Tam101 Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 My son has recently become interested in rocks and getting a rock tumbler. We are looking at this one for a birthday present. (I'm sure I can find a better price.) I had a tumbler as a kid and loved it! My daughter had a "toy" tumbler when she was younger and didn't love it! LOL So we want to get a non-toy one. Does anyone have any experience with this or other tumblers? Any curriculum or book suggestions to go with it? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tam101 Posted October 2, 2009 Author Share Posted October 2, 2009 bump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama2two Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 bump We got one for my son's birthday. Bought it from Michael's, I think ti was $20-30. Works great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 We got one for my son's birthday. Bought it from Michael's, I think ti was $20-30. Works great. How loud is it? I thought about getting one awhile back but the response I got from many people was that they were very loud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbpaulie Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 OK, while this isn't going to answer your question, I can tell you that I came across one from when I was younger. I showed it to my husband just as a "look what I have" sort of thing. It has been running non-stop, no joke, for the past 12 months. He found some larger pieces of granite once while he was on a hike. They are pretty. But, oh, did I mention that we re-did some landscaping drainage so had a large load or rocks delivered? The kids think they are all worth tumbling, invite the neighbor kids to do it too, and a-tumbling-we-still-go.... they are pretty, but Michaels sells tumbled rocks for $3/bag. I'm not saying don't get a tumbler, just suggesting you don't also get a LARGE pile of rocks and a husband who likes this "power tool.":001_smile: KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama2two Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 How loud is it? I thought about getting one awhile back but the response I got from many people was that they were very loud. It's pretty loud, we kept in running on the workbench in the garage. You can't stop and look at it while running so it was a good place to put it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tam101 Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 just suggesting you don't also get a LARGE pile of rocks and a husband who likes this "power tool.":001_smile: KB :lol: That is funny! To answer loudness question, yes they are loud! The cheaper ones have loud motors and you can her the rocks tumbling. Part of why I'm looking at the Lortone. They are supposed to be much quieter from what I've read so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 What do you do for rocks? We live in NZ and have a beach full of semi precious stone (Birdlings Flat) within reach. Already rounded but not polished of course. We love our tumbler and our visits to Birdlings, but you do need to have pretty rocks to polish! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmoe Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 Reader's Digest How the Earth Works has directions for making your own rock tumbler. Thought it looked interesting. http://www.amazon.com/How-Earth-Works/dp/0895774119/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254541779&sr=8-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busyrobin Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 We have one of the Lortone rock tumblers (well it looks exactly the same...) and while I wouldn't say it is very noisy, I still probably wouldn't like it inside the house. Ours is set up in our garage as well and runs continuously. My ds12 keeps a rock diary - when stones/rocks have gone in with what grade of grit etc... We have umpteen piles, containers, jars of different sorts, sizes, shapes of rocks. It is no longer Dad's garage anymore !! :lol: Dh looked into making up a tumbler himself but in the end it was just easier to buy one. Being in Australia we paid a little more than the price that's listed on Amazon too... !?! We live in north central Victoria around the edge of what is known as a granite belt. About 20 mins drive from here you follow a little country road and the surrounding hills are dotted with huge granite boulders. It's really amazing. :001_smile: Emily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tam101 Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 What do you do for rocks? We live in NZ and have a beach full of semi precious stone (Birdlings Flat) within reach. Already rounded but not polished of course. We love our tumbler and our visits to Birdlings, but you do need to have pretty rocks to polish! You can buy rocks to polish as silly as that sounds. Or do like the pp said and have a truck load dumped on your drive! :lol: Sorry, that image is still making me laugh! But we are doing a rock walkway in our yard so that just may be happening soon and I am sure will grab a hand full of those and toss them in. We also live close to a river where we can get rocks. Emily, a rock diary is a great idea! Ours will be in the garage as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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