Make Your Own Quick Beach Glass in a Vibrating Rock Tumbler

We have discovered a very quick way to produce beach glass using a vibrating rock tumbler. This method is an improvement upon our previous article in that it gives a nicer finished product.

Here's how:

Fill your vibrating rock tumbler (according to manufacturer directions) with rock. Then fill with equal amounts of water & 220 silicon carbide grit (4 tablespoons each per 3 pounds of glass). Let it run for exactly 4.5 hours. Wash thoroughly, and you are done.

Use scraps from glass work or broken bottles of different colors or "gutter glass" to produce the perfect beach glass.

This is a much faster method than with a rotary rock tumbler. However, the trade-off is time verses money, as vibrating rock tumblers are more expensive than rotary rock tumblers.

Purchase a quality Thumler UltraVibe Tumbler to begin with. They come in 3 sizes; 10, 18, & 45 pound capacity. I recommend the 18 pound as it is the "biggest bang for the buck." However, people use the 45 pound UltraVibe to mass produce beach glass for art, as well as to sell.