braat
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2016
Posts: 350
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Post by braat on Jun 17, 2019 15:48:37 GMT -5
I started tumbling 3 years ago with a Lortone 3A (3lb) tumbler and not long after thought i needed to increase output and dedicate barrels to different stages and got the Thumler AR-2 ( dual 3 lb barrels). Then I got a deal i couldn't pass up on a used Thumler AR-12 and soon realized the 12 lb was much more efficient at shaping and smoothing than the 3 lb guys. I then got the Thumler UV 10 vibratory tumbler which made the prepolish and polish stages way more efficient both in time and shine quality as well. So now I have a growing stockpile of local and purchased stuff to tumble and am thinking to get another 12lb Thumler ( because of the larger barrel efficiency) so my UV-10 vibe isn't sitting idle so much. I still don't know what I'm going to do with this ever growing pile of shiny rocks but I have an overriding "need" to see how the stockpile turns out I'm pretty sure others have been in the same boat so I'm wondering what you use your smaller tumblers for? Are they in moth balls...do you give them away or ?? Hope all that makes sense...
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Post by miket on Jun 17, 2019 15:58:38 GMT -5
I started with the 33b then decided it wasn't enough so now I have a qt66 as well. 12lb barrels would be great, a vibe would be awesome...but I digress.
Here's what I do, right or wrong.
I have all of them going all the time. When a rock gets finished in either the 3lb or 6lb barrels it goes into a container of stones ready to move on and gets replace by more rough. When I get enough to fill a 3lb barrel I start them in the next stage. When they're ran through polish, I load up the 3lb again with rough.
I also use the smaller barrels for stuff like obsidian and cabs (since I don't have a cabber), it seems like the 3lb barrels aren't as hard on the rocks.
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Jun 17, 2019 16:07:33 GMT -5
I think a smaller barrel never hurts for fragile softer materials. One can always have it rolling.
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Post by aDave on Jun 17, 2019 17:09:27 GMT -5
I started with 2 45C's and decided to up my game a bit with a QT66. When I did that, the two smaller tumblers were used for all steps after coarse. Since I bought a Lot-O earlier in the year, I've pretty much mothballed the two smaller tumblers. I know I could use them for coarse, but I'm fine with the pace that stuff is coming out, as I'm now at a point where I sometimes give away tumbles. If you're looking to do something with your extra finished rocks, I've found that elementary school teachers love them and put them in what they typically refer to as prize boxes - if a student does something worth rewarding, the child is sent to the prize box to pick something out. Over the last couple of months, I gave away about 15 lbs of various finished stones...not the high quality material, though. The neat thing is I am hearing the kids are picking the rocks over candy and small toys.
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Post by Pat on Jun 17, 2019 17:59:25 GMT -5
I have one tumbler. It is a micro mini something vibrating tumbler. I use it exclusively to tumble the burs off silver and to polish finished jewelry pieces. Doesn’t hurt Swarovski crystal pieces.
Media is stainless shot in various sizes and shapes. Water almost to the top of the shot —- up to where I can see it peeking through. ONE drop of liquid Dawn dishwashing detergent.
Flip that switch! Done soon; I think I give it about half-hour.
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Post by Rockindad on Jun 17, 2019 18:52:38 GMT -5
Like a lot of people we started small and quickly graduated to the larger rotaries. We currently run a Thumler's Model B (15 lb), Lortone QT-66 (2 x 6 lb.), Thumler's AR-2 (2 x 3lb.) and still use our National Geographic "Professional" (2 lb.). They all run 24/7. They end up feeding a Thumler's UV-10 vibe which also never stops. We primarily use the smaller barrels for softer materials which we do a bunch of. Even though we have the vibe we still occasionally use them all the way through for some things.
Sometimes I think the smaller barrels get a bad rap here, sure they are not as efficient as the larger diameter barrels, but they are not that bad. If you really dial in your water levels and get very efficient grinding they can get pretty close actually. We clean them out weekly just like the larger ones and are pulling out stones to move onto the next stage in similar proportions.
All things considered, if we were to add another rotary it would probably be another Model B, maybe even another Qt-66. I do not see adding another smaller rotary ever, but also do not see us eliminating the ones we have either.
Al
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lancemountain
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2017
Posts: 214
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Post by lancemountain on Jun 17, 2019 22:42:40 GMT -5
I have 2 33b's
Does a larger barrel process the rocks in rough stage faster? Or just more rocks at once?
Thinking about getting a larger barrel tumbler
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Post by aDave on Jun 17, 2019 22:54:16 GMT -5
I have 2 33b's Does a larger barrel process the rocks in rough stage faster? Or just more rocks at once? Thinking about getting a larger barrel tumbler Faster is relative. All things being equal, a larger tumbler should be more efficient in rolling stuff in the coarse stage. But, if you're one to improperly load your barrels (too full, not enough size variation, bad water level), then it may be hard to say one is better than another. Speaking from personal experience, my coarse stages have done better with larger tumblers. All that aside, the one benefit of a larger tumbler is being able to process larger material. Might not make a difference to you at all, but I like the ability to throw in larger rocks.
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MommaGem
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2019
Posts: 312
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Post by MommaGem on Jun 18, 2019 14:31:22 GMT -5
As I have shifted to larger tumblers, and buy larger quantities of rough, it's harder to find use for the smaller tumblers; however, this is what I'm going to do moving forward. For a batch in the QT-66, sometimes part is ready to move on to the next stage, but some of it isn't. I can divide up the batch, place aside the stones that are ready to progress, then put the stones needing an extra run in the small barrel. Once they're all at the same finish, I can put them all back in a Qt-66 barrel and move ahead.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jun 18, 2019 14:39:02 GMT -5
I have had a little lortone 33b (or is it a?) rotary for going on 20 years. I use it for jewelry. It has never seen a rock that wasn't wrapped in metal. I have graduated to a vibe for - you guessed it- jewelry. I can't see my self buying more tumblers or tumbling lots of raw material. But, you never know. Right now, I am happy to do flats and cabs.
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Post by Starguy on Jun 18, 2019 16:16:56 GMT -5
I use a lortone 12 lb tumbler for coarse grit. My little 3A gets used for 220 through polish. The 12 pounder keeps the 3 pounder well fed.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,422
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Post by Wooferhound on Jun 19, 2019 7:40:02 GMT -5
Those little tumblers work great with Shells
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Post by fernwood on Jun 19, 2019 8:05:02 GMT -5
All I have is little ones. A Chicago electric duel 3 lb. Have not used the new in box, vintage duel 3 lb. Thumbler I purchased, but will start that up in a couple of weeks.
I have limited space and love the duel 3 lb. barrels. If I can ever build on to my house, might upgrade to a larger one. The littles would still be used for materials that require special treatment, due to undercutting and a need for extra media.
I sometimes use a 1 lb barrel for items that require 60% media. But, can only have about 6-8 items in that.
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doublet83
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2016
Posts: 118
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Post by doublet83 on Jun 19, 2019 8:44:41 GMT -5
I started with the 3 lb barrel, then moved on to the 15 lb barrel, then the 40 lb tumbler. The 3lb tumblers quickly fell out of favor given the processing power of the large tumblers.
But today the small tumbler has actually become my favorite, because it is perfect for polishing agate nodules around 3 to 4 inches in size, which tends to bruise and become damaged in the larger barrels if you put in any other larger stones.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,666
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Post by Fossilman on Jun 19, 2019 9:37:14 GMT -5
I use my small tumblers for tumbling cabs.... Plus I repair and give some away to kids that are wanting to get into tumbling, but the parents can't afford the equipment.... Always something to do with them...
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Post by Rockindad on Jun 19, 2019 15:12:52 GMT -5
I use my small tumblers for tumbling cabs.... Plus I repair and give some away to kids that are wanting to get into tumbling, but the parents can't afford the equipment....Always something to do with them... That is awesome fossilman! Good for you getting a new generation started. Al
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Post by arghvark on Jun 24, 2019 9:58:32 GMT -5
Like others, I have a 33b that has pretty much been relegated to soft stuff only. Which in my case is mostly softer wonderstone, banded rhyolite, and opalized wood. The 6 lb barrels, with proper load and slurry management, are just vastly more efficient for pretty much anything harder. I've even pretty much quit using the 3lb for obsidian.
Argh
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scottyh
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2007
Posts: 181
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Post by scottyh on Jun 27, 2019 3:48:07 GMT -5
Got rid of mine... No need for it
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NevadaBill
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2019
Posts: 1,332
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Post by NevadaBill on Jun 28, 2019 10:47:07 GMT -5
Kind of late to the party here, but I often wish that I had a 3lb tumbler or two some times. This is because there are some rocks with are more delicate in nature which sometimes I want to polish.
The vibratory tumbler which I have is great for polishing. But sometimes it dual action (rotation and vibration) rock churning leaves me with some stones that have chips on them. Not a lot. Now, I am not condemning vibratories, and it is only my lack of experience (using experimental media such as corn cob, etc) which make me Leary of putting valuable cabochons in the tumbler.
With a small rotary, I could put plastic pellets, other agents (walnut shells, sugars, even non clumping kitty litter, etc) to control the density of the rolling action, and limit the actual number of collisions happening between the stones themselves. If the stones don't hit each other, and the media (even ceramics) are not too hard, then I believe it will limit the number of damaged stones I pull from the load. But at the cost of much, much longer (read: weeks) tumbling cycles.
I am considering possibly picking up a 3lb unit for just that. My preference would be to buy a new or very low mileage one.
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jasonshort
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since June 2019
Posts: 113
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Post by jasonshort on Jul 3, 2019 23:40:56 GMT -5
Al, What do you think of the QT66? How big of rocks can you tumble?
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