zebra61
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2024
Posts: 118
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Post by zebra61 on Mar 23, 2024 22:43:38 GMT -5
Remember seeing the super-small two-passenger ‘Smart Car’ driving down the highway? I always thought they’d be fun for trips around town but I wouldn’t want my friends to see me driving it. Well… I may have purchased the ‘Smart Car’ of the rock tumbling world. I dropped $99 on one of the Tumble-Bee TB-14 single barrel 4lb tumblers last week and it arrived on March 22nd. So I peeled it out of the box last night and looked it over for a few minutes before going to bed. This morning I took some time to lubricate the shafts and check the drive belt which was off the pulley. Before putting the cover back on I plugged it in and realized that a belt adjustment was mandatory before proceeding. It was producing lots of noise, a complaint that I witnessed in a YouTube video I’d seen. After a little tweaking of the motor and belt it was back to being tolerable, almost quiet. It’s plugged-in and running a full load of Zebra Jasper right now. It runs about 10 degrees warmer than my Lortone 33b’s under load. And it came with a nice barrel but it has a smooth interior. Not sure how I’ll like that but it’s easy to hear the tumbling so that’s good. For those of you that don’t know already, the tumbler frame and case are all made out of a rigid composite plastic which seems okay but I’m going to be watching the shaft bearings closely, I could see issues if a bearing wears out and lets a shaft ride on the frame material. Time will tell. So is it the Smart-Car of the tumbling world? We’ll See.
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Post by velodromed on Mar 24, 2024 10:29:03 GMT -5
My cousin bought a tumble bee a couple years ago and then lost parts. So I grabbed it six or seven months ago, found the missing parts and used it for a few months. It definitely spins too fast but was a decent machine overall, good for breaking down rough Rock. I gave it back to him about a month ago, along with instructions on how to use it, rocks and decent grit.
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zebra61
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2024
Posts: 118
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Post by zebra61 on Mar 24, 2024 12:49:42 GMT -5
My cousin bought a tumble bee a couple years ago and then lost parts. So I grabbed it six or seven months ago, found the missing parts and used it for a few months. It definitely spins too fast but was a decent machine overall, good for breaking down rough Rock. I gave it back to him about a month ago, along with instructions on how to use it, rocks and decent grit. It's faster than my Lortone 33b's by 9 rpm and I noticed that when I first turned it on. My 33s are running right at 50 to 51 rpm and the Tumble-Bee is running at 60 rpm exactly. 45 rpm would be my preference with all of them but I'm planning a grit check on the 5th day to see how things are progressing. It's got a load of zebra Jasper so I'm curious anyway. I'm also wondering what difference the smooth interior of the barrel will make. There should be less agitation but would the rocks roll more and do less crashing? I know that Jugglerguy has a video using a clear cover on the barrels to see the way different loads move in the barrel but did he play with different styles of barrels? I'll have to do a search and look at the video again. I'm also planning to throw it on the Kill-A-Watt to see how efficient it runs. It's always fun to check these things out when a person has the time. I'm not too sure how well I'm going to like the 'timing' belt either. It seems like that style of belt adds some noise into the equation and I'm so confident in the drive system I ordered 3 extra belts just in case I experience failures. Spares make me feel better anyway.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Mar 25, 2024 18:32:16 GMT -5
My cousin bought a tumble bee a couple years ago and then lost parts. So I grabbed it six or seven months ago, found the missing parts and used it for a few months. It definitely spins too fast but was a decent machine overall, good for breaking down rough Rock. I gave it back to him about a month ago, along with instructions on how to use it, rocks and decent grit. It's faster than my Lortone 33b's by 9 rpm and I noticed that when I first turned it on. My 33s are running right at 50 to 51 rpm and the Tumble-Bee is running at 60 rpm exactly. 45 rpm would be my preference with all of them but I'm planning a grit check on the 5th day to see how things are progressing. It's got a load of zebra Jasper so I'm curious anyway. I'm also wondering what difference the smooth interior of the barrel will make. There should be less agitation but would the rocks roll more and do less crashing? I know that Jugglerguy has a video using a clear cover on the barrels to see the way different loads move in the barrel but did he play with different styles of barrels? I'll have to do a search and look at the video again. I'm also planning to throw it on the Kill-A-Watt to see how efficient it runs. It's always fun to check these things out when a person has the time. I'm not too sure how well I'm going to like the 'timing' belt either. It seems like that style of belt adds some noise into the equation and I'm so confident in the drive system I ordered 3 extra belts just in case I experience failures. Spares make me feel better anyway. I did not experiment with different barrel styles. I initially got a Thumler's A-R2 just so I could easily put a glass lid on it. Those have some sort of polyhedra shaped barrel I think, and I believe the Nat Geo has a round barrel. Those are the two I compared, but the Nat Geo was going way faster, so it's not much of a comparison.
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khara
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,751
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Post by khara on Mar 25, 2024 19:33:33 GMT -5
It’s cute! 🐝 Look forward to hearing how it does long term.
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zebra61
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2024
Posts: 118
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Post by zebra61 on Mar 26, 2024 13:58:05 GMT -5
It’s cute! 🐝 Look forward to hearing how it does long term. 'It's cute!' -
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zebra61
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2024
Posts: 118
Member is Online
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Post by zebra61 on Mar 26, 2024 14:43:35 GMT -5
I did not experiment with different barrel styles. I initially got a Thumler's A-R2 just so I could easily put a glass lid on it. Those have some sort of polyhedra shaped barrel I think, and I believe the Nat Geo has a round barrel. Those are the two I compared, but the Nat Geo was going way faster, so it's not much of a comparison. Thanks for the clarification Rob and thanks for making the video. It's been a long time since I watched it so I needed the update. So now I'm wondering if a slower speed with the smooth barrel would be a disadvantage? Would the load tend to slide rather than roll & tumble? Thinking that even rock size & shape might have an effect on that. But right now it's running right and doing the job for which I purchased it.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Mar 27, 2024 14:56:51 GMT -5
Thanks for the clarification Rob and thanks for making the video. It's been a long time since I watched it so I needed the update. So now I'm wondering if a slower speed with the smooth barrel would be a disadvantage? Would the load tend to slide rather than roll & tumble? Thinking that even rock size & shape might have an effect on that. But right now it's running right and doing the job for which I purchased it. Most of my Lortone barrels are smooth and round, but they all seem to do a good job of making the rocks smaller.
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