Discovery #Mindblown STEM Kids Rock Tumbler Motorized Stone Polishing Kit/Educational Toy for Ages 8+, 6-pc

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I received this product free from Influenster in exchange for my review. The kit comes with a tumbling machine, medium grinding and polishing grits, a USB cable, and a bag of about 20 quartz and fluorite rocks. It does not have an attachment for the USB to plug into an outlet. It would have been more convenient with a regular plug that works in a standard outlet. I started with about half of the rocks (about eight), rinsed them off, put them in the tumbling barrel, covered them with half of the medium grit powder for stage one tumbling, and added water to cover the rocks, per the instructions. I put some petroleum jelly around the inner lip of the barrel top, as recommended, to make the top easier to remove after tumbling for 2 to 3 days. It was very loud when tumbling, even when placing the tumbler in a closet in a room on the second floor of my house, with the door closed. I checked the stones, and they still had sharp, not smooth edges, so I repeated tumbling the stones, per the instructions, for another three days. The unit shuts off, automatically after three days of tumbling. The black and green stones broke apart into very tiny pieces after tumbling. I washed all of the stones outside with a hose, because the instruction say not to wash the grit into the sink, because it may clog the pipes. The top of the barrel was difficult to remove, even after having applied petroleum jelly so I applied more, before each use. The second step used a fine grit polish, which I added to the barrel with the stones, and covered with water. I tumbled them for one day, and removed the smaller stones. Again, I tumbled the rest of the stones, until the unit shut off. I cleaned them off with soap. They looked the same as at the end of step one. The instructions recommended rubbing them with mineral oil, which I did, and they looked much shinier. The yellow stone was opaque and remained dull looking. The instructions do not indicate whether the grit, which is titanium carbide, is safe to touch. I did not research to find out if it is safe. Since this is a child’s toy, they should indicate that this toy should be used with adult supervision, and one should avoid touching the grit, as a safety precaution, or to use gloves when touching it. This was a fun project, overall, that was very noisy, and should have a regular outlet plug. The green and black stones should be removed after one day of polishing in both steps one and two, because they may be softer, or just more delicate, and prone to breakage. The stones were not as shiny as other polar stones and crystals I’ve seen in stores, and artificially looked shiny from applying mineral oil. I recommend this product.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] It's definitely a fun starter kit for some kids So they can learn about rocks and how they are utilized for multi-purposes. It should definitely be monitored with an adult because of the chemicals. I think the age appropriation is not accurate unbox and should be higher. It does have to run for a couple of days for the rocks to be more polished, and it's not an immediate thing which should be on the box. It is kind of loud so you can't have it in an area where you're going to be sleeping. You can't just leave it sitting there after it shuts off so it does need to be monitored. I think it would be a fun homeschool project. The stones themselves did turn out to be a little bit more chalky than shiny, which was a little bit disappointing. Polishing is not perfect!

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] This is such a cool and unique product! It comes with everything needed to start out and the instructions are super clear! I feel like it’s a sturdy product and will last many uses.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I was excited to test this product, and I can honestly say it worked, but there were some issues. 1. Noisy 2. Seal wasn't as sealed as you'd think (see 'after' pic). 3. The Medium grit did a good job, but needed a little more time. 4. The Polish grit is BRUTAL on certain substances (I guess I used the wrong kind of rock?). It DECIMATED some of the rocks that did fine in the Medium grit. I'm just glad I didn't use the Sunstones I've been wanting to shine up. And lastly 5. The machine might last through one more round of polishing rocks, but this is not a long-term rock polisher. In any case, it's fun to see how rocks change from one session to another...so it's a good starter kit.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Received this complimentary #influenster. I was super excited for this product since I love crystals and this seemed super fun! However, it takes 6 days for completing the process and it is extremely messy! Besides having to find a separate room to leave 3 days at a time due to the noise. It was disappointed. It does do its job, it works. But I am not sure it is worth the process.