Thinking of picking up a selenite lamp? We received a selenite lamp from Love Selenite about a year ago now, and it is high time we wrote a review. Let’s start with a brief overview of what selenite crystals actually are and how they form. If you are not interested in the geology, then feel free to skip ahead to the selenite lamp parts. What is Selenite? Selenite is a variety of gypsum, a soft mineral which forms in places where there used to be salt water, but there isn’t anymore. It is a sulfate mineral that is derived from the salts that used to be in the water, but that now have nowhere to go. Salty water left behind by dried up sea lochs and the likes can eventually crystallise into selenite… though it takes a theorised million years+. Selenite crystals are therefore found in places like desert basins, dried up valleys, and in places you might not expect to find them! Selenite is a sedimentary rock. There are three broad rock types, igneous (volcanic), metamorphic (‘morphs’ over time), and sedimentary (made up of smaller sediment particles). Since the small salt particles which make up selenite are sediment left behind from the ocean that then come together to form selenite, this sees it fall into the sedimentary category. There is a prevailing myth that selenite can’t get wet. It can get wet, but it is delicate. If you left it under the tap for a week it would eventually wear away. Dipping it in warm water to clean it once in a while won’t do any damage, just keep the chemicals away from it. What is a Selenite Lamp? The good folks over at Love Selenite got in touch with us last year and asked if we would host a guest post  for them. In exchange, they sent over one of their selenite lamps for the Stone Circle team to play with. Our Selenite lamp for review What does the selenite lamp look like? This selenite lamp comes in two parts. It features a USB connection on a white wire. On the other side of the wire is a small but bright LED bulb. It is almost identical in brightness to my daylight lamp when set to the one that reminds me of the sky just before it snows. The second part of the selenite lamp is a selenite tower with the middle piece removed and a groove carved into the base to accommodate the wire and allow the whole lamp to sit flat. How to use your Selenite Lamp There is no on or off switch, you just plug it in or unplug it via USB. I have a bunch of old chargers for phones around the house so I stole a plug from one of them to plug it into the wall, but you can just use your laptop or console. The wire has a USB connection at one end and a bulb on the other. What We Liked: There are multiple things we like about this lamp. It is very portable. I can pack it in my handbag if I want to. It’s a sturdy piece of selenite, a pretty piece which I think has been carved into this shape, but I could be wrong. The bulb is not permanently attached to the selenite. This is a great feature because even if you break the bulb or wire part, you can keep the selenite. Likewise, you can also use the bulb part for other purposes if you somehow shatter your selenite. We would use this type of bulb in a mineral cabinet. LED makes our quartz druzy sparkle. Here you can see where the bottom is carved to allow room for the wire. What We Didn’t Like: We would have to really nit pick to find something. Probably the ability to opt to put batteries in the wiring as well as plug it in? But that’s borderline ridiculous. I just can’t figure out how I can get it to display beside my other minerals in the enclosed cabinet. I will find a way, don’t worry. A Selenite Circle, photo by the Stone Circle. What is a Selenite Lamp Good For? If you are a geologist? It is pretty. It literally lights up the room. You can skip the next part. Crystal healers use selenite crystal charging plates  to nullify any past energies attached to their crystals. When they use other crystals in a crystal healing treatment session, they put those crystals onto the selenite plate to cleanse the energy attached to them so that they are ready for the next person. It stands to reason that the selenite lamp therefore promotes the same cleansing, purifying, and nullifying soft energy which selenite plates bring to the crystals, but into the very air of the room itself. Promote peace, calm, and serenity in your healing sessions or use these lamps to create an atmosphere of relaxation. This photo shows where the bulb goes. Where to Place Your Selenite Lamp? If you place it next to your bed it will give a nice, soft light which isn’t too intrusive for last thing at night. It gives enough light to read by, but not to light up the whole room. It is an atmospheric light. You might keep it in the living room where it will look great on a shelf. Just keep it out of the wet rooms of your house. Again, the damp will eventually wear it away, but the chemicals used in cleaning these rooms can do faster damage. Baking soda and citrus fruits can break down sulfate minerals eventually so be careful. Isn't it pretty? I have had this for roughly a year now and have never experienced any broken parts. (Touched wood, don't worry!) Where to Buy Selenite? We would obviously prefer if you bought selenite from us, but this is a review of the Love Selenite, selenite lamp, so we really ought to tell you to buy it there. Visit Love Selenite  and check out the lamps or buy selenite in our selenite section . There’s not much in it at the moment but bear with us. We are waiting on some to show up in an old crystal collection so we can buy it! Rating the Selenite Lamp Out of 5 Meteorites? If we had to rate this out of five meteorites, we would give it a 4.8. If it changed colour, had extra features, or literally grew legs and started dancing, we could give it the full five. This is a product which is full of potential – a potential Love Selenite are fully exploring in their product collection. We can confirm that they really do love  their selenite.   Want to Guest Post with us? If you are interested in guest posting, then contact us to discuss it . We will get back to you as soon as we can. Want The Stone Circle to Review Your Product? Use our contacts page to get in touch and tell us more!

Tips for Ethical and Safe Rockhounding If you live near a geological site, plan a family outing to hunt The Stone Circle’s own article “ Ethical Crystal Hunting in Scotland: What Can't You Take Home " provides

Rockhound Resource have a good list of identification methods, but you can also send minerals you fail Usually these are packed with geologists and rockhounds who can give you answers. You can support me as a writer and rockhound by donating to www.buymeacoffee.com/katrionawrites. Every penny helps me produce more articles like this one, to help other UK rockhounds find their feet

If you keep shredding up the rubber belts on your rock tumbling machine, then this article is for you. Listed below are common reasons why you might keep wrecking the belt. Rock Tumbling Instructions Rock polishing is a properly rewarding hobby provided that you have working equipment and a bit of knowledge behind you. For knowledge you can visit our rock tumbler instructions blog. For troubleshooting why your belt keeps breaking, you are in the right place. Why are my Rock Tumbling Belts Breaking? There are a few reasons. Let’s troubleshoot. 1 – Age Rubber has a shelf life regardless of how much you have used the belt. You could have a spare on a shelf for years, finally have the opportunity to use it, and find that it barely lasts a day. It’s just degradation of the rubber and there’s nothing you can do for this one. I don’t want to link to a bunch of rubber companies so let me sumarise quickly instead. Heat, oxygen, and light all degrade rubber faster. The rubber belt on your rock tumbling machine will degrade faster if it is in use than if it is on the shelf. Keep your spare belts in a dry, dark place. I also keep mine in a sealed baggy so that the air doesn’t get in. 2 – Oil on the Rubber One of the first rock tumblers we got had an instruction manual in it which said to touch oil to the heads once a week or so, but to make sure the oil does not get on the belt as this can degrade the rubber. I am still not sure which part the heads is/are? Easy solution for this one. Clean your rock tumbler machine with a mostly dry cloth while it is turned off at the mains. Soapy water gets rid of oil but you don’t want to get your motor wet, and you want the parts that move to be a little oiled. 3 – Overweight Barrels This is probably the most common reason why the belt in your rock tumbler has broken. Your rock tumbler instructions will have the maximum weight which your tumbler can hold at one time in them. Usually this goes up 0.5lbs at a time. Most tumblers hold between 1.5lbs and 3lbs. Our machines both take 2.5lbs. Some models, like the STEM rock tumbler, will not turn at all if the barrel is overweight. Overfilling your rock tumbler presents multiple problems. Your belt might shred under the weight. You might not get the polish you want because the rocks have no room to move and therefore no friction. You might also overheat and break your motor, which is what powers the belt. The best way to solve this problem is by weighing your barrel before you put it on your machine. Remember that water weight is very real and that you should weigh the barrel when it also contains water and grit. 4 – Lack of Space I once shredded a belt to actual inch long pieces because I didn’t give it enough room. It was touching one of my other polishing machines. Every rotation it was touching the metal of the other machine. The rock tumbler belt could not cope with it. I don’t know how long it was running that way but the belt was the worst I have seen. 5 – Environmental Extremes Speaking of giving your rock tumbler space on the shelf, you should also be aware of the extremes in temperature that might affect them. We have two tumblers running at the moment, both on the same shelf, both inside a closed cabinet which we need to do to prevent the noise from reaching downstairs. Now. The cabinet gets hot on normal days, so on extremely hot days, we often switch them off. You run the risk both of burning out the motor in your rock tumbler and/or wrecking your belt. This goes the same for freezing temperatures. Anyone who has ever watched Gold Rush knows that you have to turn the equipment off to protect it from breaking when it gets too cold. If you keep your tumblers in the house, then they are likely fine. If you keep them in the garage or shed, then consider switching them off when it’s too hot or too cold. Where to Buy a Replacement Rubber Rock Tumbler Belt? I don’t know for sure which size of belt your rock tumbler takes so these are just suggestions. You can always return them if they don’t work, which is the beauty of Amazon. UK Replacement Rock Tumbler Belts If it is a Nat Geo hobby tumbler or the equivalent then these Dan & Darci rubber belt replacements should fit it. Most hobby sized rock tumblers will take these belts. US/CA Replacement Rock Tumbler Belts You can view a full list of available replacement rock tumbler belts on Amazon.com here. This set of 4 rock tumbler rubber belts are cheap and cheerful. They go with National Geographic tumblers and Dr. Cool Rocks. If you have a Leegol rock tumbler then they take specific belts. You can find replacements for the Leegol Electric belt here. The Leegol Electric 6lb rock polishing machine is another league but it is not compatible with our outlets here in the UK. I still want one. Further Troubleshooting a Broken Belt in Your Rock Tumbler If you get through this article and none of the fixes work, then you should contact your rock tumbler’s manufacturer for additional information. They may even give you a replacement belt or two.

Geologists, archaeologists, rockhounds, gem collectors, and miners the world over are all familiar with gone to the effort of hunting for rocks then they are displaying the keenness needed to become a true rockhound

We didn’t just start out as rockhounds knowing about how to test minerals for hardness or specific gravity You can support me as a writer and rockhound by donating to www.buymeacoffee.com/katrionawrites. Every penny helps me produce more articles like this one, to help other UK rockhounds find their feet

Other rockhounds providing us with amethyst are from Dumfries & Galloway, Fife, Ayrshire, and the north of Scotland. Mineral and crystal hunting in Scotland has a long history going back to crofter times. Although we have limited quantities of amethyst here in Scotland, you can get it from Brazil, China,

We all have to start somewhere with rock identification as baby rockhounds, but identifying minerals Can you Rock Hunt for Aventurine in Scotland? would like to say no to this, but we have actually found two separate pieces of green aventurine in Scotland

There, he met other rockhounds who were experienced enough to show him the ropes. A few years ago, she decided to go gold panning in the hills of Scotland for the adventure of it. she can about chalcedony , quartz , amethyst , and all the other wonderful crystals you can find in Scotland Special Skills: Author, TikToker, Reiki Healer, Tarot Reader, Rockhound, Gold Panner

All smoky quartz from Scotland that we sell has a known hardness of 7.

When I picked up a Hobby Rock Tumbler of nameless brand from eBay for cheap-cheap, I was not expecting much. Here is the review alongside links to the unboxing and update vids. I had a spare thirty quid last month and that doesn’t happen often, so I decided to make an investment in my future by picking up rock tumbler #3 - the cheapest rock tumbler that I could find. I found this nameless brand of hobby tumbler on eBay a while back and I was interested to see how it worked. I was aware that it was a basic rock polishing machine but what I wanted to know was whether it was worth the money. Honestly? At thirty bucks I was not expecting much – but I was pleasantly surprised. Skip the review to buy it here. What showed up when I ordered the cheapest rock tumbler? This hobby rock tumbler arrived in a box which encouraged me to enjoy the drive, which made me immediately skeptical. It had photos of kids around the outside, which is fine, but I disagree that this is a product for kids that young. I would say the same about most rock tumblers, but particularly this one. But I will get to that in a minute. The box showed up absolutely wrapped in a good, solid foam. I have had rock tumblers arrive before damaged from a standard box, so I was glad to see that. The contents were also unharmed although I did comment in the unboxing video that I thought there was an awful lot of plastic in it. Unboxing the Cheap Hobby Rock Tumbler from eBay This is where I play the unboxing video and you get to laugh at me. What’s in the Box? Inside the box for this cheap rock polishing machine, I found: Jewellery fastenings for a ring and earrings/necklace/keyring. A rock tumbler barrel, rubber, of standard size, will fit the Nat geo range. A spare rubber belt in case the first wears out. A small selection of mainly glass rocks inside the barrel. We threw these away. More on that later. The base containing the motor and the spinning parts. What I liked/didn’t like about the cheap rock tumbler? There were things I both did and did not like about this rock tumbler product for sale in the UK. Let me divide them up into good and bad for you. Things I Liked About This Budget Rock Tumbler These are the positives from this purchase. The Rock Tumbler Barrel A massive plus about this rock tumbler is that the barrel is rubber. We like rubber barrels because they are quieter and easier to open than plastic rock tumbler barrels are. This rock tumbler barrel is compatible in size with the National Geographic hobby rock tumbler and with smaller models which you can browse on our rock tumbler page. It will not work with the Stemrock but should work with everything else. The Price This cheap rock tumbler ranges from £30 - £40. I picked it up for £32.87. For that price, even if it turns for three months I will have made the investment back in terms of tumblestones. We will see. The Controls The base part of the rock tumbler is really easy to control. I didn’t even have to read the instructions – which is good because there is a strong chance they described the engine of a Honda civic. You press the power button, select between 1, 2, and 3 days turning time, and then you press the power button again to start the cycle. The Actual Tumbling Process After tumbling for a week and a half, I opened the rock tumbler to see how it was getting on. I had used too much grit and the froth was beautiful. A nice thick slurry and some pummelled rocks, just what we like. It actually worked better than I thought it would. As you can tell from the unboxing video, I was genuinely concerned that it might blow up on me. Ease of Use/Accessibility Shout out to the barrel for having a wee tab on it at the top that you can use to pull it open. I was very confused in the second video because I couldn’t find the wee tab, only to later realise I had loaded up the National Geographic’s barrel by mistake. Things I Didn’t Like About the Budget Rock Tumbler These are the negatives of buying this hobby rock tumbler on eBay. The Rocks The stones that came with this rock tumbler were, at first, a pleasant surprise. I was not expecting as much in the way of added extras from this rock tumbler model. The price was just too cheap. The rocks inside the tumbler barrel when you open the tumbler are fairly sharp. I mentioned above that I wouldn’t get this model for a kid and that is why. Some of those rocks – particularly the red ones – are just coloured glass. This has been smashed up indiscriminately and some did stick into my hand when I opened the packet. Take my advice and throw the rocks away. Mine went into the garden where all poor rocks, broken stones and glass go to retire. The Lack of Grits This rock tumbler doesn’t come with grit, so you couldn’t start tumbling right away even if you did want to tumble the glass rocks. I knew before I purchased it that there were no grits so it was fine, I already have them. However, if you are a nooby to rock tumbling, this set is cheap and not very cheerful. If they added a single packet of each stage in with this model, I would be willing to pay an extra fiver for it. You can shop for Rock Tumbler Grit through TSC here. Where to Buy this Cheap Rock Tumbler on eBay? Obviously this item is for sale on eBay. I give it 3.5 out of 5 meteorites. It’s a sound product with poor packaging but with a really good outcome. If you have the grits already, I say it makes a nice addition to your tumbler array. Would I buy it again? I would. I think it’s great value for money. I wouldn’t bother tumbling the rocks that come with it though and I would remove said rocks before I gave it as a gift, too. If you use this link to buy it, I earn a small commission. I consider it my penance for writing this review.

The Stone Circle buys and sells preloved and second-hand crystals, rocks, and minerals. Unfortunately, we cannot buy every crystal collection that we come across. If you are looking to sell your crystal collection online, read this first! A Flower Agate Tower we recently bought up on eBay Here at The Stone Circle, we have recently taken a step back to look at how we can improve the ethics of crystal collecting. We know that the best pieces are mined, and we know that mining takes a huge toll on the environment, and as rock hunters we know that even hunting crystals in the UK in areas local to us takes an environmental toll. It is our aim to keep that toll as low as possible. We Buy and Sell Preloved Crystal Collections Recently, we decided to expand into the purchasing and reselling of unwanted crystal collections. Do you ever wonder what happens to all the rocks that people collect? Rather than being put in a suitcase and forgotten about, we would love those old crystal collections to end up here. We will rehome them and they will find love in the end. How We Work Out Preloved Crystal RRPs Since preloved crystals come to us second hand, we check the RRP against the first few pages of Google shopping. If we don’t believe what we see (because the price is too high) we check Etsy, then eBay. We take the average cost across the different marketplaces to be the actual RRP. After we have a Recommended Retail Price, we can work out what the resale value is for the crystal as a second hand, pre-loved mineral. We promise to keep the prices on the cheapest side possible. After all, do we own the rocks or do the rocks own us? Would The Stone Circle Buy Your Old Crystals? We might. Here is what we are looking for – in fact, it is easier to tell you what we do not want, instead. We are open to any and all offers of minerals, be they donations or offered for sale. However, we do not want  to buy the following: Fake minerals – if it is glass, we won’t buy it. Lab grown is acceptable, but we need to know. Dyed minerals – especially dyed agates or geodes. If it is neon, then it is fake. Anything ‘Aura’ – aura quartz and rainbow crystals have been coated with a mix of other minerals. We do not want to encourage this market in any way, shape or form. We see these as vandalism… like spray painting over a DaVinci or scrubbing a Banksy off a wall… Heat treated agates or heat treated “citrine” (amethyst). If you have a few of the above but have an otherwise natural crystal collection, then we won’t mind. If your crystal collection is mostly dyed or rainbow aura coated, then we won’t buy it. It’s not that we are judging your taste but more that our customers expect rough rocks and natural crystals when they shop with us. Also, we haven’t perfected a formula for removing the dye from agates yet. We stopped experimenting just shy of trying bleach. What is Your Crystal Collection Worth? This is a tricky question. If you want to sell it all at once, you will make less money. Selling items individually on the website is how we make a small profit (we hope!) If you trust us, we will make a fair offer that makes everyone happy – especially the people who get new rocks! When selling your crystal collection, you might do better selling all of your towers or spheres at once and selling your tumble stones separately. Tumbles are worth less than other minerals. Prices fluctuate based on what is popular at that time on the market. The best way to find out how much your crystal collection might be worth is to ask. Drop us an email at thestonecircleshop@gmail.com with some photos and we will make an offer if we can. We are not rich so please don’t approach us with meteorites. Where to Buy Cheap Crystals Second Hand? You can rehome crystals, rocks, and minerals through the Stone Circle’s preloved crystals program. Donate or sell your old crystal collection and pick up new (old) crystals second hand at www.thestonecircle.co.uk .