little pieces of tumbled wood

[ncfromnc]

Hi everybody. I found these little pieces of wood in a nick nack store in Asheville. I have some ideas for using these in bulk and want to find a source. Several google searches later .....still no idea. Let me know if anyone knows were I might buy these in bulk or even if you have seen them online anywhere. kThe sign on them said they were S. American Tropical wood samples. See the pen for scale. OR does anyone know how these were made? I am guessing that they are tumbled like semiprecious stones.....but I'm not sure.

thanks,
Neil

 

[Raymond]

Neil, yes, they are tumbled like stones to smooth out the sharp corners and edges. You can make your own with an old drill motor and a coffee can (for small batches). you can do a search for "gem tumbling equipment and see some expensive setups or once you get the idea make you own and you are ready to go.

 

[KenOfCary]

I hate to recommend Harbor Freight for much of anything, but a throw-away stone tumbler might be found very cheaply there. You would then just need a source of exotic wood pieces that you could cut into small pieces with a band saw. A very small (under $200) 9-10" band saw would be vary sufficient for the task. I recently purchased a 9" Grizzly Band Saw and am very happy with it. It won't cut big pieces but for pen blanks and the stuff you show it should be very good.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/9-Benchtop-Bandsaw/G0803?utm_campaign=zPage

 

[Danagawa]

For cheap exotic wood that u could cut up for this I would go to West Penn near Hickory. They have cutoffs and discount bins that they sell cheap by the pound. I would like to see what u do with these.

 

[Steve_Honeycutt]

If you google "wood tumbling", you will get several ideas of how to make tumblers using a drill and plastic 55 gallon barrel, variable speed lathe and coffee can, as well as the HF rock tumbler. Good luck.

Steve

 

[KenOfCary]

I've heard of people putting sand in the tumbler or ball bearings to help knock down the corners of the wood quicker.