lthornton
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2019
Posts: 19
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Post by lthornton on Jul 20, 2019 13:48:16 GMT -5
I am fairly new to this hobby. I received a Lortone 33B for Christmas last year and it has been running nonstop. I've been tumbling the tons of beach rock I have collected over the years from mostly Lake Ontario. I'm not after perfection in my tumbles, just like to bring out the color of the rocks so they look pretty when they are dry - LOL.
I am trying to make a decision about which vibratory tumbler I want to buy. I have a question about the Ultra Vibe 10MB 4 lb Capacity vs. the Ultra Vibe 10 Industrial 10 lb Capacity. I think the 10 lb. capacity might be a little much for me. My husband wants to buy the Ultra Vibe 10 lb. capacity with a UV 10 mini bowl - thinking that we can use both size bowls on the bigger tumbler. Does anyone know if this is true - that the smaller bowl can be used on the bigger tumbler?
I hope this makes sense. Any insight from someone that has more knowledge about these rock tumblers is greatly appreciated.
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Post by Rockindad on Jul 20, 2019 14:27:08 GMT -5
I contacted The Rock Shed about this very issue some time back. They confirmed that this could be done. I never pulled the trigger on the smaller bowl as I have just added more ceramics as needed when I do not run as much rock. A Lot-O would also be another consideration as it has a 4.5 lb. capacity. With the Lot-O you cannot add capacity but unless you add more rotary tumblers this will not be an issue due to the speed at which the vibes will finish your stones.
I know you say you are not looking for perfection in your rocks, does this mean you plan on putting them into the vibe right away?
Al
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lthornton
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2019
Posts: 19
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Post by lthornton on Jul 21, 2019 16:25:19 GMT -5
That is good to know - thanks. I was actually leaning toward the Lot-O, but my husband thinks I'll be sorry if I don't get the larger one. I'd say the majority of the rocks I am tumbling are about 1". Majority of those I would probably do in the rotary first. However I have several that are around closed fist sized (ladies hand). With these larger rocks I thought I would like to try those in just the vibratory tumbler only, because they are a little big to put in the rotary. Smoothness or roundness of the rock is not that important to me. I just like for the colors to show when the rocks are dry. For those larger rocks the UV 10 lb. capacity would probably be better (I'm guessing).
Another concern I have is the bowl itself. I believe the Lot-O has a rubber bowl, while the Ultra Vibe is plastic. I am concerned about the noise - not sure how much louder it will be. Right now, we have the Lortone 3B running 24/7 in our living room (front of the house). Our house is open concept and it is so quiet we barely hear it when we are sitting 10-15 feet away from it watching TV.
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jimaz
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2018
Posts: 461
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Post by jimaz on Jul 21, 2019 17:40:03 GMT -5
I just got a Lot-O and it is quiet. The drawback for some is having to attach it to a cement block, or something else heavy. So far I'm happy with it. Haven't finished a load in it yet, but have been breaking in some ceramics and just now put in a load of stones. If you are only running a single 3B you may be waiting on it for loads for a vibe.
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Post by TheRock on Jul 21, 2019 20:49:01 GMT -5
I have 3 Lot O's A UV-10 And A UV-18 One thing I have noticed is The UV-10 and the UV-18 When Using 220 Sic for the first stage after 3-4 days in the Vibe the action keeps on Rollin while the LOT "O" after 3 -4 days will come to a Stop cause the slurry is so thick by then it dramatically looses the Vibe Action. Like Big Al say's in a UV just add more media if your load is less besides the stones wont be hitting each other being separated with all that media. Personally if you keep the rocks separated you should get a better finish at least on softer stones. Rockindad Hey Al thanks for the Tip on the Small Bowl for the UV-10 never checked into that but was also wondering.
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Post by Rockindad on Jul 21, 2019 21:30:50 GMT -5
That is good to know - thanks. I was actually leaning toward the Lot-O, but my husband thinks I'll be sorry if I don't get the larger one. I'd say the majority of the rocks I am tumbling are about 1". Majority of those I would probably do in the rotary first. However I have several that are around closed fist sized (ladies hand). With these larger rocks I thought I would like to try those in just the vibratory tumbler only, because they are a little big to put in the rotary. Smoothness or roundness of the rock is not that important to me. I just like for the colors to show when the rocks are dry. For those larger rocks the UV 10 lb. capacity would probably be better (I'm guessing). Another concern I have is the bowl itself. I believe the Lot-O has a rubber bowl, while the Ultra Vibe is plastic. I am concerned about the noise - not sure how much louder it will be. Right now, we have the Lortone 3B running 24/7 in our living room (front of the house). Our house is open concept and it is so quiet we barely hear it when we are sitting 10-15 feet away from it watching TV.Cannot speak about the Lot-O, but if you put the UV-10 next to your rotary expecting a similar noise level you will be disappointed. There are different standards of quiet for all of us. I do not find our UV-10 to be obtrusively loud but that is largely because it resides in the basement, I would not feel the same way if it was in our family room. The Lot-O may be a bit quieter, I honestly do not know, however I would be interested in hearing from some Lot-O owners on just how noisy/quiet they are. Al
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tomg
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2019
Posts: 103
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Post by tomg on Jul 21, 2019 23:03:17 GMT -5
The uv-10 will be markedly louder than the 33b. I found that an almost full uv was the quietest.
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lthornton
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2019
Posts: 19
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Post by lthornton on Jul 22, 2019 11:10:17 GMT -5
The uv-10 will be markedly louder than the 33b. I found that an almost full uv was the quietest. That's interesting. So I guess that I would want to make sure the UV-10 is definitely "full".
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lthornton
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2019
Posts: 19
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Post by lthornton on Jul 22, 2019 11:15:14 GMT -5
I just got a Lot-O and it is quiet. The drawback for some is having to attach it to a cement block, or something else heavy. So far I'm happy with it. Haven't finished a load in it yet, but have been breaking in some ceramics and just now put in a load of stones. If you are only running a single 3B you may be waiting on it for loads for a vibe. I'm running the Lortone with two 3 lb barrels. Right now one barrel is solely dedicated to stage 1. I guess once I get the vibe I will use both barrels for stage 1. I am planning on trying to run some of the bigger rocks that won't fit in the Lortone in the vibe though. I thought I would try to stick one or two in with a load. I'm not really after smooth or round rocks - just color.
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Post by arghvark on Jul 24, 2019 12:26:05 GMT -5
I can't speak to the UV, but have a Lot-o, a 33B, and a QT66. I typically do rough on soft stuff in the 33B, and hard stuff in the QT66. I spend a lot of time in rough because I like curvy ( ) shaped rocks and a lot of stuff I run is very rough, very different from beach rocks. But the Lot-o does a LOT of waiting. So I think even with different criteria, a 10lb vibe paired with a 33B would be way overkill unless you're thinking of skipping rotary altogether (which is very doable with beach rocks.) A Lot-o is definitely louder than my rotaries. Mine is on the concrete block, and directly on the concrete pad of the garage. I don't hear it in the house. I wonder though if a vibe set on a wood floor (with crawl space) would set up some additional resonance. Someone who has tried this might be able to address it. Argh
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lthornton
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2019
Posts: 19
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Post by lthornton on Jul 24, 2019 13:00:16 GMT -5
I can't speak to the UV, but have a Lot-o, a 33B, and a QT66. I typically do rough on soft stuff in the 33B, and hard stuff in the QT66. I spend a lot of time in rough because I like curvy ( ) shaped rocks and a lot of stuff I run is very rough, very different from beach rocks. But the Lot-o does a LOT of waiting. So I think even with different criteria, a 10lb vibe paired with a 33B would be way overkill unless you're thinking of skipping rotary altogether (which is very doable with beach rocks.) Yes - I was hoping to be able to skip the rotary altogether with the beach/river rocks - except for some of the rougher ones. So I'm glad to hear someone else say that this would be doable. I am really leaning toward the 10 lb vibe - especially since learning the smaller 4 lb. bowl can be used with it should it be too much. I really hope I can work one or two of my larger rocks in with each load.
A Lot-o is definitely louder than my rotaries. Mine is on the concrete block, and directly on the concrete pad of the garage. I don't hear it in the house. I wonder though if a vibe set on a wood floor (with crawl space) would set up some additional resonance. Someone who has tried this might be able to address it. Interesting point on the crawl space - since the room I have it set up in now is a carpeted wood floor over a crawl space. I may have to think about finding another spot to set it up. I am thinking that setting it on a thick rubber mat might help - I guess I will find out. Argh
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Post by arghvark on Jul 24, 2019 13:03:57 GMT -5
Yes - I was hoping to be able to skip the rotary altogether with the beach/river rocks - except for some of the rougher ones. So I'm glad to hear someone else say that this would be doable. I am really leaning toward the 10 lb vibe - especially since learning the smaller 4 lb. bowl can be used with it should it be too much. I really hope I can work one or two of my larger rocks in with each In that case, more is gooder!
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