NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Starter Rock Tumbling Kit - Durable Leak-Proof Polisher for Kids Complete Geology Hobby Science Kit, Rocks and Crystals Kids, A Great STEM Activity

Tumbler I fine. I bought this tumbler for my grandsons birthday in January but we just set it up in April. I am disappointed in the rocks that came with it. Most were tiny chips! I know it’s a small tumbler but I expected more than a couple of rocks to tumble. I think whoever packaged the rocks packed the last rocks in whatever bin they had

My very intelligent, six-year-old nephew, thought this was the greatest gift ever. He is lovingmy very intelligent, six-year-old nephew, thought this was the greatest gift ever. He loves collecting his rocks, and now putting them through the Tumblr highly loves collecting his rocks, and now putting them through Tumblr highly recommend.

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.

Grandson loves it. This is a process and requires adult supervision. Definitely a quiet time activity

Just got my hands on the national geographic starter rock tumbler kit and I'm absolutely stoked! this thing is a beast, turns rocks into sparkly crystals like a pro (or, like, a kid, lol). it's a bit loud, but hey, it's worth it - just toss it in the garage and let it do its magic. what i love most is that it comes with everything you need to get started - no extra purchases necessary! the leak-proof design is a total win, too. all in all, this thing is a solid 5 stars - perfect for the little geologists out there (or, you know, the slightly-bigger geologists like me)!

Very disappointing. This was a gift for my grandson who is 6 yrs old. He started the process and was on the second week when the tumbler wouldn't open at all. His dad took it to work and had three guys all looking at, using different tools trying to open it without breaking the entire unit. Couldn't get it to release. The rocks are inside it still and it's off to the garbage because I missed the return window by three days. Not cool. By the looks of the reviews this is a common problem. How many others wasted $40?

I’m not sure if we just got a faulty one or not but ours leaked after changing the rocks into the different mixtures. I tried everything and it still leaked. So we just took the rocks and cleaned them ourselves and left them at the process that they were at. I also didn’t know it was like a week long process or longer, honestly think some stages were a week long so it would have taken a whole month, which to a 5 year old is too long. I’m sure that’s how the process normally takes but it just doesn’t keep the attention of a young kid. Cleaning the rocks and stuff between was pretty messy and you cant put it down your sink so probably not the best to do during winter if you live in a snowy place. I think the quality could have been better, like why it constantly leaked I’m not sure. I didn’t ask for a refund or an exchange so I can’t tell you how their customer service is. The instructions were clear and easy to follow though.

Got this for curious granddaughter’s birthday. She’s like me and collects rocks. So I got her this to help build her curiosity for her(us)(lol) she and her dad got it going the same day. She’s excited to see her polished rocks.