National Geographic Rock Tumbler Review: Is It Worth Your Money?

Curious about whether the National Geographic Rock Tumbler is worth your investment? Join me in "National Geographic Rock Tumbler Review: Is It Worth Your Money?" as I dive into a comprehensive review of this popular rock tumbling kit. In this video, I'll unbox the National Geographic Rock Tumbler, share my first impressions, and take you through the entire tumbling process.
Discover the pros and cons, see the results of different types of rocks, and find out if this kit lives up to the hype. Whether you're a beginner rockhound or looking to upgrade your tumbling setup, this review will help you decide if the National Geographic Rock Tumbler is right for you.
National Geographic Rock Tumbler: amzn.to/3S3A47H
TUMBLE ON!! 😁👍🪨⛏️
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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Recommended Rock Tumbling Supplies
● National Geographic Rock Tumbler: amzn.to/3S3A47H
● Aluminum Oxide 1000 Polish: amzn.to/3zD76VK
● Aluminum Oxide 500 Pre-Polish: amzn.to/45YfqeC
● 220 Silicon Carbide: amzn.to/3zFoWYb
● 80 Silicon Carbide: amzn.to/3XZ4bAF
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Recommended Rockhound Books
● National Geographic Rocks and Minerals of North America: amzn.to/3y5qLgI
● The Illustrated Guide to Rocks & Minerals: amzn.to/3LvGWqz
● Gemstones of the World: amzn.to/3YhiIYy
● The Field Guide to Geology: amzn.to/4cLoSEZ
● Gem Cutting: A Lapidary’s Manual: amzn.to/4fb708c
● Minerals of the World: amzn.to/3WqbIYe
● Field Collecting Gemstones and Minerals: amzn.to/3LxncCQ
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Disclaimers: All opinions are my own. Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission when you purchase items through this link!
Still here? Did you get stuck in rock tumbler slurry, or are you hoping for one more rock pun? Hit subscribe before I start cackling and making weird rock noises again! 😂👍🪨⛏️
#nationalgeographic #geology #review #unboxing #rocktumbling #rocktumbler #lapidary #thefinders #educationaltoys

[@CacklingChick]

I hope this review of the National Geographic Hobby Edition Rock Tumbler was fun and helpful! You can purchase one here: amzn.to/3OUpRca TUMBLE ON!! 😁👍🪨⛏

[@jimedgar6789]

I never worried about my tumbler "walking" until I woke up in the middle of the night and it was in my bedroom.

[@CacklingChick]

What the...? Ok, that would scare me!!

[@jimedgar6789]

@@CacklingChick Scared me too! All I heard was "rumble rumble". LOL

[@CacklingChick]

Exactly!! I'd think it was a critter that got in the house!!

[@Pampnaylor]

Love this video. I think as a beginner I should get this kit from the National Geographic. Soooo excited!

[@CacklingChick]

Howdy, Pam! 👋🏻 Yes, it's a pretty good beginner rock tumbler, keeping in mind the pros and cons I mentioned. I agree, very exciting!! Thank you for the feedback and TUMBLE ON!! 😁👍🏻🪨💦

[@Herowngirltravelstheworld]

You said you used a different medium of grit I think? In the video. Can you link to it or provide the name? I'm looking at starting this as a beginner. I live on the ocean and keep finding amazing rocks I want to try lol

[@CacklingChick]

Howdy! 👋🏻 Ooh, how exciting that you're going to try rock tumbling!! I have a lot of the items listed in the description, but I recommend Rock Shed's aluminum oxide 1,000 polish as it's a lot better than what came with the National Geographic Rock Tumbler Hobby Edition. Remember to tumble rocks of similar hardness. Otherwise, the soft ones will get bruised, which is what happened with the ones in the kit. Here's the link to the POLISH I use in my Lortone rock tumbler as well as the kit for a better polish: Aluminum Oxide 1000 Polish: amzn.to/3zD76VK TUMBLE ON!! 😁👍🏻🪨💦

[@koreenphotogirl]

I do a post-4 step with borax. Makes them shine like glass. Great review! 👍

[@CacklingChick]

Great idea! How long do you run that burnishing stage? 😁👍🏻🪨⛏️

[@koreenphotogirl]

@@CacklingChick At least 24 hours but I've once forgotten it and left it there 3 days. Makes 'em super shiny!

[@CacklingChick]

Holy wow! I haven't tried it for that long. Definitely going to try your suggestion. Many thanks and TUMBLE ON!! 😁👍🏻🪨⛏️

[@animaloverload7465]

Your enthusiasm in this hobby ive done for a while has got you a new sub. The "crayon" video was my intro to you. Binge watching now.

[@CacklingChick]

HOWDY! 👋🏻 I think you have me confused with @moonriserocks! She's AWESOME! Do you tumble, slab, or... ? DO TELL!! Thanks! ROCK ON!! 😁👍🏻🪨⛏️

[@robertjackson7971]

If you want a shine on your rocks use 1200 aluminum oxide polish I use that stuff and it works

[@CacklingChick]

Thanks! I use 1,000 A.O. from the Rock Shed. Where do you get yours?

[@ravenmeyer2951]

Is there ever really enough rocks? For a rockhound? Never. 😂

[@CacklingChick]

SPOT ON!! Each rock has something worth oogling over! Thank you for sharing your passion for all things ROCKS!! 😁👍🏻🪨⛏️

[@jarlsoars1150]

I have one of these...bought it at a consignment store for probably half what it retails and it was barely used. It had something like three bags of rough and grit, too. Anyway, our local gem/rock show is going on this weekend and I bought a second Loretone 33B unit from a vendor out of Wisconsin. By the way, they told me that Loretone is ending their production as of March 29. It seems the owner is retiring.

[@CacklingChick]

Yes, the National Geographic rock tumbler kits don't give you much material, but that's easily solved with rockhounding! I'm jealous you have a rock show to attend. They're fun! Yes, I read last week about Lortone going out of business. Horrible news as I also own two of the 33Bs. Great tumblers for sure! Have you been tumbling long? What are you tumbling now? 😁👍🏻🪨⛏️

[@CacklingChick]

Also, I heard Harbor Freight won't be making any tumbler as well. Apparently, Highland Park tumblers are good. I need to check them out! Anyway, enjoy your Lortone tumblers!!

[@jarlsoars1150]

@@CacklingChick My first entry into tumbling was probably back in 2012, but, after a few batches sold my 33A a few years later and just started again last year, but, I've always rock hounded despite that though. Currently, I ran a batch of small, solid geode halves from Hamilton, Ill., just across the river from Keokuk, IA(Geode country lol). Anyway, I figured since they're solid quartz they should polish well...most are clear but a few are solid white. The other batch was a mix of locals...I have to redo stage one because everything was too similar in size, so, without smaller intermediate pieces the grit wasn't distributed as well...they got more or less 'dull' but not shaped and there was a lot of fresh grit still, so, gonna add some ceramic media to reach the voids better. Working on breaking up some other local pieces and mixing in some purchased rough for the new tumbler, but, that takes me so long to get around to..lol.

[@CacklingChick]

That's interesting you're adding ceramic media to stage 1 as that really slows down shaping and removing pits and cracks. I accidentally did that with some rocks I'm currently tumbling. In my case, I only added the ceramic media because each barrel was only half full. After a couple of weeks of that, I thought, oops, no wonder they're not losing the pits and cracks! Removed the media, retumbled for another 8 days (because I got busy... and lazy... haha). BOOM... much smoother!

[@jarlsoars1150]

@@CacklingChick I might have over loaded the barrels with rocks...that's probably part of the problem. I didn't use media this time at first either. They lost a little volume on their own but not as much as I expected. I mentioned that the batches were more or less the same size rocks so there's simply not enough grinding action between the rocks, so, I opted to reload and run step 1 adding small media. I've done that with previous tumbles anyway and have had good results, so I don't think it's the media in this case. I think it can go both ways...if there's too much media, I think it can chew up your grit faster if the rock-to-media ratio is disproportionate therefore resulting in less reduction. I've seen it happen to others out there.