This channel is used to promote a family friendly and budget friendly way to find and polish rocks and geologic treasures. This will be primarily focused on rock tumbling as this is a hobby I enjoy with my young kids. All of my equipment and methods will be done in a budget friendly way that every day people like us can get out and have a great time. I have found a system that works great for me and I have gotten great results and will share the tricks of the trade I have learned from trial and error. I have a full time job and 3 kids so this channel will be used as a way to show that this hobby can be done with the little time in between to get some great memories and make some fun treasures. We will review equipment, buy rocks, dig up our own rocks, and learn different ways to cut, break, polish, and clean different things we find.
I got a NatGeo Tumbler for Xmas 2023 and it doesn't look like yours... it is in a gray plastic thing with a flip up lid...are yours older I'm guessing? Also my speed 3 looks about like your Speed 1. I wonder what your speed 2 and 3 look like....
Very cool. Not sure why you check after 3 days, when others go a week....but you got fun results. I've hunted in Utah about 4 times, but you have better stuff!
So I've had great luck with my Chicago Electric tumbler which I purchased for $59. I've run mine nonstop from June 2023 to October 2024 and just replacing the belt for the first time this evening. Conversely, I bought a Lortone 33B in July 2023 for $139, and the motor burned out in July 2024 (it's been a pain to find a new one...). The Chicago Electric company has been bought out by Central Machinery (but it is the exact same tumbler, and I just purchased a new one for $79 last month). Great way to start in the rock tumbling hobby!!
Helpful video ... thanks. How many pounds of rock and media do you put in the tumbler? or do you just go by volume ? I have a RT10 but things look pretty much the same.
It seems like you don't weigh your rocks before polishing. For the RTVibe10 the limit is listed at 8 pounds. I always worry about "overloading" the machine. Have you found that weight is not all that critical?
I have never one time weighed any and have never had an issue. Im more worried about the machine being properly loaded to polish well than the weight. I think it would be pretty hard to get a true 8 pounds in there though
Good videos, thank you. Deciding which to buy to get started. On the Tumble Vibe would it help to put a lock washer between the rubber gasket and nut? Is your Tumble Vibe a 0.5 cu ft model?
I had looked at a lapidary saw on Amazon for for $169 that had a flexible shaft on the side for polishing and ext I wonder which would be the better route to go
Totally agree!! My Nat Geos work perfectly fine! Love that they are a more affordable option. I have the 2-lb and the 3-lb, and a Tumblebee with (2) 2-lb barrels. I love having the variety! And I couldn't agree more regarding the grit! I was pretty bummed when my first batch came out all bruised and dull. But with all the advice online, I ordered polish from Kingsley North, and used the grit that came with my Tumblebee, and they've been turning out so much better!!! 😄
GREAT VIDEO! VERY EASY TO LISTEN TO BECAUSE OF YOUR CALM AND VERY UNDERSTANDABLE VOICE. I LOVE THE RESULTS THIS MACHINE HAS GIVEN TO ME. HOWEVER TIGHTENING THE LID HAS BEEN AN ISSUE. I CAN SEE THAT THE TIPS OF USING FOAM SEALER ON THE LID AND THE RUBBER GASKET ARE GREAT TIPS. WHAT ARE THE DIMENTIONS OF THE FOAM SEALER THAT YOU USED AROUND THE LID? WOULD 1/2'' WIDE BY 1/8'' THICK WORK? ALSO WHAT ARE THE DIMENTIONS (HOW THICK AND HOW WIDE) OF THE RUBBER GASKET YOU USED UNDER THE RUBBER NUT? THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR A RESPONSE TO THESE QUESTIONS.
That size foam should work great! Even if its a little too big it wouldn't be a big deal at all. I don't remember on the washer but I just took the bowl in with me and matched it at the hardware store. Rubber gasket is still working perfect and after 6 months I need to do a new lid seal but that's not a big deal at all
For stage 1, it looks like a small barrel, pretty heavily loaded, cushioned with media, reduced grit, and patience. For later stages, resist the urge to use the ultrasonic cleaner. Thanks for sharing your mixed results.
Nice video. Thanks for posting! I did just order this exact Raytech Polishing Kit from Amazon for $154. I'd prefer a Lot-O, but they seem to be continuously out of stock!
Ive been using that same tile saw and it works good. Its a great option when you cant afford much. Just a good blade costs more than the whole saw. I paid $40 new.
The town is called Birdseye. Haha. Its close to thistle. Very well known area with lots of info online but most of the good stuff is now claimed so be sure to research that carefully
Thanks for this great tip. I'm now using your idea on 4 of my Komestone tumblers. Experimenting, I found that: 1) They will run at 7.5V and above, but not 6V and below. 2) They previously ran at 84 RPM on the slowest speed and 105 RPM on the highest. On 7.5V they run now at 50, 60 and 70 RPM. Also, they only draw 6W, so the smallest (& cheapest) 12W adjustable DC power supply will work.
The stock rubber nuts have worked loose a couple of times even after I tightened them with pliers. A big mess to clean up. I went to the hardware store and got some neoprene washers and a couple of coupling nuts. I'm adding some metal and lock washers. I'll be using a wrench to tighten everything from now on. It will be a little tricky to keep from damaging the bowl.. I'm mainly using my Highland Park 4.5lb rotary tumbler and I've ordered a mini-sonic since I mostly do small loads. I also cut 1.5" off the center rod.
I have had it happen twice too but both times it was obvious I hadn't tightened enough. I don't use pliers and it didn't make a mess but the slurry dried completely and I had to redo stage two to get it all off the rocks. Now I am extra careful to get the washers tight
Thanks for the nice introduction to Dumortierite. I haven't noticed running across it before. Where did you get your tumbling rough? I haven't found any rough in my few moments of searching so far. Regarding the tutorial aspects of your video, I especially enjoyed the quick back and forth between tumbling runs, but I was surprised that you only usually run for three days given how much grit's remaining to show up on the bottom of your sink. I usually run my fast barrels for five or six days by which time the 60-90 grit is pretty much gone. The cheapest I can find it these days is $3/lb, so I want to get all the work I can out of it. I was also surprised by your running your 220 grit in the vibratory tumbler, especially with so much ceramic media rather than other types of slightly softer or harder rocks which seems to work just fine for me. But your way clearly works and might be a bit less risky with less chance of breakage potentially slowing down the process, since even in a homogenous rotary batch sometimes it's the (overused) ceramic media that breaks. Finally, I've never tried running my vibratory batches so dry. I'm anxious to try that. Thanks again for sharing your methods!
Glad you enjoyed! This rough came from the online store called Meekos Mine. While there is a lot of gray slurry left over there is not gritty feeling to it so I have found that with hard rocks its all used up by 3 days and I get so excited its nice to push it along. Haha. I definitely err on the side of lots of ceramics whether I'm using the vibratory or rotary for stages 2-4. I just find its cheap insurance for breakage. I rarely have issues with broken rocks ruining the rest of a batch. I have found if I run them much more wet than this I don't seem to be getting the same results so I like to keep it just enough to keep moving. Thanks for sharing!
some of the material looks like it could be Petrified wood, and I think the green one could be Epidote. Great video, wish I was closer, really great material right on the surface.
Hello! Just got one of these tumblers to try and get in to tumbling my own rocks! What do I do if I don't have a rotary tumbler to do "stage 1" (which I am not even sure what that is)? Can I do "stage 1" in my tumble vibe?
I honestly have never tried it myself but you can absolutely do stage one in a vibratory tumbler. You will get more natural looking results because they don't round the rocks. It basically will cut off the sharp edges and then move to stage two.
@RockOnUtah the timer board still works though? I only asked bc another youtube video posted by a gentleman explaining how he ran a multi speed controller sorta like yours but it eventually gave him the "E" error code on his display but could not clear it... he's running the nat geo professional 3lb kit. He ended up cutting and spliced the motor and power, by passing the speed/timer display board. I'm running nat geo professional 2lb tumbler.
@@justinslife8898 sorry I didn't see this comment earlier. I have not had an issue with my tumbler having any error codes. I have worn out one motor that was replaced under warranty but that wasn't one that had ever been run at lower voltage. I have had 0 issues with this system.
