(no subject)

[camwyn]

When I was about... mmm, I don't know, somewhere between ten and twelve... I wanted a rock tumbler. The idea of being able to take ugly or unimpressive rocks and turn them into shiny smooth polished highly attractive things appealed to me, not to mention that I had spent a long time reading science books about rocks- about gemstones mostly. Let's be honest, I wasn't exactly into varieties of granite. I asked my mom about getting a rock tumbler a couple of times. She said no; it'd be noisy and loud and she was afraid it might cause an electrical fire. I think she had the general impression that rock tumblers were crappy things sold to kids with false promises attached, like Sea Monkeys or x-ray glasses. Maybe not, maybe she just wanted to avoid having something go AKGSKSKFDKSDKDKDKDSFKASFJASDKSJRRRRR for hours on end. I didn't think much of the noise excuse, given how long I had fish tanks for and how much noise the geriatric air pump I used for years on end made- she didn't seem overly bothered by that.

Anyway, I cannot help but notice, as I have been learning more and more about producing metal jewelry, that yes, things like the Original Rock Tumbler from NSI generally get kind of crummy reviews for noise and quality of manufacture- but that if I ever really wanted to do something rock tumblerriffic, the good people of Lortone will be happy to provide something that will actually work....

Comments

[alatefeline]

... yeah I want one too. (Here via network-wandering. With literal rocks in my pocket from a visit to the riverbank the other day.)

[camwyn]

At this point I'm not sure I want one for rocks so much as for polishing/work hardening metal jewelry bits. I get the feeling that'd be even noisier than rock polishing, since it involves throwing the metal bits in the tumbler with a pound or two of pieces of steel shot, but that's apparently a part of the metal jewelry process a lot of the time.

[derien]

I just said to my cousin, yesterday, that she needs a rock tumbler, and she said her husband had one but sold it. I was baffled, but if it was one of the crappy ones, maybe that was why. A good rock tumbler might be something I could get her.

[camwyn]

The one I saw/wanted as a kid, the one that gets crap reviews now, is from NSI and has a bright red barrel. Lortone ones seem to start around $100, although I don't know their whole product range. National Geographic sells a rock tumbler that gets pretty good reviews, and seems to list for $60 or less, for what that's worth.