atldoug
off to a rocking start
Member since November 2023
Posts: 1
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Post by atldoug on Nov 20, 2023 11:40:37 GMT -5
My wife works with turquoise beads and strings and sells her own jewelry. She has started buying unpolished rock and wants to get a tumbler to process the cache of Golden hills turquoise she has purchased. I want to get her a Tumbler for Christmas but I'm finding them anywhere from $69 to $5,900. Is there a good mid-range say $500 or so that would be of sufficient quality to produce turquoise beads for sale in strong jewelry? Thank you in advance for any and all help.
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pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Obsessed with eye agates...
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,059
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Post by pebblesky on Nov 20, 2023 12:08:41 GMT -5
I don't think a tumbler alone could produce perfect-shaped beads for jewelry. If your wife is okay with freeform beads, you could get a small Lortone 3A tumbler and a small trim saw so that she could form the rocks into an approximate shape. Should be with in $500 budget.
If she would like to have round round beads, you might need to get some sort of bead machine which is bulky, and pricey.
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Post by liveoak on Nov 21, 2023 7:16:54 GMT -5
Here's the specific "Bead Mill" to make round beads. But you'd still need a small trim saw to cut the cubes & round them off. I imagine turquoise being a little finicky to tumble or make beads, since it's soft and some of it not very stable. covington-engineering.com/equipment/bead-mill/Patty |
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Post by vegasjames on Nov 21, 2023 9:22:11 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum. Most turquoise is pretty soft and would need to be stabilized first. Otherwise, there may not be anything left intact when you open the barrel.
If you are doing small, stabilized rough nugget beads then I would go with a vibe tumbler, which will not round the stones and keeps more of the original shape.
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