National Geographic Starter Rock Tumbler Kit - Durable Leak-Proof Rock Polisher - Complete Rock Tumbling Kit with 4-Stage Silicon Carbide Grit - Geology Hobby, Rocks & Crystals (Amazon Exclusive)

Amazing rock tumbler—turned rough stones into gorgeous polished gems! This tumbler is a total winner for beginners and hobbyists alike. It runs super quietly (barely noticeable even in the living room), stays cool during long cycles, and the barrel seals perfectly—no leaks or mess. I followed the standard 4-6 week process with the included grit/polish steps, and the results are stunning: dull, jagged rocks came out mirror-shiny and smooth. Easy to use and clean, the motor is strong and consistent—no stalling with a full load. Great build quality for the price—feels durable and reliable. My family loves checking the progress every week, and now we have a beautiful collection of tumbled stones for jewelry and display. If you’re into rockhounding or just want a fun, satisfying project, this is fantastic. Highly recommend!

awesome, good starter

I'm just gonna start off by saying, this Tumbler's issues are easily avoidable and I'll go over why your rocks aren't coming out shiny. I'll address the biggest issue people have with this Tumbler; The lid becomes increasingly harder to take off and put on. I, someone who had strength trained most of his life, had a difficult time opening and closing the lid after a while of using it. I do have a solution though. Nat Geo tells you to wash and dry the barrel and rubber lining inside it after every use, well, what happens when you're trying to push two pieces of dry rubber against each other? Yeah, it won't go so well. They stick and won't move. That's what's happening when the rubber of the barrel and the rubber gasket in the lid meet, not allowing you to turn and close. I realized that all it would need to work is to use a little oil. I took a Q-Tip, dabbed it in a little olive oil and just run it around where the lid gasket meets the rubbing barrel lining. Works like a charm! Even a meak child could open and close it after the oil. I would though recommend using something else in place of olive oil since after a while, it will start to rot and smell. I'd use a really light machine oil and use just enough to soak the tip of the Q-Tip. Interlude: I would also recommend taking the entire rubber barrel lining out, cleaning it and the inside of the plastic barrel. A lot of the time, grit and water gets in there and can cause bubbles in the rubber lining or the grit may harden and cause irregular weight on the barrel keeping your rocks from tumbling correctly. Last thing I want to go over is the lack of shine on your rocks. Nat Geo gives you grit for each stage of tumbling, grits one through three are decent but the "polish" is garbage. Their grits are pretty standard, all are Silicon Carbide, Stage One is 60/90#, Stage Two is 120/220# and Stage Three is 600#. All of those are fine and dandy but the "polish" is 1200# Silicon Carbide which will not get your rocks to have a luster. What you want is 1200# Aluminum Oxide. You can get a healthy amount from places like Kingsley North, Rock Tumbling dot com (yeah, I wrote dot come), The Rock Shed or Polly Plastics. You'll want to do two tablespoons of each grit per pound of rock plus media (if you use it) and tumble them for five to seven days. You should get a nice shine on your rocks after all that.

This makes a lot of noise, but it's really cool and has worked well so far. My kids enjoyed it!

Updated- after contacting the company with my issue, they happily & promptly rectified the issue by sending out a new part. Initially- Broke after 1 use. Past return window

Well, my son asked me for one about 5 times, so I got him one for Christmas. I didn’t do enough research, but I probably would have gotten it anyways. So, it is loud. Like really loud. And it takes 6-10 days for each step, and there are 4 steps. So that thing has been running for like 4 weeks. It sounds like a waterfall is in my garage. The tub part is also very difficult to open. I have to put on a rubber glove for grip and use a pipe wrench around the bottom. The rocks are pretty so far though.

My grandson was so excited! Plenty came with it to start him out. Very well built for its size and had high marks in reviews.

Wish you could do a zero star. This thing just doesn't close. Eventually it'll turn just enough to close. Finished stage 3 and hit a breaking point to return it but it was 1 day past the return date. I've tried all kinds of oils and lubricants on the rubber, completely removed the rubber interior and reseated it inside. Tried wrenches, channelocks, entire body weight pushing down. I have lots of large enough tools in my garage but nothing works. The only thing that gets the SLIGHTEST bit of a locking turn (it has popped loose in the middle of the week) is putting the base into a table vice, only on the bottom of the barrel, as hard as you can and then using a rubber strap wrench, again putting all of my body weight into turning it. If you put it somewhere in the middle of the barrel it'll squish the plastic and not fit the lid. This is a one and done without being able to return it. Maybe I'll try trimming the rubber on top a bit since I can't return it anyways.

It's ok

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

Super leuk alleen niet in het Nederlands

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?