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Rock Tumbling
Posted on 7/15/25 at 6:25 am
Posted on 7/15/25 at 6:25 am
Does anyone here participate in this hobby?
My youngest recently got into this hobby and has a small tumbling kit but the barrel developed a hole in it which spilled the grit all over the place. We are looking into a new tumbler kit that will be a little more durable.
Also, I am very interested in helping him with this hobby by searching out our own rocks to throw into the tumbler. Are there any good areas to search within a couple hour drive of Houston?
My youngest recently got into this hobby and has a small tumbling kit but the barrel developed a hole in it which spilled the grit all over the place. We are looking into a new tumbler kit that will be a little more durable.
Also, I am very interested in helping him with this hobby by searching out our own rocks to throw into the tumbler. Are there any good areas to search within a couple hour drive of Houston?
Posted on 7/15/25 at 6:30 am to bad93ex
I’m only throwing this out there bc I don’t think you are going to get a lot of feedback on this but my uncle built a rock tumbler out of an old lawn mower engine (?) and an old tire
He’s probably 70ish though and has space and time to do stuff. It’s loud but it seems to work incredibly well. He has some nice looking rocks.
He’s probably 70ish though and has space and time to do stuff. It’s loud but it seems to work incredibly well. He has some nice looking rocks.
Posted on 7/15/25 at 6:34 am to Slevin7
I’m only throwing this out there bc I don’t think you are going to get a lot of feedback on this but my uncle built a rock tumbler out of an old lawn mower engine (?) and an old tire
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You’d be surprised how many rock hounds there are
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You’d be surprised how many rock hounds there are
Posted on 7/15/25 at 6:40 am to bad93ex
Have you thought about going to Lowe's or Home Depot and getting a bag of river rock to search through?
I used to find a lot of fossils and agates in Louisiana in river rock when I was a kid.
I used to find a lot of fossils and agates in Louisiana in river rock when I was a kid.
Posted on 7/15/25 at 6:44 am to bad93ex
Maybe just throw them in the washing machine?
Posted on 7/15/25 at 6:47 am to bad93ex
I've dabbled in it with not so great results. That's all I got
Posted on 7/15/25 at 6:48 am to ChenierauTigre
quote:
Have you thought about going to Lowe's or Home Depot and getting a bag of river rock to search through?
Have not but will check it out during my routine weekend visit to Lowes, thanks!
Posted on 7/15/25 at 6:52 am to bad93ex
The westbank has a rock store. It’s just an entire store that sells rocks. I don’t understand how they’re open or pay the rent.
Posted on 7/15/25 at 6:58 am to Breesus
Well their COGS is like $.01 per sell so any sales they make go straight to rent.
Curious about this rock tumbling. What do you do with rocks once they're smoothed out? Certainly not knocking hobbies that people are into. I recently made friends with a guy who is worth millions and likes to hunt for arrow heads and flint tools from the Indian days. My initial reaction was more judgmental than I'm proud of, but he was asking for some ideas on his screening table and now I'm spending time imagining a shaker table idea for him. And the more I consider the fabrication side, the more I'm interested in hunting for arrow heads.
Curious about this rock tumbling. What do you do with rocks once they're smoothed out? Certainly not knocking hobbies that people are into. I recently made friends with a guy who is worth millions and likes to hunt for arrow heads and flint tools from the Indian days. My initial reaction was more judgmental than I'm proud of, but he was asking for some ideas on his screening table and now I'm spending time imagining a shaker table idea for him. And the more I consider the fabrication side, the more I'm interested in hunting for arrow heads.
Posted on 7/15/25 at 7:31 am to bad93ex
Sort of related. One time I worked at this place that had this agitator that would clean rusty shite. It was full of water/mud/stones. You’d just throw rusty tools in and let them run for a couple hours. Cleaned them up good.
Posted on 7/15/25 at 7:41 am to WhiskeyThrottle
quote:
I recently made friends with a guy who is worth millions and likes to hunt for arrow heads and flint tools from the Indian days. My initial reaction was more judgmental than I'm proud of,
I don't see how anyone could look down on this hobby
Finding a point that no human has seen or touched for thousands of years is an awesome experience.
Posted on 7/15/25 at 8:23 am to bad93ex
I've been wanting to tumble different things
quote:
Fordite
a lapidarist term for polished pieces of finely-layered paint masses from automobile factories. The masses consist of automotive paint which has hardened
Posted on 7/15/25 at 8:37 am to Breesus
quote:
The westbank has a rock store. It’s just an entire store that sells rocks. I don’t understand how they’re open or pay the rent.
THEY'RE MINERALS, MARIE!
Posted on 7/15/25 at 9:36 am to WhiskeyThrottle
quote:
Curious about this rock tumbling. What do you do with rocks once they're smoothed out?
They can be used for jewelry or just collected as general specimens. Folks who get really into it progress to lapidary work and get saws and polishers. I know a couple of guys who do it. They make some cool pieces and sell them at gem shows and such.
This post was edited on 7/15/25 at 10:01 am
Posted on 7/15/25 at 9:41 am to bad93ex
I bought a cheap national geographic kit off amazon for my son when he was 7-9 years old. He was into shiny rocks and stuff. But he was only interested in the finished product. Not running the grit for several days, then rinsing and changing the grit again. Just the shiny rocks that came out as a finished product.
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