Tin oxide produces better results for softer stones, and cerium oxide provides better results for glass and obsidian.Ĭhrome oxide is mainly used for harder stones most commonly jade and nephrite. The most popular types of polishing compound are:Īluminum oxide is the typical polish most people use and is the cheapest.Īluminum oxide, tin oxide, and cerium oxide polishes are good all-around for polish.
This is a form of grit that is so fine that it gives the stones a polish. When people talk about different compounds to use for tumbling, they are referring to the polishing grit. The reason for this is that rocks that are harder will grind rocks of lower hardness, preventing a high polish. One of the more common stones where you will see this type of gouging is Jasper.īecause rocks vary in hardness, it is standard practice, for pre-polish and polish stages, to separate the rocks out by hardness. It is important that silicon carbide grit is used as rock tumbler grit because it has a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale and doesn’t round out when being tumbled.īecause grit is so hard, as you may have noticed in your tumbling, some softer materials containing different mineralization elements such as calcite may be gouged out and can give the rocks a texture. This is not to be confused with grit used in lapidary machinery like saws and grinders. Grit is the media used to grind down and shape stones or other objects in a tumbler and is made of silicon carbide.
What grit do I use for vibratory tumblers?.
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