Polychrome Jasper - Large Tumbling Rough
This photo shows some of our Polychrome Jasper tumbling rough. It has been sprayed with a light coating of water to show its potential polished color. Please note that these are large pieces - mostly between 1 1/2 inches and 3 inches across. They are a good size for use in a large tumbler - such as the Thumler's Model B or the Thumler's A-R12. They are too large for tumbling in the barrels used for the Thumler's A-R1 or A-R2 tumblers. Some people tumble this rough in a rotary tumbler to give it a nice smooth shape, then finish their tumbling in a vibratory tumbler to save time.
We tumbled a couple batches of this Polychrome Jasper using rotary and vibratory tumblers and were able to get a great polish using both types of machines. The photo above shows some of the stones that we really liked. Stones tumbled by Adam Rittenhouse of RockTumbler.com.
Polychrome Jasper Tumbling Rough
Size:
LARGE pieces - mostly 1 1/2 inch" to 3 inches across.About the Size:
This rough is a nice size (1 1/2 inch" to 3 inches across) for tumbling in a large rotary tumbler - such as the Thumler's Model B or the Thumler's A-R12. The pieces are way too large for tumbling in the small barrels used on the Thumler's A-R1 or A-R2 tumblers.About the Name:
They call this material "polychrome" because it is a rock with many colors. It is a mix of mostly gray, red, brown, cream, and a small amount of bluish/greenish gray. We believe that this material is from Madagascar, but similar materials are found in other parts of the world, and the name "polychrome" has been used for many of them.How Much Do You Need?
We use enough material to fill our barrel about 1/2 to 2/3 full. Here's about how much we would use in a few popular tumblers...-- Thumler's Model B: about 9 pounds
-- Thumler's Model A-R12: about 7 pounds
-- Lortone QT-6: about 3 1/2 pounds
-- Lortone QT-12: about 8 pounds
Loading Your Barrel:
Fill your tumbler barrel about 1/2 to 2/3 full of loosely packed rocks. Don't pack the rocks tightly in the barrel, and don't overfill your barrel. If you do either of those, you will open your barrel at the end of your first tumbling step, and the rocks will not have changed much at all. Give the rocks space to tumble.Do not add ceramic media, plastic media, or any other stuff. You want these large rocks to grind against one another during this first step of the tumble.
Tumbling Tips
These large pieces of polychrome jasper can easily be tumbled into rounded shapes in a large rotary tumbler. Depending upon the characteristics of your tumbler, it might take two, three, four, or more weeks to attain the ovoid shape that many people prefer. How long you tumble in coarse grit is up to you.
This material takes a great polish and rounds well in a rotary tumbler. This polychrome jasper was mined in Madagascar. Similar materials from other locations are also called "polychrome".
Customers also bought...
Large Ceramic Media
Small Ceramic Media
Standard Grit Kit