While we have been sitting the last 6 months at Tyler Lake State Park (TX), I have been tumbling the last of my rocks I collected last year in the Arizona desert. I have also been experimenting with tumbling glass. I collected a light green olive oil bottle, a dark green wine bottle, and an old brown jar. I wrapped each in a cloth then hit it with a hammer. The glass went into the tumbler with grit for a week and came out rounded on the edges and clear. I made a sun catcher with some of the larger pieces.
I read about making sea glass in a tumbler and decided to try my hand at that. Sea glass is glass that is disgarded in the ocean, gets tumbled around and eventually deposited on the beach, usually after a large storm. Sea glass is prized because it is opaque.
I tumbled this glass for only one week and was satisfied with the partially opaque look. Later I might tumble it around some more.
There are various sizes of tumblers, rated by the number of pounds each can handle. Mine is a 12 pounder. It is a large heavy rubber canister. The rocks or glass go inside the canister along with various kinds of grit to remove excess rock and smooth the surfaces and covered with water. For glass the grit smooth's the edges and can make it opaque. Grits are changed every week. When the desired surface is achieved, finer and finer polishes are used.
The tumbler is sealed with a lid that fits tightly inside the top. A wire band fits around the outside of the top, squeezing the rubber lip against the lid to keep it tightly in place.
When everything is ready, the tumbler sets sideways on rollers which are turned by a small motor and pulley. The rolling tumbler mimics the action of fast water running over rocks in a stream or riverbed.
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