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Daily Wire Tip Mar. 22: Tumbling Lucky CZ Stones

By on March 21, 2011
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Daily Wire Jewelry Making Tip for
March 22, 2011

Question:

I recently bought some CZ multi colored Lucky Stones and they are truly breathtaking. My question is, will I be able to tumble them in my tumbler after creating them in wire? I have so many ideas popping up in my head since I first opened up my package. Thanks, Dale!

-Maura in Harrisburg, North Carolina

Answer:

Hey Maura, yes – I also LOVE the Lucky CZ stones I bought! As you all know, I do not use a tumbler on ANY of my finished jewelry (which is why I use half-hard most often, and clean it with a polishing cloth as I go, then touch-up with denatured alcohol and finalize in a Speed Brite ionic cleaner). I would imagine that they would respond in a tumbler like any other CZ stone, because the glass is fused together. However, personally I can’t guarantee it. I am hoping that some of our readers have already tumbled their finished Lucky CZ jewelry pieces and will let us know for sure? (Thanks so much folks!)

Answer contributed by Dale "Cougar" Armstrong

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7 Comments

  1. avatar

    Helen

    March 22, 2011 at 7:03 am

    since CZs are way harder than steel, roughly the same hardness as sapphires and rubies, there should be no problem using a tumbler with stainless steel shot and a drop of dish detergent.
    many in my PMC class use CZs in their jewelry and they tumble just fine.

  2. avatar

    Rachel Ison

    March 22, 2011 at 11:09 am

    Hello! I got some of the Lucky Stones also. I made a ring with one of them and I tumbled it for 2 hours with no problem. Came out just beautiful!

    • avatar

      dalecgr

      March 22, 2011 at 4:13 pm

      Whoo Hoo Rachel!! Just the answer we were all looking for – thanks so very much!!

  3. avatar

    Dharlee

    March 22, 2011 at 2:13 pm

    I would think the problem might be if the stones are coated on the back. I still don’t know if I can tumble the new topaz colors because if this.

    • avatar

      dalecgr

      March 22, 2011 at 4:12 pm

      Hi Dharlee, no the Lucky CZ stones are not coated with anything – as for your topaz, a lot of it does have a ‘physical’ coating (‘Mystic’, etc) and I would hesitate to put it into any type of cleaner, definitely not a tumbler! You would need to check with the supplier for details before trying it.

  4. avatar

    Blanche

    March 22, 2011 at 6:54 pm

    I also bought some of the lucky stone CZs and love them. I made a large ring with a CZ and PMC3. It’s a knock-out if I do say so myself. I tumbled it and the CZ was fine. Looking forward to finishing some pieces with my other treasures from Wire Sculpture.

    • avatar

      Tracy

      August 16, 2013 at 10:13 am

      Blanche, when you fired your ring, did you fire it with the stone in place? If so, was it in a kiln or torch-fired? I’ve been wanting to use my hoard of Lucky CZs (since I can’t find any more, I’ve kept them stashed) with PMC or ArtClay, but am hesitant to risk losing any during the firing process. Thanks in advance for any answer you can provide. ~Tracy