At our request, Joshua got one of these from his grand parents for Christmas: a National Geographic Rock Tumbler. Which looks rather like a portable nuclear bomb from a cheap film (so don't walk round with it):
As with many boys, Josh likes collecting stones. So a way to make them look cool seemed a good idea.
The only problem is, I kind of assumed millions of years of geological activity could be neatly compacted into one afternoon. Not so, unfortunately!
There are 4 phases. Each lasts at least 4 days. And there's no turning it off once you've started: this is a full-on, 24 hour operation. Plus, the whole thing sounds not unlike a washing machine churning away all day...with rocks in! Which I guess isn't too far from the truth.
Here's hoping the results justify the effort, or it's off to the garage with sand paper and varnish next time.
