National geographic rock tumbler, Used and Reviewed!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 พ.ค. 2019
- This is a user review of the National Geographic rock tumbler Hobby Edition. This is the smallest and cheapest model and in this video I review the machine itself. This may be the ideal first tumbler for the new-comer to the great pastime of rock tumbling. I will show the actual tumbling process and how well the stones polished in some detail in my next vid.
I bought my Hobby rock tumbler here : amzn.to/3lJlsIn (Note: It has now worked non-stop for 18 months and still working well, I have not even used the spare belt supplied.)
And buy my Silicon carbide grits here: amzn.to/3pGyicM (I have found this the best value for money way to buy grits and polish.)
I find that using the right silicon carbide grit plus Borax powder help greatly in achieving a great polish:
borax powder: ebay.to/35gUP66
Silicon carbide grit: ebay.to/2yVppWE - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
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I bought this thanks to your review! I love it so so much. No leaking. The timer is great.
Glad you enjoy it! I am still using mine 3 years on though it is starting to look worn now, it still has the original belt fitted which is a tad amazing! Hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine.
In my country its the middle of the night, looking for something to watch before i sleep then i stumble upon your video, i find it very calming and enjoyable, you earned a subscriber
Good night, sleep well!
Thankyou Sir for a very informative review !!! I just purchased this for my granddaughter for Christmas as she is a rock hound !!!
Glad it was helpful! I hope your granddaughter loves her tumbling!
Thank you for sharing that information. I picked one up for $5 at a yard sale and I'm happy with it.
Enjoy it! Thanks for watching!
Thank you.i enjoyed your review on an English product.
I've been looking at this make for a while and will go for it.
How rude are some of the people commenting on your review.thanks for taking to trouble to review it.it helped me.x
Hi Julie, this tumbler is sadly Chinese made not British made, I'm sorry if I gave the wrong impression. I have just bought a British made tumbler and will be reviewing it in the next month or so, ( I want to get some use out of it before reviewing) but it does look very promising. Also I believe the nat geo tumbler is not on sale at the moment. It is a good machine and mine is still working well. Thank you for watching.
wow! your beach has some gorgeous rocks
It does! I am very lucky, however the beaches further south in Devon have an even greater choice in stunning colours.
Very useful, thank you for taking the time.
Glad it was helpful!
I want him to be my grand dad
I love being a granddad so I take that as a great compliment, thank you for that!
You’re wonderful I swear
Incredible how safe it is I’m seriously considering to buy it thanks much for the review
Glad I could help
Yes it’s so helpful thank you
I want to hangout with him and look for rocks. What a a nice and informative video
Thank you for your kindness, it has made my day!
Hi steve I love you thanks for doing this review
Thank you for the very kind comments and thank you for watching.
Thank you, that was great!
Glad you enjoyed it!
So cool
Thank you.
Love the video, going to get it for my girlfriend shes rock mad ! Thank you :)
Enjoy!
I want this man to read a book about my life to children. He is so sweet! haha
Thank you for the kind comments (blushing!) Cheers!
Thank you for your video. I've doing my first ever tumble and the barrel creeps to the left side, rubbing against the plastic wheel at that end. Even if I turn it around it does the same. I've started the 2nd part now, cleaned it out throughly, fresh water and set it off and it's doing the same thing. Have you any idea why it's doing that, I'm worried it'll wear out the barrel and rollers.
Hi, all tumblers move sideways on the rollers. Some have washers, like the NG tumbler some have rollers and some simply rely on the plastic stops. I too worried about my plastic barrel wearing on the stops, now when I do my weekly oiling of the bearings etc I put a dab on the plastic stops and barrel lid. The wear seems minimal and I have stopped worrying about it. Hope this helps.
I got the Pro version, your right the grits are abit confusing with how they're labeled, took me a while to figure it own through research but got there, and like you say the machine itself is great and safe for kids, and the barrel from what ive seen and read is pretty much the best design going, just a shame they dont do bigger barrels like this, ive found now after only a month of owning it the barrel just isnt big enough, ive got alot of stones ive collected or brought, and 1x2lb barrel just isnt enough when you bear in mind its takes a good month from start to finish, so in theory that 2lb of stones a month getting polished
Great starter kits though
Hi, Thank you for your post, if you are going to expand your tumbling think about simply getting another of these, it will double your output and is probably the cheapest way. I am coming round to the view that 2lb at a time is a good way to go. Best of luck with your tumbling!
I love your review 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I was concerned about the safety of it...
I have 2 toddlers and an 8-year-old
Still going to use it away from them... but they are unexpected, better to be safe than sorry 👍
Hi, the machine is only 12 volt and belt driven so it is a pretty safe machine but you are right always to be cautious with the little ones. Thank you for watching and the kind comments. Enjoy your tumbling!
Thank you sir for the video. I saw some of your later videos and it seems you get much better results than this first batch, even though it's the same machine. What do you think is the most important change that you've done differently that get you better results? I'd really appreciate to learn from your experiences.
Glad to help, the biggest change is that I leave them longer in the barrel, in the case of the first stage sometimes much much longer (as much as 6-8 weeks) if the stones are rough to start with. It is also vital to let the pre polish stage (normally 400 grit) run for 7 - 10 days and the polish to run for at least the 7 days. Hope this helps. Thanks for watching.
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 wow 6-8 weeks you must have a lot of patience. Thanks for the advice, I'll give it a try.
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 hi steve, very interesting that you leave them on for that long on course grit stage. Do you still change the grit every so often or just let it run uninterrupted? I read somewhere that even the course grit can get worn down so much that it may lose its effectiveness after say a fortnight of tumbling ?
@@fergalfinnerty1705 Hi fergal, it entirely depends on how rough the rocks are to start with, some take weeks of tumbling others, smoother rocks can be done i a few days. the grits certainly wear down, basically getting finer and finer. I change/re-charge my grits at the first stage now every 5-7 days, this does sped up the rough grinding. best of luck with your tumbling!
34 days on one grit man? I'm not familiar with that kit, but you really should do #1 / course grit for about 7 days. Then onto #2 medium grit. This is where the stones start to get a polish to them, but will dry dull still. Then, depending on what media you're using, there would be 1 or 2 steps in polishing. This is where the stones get shiny while dry. Some rocks won't get shiny especially if you have different hardness of rocks mixed together or a cracked rock etc.
I like this kit im actualy going to buy it on christmas with 4 refil packs i do recomend it
I think there is a bit of confusion, I meant I took 34 days for whole process on my first tumble. I do now take as much as 14 days or so on one grit or as little as 7-8 days on another grit depending on how the polishing is progressing. I do think this small tumbler will be slower to polish than a bigger barrel as there is less movement! My last tumble achieved a super gloss finish straight from the barrel. Thank you for your input and interest.
Hi, do you know at what voltage does it run? I lost my power supply and i can't find anywhere if its a 5v or 12v power supply. Thanks
Hi, mine is 12v . Good luck!
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 thanks! 👊🙌
thanks for making this. i have had one of these for 6 months and its just started flashing all lights...do you have any problem solving experience for it?!
Hi, The flashing lights are usually due to overloading or a jammed roller or belt. remove the belt then check the rollers are running freely by hand, then that the motor drive wheel is also turning when you switch on , does the motor run with the belt off? Have you been lubricating the roller bearings and the motor shaft regularly, I oil mine every week? Make sure you switch off the machine at the wall, leave for a few minutes then turn on again. sadly this is the limit of my technical expertise, if it is still not working it may be a burnt out motor or jammed bearing or more likely a faulty overload switch or timer. There are no spares easily available in the UK. so I'm afraid this might mean a new tumbler. Perhaps a friendly electrician could bypass the overload switch for you. Sorry I can't be of more help. Good luck with this.
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 dude thats a huge amount of help. I got one, after a day i had flashing lights. returned it to Bezos. Got another one, 6 months later mid tumble it started flashing. ive not been oiling, ive not checked much inside the thing cos i was so pissy. I will see what i can figure out from your suggestions. You rock, never stop.
Been using mine just under a yr an it doesn't want to turn anymore belt is fine is it possible to replace motor or fix it when I turn drive shaft wheel by hand its jerky
This sounds like a seized bearing, can you put a drop of oil on motor bearings front and back?
i’d love to buy this. what type of grit would you recommend buying in addition?
I bought the full set, 80,100,200,400 grit plus polishing powder. I also found Borax to be helpful. Best of luck and please keep us posted on your progress!
ive purchased this product and found national geographic emphasises in the manuals that they provide everything you need on Amazon. This includes $15 refill packs that come with 1 lb of rocks, 4 different grades of grit, and some cheap jewelry to set the stone in.
Are you suppose to add all the mix in like each day?? Or rinse and use another package. I have tried 3 times and none of mine stones want to shine :(
Hi, you add the first stage grit and run the machine for 7-10 days. Wash out the stones and add the second grit and so on till finished. Can I suggest you watch my other videos on tumbling. It will work,good luck!
Hi! Just got my tumbler. The first night it stopped and the belt was loose. The other belt is also loose. Is there a way to tighten it. Or is there another problem. Thank you.
Hi Barbara, these belts are designed to run pretty loose and are not adjustable so that is probably not your problem. The most likely issues are either a fault in the bearings or motor or an overloaded barrel. Take off the belt and see if the motor runs runs smoothly without a load, check both rollers are turning freely and not binding. also make sure nothing is fouling the barrel, these machines have an overload cutout, if all the lights are flashing you need to unplug from the mains electric and leave for a minute or so before plugging in again. (simply trying to switch off at the machine won't work). remove some of the stones and water from the barrel and try again. If these things don't work you have a faulty machine. Good luck with this, it is a pity, my machine has run faultlessly so far. I hope this helps.
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 thank you I will try that again before I return it.
The only issue I'm having, is I'm on the last cycle. But I can not get them to shine. They are staying frosty and not getting that shine. I've gone for longer and everything. Any ideas? Thank you so much.
Hi Jess, the two most likely causes will be either the rocks themselves are a bit too soft to take a polish, or your polish itself is not good enough. Some sellers sell Aluminium Oxide powder 1200 grade, this is not fine enough. Try tin or cerium oxide. I have made a lot of videos about tumbling, perhaps one of these will help a bit more. th-cam.com/play/PLgxE3u0ruJj_0_jSkyT78qTG4KGuRF589.html
Best of luck and don't give up!
do you have to use the stones it comes with, or can you get your own?
Hi, I found the stones supplied were a mixed bag, a few were ok but many were too small or damaged and cracked. I pick mine up from stony beaches. I have just returned from Devon and the stones on some of the beaches there are amazing, Good luck and thanks for watching.
You absolutely can use any rocks. I have the same tumbler and am doing a batch now my 4 year old and I picked up on a hike and they are looking amazing
I have a 4 year old that is always putting rocks in her pocket and she calls them her “gems” and she has a 5gallon bucket on out balcony. I am considering getting a rock tumbler for her so she can have even more fun with her gems. We live in Colorado and there’s all sorts of awesome gems and dig sites in the state. She is always gifting people plain old rocks. Would you say this would be a good starter tumbler or are the better ones to start with
Hi Nick, I am in the UK so my knowledge about US tumblers is a bit sketchy. My experience with this tumbler has been very good, nearly two years on and it is still working well. This is a Chinese made machine and I am getting the impression (rightly or wrongly) that since covid, quality control is slipping. Before you buy check the recent reviews on Amazon, if they are ok I would say this is a good starter machine, good value, simple to use and safe. The only other consideration is wether to pay a bit more for a twin barrel machine, (with two small 1 1/2lb barrels) this will speed up the flow-through of stones and shorten the waiting time between loads. Hope this helps. Happy new year!
Thank you sir! I appreciate the info and I will definitely check out reviews on Amazon. I’ll also look into a 2 barrel tumbler
all 7 lights keep blinking when i try to run the barrel, it works when there is nothing on it and ive already taken out some of the rocks in case its an issue with overloading...
Hi, The flashing lights are usually due to overloading or a jammed roller or belt. remove the belt then check the rollers are running freely by hand, then that the motor drive wheel is also turning, does the motor run with the belt off? Have you been lubricating the roller bearings and the motor shaft regularly? Make sure you switch off the machine at the wall, leave for a few minutes then turn on again. sadly this is the limit od my technical expertise, if it is still not working it may be a burnt out motor or jammed bearing or more likely a faulty overload switch or timer. There are no spares easily available in the UK. so I'm afraid this might mean a new tumbler. Perhaps a friendly electrician could bypass the overload switch for you. Good luck with this.
Help. I purchased this tumbler from Amazon a few days ago and tried to use it. I put all rocks that came with it in, then water and grit and tried to start it. It would start for a second and then stop and blink lights. I ended up taking out rocks until it would go, which resulted in me only being able to tumble about 6 rocks at a time. I don’t understand how yours could tumble so many? Is my tumbler faulty? Do I need to replace the belt? There is no instructions or mentioning of flashing red lights and the tumbler not working in the instructions or online so I don’t know what to do about this.
Hi zero, this sounds like a faulty product. it should work out of the box and easily cope with the bag of rocks supplied. I would return the machine to Amazon and ask for a replacement. I have the impression (and it is only an impression) that since Covid, quality control on Chinese made products is not too good. The blinking lights do indicate overloading but the barrel should be three quarters full of rocks to work properly anyway. Don't give up on tumbling, it is a great hobby. Best of luck!
Omg I have the same problem. I bought mine a week ago
@@lanabadan439 This is a shame! These machines are sold world wide by a big marketing company. I bet they sell thousands every week and are bound to sell a few duds. Generally speaking disgruntled customers are more likely to post than happy ones so it may be that my impression about dropping quality control is wrong. Have you tried to contact National geographic, I wonder if they have any technical back up? The more I see of tumbling machines the more I think that this is a well made machine. (I do not have any interest or affiliation with NG). I hope you can get an exchange or refund and carry on with tumbling, all the best!
What is this machine for? To clean pebbles?
It is for polishing rocks, agates jasper etc. Cheers!
Does a rock tumbler need to be on constantly or can you turn it off at night.
Hi, you can turn it off at night I think, it will of course take twice as long to polish the stones though. The other proviso is that the slurry is not too thick, it might solidify somewhat if left overnight, simply pop the lid off every now and then and add a little water if needed. good luck and thank you for watching.
I do not suggest this. If you turn it off at night, one of two, or both things can happen. 1. You will forget to turn it back on. 2. Letting the crud / slurry (the mix of media, grit etc) will settle to the bottom and can harden a bit. The longer you let it sit, the worse it could get. I highly recommend just letting it run. Most motors are low voltage motors and do not draw much current.
Has that National Geographic tumbler blinked on all 7 lights and flash? That’s what has happened to mine, even tumbling nothing at all this happens, did I burn out the motor? I checked the drive belt and replaced it with the spare and it still doesn’t work at all, it’ll tumble for maybe a minute then stop and blink, is the belt overheating? I need help badly since it seems there isn’t anything out there showing this problem aside from my same question,
It would be a big help, I loved that little tumbler.
Hi, I have not come across this problem. The only thing I can think of is that either the drum is overloaded, does it work if the drum is removed? or one of the rollers is jammed? If you take the belt off and turn it on does the small belt drive wheel turn? If anyone else has had this problem can you let us know? Meanwhile I will try to investigate.
The Stone Crafting Workshop no, I put an EMPTY tumbler on it and it is “overloaded” so I just got a new one. A dual drum lortone 33b, still very curious though on why that old one can’t even tumble one stone the size of my pinkie finger. Maybe I got an unlucky one. Still got me fairly knowledgeable about the hobby though, so I guess 60$ well spent, will I buy one again? No most likely, and not because of that experience, just because I can’t stand waiting for a month for just a 3lb batch of stones, that’s why I got the dual, one for coarse and rounding, and one for pre polish and final! Also tried out a harbor freight in comparison with lortone 33b and they work very much the same, I just think the lortone will need less maintenance.
@@zenberryflood (Late reply, but incase it helps someone else) I had this problem as well, and helping it turn with my hand for 5-10 seconds after pressing start got it running fine after that. Perhaps a little oil on the rollers would work too, mine were a little sticky initially which seemed to be causing this stalling.
@@rodnaphable ooo I might try this because I’ve been having the same issue
@@rodnaphable thanks for the advice, now THIS is a late reply ;3
Do I put the whole 20g bag of grit in?
Each entire sachet supplied with the machine should be used at each stage, The amount supplied is a bit mean anyway. good luck.
I’m looking to buy a tumbler for my boyfriend, do you think this is a good starter one ? Or is this for children?
This is a good tumbler for a first timer. It is not a childs toy but a well made machine. The only down side is the 7 day timer. Each stage normally needs more than 7 days but it is a small point. If you live in the UK I would say this is the best starter machine. Best of luck!
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 thank you!
Our tumbler worked for 2 days, before it quit.
It is a sad truth thata small percentage of all chinese manufactured goods fail out of the box or soon after, Mine has worked for several years and is still in use. Send yours back for a refund. Cheers!
Thxs
You are welcome!
Do you think I should buy more grit?
Yes, the grit supplied is barely enough for one complete tumble.
Does it use a lot of electricity?
It is only a 12volt motor so very little. Thanks for watching.
How big is the barrel?
Hi, 4 inches in diameter and just under 4 inches wide. Hope this helps.
Are these powders you use chemical?
truthfully I am not sure, the grits Aluminium oxide and silicon carbide I'm pretty sure would not be classed as "Chemical" though I am not certain. However the various types of polish would I think be classed as chemical. Perhaps someone a bit brighter than me will enlighten us? Thanks for the question.
How moch cost this machine told please
Check out Amazon.
Did you say it took 34 days to shape the rocks
Hi, I can't remember exactly but it sounds about right. There is no fixed time, it all depends on the hardness of the stones, the condition they are in, the grit type and size and the consistency of the slurry you achieve, and the quality of finish you are willing to accept. I have recently finished a tumble where I was very very pleased with the polish but it took a lot longer. These are my other vids on tumbling they might help:
th-cam.com/video/HvLRTchL-us/w-d-xo.html Buying a rock tumbler
th-cam.com/video/pYQBY4B4q5c/w-d-xo.html My first rock tumble
I will be making other vids on the subject once I feel I am competent. Good luck and thanks for watching.
He sounds just like the guy in the national geographic documentaries
And I am a dead ringer for George Clooney! 😁
u remind me of my grandad 🥺
I am a very proud grandad so thank you!
I can’t be the only one a 2:40 who thought the cup was floating
My secret is out, I went to Hogwarts! LOL! Thanks for watching,
I’m just looking to se what it looks like
Thank you for watching, hope this helps!
HOW MUCH GRIT
Hi, you might find the answer here th-cam.com/video/pYQBY4B4q5c/w-d-xo.html or in one of my other videos about tumbling, thanks for watching.
Why is my national tumbler flashing red lights. Soon as I put the tumbler on empty it turns off the same as putting on the recommended weight. Has anyone else have this problem. National geographic are hopeless. Same as the Amazon stupid questions they don't answer. I NEED A ANSWER PLEASE. Or through it in the bin.
Dont throw in bin, sell on ebay as spares.
64? This kit is 75 now!
The price has gone up (like most imports) since I bought mine, and since this video was made. Also in the UK there seems to be a supply problem with imported tumblers being in short supply. When available the larger model looks to be better value. Thank you for the update.
The one I bought stopped working after the first set of rocks were tumbled. The lights flash and it won't stay on for any length of time. Not very pleased with a one off piece of junk for 60 bucks.
Hi Algernon, sorry you had a bad experience with this, thousands of these are sold world wide and a small percentage are bound to be duds. Mine is still working well two years on.
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 Unfortunately for the last fifteen years such things are made cheaply and the companies know about 25-35% are duds and don't care as long as they sell more. They can flood reviews on Amazon with hired reviews and cover up this kind of problem. Looking at Amazon reviews one can see this is not a rare problem. The verified buyers have the same problem.
I don't want one with a belt.. it's like going on vacation and. Oops.
use the grit
Watch thee whole video.
You put the barrel the other way around.Away from the belt.
Why?
Men. Read the damn manual. I’ve never seen anyone do this without changing out the grit, rinsing, etc., every week.
Hi Kathy, Huh? Thanks for watching.
@@thestonecraftingworkshop7490 My first comments are that men never read manuals. Meant as joke. Unless something went wrong with my video, it just showed running for 34 days nonstop. Every single video I’ve seen before showed coarsest grit first, rinse and check at a week, run another week. Rinse, check, go to next finer grit, same thing. Adding Borax to next to last two grits before polishing stage. So your video really confused me.
I am sorry my video confused you, I will try to do better in future. In the video I did say that I would show the complete process in a separate video otherwise it would be a very long video, here it is:
th-cam.com/video/pYQBY4B4q5c/w-d-xo.html if you are interest i tumbling there is a playlist of all my tumbling videos here: th-cam.com/channels/LFzJwXLyICX7ATZRmowvvg.htmlplaylists
The comment about men not reading manuals is true :) Happy tumbling!
How can you do a review if you've not used it???
Hi, my journey into rock tumbling is a bit of an ongoing process, you can see me using the machine here th-cam.com/video/pYQBY4B4q5c/w-d-xo.html hope this helps
It's obviously an unboxing video. Don't be salty on the fella.
@MrSkooty1968 - the same way you can comment on a video without watching the video to the end.
Edit, edit, edit. .... yawn!
I do make rather long videos, I try to cram in a lot of useful information, without editing this video would have been a couple of hours long! Sorry.