Ginevra Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 When I was a kid, my sister had one of those Rock Tumblers - you know, that turn the ordinary rocks into polished gemstones. DD wanted one several Christmases ago. She got one, but it has been sitting in her closet for years. I was cleaning up in there and spotted it and thought, "Oh, the boys will love this!" While reading the instructions, I did notice that it says, "Tumbling rocks make a LOT of noise. Please locate the tumbler where it will not disturb anybody." NO FREAKIN' kidding it makes a lot of noise! It's been churning away for not quite 24 hours and I could throw it straight out the window! I did move it downstairs in the basement so it will be as far as possible from bugging anybody, but I can hear it screeching and squeeling right now, one floor up. I was awake for an hour in the middle of the night last night, because I couldn't stop my ears from discerning the far-off squeaking. I don't know how I can possibly stand this contraption for six more days. Epic fail homeschooler project. :glare: Next time, we're going with Butterfly Canopy instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punks in Ontario Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I hear you. We have a good one with lots of rubber. We keep in in a cement room in the basement with Styrofoam under it and a box with more noise absorbing material around it. It needs to run for several weeks before the rocks are ready. If you have a garage you may want to try it out there with some protective stuff around it. Just remember to leave enough room for the motor to cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misidawnrn Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 That would be super annoying. Can you put it in the garage (assuming you have one?) or outside? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 :lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugar Plum Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 When my kids were smaller, I saw a rock tumbler on clearance at a store and put it in a cart. Dh came up and said "WHAT is that doing in our cart? GET. IT. OUT." My dh is usually a pretty mild-mannered fellow, so this really surprised me. I asked him why, and he got all distant and hollow-voiced, and with a thousand-yard stare, said, "My sister had a rock tumbler when we were kids." :lol: After he recovered himself, he told me about the noise issue--theirs was kept in the garage (which was a separate structure) and he couldn't sleep in the house when it was on due to the noise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 When I was a kid, my sister had one of those Rock Tumblers - you know, that turn the ordinary rocks into polished gemstones. DD wanted one several Christmases ago. She got one, but it has been sitting in her closet for years. I was cleaning up in there and spotted it and thought, "Oh, the boys will love this!" While reading the instructions, I did notice that it says, "Tumbling rocks make a LOT of noise. Please locate the tumbler where it will not disturb anybody." NO FREAKIN' kidding it makes a lot of noise! It's been churning away for not quite 24 hours and I could throw it straight out the window! I did move it downstairs in the basement so it will be as far as possible from bugging anybody, but I can hear it screeching and squeeling right now, one floor up. I was awake for an hour in the middle of the night last night, because I couldn't stop my ears from discerning the far-off squeaking. I don't know how I can possibly stand this contraption for six more days. Epic fail homeschooler project. :glare: Next time, we're going with Butterfly Canopy instead. One Christmas, all dd wanted was a rock tumbler. This is a kid who asks for ONE thing, and never parts from it. For the 4 (?) weeks after Christmas, I cursed that tumbler every. single. day. Have I mentioned that we don't have a garage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I hear you. We have a good one with lots of rubber. We keep in in a cement room in the basement with Styrofoam under it and a box with more noise absorbing material around it. It needs to run for several weeks before the rocks are ready. If you have a garage you may want to try it out there with some protective stuff around it. Just remember to leave enough room for the motor to cool. Several Weeks?! :svengo: Stars in Heaven!!! I will be a total basketcase. I do have a garage, but that seems worse than the basement at night. (Basement is farther from any sleeping quarters.) It is sitting on a towel, but I didn't want to put anything over it. Is this going to drive my electricity bill up? I am seriously considering canning this entire project post-haste. :tongue_smilie: We have a little bag of those finished stones and it's really giving me pause why we should go through making them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 :D Thanks. My girls have wanted one for years, I've kept putting them off. Now I have a really good reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 :D Thanks. My girls have wanted one for years, I've kept putting them off. Now I have a really good reason. Just say no. Order a little bag of gemstones instead. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Ours was in the garage and I still hated it. Actually, I think that tumbler is somewhere with rocks still in it because we never did the last step. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutor Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 We had run ours for about 2 days before our chest freezer broke. Normally, the breaking of such an expensive appliance would have devastated me, but I was SO HAPPY!!! We picked up the tumbler, put it in the freezer, and let it grind away in greatly muffled bliss! The kids polished rocks for months! When we moved, we got rid of the dead freezer but not the rock tumbler. That was a mistake. Ds8 has been asking to polish rocks again. Ds11, without missing a beat, replied, "We can't. We have to wait until the new freezer dies." :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In the Rain Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 :lol: I always wanted a rock tumbler when I was a kid. I've considered buying one for my girls. Thanks for the warning. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 If the goal is just to see how a rock changes in the polishing process, there's another option. If you are fortunate enough to live in an area with a professional lapidary, their high-powered machines tumble the rocks very quickly and efficiently. It may be worth buying a bag of rough rocks there and paying to have them tumbled while you browse for half an hour or so. Even if the price were extremely high, it would probably be less than the cost of purchasing that home rock tumbler that will drive everyone batty for a few weeks, never to be used again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 When I was a kid, my sister had one of those Rock Tumblers - you know, that turn the ordinary rocks into polished gemstones. DD wanted one several Christmases ago. She got one, but it has been sitting in her closet for years. I was cleaning up in there and spotted it and thought, "Oh, the boys will love this!" While reading the instructions, I did notice that it says, "Tumbling rocks make a LOT of noise. Please locate the tumbler where it will not disturb anybody." NO FREAKIN' kidding it makes a lot of noise! It's been churning away for not quite 24 hours and I could throw it straight out the window! I did move it downstairs in the basement so it will be as far as possible from bugging anybody, but I can hear it screeching and squeeling right now, one floor up. I was awake for an hour in the middle of the night last night, because I couldn't stop my ears from discerning the far-off squeaking. I don't know how I can possibly stand this contraption for six more days. Epic fail homeschooler project. :glare: Next time, we're going with Butterfly Canopy instead. You're supposed to keep that thing going for a WEEK?!?!? :001_huh: That would drive me nuts too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Ha! We did it last year (given to us by a childless aunt) and it didn't 6 days, that was just the first step. I think total it was something like 3-4 weeks. Luckily we had a stack of carpet squares leftover from a recent home improvement project and I created kind of a tent around it with those. It muffled the sound pretty well. It also was in the basement in a room by itself with the door closed. After we were done, I hid it away in a closet. I don't want to inflict it on someone else, but it feels wrong to just throw it away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 My sister had a rock tumbler when we were kids. My father set it up in the back porch in the storage closet. I only recall my sister using it once. I will have to try to remember to ask her about it when we speak next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 :grouphug: We ran our tumble once years ago. It was a long couple of weeks, but the finished results were worth it. I will never agree to a 2nd batch though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewingmama Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 :001_huh: I opened this post thinking "Oh cool, a rock tumbler, my rock collecting DD would love one of those" Thank you for saving me :lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Okay - question for all you experienced tumblers who are telling me I have weeks to look forward to. (I did put an upside-down Rubbermade Tote on top of it, so that is helping to deaden the sound.) What "step" required all that further running and how did you know? Did you look at it and say, "Needs another week."? I didn't get weeks and weeks in the instructions. It looked like a week or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2jjka Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Yes, weeks! We put ours in the basement and I could still hear it all. day. long. (and I was about ready to make my DH go sleep in the basement next to the dumb thing because he was the one who bought it for our DS. :glare: ) We did one batch or rocks - The other batch is sitting unused in the box because I refuse to listen to that again. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Some are louder than others. :) We kept ours in the garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Okay - question for all you experienced tumblers who are telling me I have weeks to look forward to. (I did put an upside-down Rubbermade Tote on top of it, so that is helping to deaden the sound.) What "step" required all that further running and how did you know? Did you look at it and say, "Needs another week."? I didn't get weeks and weeks in the instructions. It looked like a week or so. Our kit came with different types of grit and step by step instructions. Ex: tumble with grit 1 for 14 days. Rinse, add grit 2, tumble for 5 days, ect. The last step was a polishing grit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauracolumbus Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I was so tempted to buy one of these for dd who is obsessed w/rocks/gems. But, I read a review on Amazon, where some guy said he couldn't stand the noise while the tumbler was in the garage. And this was a 'quiet' model. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Both DD and my niece got one for Christmas. DD's is still in the box, but my niece's was running in the garage when we were there for a visit. I did not notice the sound until I actually went in to the garage, so ours will be set up in the garage when it gets put to use, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Well, if anyone is still interested after this :D, make sure you check the directions before purchase. Ours only takes about a week, maybe a bit more, and it's just a regular ol' cheap one from Michaels. We put it in the shed, but then the hard part is remembering it's there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Ours had to run for a MONTH! We kept it in a cabinet in the garage. Never did it again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsBasil Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I had one when I was a kid. I remembered it fondly and thought I got such cool rocks from it. I mentioned buying one for my own dc when they were older to my dad. He thought I was nuts. I don't remember the noise, but he sure does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 :D Thanks. My girls have wanted one for years, I've kept putting them off. Now I have a really good reason. Same with the boys. This is so good to know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Not to be contrarian, but we got a Lortone rock tumbler from Home Science Tools, and it is not noisy enough to bother anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 My oldest got one of those for Christmas one year. It took several weeks for the stones to get polished. We did have a place to put it in the garage where it wasn't very audible in the house. We used it that one time and never plugged it in again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkle Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Not to be contrarian, but we got a Lortone rock tumbler from Home Science Tools, and it is not noisy enough to bother anyone. :iagree: We've tumbled rocks with one too, and didn't find it loud at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 :iagree: We've tumbled rocks with one too, and didn't find it loud at all. Thanks -- I was wondering if I had gone completely deaf! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celticmom Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 An upside down inexpensive styrofoam cooler over the tumbler is pretty effective for helping to deaden the noise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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