Polishing Pebbles

[foxy mars]

Not sure where to put this thread, but while I was walking along the Cleveland Way last week, I picked up eight nice looking pebbles from the beach. I would like to polish up these and display them in my living room. Any methods, I did think about varnish or is that too crude. I could get some hi-gloss floor polish.

[galanthophile]

I had a quick look on Google and that mainly goes into having a tumbling machine but I suspect you don't want to go down that route!

[Deb London]

My bro used to do this. I'm fairly sure he didn't have a tumbling machine. I never worked out how he did it. I don't think they were varnished. Mmmm, fat lot of help I am.

Anyway, I loved them. Presumably because I am Celtic in origin, I am drawn to stone. It's bound to be a way into another dimension or something.

PS I just read rock dust can be hazardous to health. Always use damp sandpaper or polishing cloth to avoid dust being generated.

[earthdragon64]

You can use a tumbling machine, but you can also do it by hand although it takes a lot of effort.

The principle is the same with both methods, you use progressively finer grades of grit finishing with a very fine polishing medium. With hand polishing you can use sandpaper instead of grit. Tumbling usually uses multiple pebbles that do the work for you.

I found a couple of articles on how to do it;

How to Polish Stones | eHow.com

Polishing Rocks by Hand

Regards, Audrey.

[loripo]

I did try varnish once but it looked a bit treacle-y. If they look better wet you could display them in a bowl or tall glass filled with water.

[earthdragon64]

Originally Posted by loripo

I did try varnish once but it looked a bit treacle-y. If they look better wet you could display them in a bowl or tall glass filled with water.

I wonder if clear nail varnish would look better than ordinary varnish? It should be easy to clean of with nail varnish remover if it didn't look right.

Regards, Audrey.

[foxy mars]

Thanks for the info. I did get some hi-gloss from work, might try that on one. But would like the natural polished look, as earthdragon64 suggested by hand. So, I will look into the two links shown. Thanks again.

[ChrissyMarie]

Well if you do have a go, please post them up I would love to see the results and it would be ncie to see some more subjects and diversity posted in the art section.

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by Deb London

I am drawn to stone. It's bound to be a way into another dimension or something.

What, like being away with the fairies?

;^)

Jim