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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 8, 2021 16:03:15 GMT -5
Hi everyone. Tommy contacted me the other day and asked if I had considered making a video about the National Geographic tumbler since it has become so popular for beginners. From what I have read, I'm not impressed, but then again, I've never tried one. Right now, I'm thinking that a review of the tumbler is the direction I want to go. I have seen a lot of videos about the tumbler, but they've all been from people opening their first tumbler ever and running their first batch. They all seem to be pretty positive because the people reviewing them are excited to try a new hobby and don't have anything to compare to. In starting to think about this, I first looked them up on Amazon. There are three models available. One is a plastic toy. Then there is the hobbyist model and the professional model. The only difference that I can see is the the hobbyist model has a one pound barrel and the pro model has a two pound barrel. The bases look different, but I don't know if it's the same motor on the inside or not. I'm going to have to buy one of these to review it. I don't want to buy two of them, so my first question is which should I buy? I don't know which is more popular. Popularity aside, I'm leaning strongly toward the pro model. If I review the hobbyist model and give it a negative review, then people might assume that buying the pro model would solve any problems I might find with the lower cost tumbler. I haven't been very active here over the past year or two because I spend many hours each week responding to comments and questions on my YouTube channel. I hear from some people who have bought this tumbler, but I'd like more input from your experience reading comments here or if you purchased a National Geographic tumbler yourself. What do you like about it? What are the problems with it? It's going to be difficult for me to judge the durability of the machine unless it dies right away or by testing it for a long time. I'd rather not run more than one or two batches through it. Do any of you have longterm experience running one? I'd like to hear about good experiences as well as bad. Thanks for your help with this, I'm hoping that I can either help people decide whether this is a good purchase or not as well as how to best use the machine if someone has already purchased one. |
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lordsorril
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since April 2020
Posts: 933
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Post by lordsorril on Feb 8, 2021 20:18:10 GMT -5
On Amazon as of 08 Feb 21: National Geographic Rock Tumbler Kit-3lb. Extra Large Capacity: 645 reviews National Geographic Starter Rock Tumbler Kit 1lb. barrel: 4244 reviews National Geographic Professional Rock Tumbler Kit 2lb. barrel (shares reviews with the Nat Geo Hobby Rock tumbler 1lb. barrel) * 12585 reviews*I think a lot of people are disheartened with their results from these tumblers before the device breaks. Someone messaged me recently asking me for a recommendation and told me their NG Hobby model died after 5 months of continuous use--they thought it was a good design because they 'used it constantly for 5 months'...hmmm I guess that is one way to look at it... If I was doing a review I would probably use the NG Pro Rock Tumbler---since it is...ahem...'professional'...  |
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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 8, 2021 20:33:57 GMT -5
On Amazon as of 08 Feb 21: National Geographic Rock Tumbler Kit-3lb. Extra Large Capacity: 645 reviews National Geographic Starter Rock Tumbler Kit 1lb. barrel: 4244 reviews National Geographic Professional Rock Tumbler Kit 2lb. barrel (shares reviews with the Nat Geo Hobby Rock tumbler 1lb. barrel) * 12585 reviews*I think a lot of people are disheartened with their results from these tumblers before the device breaks. Someone messaged me recently asking me for a recommendation and told me their NG Hobby model died after 5 months of continuous use--they thought it was a good design because they 'used it constantly for 5 months'...hmmm I guess that is one way to look at it... If I was doing a review I would probably use the NG Pro Rock Tumbler---since it is...ahem...'professional'... Thanks. I did read some of the negative reviews on Amazon. That's a good idea. Since Tommy asked me to make a video, I thought I should make it to address some of the more common reasons people end up at RTH with questions. After I wrote my original post, I discovered the extra large capacity model. So I guess that's four different models if you include the plastic toy. |
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
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Post by Brian on Feb 8, 2021 20:58:48 GMT -5
When I first started looking up information on rock tumblers about a year and a half ago, the National Geographic Professional model would have been my choice had I not come across this forum. The hobby model seemed to toy-like to be of any real interest and the Professional model looked far more substantial. You may want to ask holajonathan about his experience with his National Geographic tumbler. He wrote a nice summary of its pros and cons in a post here: forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/94081/recommendation-beginners-tumbler. It looks like he has the 3-lb tumbler. That version may offer a better comparison with the entry level Lortone and Thumler models with similar capacity, but I still think the Professional model is probably the one more likely to lure people in for their first tumbler. The 2-lb capacity seems like a good middle ground between the hobby model and the "large" 3-lb model. |
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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 8, 2021 21:28:05 GMT -5
When I first started looking up information on rock tumblers about a year and a half ago, the National Geographic Professional model would have been my choice had I not come across this forum. The hobby model seemed to toy-like to be of any real interest and the Professional model looked far more substantial. You may want to ask holajonathan about his experience with his National Geographic tumbler. He wrote a nice summary of its pros and cons in a post here: forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/94081/recommendation-beginners-tumbler. It looks like he has the 3-lb tumbler. That version may offer a better comparison with the entry level Lortone and Thumler models with similar capacity, but I still think the Professional model is probably the one more likely to lure people in for their first tumbler. The 2-lb capacity seems like a good middle ground between the hobby model and the "large" 3-lb model. Thanks for that link. I really didn’t expect to see such a positive review. I am definitely going into this biased, but I want to be fair. |
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
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Post by Brian on Feb 8, 2021 22:26:41 GMT -5
When I first started looking up information on rock tumblers about a year and a half ago, the National Geographic Professional model would have been my choice had I not come across this forum. The hobby model seemed to toy-like to be of any real interest and the Professional model looked far more substantial. You may want to ask holajonathan about his experience with his National Geographic tumbler. He wrote a nice summary of its pros and cons in a post here: forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/94081/recommendation-beginners-tumbler. It looks like he has the 3-lb tumbler. That version may offer a better comparison with the entry level Lortone and Thumler models with similar capacity, but I still think the Professional model is probably the one more likely to lure people in for their first tumbler. The 2-lb capacity seems like a good middle ground between the hobby model and the "large" 3-lb model. Thanks for that link. I really didn’t expect to see such a positive review. I am definitely going into this biased, but I want to be fair. Eliminating the bias may be tough. The average person buying one of those tumblers probably has a very different set of criteria they are basing the decision on. My guess is it is a fun thing to try and/or a gift for a kid or someone who has expressed a small amount of interest in rocks. For that person, it may be the perfect fit because it doesn’t need to have the durability of a more serious hobbyist. Putting myself in their shoes (where I was myself not long ago) what would be most valuable would be an honest assessment of the machine itself and a comparison between the National Geographic and either a Lortone or Thumler 3-pounder. Without a comparison, it would be hard for the target of such a video to make any meaningful conclusion, or to even appreciate what they may or may not be getting when they buy such a machine. I remember the frustration I felt when I couldn’t find any meaningful information until I came across RTH. Another thing I would love to see is a demonstration of the results from following exactly the instructions and supplies provided with the National Geographic tumbler and what results can be achieved based on your experience and knowledge. I’ve read too frequently that the provided instructions do not always lead to pleasing results and the polish provided is not a true polish, so it would be nice to show people what they could do with such a machine while armed with additional knowledge. After watching so many of your videos, I’m confident you will do a great job with this. |
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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 8, 2021 22:51:03 GMT -5
Thanks for that link. I really didn’t expect to see such a positive review. I am definitely going into this biased, but I want to be fair. Eliminating the bias may be tough. The average person buying one of those tumblers probably has a very different set of criteria they are basing the decision on. My guess is it is a fun thing to try and/or a gift for a kid or someone who has expressed a small amount of interest in rocks. For that person, it may be the perfect fit because it doesn’t need to have the durability of a more serious hobbyist. Putting myself in their shoes (where I was myself not long ago) what would be most valuable would be an honest assessment of the machine itself and a comparison between the National Geographic and either a Lortone or Thumler 3-pounder. Without a comparison, it would be hard for the target of such a video to make any meaningful conclusion, or to even appreciate what they may or may not be getting when they buy such a machine. I remember the frustration I felt when I couldn’t find any meaningful information until I came across RTH. Another thing I would love to see is a demonstration of the results from following exactly the instructions and supplies provided with the National Geographic tumbler and what results can be achieved based on your experience and knowledge. I’ve read too frequently that the provided instructions do not always lead to pleasing results and the polish provided is not a true polish, so it would be nice to show people what they could do with such a machine while armed with additional knowledge. After watching so many of your videos, I’m confident you will do a great job with this. Thanks Brian, that’s really helpful. My possibly unfair bias is based on all those people who I have heard complain that they’re not able to get a good shine from the tumbler. That could be just a matter of inexperience or following the directions. For the money, I really feel like a better choice is a Lortone 3A or 33B, so I will definitely compare to that. I like your idea of following the directions exactly. That would be a disaster with any tumbler directions. To follow it up with directions that work would make the video helpful for people who already own one. As I’m writing this, I’m starting to think this might be better as a series of videos. Maybe the first video could be doing a batch by the directions and then the next video could be doing a hopefully more successful batch. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Feb 8, 2021 23:06:16 GMT -5
Thanks for that link. I really didn’t expect to see such a positive review. I am definitely going into this biased, but I want to be fair. Eliminating the bias may be tough. The average person buying one of those tumblers probably has a very different set of criteria they are basing the decision on. My guess is it is a fun thing to try and/or a gift for a kid or someone who has expressed a small amount of interest in rocks. For that person, it may be the perfect fit because it doesn’t need to have the durability of a more serious hobbyist. Putting myself in their shoes (where I was myself not long ago) what would be most valuable would be an honest assessment of the machine itself and a comparison between the National Geographic and either a Lortone or Thumler 3-pounder. Without a comparison, it would be hard for the target of such a video to make any meaningful conclusion, or to even appreciate what they may or may not be getting when they buy such a machine. I remember the frustration I felt when I couldn’t find any meaningful information until I came across RTH. Another thing I would love to see is a demonstration of the results from following exactly the instructions and supplies provided with the National Geographic tumbler and what results can be achieved based on your experience and knowledge. I’ve read too frequently that the provided instructions do not always lead to pleasing results and the polish provided is not a true polish, so it would be nice to show people what they could do with such a machine while armed with additional knowledge. After watching so many of your videos, I’m confident you will do a great job with this. Flat out, this was a brilliant post Brian! |
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thaddeus
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2021
Posts: 4
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Post by thaddeus on Feb 9, 2021 0:50:41 GMT -5
Hello to all, this is my first post on the forum. My then-8-year-old son received the NatGeo Pro model (2 lb barrel) as a Christmas gift 2 years ago. It has been in constant use since then, and seems to running fine.
This is the only tumbler I have ever owned. Here are some opinions and observations:
It's still running! It has not needed anything, not even a belt replacement (an extra came with the kit). The rubber barrel and lid are high quality. The plastic rollers seem a little cheap, and now have minor grooves worn into them. They have good bearings.
If the barrel is overloaded, the unit will stop and the display shows an error message. This irks me, but I soon learned the max load, and mostly stay within the design limits.
I have no real complaints about the unit itself, with one exception. If the power in your home goes off, even for a second, the unit stops and must be turned back on. That's somewhat annoying since the windy winter storms in my area cause power-flickers a few times a month.
The kit came with an assortment of mixed hardness rocks, and grit packets. We followed the instructions precisely, and as you can guess, disappointment ensued. Of course, one week in stage one is usually not enough. Plus, a mixed hardness load is doomed from the start. Also, not one rock took anything close to a shine. Over the last 2 years I have slowly learned to get great results with agates and petrified wood, so I stick with that. Thanks to the many experts on this forum, my lurking has led to very decent results.
The unit has 3 speeds, and I think they are all probably too fast. I'm thinking of getting a Lortone 45c, for more capacity. I like to tumble some larger specimens, and have even done an oblong agate 4 inches long! I ran it solo for 6 weeks, with sub-1 inch laker agate rubble. Turned out great.
My experience has ultimately been positive but they sure could produce happier customers if they included realistic instructions (so folks would be aware of the need for multiple weeks in course grind). They should also just supply a single variety of easily polished rocks.
Hope this helps someone!
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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 9, 2021 6:25:13 GMT -5
Hello to all, this is my first post on the forum. My then-8-year-old son received the NatGeo Pro model (2 lb barrel) as a Christmas gift 2 years ago. It has been in constant use since then, and seems to running fine. This is the only tumbler I have ever owned. Here are some opinions and observations: It's still running! It has not needed anything, not even a belt replacement (an extra came with the kit). The rubber barrel and lid are high quality. The plastic rollers seem a little cheap, and now have minor grooves worn into them. They have good bearings. If the barrel is overloaded, the unit will stop and the display shows an error message. This irks me, but I soon learned the max load, and mostly stay within the design limits. I have no real complaints about the unit itself, with one exception. If the power in your home goes off, even for a second, the unit stops and must be turned back on. That's somewhat annoying since the windy winter storms in my area cause power-flickers a few times a month. The kit came with an assortment of mixed hardness rocks, and grit packets. We followed the instructions precisely, and as you can guess, disappointment ensued. Of course, one week in stage one is usually not enough. Plus, a mixed hardness load is doomed from the start. Also, not one rock took anything close to a shine. Over the last 2 years I have slowly learned to get great results with agates and petrified wood, so I stick with that. Thanks to the many experts on this forum, my lurking has led to very decent results. The unit has 3 speeds, and I think they are all probably too fast. I'm thinking of getting a Lortone 45c, for more capacity. I like to tumble some larger specimens, and have even done an oblong agate 4 inches long! I ran it solo for 6 weeks, with sub-1 inch laker agate rubble. Turned out great. My experience has ultimately been positive but they sure could produce happier customers if they included realistic instructions (so folks would be aware of the need for multiple weeks in course grind). They should also just supply a single variety of easily polished rocks. Hope this helps someone! Thank you, Thaddeus! It’s about time you came out of the shadows and posted something. You certainly had a good story to share. I’m starting to develop a different opinion about this machine, I do have a question, and it’s something I had been wondering about since reading some of the negative reviews and watching a couple videos. How much can you fill the barrel before the tumbler turns itself off? Can you fill the barrel to 2/3 full? In some of the videos I have watched, people have out a tiny amount of rocks in the machine, like less than half full. This might just be the number of rocks that are included in the kit. One more question. I have read that the included polish is not good. Can you verify this? Can you tell me anything about the foam polishing cubes that come with the machine? Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it. |
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Post by greig on Feb 9, 2021 11:43:01 GMT -5
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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 9, 2021 11:49:03 GMT -5
From my experience shipping to Canada, the shipping will probably be a lot more than that. I think I’d like to start with a brand new machine so I don’t have to wonder if here was something wrong with it before I got it. I really appreciate the offer though. |
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Post by greig on Feb 9, 2021 11:55:21 GMT -5
No problem. Just giving you options. ;-)
From my experience, plastic tumblers are junk. They fail prematurely because the plastic barrel wears out. In the past, I bought a few because they were cheap. Might have lasted 3-4 tumbles before developing a leak. I considered a time lapse video just to show why they should be avoided. So many ideas and not enough time. ;-)
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Feb 9, 2021 12:08:45 GMT -5
I have seen way more complaints in regards to the NAT GEO polish they provide then I have for the actual tumblers. I did just see a couple videos of them running yesterday and they look like much higher RPM then lortone when on the 2 or 3 setting.
Chuck
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thaddeus
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2021
Posts: 4
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Post by thaddeus on Feb 9, 2021 13:40:15 GMT -5
Answers for Jugglerguy:
I can fill the barrel MORE than 2/3 full. It has never stopped when conservatively loaded at 2/3 or under. However, when the volume starts approaching 3/4 full I expect possible stoppage. This can be inconsistant based on the barrel contents and speed, especially if an oversized rock is involved. I sometimes just can't resist tossing in a couple more rocks when it looks to be just barely at 2/3..."it'll hold these, too. Maybe."
I can't comment on the polishing foam cubes. They are a more recent addition to the kit and didn't exist when I received mine. The polish I got didn't work at all, but that could have been due to my inexperience.
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thaddeus
off to a rocking start
Member since February 2021
Posts: 4
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Post by thaddeus on Feb 9, 2021 14:04:07 GMT -5
Nat Geo Pro 2 lb speed info:
Barrel diameter is 5 1/16 inches.
Top speed: 102 rpm
Medium speed: 82 rpm
Low speed: 66 rpm
When tumbling anything softer than petrified wood or agates, I have ended up with very bruised and damaged edges, plus obvious bruising over at least half the total rock surface. Even using the lowest speed and 50% well rounded smalls and ceramic media for cushioning.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 9, 2021 14:06:21 GMT -5
Answers for Jugglerguy: I can fill the barrel MORE than 2/3 full. It has never stopped when conservatively loaded at 2/3 or under. However, when the volume starts approaching 3/4 full I expect possible stoppage. This can be inconsistant based on the barrel contents and speed, especially if an oversized rock is involved. I sometimes just can't resist tossing in a couple more rocks when it looks to be just barely at 2/3..."it'll hold these, too. Maybe." I can't comment on the polishing foam cubes. They are a more recent addition to the kit and didn't exist when I received mine. The polish I got didn't work at all, but that could have been due to my inexperience. Thanks again, Thaddeus. I don't think your lack of polish was totally due to inexperience. I have read that the polish included is not a quality product. That might be the worst thing about this tumbling kit. I'm guessing that they've added the foam cubes as a way to possibly improve the polish. It's nice that they're trying to improve their product. |
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Post by greig on Feb 9, 2021 14:32:08 GMT -5
Answers for Jugglerguy: I can fill the barrel MORE than 2/3 full. It has never stopped when conservatively loaded at 2/3 or under. However, when the volume starts approaching 3/4 full I expect possible stoppage. This can be inconsistant based on the barrel contents and speed, especially if an oversized rock is involved. I sometimes just can't resist tossing in a couple more rocks when it looks to be just barely at 2/3..."it'll hold these, too. Maybe." I can't comment on the polishing foam cubes. They are a more recent addition to the kit and didn't exist when I received mine. The polish I got didn't work at all, but that could have been due to my inexperience. I remember with plastic tumblers that I had to lift one side of the base to get them to keep spinning with a heavy load. Never burned out a motor. Just wore out the inside of the plastic barrels. |
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Post by greig on Feb 9, 2021 14:42:36 GMT -5
I ended up buying the tumbler for $20. Something to play with maybe. Until it breaks.
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Post by jasoninsd on Feb 9, 2021 14:44:33 GMT -5
I ended up buying the tumbler for $20. Something to play with maybe. Until it breaks. I was wondering if you wouldn't just pick that thing up!  ...if you wait just a little bit to use it, I hear there's gonna be a video soon to show you how to properly use it! |
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