I once mentioned in a Post on “small stones” that they are invaluable to the tumble polisher. In a rotating barrel, small stones “carry” the grit or polish to the larger stones, fill up the spaces between them, and balance the load. Some small stones are striking in their pattern or colour or shape, and are valuable in their own right as interesting and beautiful stones. However, they do get smaller after each stage. This tiny stone from Gemstone Beach is an example of the exquisite character that a small stone can have:
The stone is 2 cms long and 1.5 cms wide and 0.5 cm thick (see photo at bottom of page for comparison with some other Stones of the Day). It might be a jasper, though sometimes we too often identify a stone as jasper simply because of the dark red colour when other kinds of stones, such as quartzites, can also be that colour due to the presence of iron oxides. The stone has been tumbled in 400 grit, then 600 grit. After 17 days in tin oxide tumble polish, it was burnished for nine days in borax. The extra tumble in 600 grit is an experiment I have been conducting recently for especially jaspers and stones consisting of more than one mineral, to try to get the whole pre-polish surface as smooth as possible. I have also been lengthening the times of each stage to see if this improves the final product. This tiny stone has polished very well.
What attracted my eye to this small stone on the beach was the light red, almost pink, splash of colour at one end. Polishing has clarified the whole stone and revealed the clouds of colour throughout it. What has also become apparent is a small stress offset (faultline) that has been filled in by some kind of silica (could be quartz):
The Index to the January 2022 Stone of the Day Series is here.
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