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Took my niece's rock tumbler for a spin against my old hand-polishing method
My 8-year-old niece got a National Geographic hobby tumbler for her birthday, so we decided to test it against my old-school way of polishing agates with a Dremel and cerium oxide paste. After one week in the tumbler, her Lake Superior agates looked way better than the ones I spent 3 hours on. The tumbler gave them a deep, even shine, while my hand-polished ones still had flat spots and scratches. I guess the constant, gentle tumbling action just works better than me trying to hold a tiny rock steady. Anyone have a favorite grit sequence for getting that final glass-like finish on quartz?
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cameron37119d ago
Wait, you spent THREE HOURS on one rock? That's crazy... I'd lose my mind. The tumbler winning is a real blow to the old ways, huh. Guess it's time to admit the machine just does it better.
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grant13019d ago
Right? My hands were cramping up after just one hour last time I tried... and the rock still looked like a lumpy potato. The tumbler gets that perfect shine while I'm just making dinner. It's hard to argue with results when the machine does in a week what takes me a month of sore fingers.
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