Reddit mentions: The best rock tumblers for kids

Sonya, Your Momma wouldn't tell you this but ....

Sweet child, this world is made up of all kinds of people with different ways of thinking, believing and feeling, this is important because be different is not being wrong, being different is what makes you unique. Love what makes you different, and love what makes others different.

I hope it's okay to share more than one thing that I think every child should have.

rock tumbler

Snap Circuits jr kit

Prime Club game

Happy birthday!!

Oh goodness! It's one my dad bought maybe 2 years ago, it's a Smithsonian kit (the one on this box), so right now I'm just using what came in it, but my dad has quite a collection of different types of agates that I'm itching to get at.

He also has quite an Ellensburg Blue collection that I'd just love to see all smooth and pretty but he told me no. :C

But yeah, it's a pretty small one, it does 1/2 lb at a time, but uh - I'd love to hear tips, tricks, etc! What should I buy and use, since this only came with enough for 1 set of rocks?

Oh I forgot to mention, I recently found this on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Hobby-Rock-Tumbler/dp/B01LQCIL88

It's a bit pricey, but it lets you make your own jewelry and polish your own gemstones! I'd love to buy it for myself, but I think your crush would really love this too - you two could even use it together! OR you could use it and give her a necklace made with the gemstones you polish :)

This might be a bit much, but I want to help inspire the next generation of women scientists. Might I suggest a rock tumbler at some point? Perhaps make some nice Jewelry, or just simply studying the stones that come up?

> mine it yourself in the US is Sapphire.

It's highly unlikely that you're gonna be able to find any kind of a gem grade stone by visiting an open-to-the-public mine. And if you do find one, it'll be so puny and an ugly color that it wouldn't be worth the expense of cutting it.

However, I have a sneaky suggestion that poses some fun and excitement for you and she'll get a knockout gem in the end!

Start off buying an inexpensive but high quality rock tumbler. It'll come with a small amount of varying grits and instructions.

For sapphire rough you're gonna need silicon carbide 220 grit and a few weeks of patience.

Couple bags of 15mm alumina balls for filler material inside the tumbler.

Contact a gem cutter like this guy HERE, select the synthetic sapphire/ruby (or spinel) color(s) of your choice and ask that he cut up a quarter-boule into varies shapes and preform them into alluvial shapes in the 5-7ct range. This will allow you some breathing room for polishing so that you wind up with a handful of various shapes and sizes after tumbling. You would then (secretly) drop these lil beauties into your honey's gem gravel before the wash. You'd probably have to fill in the assisting staff at the mine of what you're doing. She then discovers the gems and picks out which one she wants to have cut.

You then contact Phil again, send him the piece(s)....and he cuts a perfect gem in the size and shape that you choose either from the tumbled rough or new material.

You save a bankroll, have a blast being sneaky and she gets a REAL sapphire or ruby for her engagement ring and is never the wiser. :)

The easiest way to get Garnets ready for submersion would be to tumble them in a rock tumbler. You can get an inexpensive one (https://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Hobby-Rock-Tumbler/dp/B01LQCIL88 for example), or you can make your own with a round plastic container, a base with a simple motor, and some wheels or conveyor parts for it to sit on (one possible method: https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Rock-Tumbler/). You put the garnets in, add some water and course abrasive sand, then turn it on and let it tumble for a week or so, then switch to the next finer grit, eventually getting down to plastic beads and soapy water. You can also polish them by hand with a dremil tool and polishing compound, or with a buffing wheel. This is the better approach if you want to preserve crisp edge geometry. Some people also cut and facet them. If you have a very transparent garnet it may be worth looking at having it cut and faceted as they can be worth a fair amount. But usually garnets are pretty inexpensive. If there is a lot of matrix rock and you don't want to tumble, you can typically dissolve it slowly with oxcillic acid or muriatic acid. Some people also use small sandblasters for particularly nice specimens. Its ok if they are a little rough, the fish won't mind, but they might get algae in the cracks. They also sell Garnet sand so you can have big garnets sitting on a bed of garnet sand if you like the look. I have a whole jar of it for some reason that came with the house heh.

I was totally going to suggest this one

https://smile.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Hobby-Rock-Tumbler/dp/B01LQCIL88/ref=gbps_img_m-8_41a7_8f2769b4?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=517b8b45-fcde-42db-9bce-a0abf0ce41a7&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-8&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=384082011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=CM1TEM5PRJ37602ESE2B

But the above looks like it's more in your budget. This one IS on sale right now though. I was browsing Amazon deals and saw it and thought "Hey! There was a person on Raoa looking for a gift for someone who likes ROCKS."

Wow, thanks so much for the information! I've got this tumbler.

1. How can I tell which rocks are hard vs soft? Should I make an ID before tumbling and categorize them?
   
   
2. So it's less the size of the rocks that makes them shrink and more about hardness?
   
   
3. That's super interesting, I never would have figured that out! The unfortunate thing is I don't get to go hounding very often, so it would take me a REALLY long time to have enough rocks. :(

Ha! Okay I got it. This is better. Get tiny little plastic cubes, like this but maybe something more suitable in shape:

https://www.amazon.ca/SE-8741BB-Stackable-Plastic-Containers/dp/B003NHCOE2

Measure out a few drops of silicone, depending on the desired thickness. Put it inside the mold, then put them in a my lil' bastard's rock tumbler kit while they cure:

https://www.amazon.ca/ABN%C2%AE-Rolling-Rock-Tumbler-Kit/dp/B072F1L7MF

That'll roll the mold around randomly as the silicone cures to evenly coat the inside of the mold.

Amazon sells a nice kit with a lortone 3a. It’s one of the quieter tumblers. A bit more expensive but the quality will be better then some of it the tumblrs marketed for kids.

link

Model it after a rotating rock tumbler like this or this . That design covers several issues like load, slip and gear reduction.

We literally made one using rock tumblers.

https://www.amazon.com/Tru-square-Metal-Products-102-Thumlers/dp/B000066CMM

I don't think rock tumblers get brought up much ever in this subreddit, but I got this for christmas https://www.amazon.com/Lortone-3A-Deluxe-Rock-Tumbler/dp/B00G4BSCHC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1482703874&sr=8-4&keywords=rock+tumbler+lortone

I've wanted a rock tumbler since seeing the old cheap red ones in some magazine from ages ago. According to the manual, this should last for years with minimal maintenance! I've already got my rocks churning away!

Off topic, I kind of want this one.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2333143246899589/

But, I have no space right now for it.


Then, there’s also this one

They might be the same one though.

Well, first of all, boiling probably wouldn't help. Most PLA melts around 170+ C so putting it in boiling water wouldn't do much. My reccomendation for making PLA more edible would to cut the filament up into sprinkle-sized pieces and put them in a rock tumbler or a parts polisher to knock of the sharp edges that would come from cutting up the filament. If you didn't do this, it would be very possible that the sharp pieces of plastic would severely damage your intestinal tract. In terms of toxicity, PLA is routinely used in medical implants so I don't belive that it would poison you. It also probably wouldn't help given that it can take 6 to 24 months to break down so any possible nutrients stored within would not have a chance to be absorbed by your body. If you really wanted something to eat at the end of times, dirt might be a better option.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor. Please don't eat plastic.

EDIT: Added disclaimer, fixed some grammar