Just picked up a Thumlers Tumbler, the A-R1 model for my daughter. She really enjoys rocks, gems, geology and all the things associated.

Picked up the tumbler as she asked for one to try out. I am also into this stuff, so gave me an excuse to try it out myself as well (not that I need an excuse to spoil my daughter lol).

Also picked up some Ceramic media per the recommendations of Rock Tumbler dot com. Seems like they have a very large wealth of knowledge on that site. I very much enjoy reading all the articles, as I enjoy learning new things (especially on a topic that interests me).

Just curious if there are any other people on here that may be into this hobby as well that I could bounce some questions / ideas off from time to time.

Thanks!

I've messed with it on and off, one of the hobbies I seem to rotate through regularly.

Patience is the main requirement.  It's hard for younger kids to set something up then leave it alone for two or three weeks, then again for another.  Making "sea glass" from chunky broken glass pieces is quicker and might be good practice.

It's kinda noisy too.  You'll probably want to set up a spot in the garage or someplace.

Besides tumbling stones, you can clean spent brass by wet tumbling it with stainless steel pins.  You might want to buy a spare drum for that role.

My child got a tumbler for Christmas, we have only used it once.