AMC Lapidarists - I want to polish my Kenosha rocks!

[Gremlingts@xxxx]

 Any of you AMCers out there into rock polishing? I have had an on and off 
interest for years, I have collected rocks, and would like some more info 
from someone with direct experience. I brought back several small bags of 
rocks from the beach of Lake Michigan by Kennedy Park where our show was 
held. There are some interesting rocks, black and red mottled, white and 
black speckled, etc. I"ll bet some would look great polished. Here's the 
Reader's Digest version of what I want to know :

1) initial cost of supplies
2) where to BUY supplies ( polishing compounds, etc )
3) I have a reduction motor already,would like to buy a chamber only and 
build my own. Possible? what RPM speed is needed?
4) How big a rock can you polish? My late uncle used to polish them, but he 
only did small thumb-sized rocks, never any big ones like fist-sized. Too 
hard to do, or too expensive, or what?
5) Can you polish glass with it, too, glass that's scratched? I have glass 
"nuggets" from the lake ( actually, they're rare Kenoshan Lake Crystals, 
worth a fortune....LOL ), thought they may look good polished , but some are 
tiny. Just a thought.

Ok, guess that's it, if anyone can point to any good resources online, I'd 
appreciate it. I'd searched before, but never found anything that answers my 
questions conclusively. Hope everyone had as much fun as I did on the trip ( 
barring the "sudden death " of my finances while on vacation! ). AMC ya 
online ( once everyone is back up and running again....)

Jerry Casper
seven Gremlins