DIY Polished Rock Book Ends

Selecting and Shaping Rocks

• When you're looking for rocks, choose softer varieties, as this will reduce the amount of time and labor you'll need to devote to polishing. The harder the rock, the longer you must polish to achieve a smooth, lustrous surface. Some rocks you might consider for this DIY project are limestone, calcite, onyx or dolomite. Pick rocks similar in shape and size if you want the bookends to match.

  The process of polishing rocks consists of several steps, each of which calls for a less-abrasive sanding medium than the previous step. The first step, however, requires either a hammer or a chisel. Before you begin sanding you must remove any large lumps on the side of each stone with a chisel or a hammer. Put on gloves and safety goggles to protect yourself from rock shards and dust. Chisel or hammer away the stones' larger protrusions until they are close to the desired finished shape.

  The first and most abrasive sanding medium is a concrete slab. Once you've rid the rock bookends of the largest protrusions, rub them against a concrete slab to sand away any smaller lumps on the rocks' surfaces.

Sanding and Polishing

• For the remaining steps in the polishing process, you need sandpaper in a variety of grits, from 50 to 1500. Most hardware stores carry sandpaper up to 600 or 1000 grit; if you have trouble finding 1500 grit, check your local auto supply store.

  Dampen sandpaper before you use it to sand your DIY rock bookends. This will keep rock dust from flying everywhere. Begin sanding with 50 grit sandpaper. Work over the rocks until you've sanded them into their finished shape.

  Continue sanding with 150 grit sandpaper. This finer grit will remove the scratches left behind by the coarser paper. Once you've removed the large scratches and blemishes, create an even finer finish with 300 or 600 grit sandpaper; these papers will remove the finer, but still visible, scratches the 150 grit sandpaper left behind.

  Use 1500 grit sandpaper to complete the final step of the sanding process. This superfine grit paper will remove the tiny scratches left behind by the previous sandings and will buff the rocks to a smooth, lustrous finish. Alternatively, you can use a piece of leather and some powdered polish (available at most dremel tool retailers).