NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Starter Rock Tumbler Kit - Includes Rough Gemstones, 4-Stage Silicon Carbide Polishing Grit, Jewellery Fastenings & Learning Guide - STEM Science Kit for Geology Enthusiasts

One of the best gifts I have ever bought for my daughter... She is 8 and very much into all kinds of rocks and crystals, she has quite a big collection of ready polished stones but now she enjoys tumbling them herself. She has even added some other stones and sea glass to the tumbler. The tumbler comes with a good amount of raw rocks in the set but it does not really say how many of them to put inside the barrel in one go. We have added half of the rocks but then realized there is only one sachet of each type of the grit. Therefore once we're finished with each of the grits we have strained them through coffee filter papers and dried them out on the heater to save them for the second batch of the stones. It would be really useful if the set was coming with more grit or at least for it to be available separately to top-up. There are National Geographic tumbler refill packs that come with the grit but there are only two types of refills (gemstones or jaspers mix), and once you have all of the stones you want just grit alone, not the same rocks. Keep in mind that the tumbling may take weeks, it took us 3 full days for the first grit to lose all the rough edges, 3-4 days for grit #2 and then 5 days for grit #3 and lastly another 5-6 days for the last fine grit. It all depends on the effect you want to achieve and the type of rocks, harder stones like the hematite take longer than rose quartz for instance. Nevertheless, this is a great set, comes with everything needed to start tumbling the stones, there are even strainer and some jewelry findings included in the set to make use of the stones. Recommended.

My order arrived on time and well packaged. This was a birthday present for my 9 year old daughter who has been fascinated with 'shiny' stones since she was tiny. On her birthday we opened the box, read the instructions, and proceeded to get up and running. The product is well made, it is very simple, looks to be pretty robust, no complaints. My only slight criticism is that there are not many rough stones supplied with the kit. The instructions say the tumbler works best half to two thirds full and the supplied material barely met the minimum criteria. I purchased a top up kit at the same time as this on the basis it is described as a starter kit. We were up and running in just a few minutes. As expected, once running the tumbler is quite noisy but that is the stones rattling together, not the actual tumbler whose motor is silent. After 5 minutes my daughter was keen to 'see the results' so I had to reiterate that the whole process would take several days. The tumbler will now be consigned to the garage, to tumble away to itself, with reminders set to check progress periodically. I am sure this is going to bring a lot of long term fun and pleasure to my daughter and no doubt will result in even more pockets of stones being collected on country walks in the future.

Hard to open, but a good device. Sounds like rain on a roof window (only louder), so you might want to leave it in the garage, or turn it off when you’re home. Supplied with everything you need to get started other than electricity and tap water. Supplied with a power cable and transformer for insertion into the UK mains supply.

Ths was a replacement gift for a cheap rock tumbler, far better quality and eaiser to use, it works and is easy to use. It is also far quieter than the cheaper tumbler. It turned out to be an excellent and well received gift, well worth paying more and getting a product that works.

Rubbish. The grit gets caught in the lid. It stops sealing properly and leaks water. It's noisy and has to run for weeks on end. There is no satisfaction in it. You put the rocks,grit and water in the barrel, close the lid and leave running for a length of time that makes children lose interest. To buy grit again costs a fortune for what it is. Buy the gems already smoothed and shiny.

Great little tumbler. Well presented and instruction manual and information booklet. It is a great hobby for a child, and brilliant gift for my 8YO's birthday. Picture was at end of first stage. It is a little noisy and it needs to run for 7 days at a time approx for each one of four stages so worth bearing that in mind. Tbh, after a month I can no longer hear it. Very happy with purchase and am quite getting into tumbling myself ❤️ 😆👍

Why did you choose this product over others?: Seems like a good starter kit with the reputation of National Geographic behind it, BUT leaks badly as the top is warped (put some tape around the seal once closed and in use and it'll be OK though shouldn't be necessary) others than that seems to do what it says.

Gift for my 12yr old daughter. She is very happy with this tumbler, and I'm happy that it's nowhere near as noisy as I was expecting it to be! It's set up in the utility room, and when the door is shut it's hardly noticeable, especially with normal household noise. She started the tumbling process pretty much as soon as she opened it, and can't wait to see the finished product - though obviously, she WILL have to wait, as to get the best results takes a LONG time (around 4 weeks or so if you follow the recommendations in the leaflet to the letter - so might not be the best gift for an impatient child!) After two days of tumbling with the #1 grit, we are already seeing some good results from the original rough stones. I like the fact that there is the option to use some of the finished stones with the jewellery and keyring mounts included in the pack.

It's ok

Volevo qualcosa per lucidare le piccole pietre che raccolgo al mare e questo buratto lo fa ad un prezzo accessibile.

Bought this for my son. Machine has been powered on and turning nonstop for the last five weeks. Results are (apart from the annoying sound and a probably exploded electricity bill) abysmal. No shine whatsoever. Stones have only become much much smaller than they were. What an absolute rip-off. Cannot understand why National Geographic would attach its name to such an inferior and non-sustainable product. This is the first review i have ever written in my lige. Please, i case you are thinking about purchasing this machine: do not buy this.

Très bien pour la verre.

Todo un descubrimiento para mi hijo de 10 años, un fan de los minerales. Solo tengo una pregunta: dónde se puede conseguir más gravilla de los distintos tamaños que vienen en los sobres?