Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[daugen]

aaahhhh, the rock fairy!

 

[California]

As the first post on this page ... I don't want to visualize that.

:laughing:

 

[sixdogs]

c'mon SixDogs, it's the journey not the destination...
round and round and round and round and round and round....

You are correct and that is my position in a broad sense. I didn't realize we were talking about kids here so I guess they should experience the rock tumbler. It's still going to get used one time and then tucked away.

Let the kids put the rock in the tumbler, then while sleeping, exchange them for the polished ones

Kind of fraudulent but I like it.

 

[newbury]

You are correct and that is my position in a broad sense. I didn't realize we were talking about kids here so I guess they should experience the rock tumbler. It's still going to get used one time and then tucked away.

That's being kind of negative.

We bought one decades ago and the thing ground for 4 kids off and on.
IF
You take the children on "nature" walks etc
They collect small rocks
They have patience

you can make some nice "keeper" stones that are mementoes of where they were.

Most of ours have ended up on shelves in various bedrooms etc. as keepsakes.

 

[sixdogs]

That's being kind of negative.

We bought one decades ago and the thing ground for 4 kids off and on.
IF
You take the children on "nature" walks etc
They collect small rocks
They have patience

you can make some nice "keeper" stones that are mementoes of where they were.

Most of ours have ended up on shelves in various bedrooms etc. as keepsakes.

It that case that's a wonderful use and especially nice to give the kids things to remember. Childhood is all about kids being kids and having good things worth remembering a part of that. It's great to do that with them. You're a good father to do those things for them.

 

[PhysAssist]

c'mon SixDogs, it's the journey not the destination...
round and round and round and round and round and round....

When I was a kid at home, my father had me help him to make several tumblers for his amateur lapidary hobby, and while the process calls for a great ability to delay gratification, the results can be astounding. We also made a diamond grinding wheel on a washer motor drive, using first a direct drive, and when the torque turned out to be insufficient, via a belt and pulley drive.

 

[daugen]

I think the challenge is that today's instant gratification youth might get awfully bored with this. Not saying they are coming from Grand Theft Auto to this, but there are so many competing attractions out there, with cable tv, the internet, tweets but NOT twerks...

off topic, sorry, but most of us are old enough to remember when these simple things were just the best.

 

[stuckmotor]

My son had a rock tumbler. If memory serves, it made an awful racket and we put it in the spare room and shut the door. This was around 25 years ago. I hope the newer ones are quieter.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Dont know how much quieter you can make a bunch of rocks in a turning drum be.. ?

 

[sixdogs]

Now, I would be very interested in a giant tumbler that maybe held a hundred pounds or so. In fact, I did a post in search of ideas a while back. I would do that in a heartbeat.

If you like tumblers let me suggest the large size vibratory cleaner as an almost the same fun as a rock polisher. It's just a different kind of fun.
18 Lb. Vibratory Bowl w/ Liquid Drain Hose

This one holds 18 lbs of anything and with an added abrasive or even ground corn cobs or walnut shells can make short work of cleaning something. For example, I used an abrasive cleaner and polished up an old rusty horseshoe in a couple hours.