anyone have a rock tumbler for their kids?

[princess lovers mom]

My DD wants a rock tumbler for Christmas and wanted to know if anyone has one and does it really work?

 

[peg2001]

It works but it is not quick. Make sure she realizes it takes several weeks, beginning to end. The more it tumbles, the smoother the rocks will be.

PeggyS

 

[JessetheCowgirl]

A friend of ours has one and my oldest DS has asked for one.

Yes, it works. The problem is it has to run for a minimum of 24 hours straight (up to 14 days for best result) and it is unbelievably loud!!!

Her DH ended up putting it in the garage inside an insulated ice chest---otherwise they could hear it throughout their (very large) house.

So. . .

I've decided to hold off on this purchase for a while

 

[HappyMommy2]

My rock tumbler experience is from when I was a child 15 years ago, but I loved my rock tumbler then and it really did work (and hopefully they have improved them over the last 15 years, so maybe they work even better now, though I saw one in the store yesterday and it didn't look much different than my old one).

Ours came with a few rocks and we also put a few of our own in. Tumbling them was a LONG process, but it was not difficult, and the results were really fun. The noise of the tumbler did get annoying so my mom put it out in the garage. Just be sure to not put in a rock that is very small--I did, and it was ground down into nothingness, which disappointed me since that had been my favorite rock!
After all the rocks were finished and polished they looked great! My tumbler came with a little jewelry mounting kit and I still have (and occasionally wear) the pretty necklace I made with one of the stones.

 

[Octoberbeauty]

My dd wants one of these, but I can't imagine having it run soo long! She loves rocks though.

 

[princess lovers mom]

do you have to leave it running contant for that long? Does it really come out smooth and shiny as in the pictures?

 

[peg2001]

Rock tumblers simulate the natural smoothing process that would occur in, say, a stream. It condenses the time from decades to weeks. So, really, it IS quick. LOL

Typically, you start tumbling with a rougher grit, water, and sometimes plastic pellets, and change it out with a smaller grit every week or two. Yes, the tumbler runs 24-hours, 7-days a week.

If you take the time and follow the process, it really does work. The rocks end up smooth and shiny.

PeggyS

 

[tkd lisa]

Okay, dissenting opinion here. DD got it for Christmas from the grandparents one year. I wasn't willing to run it constantly for the 2 weeks that it needed. I think any electrical motor could overheat, and even in the garage, I wouldn't do it. We ran it when we were home for a while, but finally DD forgot about it. In my opinon, it's just a gimmick.

 

[bananiem]

My ds8 got one last year. The first batch we tried froze because I put it in the garage because of the noise. We tried it in a basement closet, under a cardboard box, with a towel over it to muffle the noise. It worked great! My son was very happy with his shiny rocks.

 

[crz4mm2]

I had one when I was a kid. I LOVED it. Used it a zillion times. Made lots of jewelry for the family (I think my mom still has dad's tie clip I made!!LOL).

Mine was very noisy- we put it outside under our mobile home. It does take several weeks to go through the process.

I would get her one if she wants one. I loved rock hunting!

 

[princess lovers mom]

I'm starting to think no on this item...we can buy pretty rocks in any gift shop and my DH would never let anything run for 24 hours a day for 2 weeks....he always thinks something is going to start a fire!

 

[missypie]

We ended up putting ours on the front porch (our bedroom is in the back); the neighbors across the street could hear it when they stepped out their front door. With the second batch of rocks, a crucial part snapped off, so it didn't even last through 2 batches of rocks.