Lortone 3A Deluxe Rock Tumbler Kit

First, the shipping by Best Service was very quick. The tumbling kit was pretty much as I expected and the price was the best I could find on the web (when including shipping) after a good bit of research. There were actually two bonuses in the kit: There was more grit than I expected (I thought there might be only enough for one pass, but I am guessing I'll get at least 5-10 passes through) and there were pellets included (I thought I saw photos with only four bottles of grit). The tumbler itself is what you'd expect after reading the reviews, simple and solid. The belt slipped off a couple of times in the first run but was easy enough to adjust after removing the cover. You need a phillips head and a wrench for that. The rock selection had a good variety and my 5- and 7-year-old girls were pleased. The noise is not bad. It's in with the laundry and it doesn't make any more noise than the washer. You can't hear it from upstairs. The instructions were easy to understand and fairly comprehensive. As for the fun factor, it provides about 5 minutes of fun every 7 days when you get to see the change in the stones. Cleaning the barrel is not so much fun, at least for kids my age. I am confident they will like the end results though.

I used this for polishing beach stones from Lake Superior. Following the very clear instructions and using the polishing material that comes with the polisher resulted in beautiful stones. This is an entry level, but professional level machine. Good for beginners or if you only have a few rocks to polish. Takes about one month to go through a complete cycle of polishing, so you need to have patience. Quite machine - I run it in the garage and never notice the noise. Highly recommend.

I just finished step three in my tumbler and it has done a great job. I bought it for a small hobby at work in my downtime, and has turned into all of my coworkers picking up rocks for me. I do suggest buying the bigger duel barrel, so you can get through the process faster. So far I am right at 30 days going into step four. I bought the kit with the grit included, because I am a beginner and was unsure what all was needed to tumble rocks. The directions are great and it came with an extra belt for the tumbler. So far I haven't had any issues and its been tumbling 30 days straight. I picture are the rock that were included with the kit, at the end of step 3. I received some Jade, Golden and Blue Tiger Eye, Lapis, Magnesite, Rose Quartz, Dalmation, Rhodonite, and Amethyst. The yellowish pile on the right are ones that I have picked up around Afghanistan.

Always wanted a rock tumbler and after comparing other tumblers with this one, I thought this was the best one for my needs and what I wanted to do. I am almost done with my first batch of rocks (the ones that came in the kit). Can't wait for the batch to be done and to start another one. Only problem I came across (the reason for the 4 stars) is that while I had the cover on the motor, the band that helps turn the barrel came off twice (both times when the cover was on and the screws were in place). After taking off the cover for the second time and fixing the band, I left the cover off and have had no further problems (the problem was within the first 20 minutes or so on the first day). Great rock tumbler for those that have an interest in tumbling rocks and plan to use it often (due to cost). Must have patience as it takes about 1 month for a complete 4-step cycle.

There are many varieties and brands of rock tumblers, and I selected the Lortone 3A kit because of its price and basic features that satisfied the purpose I had for it, namely, to polish some beach stones that the family had gathered some months ago. The kit contains a sample of jagged rocks if you'd like to start from "scratch", but the beach stones we gathered were already smoothed and rounded, so it is a matter of "finishing the job"! The Lortone 3A comes with a single good-sided rubber tumbling chamber with a four-step polishing system of abrasives. In our first attempt at polishing, we began with Step 3 because nature had already smoothed the beach stones to this level. Step 4 performed the final polish beautifully. A couple of things worth noting from our experience: Amazon did a fantastic job delivering the unit in a timely fashion. Also, please consider what you feel your needs are. There is a two-chamber model that might be more fun for your family because it allows for more polishing work! And please consider that each step in the polishing process requires a full week to ten days, possibly longer depending on the hardness of your stones. Nature cannot be rushed, and very few children will enjoy the agonizing wait. Even as an adult, it can be difficult to wait patiently, so perhaps rock tumblers are more of an industrial or jewelery-making machine and less of a "toy". But if you have some raw materials like interesting beach stones or what not, it may be worth the small investment in this tumbler (or one like it). We were able to leave it running in the garage for all polishing stages, and it worked tirelessly with minimal noise and completely free of messes or leaks. Good luck!

So far I love it. I've been wanting a good tumbler since I was a kid. I'm almost through the first stage of tumbling for batch #1 and the tumbler is doing well, no leaks, and I've opened it several times to check the progress and I haven't had a problem with resealing the barrel. Don't get the slurry on your hands if you can help it though, the grit will get under your skin pretty quickly. The barrel has a slight wobble while it's spinning but it doesn't seem to be a problem (yet), and it's pretty quiet. I've got it on an enclosed porch and I don't even hear it from inside. I just love rocks so I'm really looking forward to the end result.

The machine does a job job at rounding the rocks, but the polish is not very good. It does not give them a shine. Need to clear coat them so why use the polish.

I am very happy with this. I didn't realize it was considered a toy, but if it is, I am enjoying playing with it! I've had it runnin 24/7 for the most part since I got it and I love it. It seems to be very durable and the process is really amazing. I look forward to working with my grandchildren on projects with this rock tumbler in the future. I see no reason why this exact one won't be in working order still at that point.