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Snowflake Obsidian Tumbling Rough

ROUGH RAINBOW OBSIDIAN natural gemstone - stunning raw gemstone with pink purple coloration - Reiki Wicca Pagan Geology Volcanic rock CelestialTarot 5 out of 5 stars (2,009) $ 24.44. Add to Favorites Black Obsidian Rough Stones, Grade A + Natural Black Obsidian, 1.5-2.25 Inches Raw Black Obsidian Crystals, Wholesale Bulk Lot. About Obsidian Obsidian is formed from lava from volcanic eruptions that have cooled. Once cooled the rock forms as solid volcanic glass. It is mostly black but comes in a number of colours including rainbow stones that are green, purple, brown, green and blue. Obsidian is a fragile material the can easily be bruised or chipped. It is recommended that you use a minimum of 50% ceramic media. The use of this media will aid in the tumbling action in the barrel and help deliver grit to all surfaces of the rough. Also the more media, the better the cushioning.

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Size: mostly 1 to 2 inch pieces

What Is Snowflake Obsidian?

Snowflake obsidian is a product of a volcanic eruption. It formed when molten rock cooled so quickly that the atoms in the melt did not have enough time to arrange themselves into mineral crystals. Instead, the molten material immedately solidified into an amorphous solid called a 'glass'. So, snowflake obsidian can be called an 'igneous rock' and a 'volcanic glass'.

What causes the snowflakes? Immediately after the rock formed it was completely black. Over time some of the glass started to alter into crystals of cristobalite, a white to gray mineral. So the white 'snowflakes' are patches of cristobalite crystals within the volcanic glass.

Does It Tumble Well?

Snowflake obsidian has a Mohs hardness of about 5 1/2 to 6. It is quite a bit softer than agate and jasper. That enables it to shape quickly in a rock tumbler. One week in a rotary tumbler in medium grit is enough time to round off all of the sharp edges and produce nicely-rounded stones. Then about four or five days in fine grit will have it ready to polish.
We always use TXP aluminum oxide polish when tumbling snowflake obsidian. It produces an excellent polish in six to seven days in rotary.

ADVANCED Rock Tumbling Recipe:

Snowflake Obsidian (1 to 2 inches)

These pieces of snowflake obsidian are about 1 to 2 inches in size and have a Mohs hardness of about 5 1/2. That is softer than most types of rocks that are processed in a rock tumbler. Obsidian also bruises easily if it is not cushioned. To accommodate these properties we do three things: 1) skip the coarse grit step; 2) tumble for a shorter amount of time in add plenty of media for cushioning.
1) Skip Coarse Grit: Coarse grit will quickly reduce the size of snowflake obsidian. So we skip the coarse grit step and begin our tumbling with medium grit (150/220 mesh).
2) Less Time: We also shorten the tumbling time in the first step. Instead of two weeks in 150/220 grit, we reduce that to 5 to 8 days. We also reduce the time in fine grit (500 mesh) to 5 days. Polishing time is not changed.
3) Media Needed: Snowflake obsidian bruises easily. To prevent bruising it should be swimming in a sea of small ceramic cylinder media We use at least 50% ceramic cylinder media and 50% obsidian. The cylindrical shape of the ceramic media will enable them to act like roller bearings and provide a smooth tumbling action in the barrel. The many small pieces of media will also reduce the impact forces that occur in the barrel and deliver grit to all surfaces of the rough.

Recipe for Rotary Tumbling

Coarse Grit Step:
Snowflake obsidian is extremely 'soft' so you do NOT need to use coarse grit.
Medium Grit Step:
Two tablespoons medium grit (150/220) per pound of rock and ceramic media. Add enough water to barely cover the rocks. You want 50-60% media and 40-50% obsidian. Let this tumble for 5-8 days. Rinse, clean and inspect the material. Tumble longer if more smoothing and shaping is desired.
Fine Grit Step:
If more media is needed to maintain barrel capacity, that media should be broken in and not new media with rough edges. Again, two tablespoons of fine grit (500F) per pound of rock and ceramic media. Add water to below the top of the rocks. Tumble for five days.
Polish Step:
IMPORTANT: Make sure that your barrel and rough have been cleaned thoroughly. Any grit carried over from a previous step will likely ruin your polish. Do not add more media at this point.
Measure two tablespoons of TXP Polish per pound of rock and ceramic media. Fill with water to just below the top of the rocks. Tumble for seven days.
Burnish If Needed:
Jasper, agate and petrified wood usually take a great polish. However, burnishing this material after the polish step can often improve the shininess of the finished stones. If you would like to try burnishing to see if it improves the look of your polished stones full burnishing instructions can be found here.

Vibratory Tumbler Recipe:

Coarse Grit (60/90 Mesh):
Coarse grit is not used in a vibrating rock tumbler.
Medium Grit (150/220 Mesh):
Obsidian is a fragile material the can easily be bruised or chipped. It is recommended that you use a minimum of 50% ceramic media. The use of this media will aid in the tumbling action in the barrel and help deliver grit to all surfaces of the rough. Also the more media, the better the cushioning.
After you have your bowl loaded to the manufacturer's recommended level add 1 tablespoon of grit for every two pounds of material, including the media, in the bowl. While the tumbler is running, slowly add water until the material has a thin coat of wet grit and the tumbling action is smooth and fast in the bowl.
Check the bowl every 8-12 hours to ensure the action is still good. If the action has slowed, add water a little at a time until the action is back to normal. If the mud gets too thick you will need to do a complete rinse of the material and bowl. After rinsing, add fresh grit and water and start tumbling again. You are done with medium grit when you are satisfied with the shape and smoothness of the stones. Usually 2-3 days for us with this material. Give the material and bowl a thorough cleaning before moving on to fine grit.
Fine Grit (500F Mesh):
Place your material back in the tumbler bowl, then add enough polished ceramic media to bring the load up to the manufacturer's recommended operating level. This will also get you near the recommended 50% ceramic media. Add one tablespoon of grit for every two pounds of material in the bowl. Then, turn the tumbler on and slowly add water until the material has a thin coat of wet grit and the tumbling action is smooth and fast in the bowl.
Open the bowl every 8-12 hours to check the action is still good. We usually run fine grit for 48 hours. Thoroughly clean the bowl and material before moving to the polishing step.
Polish (#61 Rapid Polish or TXP):
Place the cleaned material back in the bowl. If needed, add ceramic media that has been previously polished, to bring the bowl up to the manufacturer's recommended operating level. Add one tablespoon of grit for every two pounds of material in the bowl. Turn on the tumbler and slowly add water. Stop adding water when the material has a thin coat of wet polish and the tumbling action is smooth and rapid.
Like the previous grit steps, open the bowl every 8-12 hours to check the tumbling action. Add water if it has slowed. We have found that 48 hours is usually all the time you need to get a good polish in
Burnish If Needed:
This rough will usually take a great polish. However, burnishing this material after the polish step can often improve the look of the finished stones. If you would like to try burnishing to see if it improves the look of your polished stones, full burnishing instructions can be found here.

Finished Snowflake Obsidian Tumbled Stones:

If you don't want to tumble this snowflake obsidian yourself, we usually have medium size (5/8' to 1') tumbled stones of this material for sale by the pound. You can find them here.

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Large ceramic pellets work great as a filler and for delivering grit or polish to difficult-to-reach surfaces. More information...
Small ceramic pellets work great when you need small material for better tumbling action or to deliver grit or polish to difficult-to-reach surfaces. More information...
1 pound of each: coarse, medium and fine grit. 8 ounces of TXP polish. This is enough supplies to tumble up to four three-pound barrels of rocks. Save money with a large grit kit.

We know three main classes of rocks, sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic. In Limestone article, we learned how sedimentation occurs, and the formation of sedimentary rocks takes place. Today, we are going to know Obsidian rock, which falls in the main class of igneous rocks.

We know igneous rocks have two basic types:

1. Intrusive Igneous Rocks

When molten lava/magma is cooling slowly below the surface of the earth and forms large crystals in the rocks they known as intrusive igneous rocks. For examples-

Diorite	Gabbro	Granite
Pegmatite	Peridotite

1 – Extrusive Igneous Rocks

When molten magma is cooling rapidly onto the surface of the earth and forms small crystals in the rocks they known as extrusive igneous rocks. For examples-

Obsidian	Andesite	Basalt
Dacite	Pumice	Rhyolite
Scoria	Tuff	Fire Opal

What Is Obsidian Rock?

If you strive to know the obsidian meaning, go ahead in this section. Obsidian is a class of igneous rocks, which forms when felsic lava extruded from a volcano onto the surface of the earth.

The cooling of lava takes place so rapidly that no chance remains for proper crystallization (Atomic Arrangements) and finds as an amorphous glass material. It has a smooth and uniform texture, which breaks with a conchoidal fracture.

Geological Classification of Obsidian Rocks:

Let’s see the classification of obsidian rocks at the perspectives of a geologist.

Class: Igneous RocksSub-Class: Medium Hardness Rocks Family-Group: Volcanic Category: Opaque Rocks Alternate Names: Lava, Glassy Lava, Xaga, Royal Agate, Glass Agate, Volcanic Glass, Glass Gem, Guardian Gem, and Black Beauty

Formation of Obsidian Rocks in Nature

We have seen in the earlier section that obsidian is an extrusive rock type and formation used to takes place on the surface of the earth when magma or lava coming out due to volcanic phenomena and rapid cooling takes place. The obsidian formation can happen in a variety of cooling environment such as

• Along the edges of a flow of magma or lava
• Along the edges of a dome of the volcano
• Along the edges of a sill or dike, which takes place under the surface and it is the only intrusive type
• The point where magma comes into contact with water on the surface
• The point where magma cools due to airborne cooling effects

Natural Stone Pavers Collection
Exotic Collection	Premia Collection	Porcelain Pavers
Steps Stones	Window Sills	Pool Copings

Properties of Obsidian

Obsidians have various physical & visual properties, such as Hardness, Grain Size, Fracture, Streak (Colors), Porosity, Luster, and Strength. These all property attributes determine the applications of obsidian rocks. Let’s see some significant properties of obsidians.

Specific Gravity & Density of Obsidian

The density of rock used to expresses as specific gravity, and it is measured in relevance to the density of water in gram per cubic centimeter of the mass. The density of obsidian is 2.55 g/cubic cm. It means it is heavier than water and dense medium as a mass.

Streaks & Colors of Obsidian The streak of obsidian is white, but various colors occur in nature. Frequently found colors of Obsidian rocks are: The highest occurrence of obsidians is in Black, but it also available in Brown, Green, or Tan. Rarely found colors of Obsidian rocks are: A very rare occurrence of obsidians is in Blue, Orange, Red, and Yellow. The occurrence of color is due to the presence of different trace elements in obsidian rocks.	The hardness of Obsidian (How Hard Is Obsidian Rocks) In physics and geology, the hardness of the physical objects or rocks is measured in Moh’s scale, which rates the objects in question on the scale from 1 to 10. Rocks with Moh’s hardness scale from 1 to 3 are considering soft rocks. From 3 to 6 scale – medium hardness From 6 to 10 hardness scale – the hardest rocks Based on Moh’s hardness scale, obsidians fall into a medium hard category of rocks because obsidian rocks have 5-5.5 Moh’s hardness scale. It also means obsidian is easy to scratch.
Compressive Strength of Obsidian When a compressive pressure (In Newton unit) applied on the rocks a permanent deformation of rocks takes place at a point of pressure. It is termed as the compressive strength of rocks and obsidians fractured or permanently deformed at 0.15 N per square millimeter. It means obsidian is easy to break and chipped by some impacts. It also renders obsidian as the unfit stone for rings and bracelets like jewelry production.	Porosity of Obsidian It is a less porous rock, so it has a medium hardness.
Obsidian Fracture Obsidians breaks into the conchoidal fracture. Obsidian has no natural or defined planes of separation when a pressure exceeding its physical strength exerts on it. Therefore, smoothly curved fracture takes place on the surface of obsidian glass rock. The images at the side are depicting the phenomena beautifully and precisely.	Luster & Transparency of Obsidian In Obsidian, only 1% of water exists. It means it is vitreous and due to the high presence of silica and other glass-forming minerals, it is translucent in transparency.

What Type of Rock Is Obsidian?

Geologically, rocks used to divide into types. Based on the texture of the Obsidian rock types are decided. The main types of Obsidian rocks are as follows:

Mahogany Obsidian	When two colors, Black and Brown swirled together in a single obsidian rock, Mahogany Obsidian takes place.
Obsidian is kind of glass and chemically unstable. Overtime crystallization process takes place in the mass of rock. If the formation of crystals happens in a radial cluster of white or gray crystals (cristobalite) at different and isolated locations, it referred to as Snowflake obsidian.	Snowflake Obsidian
Rainbow Obsidian	Seldom obsidians have an iridescent or metallic “Sheen” thanks to the reflection of light rays. It used to takes place due to minute inclusions of mineral crystals, gas trapped in obsidian, and some debris. It results in a prismatic effect found due to the glass matter of obsidians, and white light rays are fragmenting in the rainbow color spectrum.
If metallic sheen reflecting light rays in golden color, the gold sheen obsidians occur. In black obsidian, golden inclusions take place it shines as yellow and honey metals in the mass of obsidian.	Gold Sheen Obsidian
Silver Sheen Obsidian	Similarly, if metallic sheen found in silver color, the silver sheen obsidians take place.
When tiny bubbles of gas trapped in the rock and resulting in a reflection of purple color, a purple sheen obsidian happens.	Purple Sheen Obsidian
Double Flow Obsidian	Sometimes the two different colors exist in the same specimen of the obsidian rock. Moreover, the occurrence of different colors takes place in a pattern of flows, and it is flowing in a different direction, we termed it a double flow obsidian.
Black is the most common color found in obsidians. Therefore, the highest occurrence of obsidians found in the black glass. It projects a shiny black hue and popular as a black gemstone in the jewelry industry.	Black Obsidian
Pumpkin Obsidian	When obsidian is reflecting mainly pumpkin color in pale brown shades, it called as pumpkin obsidian. It resembles Mahogany obsidians in looks and brown to black and beige bands of colors found in the mass of obsidians.
Green-colored obsidians occur seldom and when polished they resemble emerald and used for jewelry purposes. It found in mossy to pickle green color shades.	Green Obsidian

The occurrence of Obsidian Rocks in Different Geographic Regions of the Earth

Obsidian is falling into a volcanic-group of rocks. Therefore, the occurrence of Obsidian confined to geological areas where volcanic activity happened in the recent past. Obsidian rocks are not expected in volcanic areas of distance past like before billions of years because the glassy rocks are destroying rapidly due to weathering effects and various geological processes.

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Significant deposits of obsidian rocks exist in the following continents of the world.

Asia:	Afghanistan, Indonesia, Japan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia.
Africa:	Kenya.
Europe:	Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Scotland, and Turkey.
North America:	Canada, Mexico, and the USA.
Central America:	El Salvador, Guatemala, and Papua New Guinea.
>South America:	Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru.
Australia:	New Zealand.

The highest production of jewelry grade obsidians takes place in the United States. However, in the USA, obsidian rocks are not found in eastern regions of the Mississippi River because that area lacks volcanic activities in the recent past at all. The remaining areas of the States of America where obsidian rocks available are:

Arizona	California	Idaho	Nevada
New Mexico	Oregon	Washington	Wyoming
Colorado	Texas	Utah

Obsidian rocks also available in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina.

Obsidian Uses

Now, I am going to acknowledge your use of obsidian. Do you know a conchoidal fracture of a rock resulting in pieces of rocks in curved surfaces?

Obsidian rocks can produce fragments with sharp edges, and sharp fragments of obsidian rocks first used as cutting tools in ancient eras of the civilization of humankind.

Today, a variety of uses found in different industries, such as:

Obsidians as Weapons & Tools: The human civilization has used obsidian rocks to make knives, spear points, arrowheads, scrapers, and various weapons. Knives and blades were fine for kitchen applications. Scrappers were used in land digging, agriculture, and gardening applications. Arrowheads and spear points were provided the sharpest tools for warriors in the creation of various weapons.

Obsidians in Construction Industry: Obsidian rocks use in interior and exterior decoration. Decorative aggregates, gravels, and pebbles from obsidian rocks are a favorite material for creating architectural beauty and artwork on walls, ceilings, and floors of the buildings. Artworks in gardens, patios, swimming pools, fire features, and water features look amazing when obsidian rocks applied along with other Gemstones. It also used as mirror elements in the decoration of the interior, exterior, and construction of artifacts for various applications in life.

Obsidians in Medical Surgery: Obsidian rocks are continuously used in the modern era to create cutting-edge surgical tools. Studies have revealed the fact that thin blades for scalpel of obsidians are superior in sharpness and performance than or equivalent to blades created from the latest surgical steel. Do you know household razor blades are 300-600 Angstroms while obsidian can produce blades of 30 Angstroms? It means obsidian can produce the sharpest materials that only Nanotechnologies can produce. If you look at the sharpest edge of the steel blade in the microscope, you will notice almost saw-like teeth on the edge. Whereas, the obsidian blade has no bite because it has an evenly smooth edge at the microscopic level. Therefore, wounds cut by obsidian blades are healing significantly faster than wounds by steel blades.

Obsidians in Antiquity and Jewelry Industry: Obsidian rocks often cut into beads and cabochons. Mahogany and Snowflakes obsidian types of rocks are providing gemstones for earrings, brooches, and pendants. In the creation of Opal Doublets and Triplets, a thin slice of obsidian is glued as a backing material in the construction of composite gemstones. The black obsidian is an ideal material in making Opals to offer color-contrasting background. However, medium-strength of obsidian with 5.5 hardness creates durability concerns and the jewelry industry avoids its use as they apply diamonds and other gemstones.

Obsidian Rocks for Sales

If you are curious about obsidian for sale, I would like to describe obsidian rocks for sale in a nutshell here.

Rough Obsidian Stone

Obsidians are delicate rocks for many jewelry applications where the chances of various impacts are high. So, the jewelry industry avoids the high usage of these natural rocks/gems/glasses. It mainly used in delicate jewelry, and the following varieties are popular for commercial usages of obsidians.

The richest market of obsidian for sales is aiming for heal purposes. It is believed that obsidian stones have natural healing capabilities. Therefore, along with described various obsidian types earlier, the following varieties of obsidian products are in demand in the healing gemstone market.

Apache Tears	Spiderweb	Cat Eye
Flame/Fire	Peanut	Midnight Lace

eBay and Etsy are popular marketplaces to obtain raw obsidians. Various eCommerce jewelry sites are selling ready to use jewelry made from different kinds of obsidian rocks and for a variety of jewelry products. The online marketplaces including Alibaba and others are selling sorted and unsorted rough obsidian natural stones are weighing from 1/4lb to 1-2lbs.

Rough Obsidian For Sale

Wrapping It Up

In the series of identifying various rocks and natural stones at World of Stones, USA, we have explored different aspects of obsidian rocks such as meaning, uses, facts, properties, and colors of obsidians.

World of Stones, USA is an excellent place to buy a variety of natural rocks mainly used for exterior applications in the building construction industry. If you are interested to know about rocks and stones, keep reading blogs at World of Stones.