cdpeckham
off to a rocking start
Member since December 2011
Posts: 1
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Post by cdpeckham on Dec 3, 2011 11:56:09 GMT -5
My parents took my sons on a vacation to South Dakota this past summer. My youngest son, who is 7, returned with his most prized souvenir - a small bag of polished stones that his grandpa bought for a few dollars at a Mt. Rushmore gift shop. He is infatuated with these stones. So fond is he of them that the top item on his Christmas list this year: "Shiny rocks." As you might suspect, this has generated quite a few laughs from family members, but I'm seriously considering buying him a rock tumbler for Christmas (or I should say, Santa is considering bringing him one) so he can make his own "shiny rocks." My concerns: - I wonder if the inexpensive models for kids are garbage and wouldn't do a good job. If it's a potential long-term hobby for him, I don't want him to be turned off by a bad experience due to poor quality equipment.
- I wonder if the more professional equipment is a bit much for him at his age. Certainly I would help him with it and it doesn't seem terribly complex based on what I've read. It seems to just require some patience and attention to detail, both characteristics that this particular child was blessed with ample supply of.
- I wonder if we can find decent specimens locally to tumble (we live in Ft. Wayne, which is in the NE corner of Indiana. I'm not sure how much satisfaction is to be gained from ordering specimens via the mail for polishing, but I'm also no expert and wouldn't know what to look for "in the wild," so to speak.
Does anyone have a recommendation? What have you folks started out with that produced a good quality result? I'm leery of the $50 models but would like to keep my spend in the $150 range. Is that feasible? Are you typically able to find supplies for this hobby locally, or must you often order online? We have a couple hobby shops and plentiful hardware stores nearby, but I've never seen the materials described in the "4 step process" article I read. Perhaps because I just wasn't looking? Are they common? Lastly, what do you do with the results? I can imagine that after a couple tumblers full of nice results have been produced, a 7-year old may struggle to find anything to do with them. He's obviously not a skilled craftsman at this age, so he's not going to be creating jewelry and so forth. Perhaps I'm missing some obvious ideas? Many thanks in advance for your comments, thoughts, and suggestions!
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ctit101
starting to shine!
Member since May 2011
Posts: 38
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Post by ctit101 on Dec 3, 2011 13:02:36 GMT -5
I went through this summer with 10 grand kids hunting rocks in creek beds and along gravel roads. We had a lot of fun. The very young ones will want to tumble everything they pick up. As far as best tumbler the people on here can help you a lot. I just built a home made one, it is far from the store bought ones but goes round and round the kids call it. The older ones understood having to wait to get the rocks worked. The younger ones wanted to get there rock out everyday and wash it. Because of that I just used sand for grit. It's slow but cheap. Even with that they would notice changes in there rocks.
We now have buckets of smooth rounded rocks waiting till spring and warmer weather in the shop. I will have to buy the real grit and polish to get them to shine. But we had a ball on our rock hunts and playing with the tumbler. They didn't lose interest at all. We live in Illinois and do not have a lot of great rocks, it's all corn fields. But even the little ones learned to find the better looking rocks after awhile. We made screens to fit over 5 gal buckets for washing and lots of things you see on here. The pros on here know about every tip and trick there is to get a shinny rock. A 4 year old understands getting his hands in the slurry and washing there rocks off. The waiting a week or two between stages didn't fly with the little ones. The older ones had no problem with it, they had other things going on. Your 7 year old is the right age to get into it. Just make it fun for there little minds and then it's easier for them to learn that it takes time. I was the one that learned the most by doing this for them. It's a really good hobby for young and old.
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Post by paulshiroma on Dec 3, 2011 13:06:38 GMT -5
Hi and welcome to the forum! I was about seven when my Dad bought me my first tumbler. It was one of the inexpensive "educational" ones and it got me hooked. We used it a few times although 40 years ago it was hard to get additional grit and I eventually put it away. My recollection of my "educational" model was that it did just fine. My Dad had to help me with it as well. Now, I've got a pair of Thumlers tumblers and my boys (9 and 5) collect and tumble rocks. The folks on the board turned me on to The Rock Shed (http://www.therockshed.com/tumbler2.html) and I end up purchasing almost all my tumbling supplies, including rocks, from them. You'll also find that the folks on the forum are willing to send stuff as well. Your price range is more than feasible. I live in SoCal and can't find a local dealer who I can just swing by and pickup grit and supplies so I'm in the same position as you: I have to mail order. Or, perhaps, like you, I just haven't looked hard enough LOL! Our results sit in a wide glass bowl my wife picked up for the purpose and now occupy a place on the dining room table. A few are also displayed in her china cabinet . We've also made small rock collections for my son's teachers, as well. Some go out as gifts at Christmas as we have friends from church who are also into the hobby. If you check out The Rock Shed you'll find a good selection of reasonably priced tumblers for folks like you and I who are starting or getting back into the hobby and have young children. I'm using the Thumler's models but that's mostly because that's what my Dad bought me 40 years ago so it's more sentimental than anything. I hope your son has a great time with his newly discovered passion! Paul
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Post by johnjsgems on Dec 3, 2011 16:05:09 GMT -5
Yes, Thumler's (if you do the retainers that hold on the lids) or Lortone make good hobby level starter tumblers that can last a lifetime if properly maintained. A 7 year old could easily glue bell caps on tumbled stones and make simple jewelry, key chain ornaments, etc. Spring for a two drum (3 lbs. each) like the AR2 or 33B. You will be glad if you as well as the child get into it. I also advise parents to be sure they enjoy it also as the patience of little ones sometimes sometimes fizzles out.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2011 17:50:14 GMT -5
I have to agree with Johnjsgems. I bought a Thumlers double three and an extra barrel for fine polish. It has been running for a year and a half with no problems other than getting it level. I set it on carpet pad and it runs so quiet it is sitting just outside of my bedroom and I can hardly hear it. I also have to get my grit on the net and it is easier than going to a store even if there was a store in town. You will need to be careful with the polish so that there is no dust for the kids to breathe but other than that they will be able to care for it themselves. The motor needs oil once a week and it will teach them to take care of their equipment so it does not wear out about like checking the oil in the car. Good luck and I think that you will be able to find stone no matter where you are. If not it will be good to learn about stone from all parts of the country because many people here will send them some at no charge. They could even talk to the people here about stones from different areas. I would be happy to introduce them to Wyoming rock and send some different samples of the things that I can identify so they could label what they have. Jim
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blessed
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2010
Posts: 329
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Post by blessed on Dec 3, 2011 19:03:52 GMT -5
Howdy and welcome. I like the Lortone 33B. It is easer to use. When you do order the tumbler , order some extra grit. I also use , www.therockshed.com for replacement parts and grit. Shawn can tell you what you need. They are good people. Give them a call. I like hunting my own rocks. Happy tumbling------James
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Post by connrock on Dec 5, 2011 11:29:12 GMT -5
Hi and welcome to the group! Others have hit on types and brands of tumblers,etc so I won't go there,,,,,, One important point about tumbling rocks is that patience is a must and a 7 year old doesn't have much when it comes to watching a tumbler go round and round! I AM NOT trying to discourage you but,in spite of what the instructions from tumbler manufacturers tell you, I want you to know that it takes months to complete a load of polished rocks! W have a lot of people come on to this board ,who have tried to follow the tumbling instructions that came with their tumbler,,,asking why their rocks don't shine. However,,,,all is not lost! The following link will take you to a series of photos I took of my grandson Mike at age (about7-8) doing his first load of polished rocks. Although the photos' do show part of the tumbling process,,the main reason of the photos was some people were complaining about dealing with plastic pellets and I wanted to show that even a kid can deal with plastic pellets with ease! Also,Mike has a LOT of patience for a small boy and although he did finish this load with great results,I didn't get photos of the finished polished rocks,,,,,my fault and NOT his! imageevent.com/tcknkk/mikesfirstbatchoftumbledrocks?n=0&z=2&c=4&x=1&m=24&w=0&p=0Your son won't be able to do this without your help so you will either have to first learn yourself or learn together! Some people catch on pretty fast while others done so don't get discouraged and don't forget that we are all here to help you as much as we possibly can. Also,,,I doubt if you will find the world knowledge you'll find here in any book as a book would have to be endless because we are ALL still learning! Ask away,,,,that's what we're here for! Good Luck,,, connrock
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Post by rocklicker on Dec 7, 2011 15:53:22 GMT -5
Lortone and Thumblers both make good tumblers as others have said, and you should have no problem finding one in your price range.
As conrock said, tumbling is all about patience. If you son can get through a batch he will have the patience needed for tumbling and pretty soon he will have more shiney rocks than he knows what to do with. Maybe consider getting a model that you and your son could both use, like the Lortone 33B or something one step up from the standard 3 pound tumbler (which is great as is and an awesome first tumbler). You can have fun changing grits and checking the progress of the rocks, keeping track of it on the calandar, etc.
My father got me a Lortone 3lb tumbler when I was about 9, and that was all it took. That was 29 years ago and now the garage is half full of rock equipment including a small army of tumblers. It's a great hobby and my eyes still light up when I finish up a batch and clean the tumbled stones off. Steve
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mjflinty
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 356
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Post by mjflinty on Dec 7, 2011 16:59:59 GMT -5
I've had my 3 lb Lortone since 1993 (age 13) and it's still running just fine! It has spent its life tumbling Ohio Flint (tough stuff).
Yes, I think once you get bit by the rock bug you are hooked for life. You'll know once you start licking rocks ;-)
Michael
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