbling various rocks together. This will ensure that they all take approximately the same amount of time to reach the proper smoothness, and that harder stones don't do damage to softer ones during the tumbling process.

When you're rock tumbling with various types of stones, try putting several together that are different sizes. This promotes thorough tumbling.

If you're wondering how a certain rock will look after tumbling, try getting it wet- this is a good approximation of what it will look like after it is tumbled and polished.

What to avoid
When rock tumbling, avoid using stones with pits or crevices on the surfaces, since these won't tumble to an entirely smooth finish. In addition, cracked rocks or those with large protruding ends or jagged edges will not result in a pleasing final product. You can waste a lot of time and a lot of polish trying to smooth out crevices and holes in a poor rock; or you can start out right by only using the best rocks when you begin your tumbling project.