Customer Reviews

Deluxe Rock Tumbler by Mega Brands

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My wife and I were very excited to get this for our son. It seemed like such a great idea to see rough rocks go in and when the process was done smooth ones come out. Well, we never thought that the machine had to run for a MONTH!! A solid month with no shut offs. This is the first problem. The second issue we had with this is it is incredibly loud. So, running it for a month wouldn't have been such a problem if it didn't sound like a rock slide! I do NOT recommend this product unless you have a shed that you can keep the thing in while it is running. Major thumbs down on this one.

This comes with its own bag of rocks to tumble, but the assortment is quite lacking. Also, included is only enough "grit" material for one set of rocks.

My daughter received this rock tumbler as a gift and all of my children loved it - the finished product is really impressive if you have kids who like really shiny and very interesting rocks. She used them to make jewelry and she also gave several away as gifts. Yes, it is loud, but I've never known anyone who didn't keep their rock tumbler in the garage, my family included. The fact that it takes a long time to get the finished product is part of the learning experience; there are two stages to the polishing process and kids learn that it takes a lot of polishing to produce such a beautiful rock in the end. The Grand Canyon didn't erode in a day, right?! Give this rock tumbler a try and you won't be sorry!

I read most of the reviews on this page and felt that it was important to note that I purchased this tumbler not for rocks but to tumble small amounts of brass for reloading. I figured at $11 (kind of pissed it went down to $9 right after I purchased it) it was a steal for small amounts of brass. Right now I am using it for 308 brass only and since my rifle is a bolt action I dont intend to shoot tons of it in each sitting. So, I tossed about 20 pieces of once fired in and put in some media. Seems to be doing the job nicely.

Durability: not sure but tumbling brass does not require it to be on nonstop for a month either.

Noise: ok so if you dont like noise this is not for you. Some people compared it to a "rock slide" or "racket". Yes it is noise so I say do not use this in or near any place you want to be quiet. In my case it will soon be going into a remote shead. If this thing was in or near my bedroom I could wake up at any time of night and think the random smack smack smacking was someone breaking into my place.

For $9 to $11 it is what it is, dont forget that.

We bought this for our niece, who is very much into gems and stones. She was so excited when she opened it and wanted to get started right away. It was EXTREMELY unfortunate that the process would take SEVEN DAYS - and that's just to complete step one! The rocks have to tumble continuously in the tumbler for seven days - that's 168 hours of listening to rocks tumble around. Needless to say, her mother was LESS than pleased. They ended up shutting it off and never going back to it after just a day and a half. What a disappointment!

I read all the other reviews before purchasing this rock tumbler. Here is what I found out after it arrived:
-Not as loud as I would have thought, but we put it to run in the kids room.
-Has to run continuously for at least a week.
-The rocks come out shiny, but also quite a bit smaller than when they started.
-Somewhat messy due to the dirty water after the rocks have tumbled.
-A neat idea, since its a hands-on toy for kids, but the waiting was challenging!

I am not sure if I would buy it again, since the novelty wore off fairly quickly for my kids. But if your child is really into rocks and jewelry, it may be a great purchase.

I love the idea of a rock tumbler and the educational value of it. However, it takes a very long time to do (weeks) and lots of patience. Our home is fairly small and we couldn't stand the constant noise of the tumbler day in and day out. Finally after the first step (days) I had to call it quits. If you have a place where the noise wouldn't bother you and a lot of patience then you may like this toy.

I am a home schooling mom of 4, and when I saw this tumbler on sale I just had to get it. Although it is not a large as the more expensive tumblers it does a great job. Yes, it is noisy but go check out the natural source of erosion(rivers, ocean) not a very quiet process either, and hard to show begining and end results. We keep it in the garage.
My very impatiant son had to wait a full month for results but he also was learning to read the calander and count down days to change the grit and to finally being done. He can also explain erosion and how the rocks became smooth he is a 1st grader. I find hands on knowledge is the best knowledge.
They also give mounting for jewelry, he has already made all the jewelry and has big plans to sell it from the front yard.
My only complaint about the product is that it only comes with enough grit for one use, and no instructions on how much to add if you get more of your own.
Yet overall my son loves it and we went to a rock shop were they had tumbling rocks $3 a lb and we have already started our 2nd batch.