









Maker of Things - Life, Parenting, Travel, Crafts, and Messes
by Bobbie Byrd
[…] Carve Rocks with Dremel from Clumsy Crafter […]
I have something embarrassing to tell you, my friends. (Deep breaths)… I know this is a judgment free zone (because yall forgive me for having the world’s worst looking hot glue gun).. so here it goes….. My front door is naked. Naked. It’s bad enough that the previous owners painted it a very unfortunate shade […]
It’s always funny when you’re packing everything up at the end of the Christmas season and somehow you need to figure out how to stuff 35 paper Christmas gift bags into one tiny wrapping paper storage box. There’s also a little bit of sadness when a really cute gift bag that you found gets torn […]
i like this idea very much. Am going to try it soon. Thanks
I adore your “love rock” campaign! What a lovely thing to do and teach your kids! Part of me wishes I lived near you so I could find one of these good-day-makers but another part of me is happy that I’m so far away so that my kids and I can carry out your thoughtful campaign here for even more people to enjoy, with your blessing, of course!
Hello, I just enjoyed reading your post! I have a question about dremiling rocks I can’t seem to find an answer to. No matter which grinding bits I use, my rocks end up with a powdery looking coating on them. Our it’s like a slick film. I’ve used aluminum oxide, carbide, and diamond bits, it doesn’t matter. What causes this powdery looking, dull, dry looking finish or skin looking finish and what can I do to fix this, prevent it from happening, and get that nice high glossy finish I see on everyone’s rocks? Thank You for answering me asap.
Where are you getting the rocks from? I’ve never had that happen by the rocks I used were from a craft store. It sound silly but could you have bought them somewhere that made a faux type rock?
Buffing reglosses the area and takes away the dusty look.
What about granit rocks..i found these in the dirt in dallas tx and they arent from aStone table top or anything. im a bit of a rock nut and am trying to cut a couple hearts out for a couple close friends of mine… its about an inch long an half that wide ann little over a quarter thick but i also have the ashy look aswell any suggestions on how I can fix this
Craftsmama and rockhound here to help solve your mystery. The film or powder you describe Is like sawdust is to wood. It is unavoidable if you are using stones or rocks that you find or are intended for landscaping.
Rocks purchased from a craft store (technically stones since they are smoothed) have been processed already to be smooth and most of the time some level of polishing has already been done to them even if the stones aren’t high gloss shiny. These rocks have already been through weeks in rock tumblers with various grades and types of sanding/grinding mediums. EVERY time the tumblers are emptied, the rocks are coated in this fine dust you are talking about. These rocks also tend to be singular composition types of rocks quarried for industrial or hobby usage. Using a dremel to carve relatively shallow etching and designs on processed rocks, pulls the polishing compounds down into the layers you are etching away – in a sense slightly re-polishing your designs as you etch them. In addition, the polish ALREADY on craftstore stones prevents any rock dust created from sticking to the polished portions of the stone. However, the lines of the etching or carving itself will have some duller dustier appearance than the rest of the rock.
Stones or rocks you find or that are used in landscaping are generally composed of multiple rock types containing everything from iron to limestone to quartz to various types of granite or even crystals. These multi-composition rocks almost always have components that leave a rock dust dull residue when carved or etched.
Rocks we find are not generally shiney and polished unless they are beach or river stones nature polished by water and sand. When using stones that have been “tumbled but not polished” for landscaping or stones you find at a park or your yard, you WILL experience this residue from carving or etching.
If you want to use rocks you find and process them yourself, its best to process them BEFORE ETCHING OR CARVING.
For best results in getting your stones or rocks to have that shiney glossy appearance you seek, I recommend picking up a rock tumbler kit from a kids discovery type store or online. You can then tumble and polish your rocks/stones until they have the desired level of shine. You will also need to purchase a polishing compound specifically for rocks (silver polish, auto polish etc won’t work on rocks) AND sanding mediums for use with tumblers.
Another option to get rid of the residue is to use your Dremel with carbide grinding bits of increasing grain size WITH WATER to grind the rocks until they are smooth and use polishing bits WITH polish to make them shiney.
If you want to polish AFTER carving or etching designs, DO NOT USE SANDING MEDIUMS AND Rock Tumblers. You will need to sand and smooth by hand (or dremel) and be careful not to grind away your carvings.
If you want a quick polish fix that doesn’t take weeks of tumbling or hours of hand grinding; but, is NOT PERMANENT for outdoor placement of rocks, you can use a coating or two of High Gloss Modpodge. Make sure to do a fairly thick coat and let dry 24 hours before applying a second coating. Unfortunately, Since rocks are porous, aerosol spray mediums like clear gloss spray paint don’t work effectively to shine up rocks and give them that “wet” look.
Good luck!! Hope this helps.
Hi Bobbie-
This was a real nice blog post and how you visual step by step showings as compared to other that would have only said with words. In my small town we, got all the schools together and created a type of campieghn against bullies, because of three trajec self inflicted deaths from being bullied in school and exspecially on Social Media.) So we had every grade from K-12 decorate and create positive messages n thier rocks, once dry, each class were escorted around each of our four tint schools, about four blocks, each direction, N E S W, to hide their rocks TOGETHER, even with those they may had not been friends with, but the mission hide and allow the community to find, but the twist…. take a selfie with, where, when you found the rock, and post on Facebook, a POSITIVE FEED, on social media, and then they, the person whom found was to rehide for someone else to find. Similar to chain letters only teplaced with inspirational and motivational notes startin Memorial Weekend, and beleive it or not…. it is still in full action and its a true and pure happiness as I see these kids find or search for the rocks and the priceless looks upon their face, no matter the age, even adults, and helping them feel better because of maybe whatever then were facing. So I know this is long winded, but who would think the smallest, almost FREE activity would have brought an entire community together as such as ours little “Cheers”, ” Where everyone knows your name,” town of 9,000 .
It was, well still is an amazing idea and as I am out taking photographs and I am lucky enough to witness someone finding a rock, I mean even Senior citizens would laugh and gigle, and then look to start re-hiding, I guess words cannot explain the Joy of ART and a ROCK brought to so many people. Great and wonderful with Love Rocks also and I hope you get a chance to witness one being found, because all the time, mess, even money no longer matters.
Again thank you for this wonderful post, because so many Have turned this into an UGLY BULLING GAME IN SOME PLACES UNFORTUNATLY( you can find ton of negative|hurtful videos in YouTube from these people)
MANY Blessings….
Luckee
PS oh yeah my children found 42, they are homeschooled so they were excited to be involved as well…everyday was a beg mom to go walking day, and guess what…. I GAVE IN EVERY TIME , but hey on upside I walked off all those calories I ate from all the Ice Cream cones, as part of the deal with mom going, Chocolate peanutbutter, YUMM, oh we have an ,”Ol” Time themed, mid 60’s (I would say, but was not close to being alive yet so going off grandmothers thoughts) Fountain|Ice cream Shopp -it is wonderful, friendly, down to earth people and service you NEVER find anymore (can c pics on my site Tuesdays re-launch)
If you would ever like to guest host, blog, on a Thursday, when I discuss Tweens and Teens|Behaviors and the impact of Love Rock pkease DO LET me know…..
APOLOGIES TO EVERYONE: I am sorry about the misspelling in the first post, I hit publish to quickly.
BLESSINGS-
I’m making one of these for my girlfriend… male penguins search an entire beach looking for a special pebble to give to their mate… I thought I’d carve something in a pebble and give it to my girlfriend and tell her about he penguin thing… maybe it’s a good idea? ?
That sounds like an amazing idea!!
I am from Honolulu, Hawaii and have become interested in carving a rock ever since I found THREE PAINTED rocks which the persons who left them behind noted to go to fb and share where the rock was found, then return it out there for someone else to find. Never heard of such a thing, had no clue people were doing this to spread a little cheer, but I myself am cheerful so I passed the rocks on. Now you may be asking what does this have to do with carving a rock? Well a simple word, “SMILE” is all it took for me to want to spread the ALOHA “love” that maybe at that moment I may have needed to brighten up my day or even week. That got me thinking about something more permanent which would mean even more to me to do. I hope my story of something so small so far away on a little island in the middle of the ocean will inspire EVEN MORE PEOPLE to get out there and spread cheer across the miles as well as their own communities as yours has mine. Mahalo for the great share and inspiration .
I love this story. Thank you so much for sharing.
I’m engraving a simple design and lettering on a pice of flagstone as a memorial for our recently departed dog. Is there any suggestions for a product that is applied to make the engravings standout?
A lot of people will swipe a darker color paint over the engraving and then wipe it away before it dries, just leaving the paint down inside the engraving.