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How to Polish Rocks

Polished rocks are a beautiful addition to any rock collection. The process of polishing rocks involves using a finer and finer grit abrasive until the desired shape and smoothness is reached. Most rocks are polished using a rock tumbler and can take up to 6 weeks. Heed the following tips and unearth your own buried treasures from any pile of rocks.

Things You'll Need

Rock tumbler
Bulk rough rocks
Abrasive grits(silicon carbide): coarse (60/90 grit), medium/fine (120/220 grit)

Instructions

Tumbler Polishing
- 1
  Purchase a rock tumbler and bulk rocks and stones at a hobby store or online (see Resources).
- 2
  Add rocks and coarse abrasive grit (this typically comes with hobby tumbling kits) to the tumbler and let polish for one week.
- 3
  Remove rocks from the tumbler and wash thoroughly.
- 4
  Put rocks back in tumbler with a medium grade abrasive for one week.
- 5
  Remove rocks from the tumbler and take out any pebbles or rocks that have sharp points.
- 6
  Prepolish rocks in tumbler for 10 days. Do final polishing for 2 weeks, remove and wash thoroughly. Spread out onto a towel to dry.

Rock Collecting