syfun
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since January 2009
Posts: 85
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Post by syfun on Feb 1, 2009 17:32:42 GMT -5
The idea came up a couple weeks ago in another thread about taking an old propane tank and making a large barrel out of it. I finally got all the parts together and went over to my dad's today to put it all together. Start to finish took about an hour, but we played around a little too. Here's the pics, thanks for looking. This is the tank with the top handle cut off and the 4" hole cut out.  Next we welded 3 pieces of 3/8" rod on the inside to help the tumbling.  My dad wanted to take pictures while I was welding but he hadn't used my camera before. This is me.  This is me welding the 4" pipe on the tank  Then we started getting a little side tracked. This is my dad and son wire brushing the weld  My son wanted to paint it black  And this is the final barrel with the plug in.  We filled it up with water when we were done, put the plug in and stood it upside down. No leaks. Now I have to modify my tumbler to hold this. I'll post pics of that when I'm done. Thanks for looking Steve |
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SteveHolmes
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2009
Posts: 1,900
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Post by SteveHolmes on Feb 1, 2009 17:58:14 GMT -5
Steve,
It looks like it should work! Just have lots of $$ for Grit...that sucker will eat up alot of it. It looks like a 3 generation tumbler build...too COOL!
I like that old Ford in the background. (if that's what it is)
Steve
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Mudshark
fully equipped rock polisher
Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. Will Rogers
Member since December 2008
Posts: 1,083
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Post by Mudshark on Feb 1, 2009 18:02:16 GMT -5
Nice job Steve,it must have been tricky welding those rods in.Is the plug expandable rubber?
Mike
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syfun
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since January 2009
Posts: 85
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Post by syfun on Feb 1, 2009 18:13:58 GMT -5
Steve, yeah, I'm looking at buying some in bulk. Right now I'm probably going to use it for stage 1 only. But as soon as I can build a set of them, I'll have one for each stage. And that's a '23 T that my dad is working on. It looks really cool with the fenders on. He got the body, frame, and some parts in trade for repainting a guys boat. Pretty sweet deal.
Mike, the 4" hole made it real easy to weld the rods. They are just spot welded in the middle, I didn't weld the whole length of the rods. I know it leaves it open for small stones to get stuck under them, but they aren't going to break off, and I'm not going to have that small of stones in there anyway. The plug is one of those 4" plumbers plugs with the wing nut that you tighten up and it squeezes a rubber ring that expands out to make the seal.
Steve
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Feb 1, 2009 18:17:10 GMT -5
Nice work! That should do the job.
As far as grit, if you have a lot of rock to tumble (like I do), you're going to need that much grit sooner or later.
Chuck
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Saskrock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2007
Posts: 1,852
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Post by Saskrock on Feb 1, 2009 20:15:18 GMT -5
Nice looking barrel. Let us know how it works when you get it going. I'm curious how it compares to the PVC barrels as far a noise.
Great job.
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Feb 2, 2009 9:08:10 GMT -5
You'll probably end up with chips and mud filling in the gaps between the rods and barrel side. This isn't necessarily bad because it will prevent slurry from running down the side of the barrel.
I plan to use my large barrel (if I ever get it built) for coarse only. (I use a vibe after coarse in a rotary already.) Unless the barrel is lined, it may be difficult to prevent chipping and get a smooth polish in later stages.
Chuck
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