Features:

  • Make any stone sparkle and polish everyday rocks into dazzling gemstones
  • Enhance your rock collection or start a new one! Makes all rocks shine like professionally polished stones
  • Everything is included in the kit; tumbler, four polishing grits, sifter, learning guide plus nine types of real rough gemstones
  • Easy to use with our simple instructions, one-touch settings and an automatic shutoff timer
  • 100% satisfaction guaranteed - for 129 years, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC has been committed to providing fun and fascinating educational opportunities for children and stands behind this Rock tumbler with a two-year warranty.
The perfect gift for my budding geologist!

I bought this for my son for Christmas. He's really interested in geology, so I thought that this would be a great way to encourage that interest, add some excitement and show him just how beautiful rocks can really be. I'm very glad I chose this rock tumbler. There were others that were cheaper, but after careful consideration of several reviews and ratings, this one stood out. The machine is very easy to use. The instruction book that's included provides simple directions for use and everything seemed to be labeled so that it was all quite easy to put together and use within minutes. The only thing my son couldn't manage himself was getting the lid on and off because it's so tight (which is a good thing if you don't want leaks!). I was a bit skeptic, since it takes nature so many years to accomplish such beauty, but my son and I placed the rocks, grit and water into the container and set it for our first run. Surprisingly, after just using the first grit, the rocks look amazing! We had even added some that he'd found on our evening walks around the neighborhood and we couldn't believe how they turned out! Again, that was after just the one week's worth of time (168 hrs) with the first grit. The only downfall is that the machine really needs to run constantly for each of the polishing periods, which some might consider long. It can be difficult since it's pretty loud. His dad absolutely hates how loud it is and doesn't want it to be running at night, so we had to break up our run time. That resulted in it taking us two weeks to get our "7-day" results. We were satisfied with those results for now, so we haven't yet done the next round of grit and run time. So far, this machine does exactly what I expected of it. Yes, it's loud, but it's not nearly as loud as some of the other machines out there. I imagine that is due to the rubber container. In addition, the included rocks are a great way to get your kids excited about geology! We're now planning a summer rock-hunting adventure so that we can really utilize this rock tumbler and some of the other new tools we have at our disposal. For the record, the one and only reason I would give this rock tumbler less than 5 stars is because it's loud. But you know what? Rocks banging together are not quiet in nature, so I don't expect any different when they're in a man-made machine. You shouldn't either. Oh, and anyone thinking that rock tumblers take too long (or something you might tell your kids when they complain that it's taking too long)...patience is a virtue. Consider how long it took for that rock to form in the first place, and be thankful that you have a machine at your disposal to make your finds look amazing in a minute percentage of the time that it took nature to create them.

Absolutely love this!

First off, I absolutely love rocks! I started out with a very cheap plastic tumbler which eventually broke. I did a lot of research before purchasing this rock tumbler. I wanted a good one without breaking the bank. The National Geographic hobby rock tumbler was a fair price for a very well made product. I am beyond pleased with my purchase! The fact that the tumbler is thick rubber and not plastic makes it perfect for tumbling glass as well as rocks. As with naturally tumbled rocks and glass, remember it is a long process. Be patient! Although this one is quieter than the plastic one I had, I ended up putting it in my spare room and closed the door. This kit comes with everything you need to begin your adventure in rock tumbling. Read the instructions. Research rocks. Have fun with it. Remember to not rinse it out in the sink! Always take it outside to rinse out the grit between steps! Make sure it is clean of all previous grit before proceeding to the next step. Oh and by the way, I’m 51 and I am extremely happy with my purchase! It’s not just for kids, adults can enjoy this product as well. I totally recommend this rock tumbler!

Wonderful news!!!!

My original review was that the tumbler had stopped working after 1 day. I had even started the process to send it back. But right before I put it in the return box, I tried it once more and it worked! And it has been working non stop! I guess it was just a fluke! I am so glad! It is really a sturdy little machine.

This takes longer than you might anticipate, but the result is worth it.

I have never done rock tumbling, so this has been a learning experience. This is really fun, although it does take quite some time to go through the process, and I still need to do the polish stage. I bought this to tumble glass pieces to use in mosaic designs, which I've not done yet. Just almost got through the rocks. It's a four stage process, and I have actually done the first three stages for fewer days than it's recommended - some of the rocks they sent were smaller, and on the third stage, have pretty much disappeared - you start with a heavy grit, and it decreases from coarse grit to fine grit, down to a polish stage. I was amazed that the rocks they sent turned out to be so beautiful. Honestly! You did not see the patterns and colors before tumbling. The first stage I did for four days; it recommends 5; the second stage recommends 8, I did it for 6, the third stage recommends 8, I did it for three, and will now do the polish stage. This is a nice, compact unit, and I think would be good for kids with adult supervision. I am hoping it works as well with glass pieces

Prefect for our 7-year-old

**updated review below--- we got shiny rocks!** We bought this for our son as a 7th birthday gift. It's the perfect mid-range rock tumbler! It's sturdy and doesn't seem like it will break. It's been running now for over 2 weeks. It's definitely not silent, but with its rubber barrel, I suspect it's tougher and quieter than one with a plastic barrel. We keep it in the basement, but can see it'd be annoying if it was somewhere in the house. It has a handy feature where you can set it for up to 7 days and it'll tell you how many days are left- great for a kid! It includes a nice little instruction manual with information about the history of rock tumbling and description of the rocks included. It's a nice, reasonably-priced kit that includes everything you need to start tumbling rocks right away! Update: now that we've completed a batch, I figured I'd add some info. We still think it's a nice kit! The little sieve that comes with the kit is very handy! Our final stones were smooth and lovely. However, they weren't really shiny. After some reading, we learned that there is a bit of an art to this and we need to be a little more meticulous in the cleaning of the tumbler between grits. Overall, though, our 7-year-old is quite pleased with the kit. We bought the jasper set and will try that next! Update #2-- SHINY ROCKS! We did a few batches and couldn't get shiny rocks and we lost interest. My kiddo is now almost 9 but just started becoming interested in geology a lot more. We decided to try again. After reading some about it, I decided to try a better brand of grit and IT WORKED! We bought Rock Tumbler Grit for 3 Pound Tumbler by Professional Grade Rock Polishing Grit And followed the instructions **carefully,** making sure to clean the tumbler tub very meticulously after each tumble. We also purchased tumbling pellets (Rock Tumbler "Sinking" Plastic Pellets / Beads Used For Final Polishing & Burnishing Stages) for the final two stages. The new grit had an additional stage which made all the difference. The jade set came out mostly lovely and shiny. They were not all consistently shiny, but I see promise! I added a picture using the flash to show off the polish. We're going to try the nee grit with a different set of stones now.

Great Tumbler for Faux Sea Glass for Crafting !!!

Great tumbler for making faux sea glass !!! I bought this solely for the purpose of making "sea glass". It's very quiet due to the rubber cylinder. I use it in a large garden shed where it is drowned out by far by the natural/ambient sounds like spring peepers, crickets, cicadas, wind, rain, rustling leaves, etc. It handles a fairly large amount of glass at one time. The pictures show "before" & "after" of one load of glass... I have my own."formula" for what quantities I use of everything. It only takes 24 hours to make sea glass which looks identical to that which I collect at the beach (one of my favorite things to do). I use beach sand which is available in unlimited supplies. I break colorful glass from wine bottles, thrift shop finds, $1 glassware from a Dollar Store, etc... If your kids get bored waiting a month for rocks to tumble - try a batch of sea glass which is ready in 24 hrs. Just DO NOT let them break the glass or handle broken glass. Also, moms & dads - always wear eye protection when breaking glass (even wrapped in a towel) & use pliers to pick up broken pieces rather than using your fingers !!! Let your kids find colorful glass items at yard sales, flea markets, dollar stores, etc. & ALWAYS take before & after pics of each batch - see my pics - to give them a comparison & the satisfaction of seeing such a transformation take place !!! Finally, NEVER misrepresent tumbled glass as being actual REAL sea glass... use it in mosaics, jewelry & other crafts but always disclose that it is tumbled glass !!!

Perfect introduction

I was a little concerned when I bought this given the relatively cheap price. It turned out I had no need to be concerned this tumbler is actually amazing. Now if you are new to rock tumbling you'll need to know that it's not a fast or quiet process. The actual tumbling of the rocks with this tumbler is really quiet but the vibrations it sends though things can be quiet annoying. You will want to find something to absorb the vibrations unless you want your entire house sounding like an unbalanced washing machine. The actual tumbling process is very simple set the time limit in days, press the power button, and wait. The included samples are actually really nice and Ive been putting a couple from it in each tumble to surprise the kids with. All in all this is a great introduction to the hobby.

It is pretty quiet. Her parents moved it to their pantry ...

I bought this for my 7 year old granddaughter. It has been running almost non-stop since Sunday.They have stopped it only to check the progress of the stones. She began with about a 1/2 pound of stones - some came with the tumbler and some she had collected around the farm where she lives. Her plan is make Christmas presents from the rocks. We purchased her an extra jewelry to supplement the small kit that came with the tumbler. It is pretty quiet. Her parents moved it to their pantry area where it was less of a distraction for their 2 year old who wanted to push thnse buttons. I think this is a great tumbler to start any child with who is interested in rock collecting. My granddaughter is home-schooled so she will use her rock tumbling as part of her lessons in math and science. She will learn to identify different rocks and the geographical area in which they are found. I would recommend this rock tumbler. I will update this review after she has tumbled a month's worth of rocks.

So far so good!

I have two kids, 10 & 12. I've been wanting to get them a cool rock tumbler for years as they have always collected small rocks from all the different places we have visited. It was my daughter's tenth birthday and we thought it was a great opportunity to get the tumbler. She was elated! So it came with all the media needed, some instructions and a bag full of super cool rocks. We are on week three of tumbling right now but every Monday has been exciting and something the kids and I look forward to. We have another week to go to get the final results but the difference since day one has been amazing! Photos are of week one and two only. You can see how much the rocks have smoothed out. A really good product and it's working as advertised! Thanks Dr Cool!

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