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Post by MyNewHobby on Dec 12, 2010 20:43:09 GMT -5
Hey all! Two things ... my neighbor came by the other evening and wanted to know that since I knew something about rocks (yep ... they are hard and can be hard to get along with ) If I could give some advice or help for his 8 year old grandson (maybe its his nephew) as he just got a rock tumbler. I just about lost my mind. I have been having such a hard time in the last year with darn near everything (don't you dare do any awwwwwws) that rocks have taken a back seat to my pity parties. I am so tickled and excited about this I cannot stand it. And by the way ... his grandson seems to have this strange attraction to .... of all things ... obsidian. And since I have quite a bit as a result of one of my benefactors here (thank you Diane). I am going to pick out some pieces for him and make a one barrel batch of rough for him. ;D Now ... I have already placed an order with Rock Shed. I also need grit badly ... so I got my order in too. I also ordered one of the bundles from Shawn .... one 1 lb packages of the four mediums and a plastic pellets for his grandson. Sorry I digress ... I need the help of you parents or teachers. I would like to put together a package for him. As I was rooting through all my rocks, I found it turned out to be a rock licking day. YES!!! I was too lazy to get up off my butt and get a bowl of water. So I licked rocks as I was going through all of my treasures. I would like to put together some form a comprehensive set of instructions .... remember this is a 8-year old. Now I am a big SHOW AND TELL person. If I can see a picture of what is being described in words, I am more easily able to understand what to do. I have already started my own set of instructions for him from me. BUT ... I do not want to give him mine as well if I am so far off base from how he needs to learn it. I have also started putting together 2 or 3 pre-selected batches for him to play with. All input is really needed here and wanted!!! As always guys ... my thanks
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Post by johnjsgems on Dec 12, 2010 21:07:23 GMT -5
I can send you the one page instruction sheet I put in my grit kits. I tried to keep it simple but it really isn't aimed at 8 year olds. I might even find some rocks around here if I look.
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Post by MyNewHobby on Dec 12, 2010 21:12:59 GMT -5
Hi John!!!!
The instructions would be great .... If they are too intense for the child than maybe I will glean information from it.
As for rocks ... thank you ... but ... I have gotten so much from all of you RTH'ers ... it wouldn't be right to get more stuff. You guys have spoiled me and I am going to pass it on.
Thanks!!!
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
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Post by Sabre52 on Dec 13, 2010 11:57:36 GMT -5
Just three simple things you can do to make your kid's first tumble successful: 1. Run stones of similar hardness ( agate, jasper, pet wood best for beginners. Obsidian is one of the toughest tumbles). 2. Run them a long time in coarse grind with weekly recharges, to get them well rounded before moving on. Patience is required! and 3. Chuck out any heavily pitted or cracked stones or don't throw them in to begin with. Aside from these things, normal instructions will work just fine for these harder rocks......Mel
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Post by MyNewHobby on Dec 13, 2010 12:59:21 GMT -5
Thank You Sabre!
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Post by susand24224 on Dec 13, 2010 16:54:39 GMT -5
I think all the offers and ideas already have been wonderful, but in my mind, patience will be the hardest thing for this young fellow. Perhaps take the directions one step at a time (?) With kids, I have also found it useful to have samples of "good" and "bad" and let them choose. If they choose "good" it makes the extra weeks of wait in coarse grind worth it; if they choose "bad" it is done quicker but they know that they made the choice that it wouldn't be quite as pretty.
Susan
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Post by johnjsgems on Dec 13, 2010 20:28:48 GMT -5
If you could start him on beach rocks you could speed up the process. I was assuming rotary tumbler and sent those instructions. I included the GyRoc vibe instructions as well just in case.
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Post by MyNewHobby on Dec 14, 2010 20:27:24 GMT -5
Thanks everyone!!!
This is going to help me a great deal!!!
As always!
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Post by MyNewHobby on Dec 16, 2010 20:42:28 GMT -5
John!!! I got your envelope today and I think you are saving my bacon on the instructions with the second sheet you sent me. THANK YOU!!!!!
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Post by connrock on Dec 17, 2010 8:34:28 GMT -5
I don't know if this will help you at all but it's something you can at least look at to see that a young boy can do something like this with a little guidance and help,,,,,, My grandson Mike was 7 years old here,,,,,, imageevent.com/tcknkk/mikesfirstbatchoftumbledrocks?n=0&z=2&c=4&x=1&m=24&w=0&p=0Unfortunately I didn't take any photo's of the finished rocks and I can't remember why? This whole set of photos and descriptions was done because of a LOT of people here complaining about how messy plastic pellets are!I wanted to show that even a 7 year old can work with pellets!! LOL connrock
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Post by MyNewHobby on Dec 17, 2010 15:52:57 GMT -5
Connrock ...
Thank you so much for the information and link. It will be used.
Personally, I like my pellets and how they work with especially touchy material.
As always!!!
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jrtrio
has rocks in the head
With10 tumblers tumbling the sound is so delicious!Send me more of those little red fellas, please?
Member since February 2006
Posts: 535
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Post by jrtrio on Dec 23, 2010 2:13:55 GMT -5
One really important piece of advice I can give you is MAKE SURE IT"S A ROCK BEFORE YOU LICK ANYTHING!!! Also, the past three years I've been helping my daughter, who is a Fourth Grade Teacher introduce her classes to Earth Science, Geology, and rock tumbling. It's amazing how much these little sponges soak up! 3 years ago my daughter taught 3rd grade then was moved up to teach 4th grade. Which was great because we were able to have a level of continuity in our instructions! This year they had me do my talk in the Library so that we could fit 3 classes in together. I was able to set up my tumblers in a way that each one tumbled a stage until the last one had polished stones. I also brought many pieces of my collection of stones, gems, fossils and an example of my different tumblers. I have about 9 of the Red "Toy" tumblers (I love using especially for the smaller loads and softer stones) which turn out quality work just like the big boy tumblers! Plus I have a couple of the Smithsonian 1# tumblers and I have one Thumler 3# tumbler. They were impressed with just about everything! We talked about the history that rock and mining have played in the history of mankind. How metal ore was used to create all sorts of things that changed history. And eventually we talked about tumbling. One of the most gratifying parts of my talk is the end where the kids ask questions. And you know how it is during meetings or inservices where the speaker asks if there are any questions and all you can hear is the cricket in the corner? Well, these kids were full of great questions that kept us going almost as long as the talk! At the end when the kids had to go about their way several kids came up to ask specific questions (one was taking notes and wanted clarification of spelling and information!). From all my talks with them I have to say that 8 is a good age to introduce children to rock hunting, collecting and tumbling. But, with ADULT SUPERVISION to keep accidents to a minimum and messes and mistakes down too. Try not to get frustrated with their impatience of wanting to see the rocks as they are tumbled. Just explain they need to be left alone for at least 7 days (usually about the time that grit becomes worthless) then they can check the stones by fishing one or two out to rinse and look at and to add more grit to boost the load. Remember their attention span isn't that long and make it as enjoyable as you can. While waiting for a load to do it's thing is a good time to take them out rock hunting. Investigate your area for the better places to search. Creeks and quarries are great places to search. But, if you are Rock area poor I have found that small companies in your local area that do Kitchen remodels using stone counter tops usually have a great selection of "trash" piles that they will let you look through and you can sometimes get for little or nothing money wise. Enjoy!
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