I Put Marbles in a Rock Tumbler & Something Weird Happened! Then I Give Them to YOU!

I have tumbled so many agates, jaspers, gemstones, rocks, and minerals, but one thing I have never tumbled is marbles! Curious to see if I could transform marbles into beach glass and then restore them to their original shiny state, I decided to give it a try. The results? Absolutely not what I expected!
First off, the tumbler barrel nearly burst! Turns out, marbles off-gas during tumbling, a surprise hazard I hadn't anticipated. Then, the marbles lost a significant amount of their weight, another unforeseen outcome that caught me off guard. But it's the final result that truly shocked me - something happened to the marbles that still amazes me every time I think about it.
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Happy Hounding!

[@TheLindagdetroit]

I have a feeling I'd just be tumbling random objects constantly if I had a tumbler😂

[@AgateAriel]

Haha that’s totally the plan 🤣

[@TheLindagdetroit]

@AgateAriel It reminds me of when I started working in a restaurant, and pretty much tried deep frying *everything*. Co-workers would pass by, see me staring intently into the fryer, and just ask wtf I was deep frying now. Deep fried spinach, dusted with garlic powder & salt, is amazing. Deep fried chickpeas/garbanzos are addicting. I just like 'em with salt and they're awesome with a ton of different seasonings. One experiment that my coworkers would ask me to make was rather surprising. One day I whacked up thin disks of really good Polish kielbasa & deep fried em. They cupped up, so OF COURSE I filled the little meat cups with sour cream & sprinkled with shredded cheddar cheese. Surprisingly good and lol about once a week I'd end up making a platter.

[@SearchIndex]

True Story 💯 😂

[@jenkor513]

got some really old pre wwII hinges, locks and screws caked in paint. Using the ceramic tumbling medium all the paint came off, and after a bit of polish they look brand new on my 100 yr old house. solid brass. only 5 days in the tumbler, I probably could have pulled them out by day 3. I now use a 2 barrel set to clean all kinds of hard to clean things.

[@TheLindagdetroit]

@jenkor513 oooooh that beats the crockpot method!

[@ecks_marks_the_spot]

Someone has to say it: "Ariel, I think you've lost your marbles." 😂

[@AgateAriel]

Hahaha you’re not wrong 😆

[@RockObsessedTrekkie]

Possibly on the floor no less

[@doreenwatson-read]

you beat me to it, haha

[@blkvetteman1]

THANK YOU SO MUCH! This is SOOOO the type of question I will not rest (or do ANYTHING else) until I find the answer! I was about to go into a Google inspired spiral trying to figure out what would make a tumbler become a "buldger" like a bad can of old beans!

[@oldtrolllady]

lol

[@benjaminandersen1097]

i hope you are aware that glass dust is VERY bad for you to inhale, or ingest, so all that sludge you've made, its is quite hazardous when dry! pls be careful where you dispose of it!

[@mauvemoth569]

bet it would make a kickass pottery glaze too

[@tinymetaltrees]

It's cute how you think that glass is made from a special kind of silica that is more dangerous than the silica composing rocks. 😊

[@benjaminandersen1097]

@@tinymetaltrees really? its cute you don't understand the dangers of inhaling microscopic glass particles, and how that differs from rocks

[@ebifuon6776]

I'm pretty sure she knows about the hazards cause unlike men, women actually read the user manual. So thank you random stranger on the Internet for your concern, cause why else would you post a comment like that, but I'm sure she knows and is fine

[@Honeycomb-fj3kr]

Hey, there's no need to rude or sexist, he's just concerned for her health

[@durazellpcgaming]

I saw some tumbling done about 30 yrs ago. Happened upon your channel today. Thought, what the heck and watched the whole thing. Very fascinated now. So onto more of your content. Thank you so much for sharing this.

[@SnarkasticSunny]

Hey, me too accidental find, caught my attention & held it! I will be back!

[@ObservantPiratePlus]

Brings me all the way back to the Great Marble Wars, out on the playing fields in the grass of Ortega Elementary School, back in 1969.

[@markstruble2649]

early 70's for me

[@vernholio]

Late 70's for me... "Cleary boulder haystack up! Boulders only!"

[@kellyvcraig]

You do know that you are just the ones who are around because your parents are just the ones left over from the original marble wars, right?

[@sandimccarthy2067]

1966 for me at Gladiola Elementary in MI.

[@captainmoretokin2172]

I was the champ at my school. A lot of players left crying.

[@sdb9884]

I always wondered how marbles would do in a tumbler. I love marbles and have a collection that I keep in an old gum ball machine!

[@AgateAriel]

Oh that is so cool!!

[@Deborah-ut3ud]

What a novel idea. Love it!

[@mcwatchy1]

Hey that is a cool idea! I have a few jars and have been wondering what to do with em.

[@borregoayudando1481]

make sure Keegan Michael Keye doesnt visit your house he might just.. *fills mouth with the marbles*

[@maszkalman3676]

Some old marbles actually worth a fortune if you have the whole set....

[@kansaspetes8708]

This was much more fascinating than I'd expected! I thought the post-tumbling marbles looked a lot shinier. However, being so much smaller, they probably transmitted a lot more light, making them look dramatically brighter. Just a thought. I don't know where you live, but if you get to Nebraska, be sure to visit Lee's Marble Museum, York, NE. The owner, Lee, just recently died, so I'm not sure what will happen to his collection, but it is worth a visit! Lee was a knowledgeable, kind, generous, man who had been collecting marbles since he was a little boy. I am so fortunate to have met him a few years ago.

[@wolfhybrid9759]

That white galaxy marble looked amazing

[@AgateAriel]

Right!! I’m still not sure where it came from but it was really cool!

[@Jean-qu3ru]

​@@AgateAriel it looks like a fracture pattern inside the glass.

[@emilyanderson8282]

That just makes me want a tumbler even more. Tumble ALL the things!

[@lisafarr2771]

I love marbles. Got a bowl full with solar lights inside. At night it lights the room and casts all sorts of colours.

[@jackabug2475]

Wow, great idea!

[@Wise4HarvestTime]

She's like a mad scientist except she's happy and not angry at all

[@eekee6034]

That's the best kind of mad scientist to be! ;)

[@deniseborg2906]

I would never have thought to do that experiment!!! That was so good. Great job. I absolutely love the new baby marbles. 😂❤

[@AgateAriel]

Thanks so much! 😊

[@dianecoates8081]

I've always loved marbles... that was amazing!! LOL ;-)

[@ruthannfrancis5663]

This was a lot of fun to watch. I was very surprised how much mass was lost in the tumbling process. And don’t tell my current cats, but one of my previous kitties who was named Doc is my favorite pet ever. He was a little furry menace who was more food motivated than a golden retriever. I taught him how to do some tricks. He slept with me almost every night of the almost 14 years I had him. I miss that little furry guy.

[@AgateAriel]

Oh my gosh that is so sweet! Pets are awesome 😊

[@sandmaker]

Well... now you know! What a fun project😊. Keep having fun and keep the mind spinning. Thanks for sharing your time and talent! 😷⚒

[@AgateAriel]

Thank you so much!

[@justinesherman3562]

I was impressed that they still glowed and there was so little breakages

[@valenharless8140]

I have had a fascination with marbles all my life. Flat ones, clear ones, antique ones...Thank you for a wonderful video. Will be looking forward to another!

[@TheKaliedescope]

This is so chill to watch

[@valariemeltzer1059]

Very interesting they turned out really cool looking. You can see the center details more. Love the glow in the dark ones.

[@neesr13]

Glad I found your channel. I tumble rocks for jewelry and have tried marbles. Currently, I am teaching myself how to work with silver and semi-precious stones.

[@AgateAriel]

That is so cool! Definitely something I’d like to try in the future!

[@LoonMom3]

Love all the colors!! Very cool! I liked them too before you made them shiny. It looked like sea glass! Thanks for sharing!

[@AgateAriel]

Thank you so much! 😊

[@hearsejr]

Awsome... about 45 years ago we used to carry them to school in our pockets... today, kids have no clue how much fun marbles are. Lol

[@larrykane8873]

I love the look of beach glass.

[@Maxoutput080]

You should put brand new marbles straight into polish. That way you can see if you can shine them up even more.

[@AgateAriel]

Oh that’s a great idea!

[@feynthefallen]

So... Tumbling things turns them into dust. Radical.

[@Tiniponi]

What an amazing difference tumbling the marbles made. This video was fun to watch and informative. :)

[@tabitha9323]

These look so much prettier afterwards! I've always wondered if there was a good way to make those flat pieces more smooth on the back side. Knowing this, will open up the opportunity for more projects where clarity is important. Thanks for doing this!

[@ironpony42]

That was fun - thanks for putting in the effort! That was weeks of filming segments for these 20 minutes. Great work on the bench by the way, looks very nice, I like the stain color it came out. You're already in a basement, you don't want it too dark. Thanks for sharing the tumbling fun. And you're correct, the glow in the dark ones are awesome.

[@jbyepitsme4330]

Girl you have patience lol I’m completely impatient. So waiting 2wks, 3wks or whole month would kill me! 😂😅

[@soyburglar77]

I was really into playing marbles when I was roughly 12 years old, which would’ve been around 1989, as we had this wave of interest in marbles hit the boys in our school that year for some reason lol. We called the tiny marbles pee wees, the standard marbles were cat eyes, and any of those white ceramic marbles were bumble bees and they were the most valuable. I had a tub full of the things which I bet had over 5,000 in there.

[@rockit62]

How does one know when they are a true rockhound? If you take a bag of marbles on the hunt and every time you pick up a beautiful specimen, you take a marble out of the bag and place it where the specimen was resting. Once you have lost all of your marbles, then you know you are a true rockhound. In your case, you found a different way to lose your marbles. Now you are a true rockhoud!

[@AgateAriel]

Oh my gosh-I love that!! I might just have to do that!

[@RealRocdad]

That's a terrible idea. Nobody wants to see your marbles out in the wilderness leave no trace!

[@hyfy-tr2jy]

Tumbling marbles like this would be an EXCELLENT standard to use if you want to review various polishing media.

[@lindastowars7346]

LOVE THE GLOW IN THE DARK MARBLES

[@heatherbrown853]

I have to say I LOVE your studio and I got in to rock tumbling from my dog. Yes my dog. He loves to dig holes in the yard and bring me the rocks he finds. I have bowls of them.

[@fondasharkey-wyatt9944]

I really enjoyed watching this process. Tough, stressful day at work, and this was soothing to watch. Mini marbles!

[@justimagine2403]

Love the Jupiter looking marbles! And yes, you should have had the Larger marbles are called boulders, bonkers, mashers, plumbers, poppers, shooters, thumpers, smashers, taw, bumbo, crock, bumboozer, bowler, tonk, tronk, godfather, tom bowler, fourer, giant, dobber, dobbert, hogger, biggie, or toebreaker.

[@suedobak4971]

I love marbles !!

[@AgateAriel]

Same here! 😊

[@CricketsBay]

I like to make mini "crystal balls" with marbles. My preferred base is 1/4-inch grommets from the sewing aisle.

[@karenanddonnierussell1088]

I watched your channel yesterday for the first time and loved it. I subscribed immediately. That was a great experiment.

[@Bioruss]

3 years ago I bought one of these tumblers and used it to clean rusty bolts on my motorcycle, since then it has been sitting on the shelf, this video makes me want to try doing these type of experiments. 😁

[@bmesselt56]

I am surprised that they came out so shiny! I only went so far as the “beachy frosted glass look” but they were so pretty I didn’t want to go further. Would love the tiny marbles - great for my miniature potted plant decor. Oh favorite pet is my kitty ❤️

[@AgateAriel]

Thank you so much! That would be a great use for the marbles!

[@evajawidzk2068]

Rock tumblers are cool . Good luck

[@bladed.i.6547]

Cats. And glow-in-the-dark ANYTHING. Well done for a wild experiment!

[@barbarabrown7974]

My dad used to tumble rocks. A trip down memory lane.

[@gmeast]

WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW!!!

[@yolandaperkins6291]

Wow thats an awesome experament! 🤗 I have a small marble collection and a few kitty litter buckets of rocks I've collected over the years outside, have always wanted a tumbler or polisher of some sort. A few of the marbles i have are black with tiny chunks of other colors in them, they're the only ones like that I've seen so far. 😊

[@hbjon]

Now I know what to do with my scratched and pitted marbles. Thanks for the video 🤔🤔😀😀

[@alanbrown397]

Always use a sander with a vacuum attachment - you actually have one, just remove the sock and attach the vacuum hose instead

[@barbararoberto1258]

Very cool, loved the end product

[@nebraskanheathen2226]

This kinda content is so addictive. Great video !

[@pykapuka]

My favorite pet is actually a marble. It is pretty much silent, doesnt eat much and the flat ones dont run away.

[@robinbrittain3073]

Do you ever get tired of wating for them to tumble. The marbles are so pretty

[@Katiebugs_crafts]

Haha my favorite pet is kittys lol the marbles came out awesome. I loved the little galaxy. The before and after comparison was wicked i can't believe they were so small and looked a lot shinier. Cool video.

[@pattiejune]

I love marbles. I went to Moon Marbles Company in Bonner Springs, KS and saw how marbles were made. Absolute amazing. You can of course buy all kinds, at a hefty price, but so worth every penny.

[@mehcole492]

you made me inspired to start tumbling! keep going :)

[@Gord1812]

Some of the unpolished ones looked like Jupiter or Saturn. Very cool.

[@pinknosechronicles]

Just curious have you figured out the cost of power running your tumbler? How much does it cost for one tub of rock? Thinking about starting tumbling. Thanks for sharing ❤

[@ksmarty1]

I enjoyed the video. It was neat to see what happened. I have always liked marbles.

[@tracycrum9829]

I love this idea!! I would love to make jewelry with these! Fingers crossed 🤞 ❤😊

[@goofykl9]

They look better, brilliant.

[@RyanWeishalla]

The change between the pre-polish and polish stages was interesting.

[@AgateAriel]

Agreed! Such a transition!

[@RyanWeishalla]

@@AgateAriel I brought back a couple rock saws and a 6" flat lap that my late dad had gotten on an auction, but never was able to use. Got motors and starting to "play" with them a little. I need to get some more colorful rocks to try to polish to see how the lap does. Ok so far on some duller rocks. I don't have a rotary tumbler, so for fun grabbed some random landscaping rocks from around my shed to see how they tumble in the vibratory tumbler I had gotten from Harbor Freight years ago. From what I hear, you can't rough tumble well in one of those, but we'll see. My dad always wanted to get up to your area to look for rocks, but never did. I grew up in Central MN and most of my family is still there.

[@pamelacanton8856]

Super cool experiment! 😊

[@julieastry8355]

So cool. I would have never guessed the would shine back up. My favorite animal…or was it pet…was our great dame Savannah.

[@AgateAriel]

Yasss! You are the first one to comment about a pet 😆

[@lorenrobertson8039]

I love marbles. What a fun project! They are prettier now than when you first got them IMO. I have my daddy's and uncle's marbles from the 1930's! Well used and so fun to go through. Back then kids did play marbles with their friends all the time, so they are worn and precious to me. Still in the old Jiff peanut butter jars my Grannie had saved them in. Nice video and I look forward to watching more of your videos! I've always been a rock hound. I have rocks everywhere, from everywhere that I've been.

[@paulskalla6845]

Be careful if you decide to tumble old marbles. Uranium glass was a thing with some of those from Akro Agate and others.

[@lorenrobertson8039]

Oh I would never do anything with these precious antique marbles that belonged to my daddy and uncle. But that is good information to put out there for others that might @@paulskalla6845

[@drecknathmagladery9118]

the sander making a mess that is absolutely normal especially for that type of sander. i worked at a tool library that hosted woodworking classes. we had about 12 of those exact sanders. and as a note in the brief clip you showed you where using it exactly how you should have.

[@ilenelewit7341]

I fell upon your video quite by mistake actually, but I absolutely loved it!! I've actually tumbled glass before but learned so much from watching you and your techniques. I am most definitely a new subscriber. I adore how the marble turned out. I didn't realize you could polish them too. I've always tried to make the sea glass effect.

[@alvinnorris6523]

Great I really enjoyed this

[@AgateAriel]

Thank you!

[@rockgirl1901]

Wow, pretty cool! I am a major Rock and marble collector, lol, they make me salivate. I got so excited when I found this video, Now I have to go check out all your other ones. I guess I better find a bib first. Thank you so much. You Rock!

[@nancyfew1375]

The little mancala marbles could now be used in jewelry. Or, re-tumble them to the seaglass look for pendants or bracelets.

[@hartmanartsource]

Super cool!

[@Stitchy.puzzler]

If you haven't tried it before, can you try to replicate the look of beach glass by tumbling normal glass? Or would that be too dangerous?

[@AgateAriel]

I think I could!

[@German_Rock_Tumbler]

Awesome 😃👍 cant wait to see the next Video. Greetings to you 👋😌

[@kellyratliff3473]

I think it was amazing results. Thank you for doing this experiment. ❤

[@nikoteardrop4904]

The beach glass phase brings back some intense memories. Both living in Florida and summers in LA (Lower Alabama).

[@staceysarian7444]

That was so cool

[@AgateAriel]

Thank you!! I’m glad you liked it! 😊

[@lindaschnittger2076]

That was very educational! Thanks for sharing.

[@debbiearistone6227]

So cool…great experiment

[@Kittsuera]

at the end, stage 3, you could say it was basically 3 weeks total so maybe the extra 2 weeks made up the difference of the vibration type vs tumbling?

[@dwarfmyrtle]

Very interesting! So beautiful at the end. I like them before the shine at the end the best.

[@AgateAriel]

I did too actually! I will have to tumble them again and stop there 😆

[@anujshah9335]

Cool marbles! My favorite pet would be a cow 🐮

[@AgateAriel]

Haha I like that!

[@RitaElaineHeltonBarker-uz4sz]

LOoks like you figured out Matte fonish marbles

[@Tallenn1]

hmmm.. I may have to run some marbles through mine. I love the mini marbles.

[@putteslaintxtbks5166]

Would've been kind of neat to pull one or of each type out at the end of each stage. Each stage had it's own look. I miss my marbles, yet, I lost them! I had alot, they mostly filled one of those big popcorn tins you get at Christmas.

[@AgateAriel]

Oh I definitely should have!!

[@mshaw290808mi]

The redone studio looks great!

[@AgateAriel]

Thank you so much!

[@XENONEOMORPH1979]

the uk we call them marleys , the larger marleys we call them steeleys. great vid. marleys are at a high temp and rolled between rollers with cut through both rollers giving exact size and weight.

[@raymondbrown940]

Okay... That was pretty cool. Thank you for the video.

[@davidbeckwith9535]

Very cool

[@AgateAriel]

Thank you!

[@lananieves4595]

I fe4el like you could sell these in the cloudy stage - a bowl of those would look great in a room. I've put marbles in a ceramic kiln, before, and gotten some amazing glazing effects on pieces of pottery,

[@ConfusioNIntrusioN]

i used to sandpaper my marbles when i was younger

[@dkakito]

While I think the final product looks better than they did prior to the tumble, I liked em better as Beach Glass xD

[@joevalencia8588]

I can send you some of my used vintage ones ,some pitted scratched for before and after comparison

[@BearWoodWorkshop]

That was a fun time lapse!!! Those marbles are fascinating. I did enjoy seeing the rocks in the background as well. Oh and my favorite pet is my 8 month old wild mustang filly

[@claytonrealist8868]

For future reference, the sealer goes on first to keep the wood from "blotching".

[@MinimaMensa]

I can’t believe how tiny they are. Now! Thanks for the video and chance to win!

[@marymartin7010]

i love marbles. .. Cool experiment. xo

[@xanthebelsky4984]

THis was great fun to watch.

[@ryandavis3336]

The best way to keep dust down when sanding is to hook up the sander to a shop vac. Pop off that useless dust bag and hook up the shop vac right there. Use a dust bag or a cyclone separator to keep that dust from clogging the filter in the shop vac.

[@karenkuhnle781]

beach glass marbles!!!

[@Auntijengen]

Playing marbles in 4th grade introduced me to gambling. (I still have my marbles-only lost/gave away a few over the years)

[@MikeRoth-ex1wk]

Maybe a few marbels sort of a full load?