TIPS FOR ACTIVITIES: Maximize Tumbling Results for Kids' Prizes and Projects

Tumble-polished stones are an honored, time-tested stock-in-trade at the kids’ booths of local gem club shows all around the world.

Kids love them! In fact, I still have the small tumble-polished Oregon beach agate I received at the very first gem show I ever attended as a little kid nearly 60 years ago. For many years, I carried the shiny orange treasure in my pocket. Every gem and mineral society ought to have at least one member (preferably more) designated to craft and provide a supply of such translucent little gems. Then, as that supply builds up, get creative in what to do with the inventory!

If you are in a large active society, tumbling rough is fairly easy to come by. For instance, in my own Ventura Gem & Mineral Society (VGMS), our workshop stewards, lapidary artists, and one local dealer are always happy to pass along discarded bits from their slabbing, cabbing, and sphere making efforts. We also have a considerable club rock pile to source, where I pick out chunks of jasper and agate that show good color and/or promising hints of interesting pattern. These get broken into tumbling sized bits on a block of cement on my backyard patio with a heavy crack hammer.

A word of advice: Wear thick leather gloves and eye protection to guard against sharp shards that can fly like shrapnel!

Finally, during club field trips or walks along the beach, I’m always on the lookout for little stones with tumbling potential and try to come home with at least a small batch to add to my stockpile. With that stockpile now approaching something like a half dozen five-gallon buckets on that backyard patio, I’m never at a loss for tumbling rough. In fact, with so much on hand, I’ll often fill a couple of gallon size Ziploc bags with rough stones to sell as “Bag o’ Rocks” at our various club silent auctions to raise money for the society while encouraging others to join in the tumbling fun.