Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
|
Post by Intheswamp on Jan 1, 2016 10:56:15 GMT -5
Well, the Money Pit Tumbler is coming up for a slight modification. What I thought was a good idea isn't working out. The clothes-dryer drum rollers that I used for a stand-off for the barrels are wearing out to quickly. Hitting the pvc end cap at an angle isn't helping them any (due to my non-professional hole drilling). So, I will be replacing them with "something" else...the "something" is yet to be determined. I'm considering metal rollers from a roll-up door, hard plastic wheels from a dolly, same hard plastic wheels from a desk chair, etc.,. To the point... I knew that the barrel favored that end of the tumbler, resting against that particular roller non-stop. What I didn't now was how strongly it was pressing in that direction. In an attempt to let the barrel push against the roller at the opposite end of the tumbler I slipped a piece of 2x (1.5") lumber under the "low end" that the barrel was pressing against. I figured this would be enough to send it to the other end of the rollers. Nope...didn't work. I added a piece of 1x (3/4") lumber to that...that didn't help. I have an 8" golf-cart wheel I use for a barrel stand...I sat it on my roll-off table and it would immediately start rolling to the lower side of the tumbler...but the barrel continued to climb uphill to the worn roller. Maybe there's something about the moving load inside and the direction of rotation that is creating a "screw effect" and giving the barrel some traction to move uphill. I'm puzzled. It doesn't matter which direction the barrel is pointing, either. I turned the barrel around so that the the ends were reversed but it still traveled uphill. Anybody know what causes this effect? I'm going to replace the dryer rollers with something else because it has to be done. But I'm curious as to why the barrel has this preferred direction of travel. I've read other "barrel creep" threads, but never found an answer to this mystery. Anybody?
|
|
Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
|
Post by Intheswamp on Jan 1, 2016 10:34:09 GMT -5
Ok, back to the MP Tumbler... I've found an issue that I will have to resolve within the next few days. The clothes-dryer drum rollers are not going to work out for me it appears. Maybe if I had been able to mount them very close to perpendicular to the pvc cap it might be better, but as it is the pvc cap presses against the roller somewhat from the side. It appears that the roller that the barrel runs against is wearing down too quickly. Due to this wear the pvc cap is nearing the metal housing of the pillar bearings. So's...I'll be changing those out for something else. jamesp , do you think metal rollers from a roll up door would wear too much on the pvc cap? Better to simply use a hard plastic dolly wheel? I'm back looking at options for the stand-offs!<sigh> ...and need to do it this weekend.
|
|
Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
|
Post by Intheswamp on Jan 1, 2016 10:01:43 GMT -5
Wow, quiet the operation. I'm curious as to where your market is/will be...?
|
|
Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
|
Post by Intheswamp on Jan 1, 2016 9:51:12 GMT -5
Main source of injuries was motorcycle related at the age of 20. The ambulance did the transport so they say. And for almost 40 years I have lived with those injuries 1dave . Not such an exciting story. Other than the fact they found me 168 feet past the back of the car I ran my motorcycle into. Not sure if the grizzly or the motorcycle is a quicker demise. That sounds semi-familiar. I've got a few aches, too...mostly self-inflicted, some work related....not sure how to (or if I can) differentiate between them now. Driving off a 15' bridge abutment in an '83 300zx and cartwheeling two or three times down through the swamp isn't good for the frame (of the car nor your body). That was one time it wasn't good to be "in the swamp".<groan...bad humor>
|
|
Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
|
Post by Intheswamp on Jan 1, 2016 9:47:09 GMT -5
I get those bands. I grind them away with a hand grinder if they get deep. Gives a rotary vibratory effect. ETA I think I have had to dress a couple of my barrels with a grinder about 3 times over 3 years Ed. You can slide a section of hose on the shafts where the coupling and the cap contact. Those fittings do have a high spot that is easy to see since the shaft rides on them. Grinding widens the contact surface, but the hoses over the shaft will eliminate the problem. Did you use 3/4" or 1" shafts ? Gates rubber radiator hose is tough stuff. It will run quieter too. Switching the motor to 1125 will quiet it down to. You seem happy with the grind rate. 1125 will use less electricity. Happened to catch your edit.... I used 3/4" shafts...will look for appropriate radiator hose. I was figuring that once the barrel wears down some more it would give it a wider traction area and maybe quieten down some. In regards to the motor I'm wondering if longer shafts tend to be louder...vibrations possibly setting in like a mammoth guitar string...the offending noise is rhythmic, you might say two strums and a pause. BUT,...the last few days I'm wondering if a wave of rocks is cresting and falling in rhythm...which wouldn't be a good thing. The tumble rate is ok with me, I'm in no big hurry but, of course, don't want to drag it out. I'm thinking I've got the motor running at 1140rpm. The visually counted rpms of the barrel matches within an rpm or two with what the pulley calculator says would be produced with my pulley setup and an 1140rpm motor. The amps showing on the Watts-Up meter (2.02-2.05) is also indicative of the 1140rpm setting. Looks like a pulley change would be required to slow it down...gotta check my "inventory". ....or just let it chug along as is.
|
|
Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
|
Post by Intheswamp on Jan 1, 2016 9:15:14 GMT -5
... But I figured out that there is money in getting dirty. I do not know how many hundreds of days I have delivered $1000-$2000 worth of muddy stinky water plants in my pick up over 25 years. Loaded and left the house by 9AM and unloaded by noon and stopped at an upbeat Atlanta restaurant to eat. A muddy mess and getting stared at by all the yuppies and fair haired business people. In many cases probably made more money in one day than they made in a week. And they would die for my hours. Always raising my beer to them as they hustle to get back to their boss by 1PM.(best to arrive at 12:30PM) Restaurant staff much friendlier after the lunch rush, kick back and enjoy them. Mind you, the truck smells like a swamp gas and is full of rotting tadpoles frogs and an occasional snake. Leaking muddy water all over the parking lot, hopefully splattering on the adjacent BMW. It is what as known as getting paid to do the dirtiest work.(Dirty Jobs w/Mike Rowe....) Thinking colleges should teach such a course. And nothing feels better than a fresh shower afterwards.
|
|
Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
|
Post by Intheswamp on Dec 31, 2015 5:34:42 GMT -5
|
|
Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
|
Post by Intheswamp on Dec 30, 2015 19:24:04 GMT -5
I use a stick welder if my wife is not chasing me with a bat because I stole her wash rag As Larry mentioned, 1/8 and bigger a stick welder. The ole buzz box. AC stick welder is probably the most common. Fine for 1/8 and thicker. Should be an easy to find Craig's list item. I have a buzz box and another that is the same size but does DC. For plain steel 1/8 and better the buzz box does fine aka "Tombstone" welder....because of the shape not the result. my 2¢
Sad story.... Friend of mine was doing some welding with a similar-looking welder in the middle of the summer. It was hot..hot...hot. His shirt was drenched with sweat, his pants were drenched, his boots were drenched, etc.,. He had a rod to stick and he snatched back on it...electrodes hit him in the chest. A nurse lived down the road from him...her knees were a bloody mess from kneeling on the concrete shop floor beside him and beating on his chest. Shape or result...didn't matter to him or his family...the welder killed him. They're nothing to play with.
|
|
Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
|
Post by Intheswamp on Dec 30, 2015 19:09:21 GMT -5
Ok, I mentioned earlier about a noise I've been hearing from the tumbler. It's something that I hear as not being the tumbler itself nor the rocks tumbling inside the barrel, but something "else". I checked the tumbler before leaving work tonight. It's not in a well lit area and I happened to see a pattern wearing into the barrel. Where the most wear is is on the coupling...the center of it was/is higher than the rest of it which makes it ride so it rides high This must be caused from the barrel slipping on the shafts. The noise I'm hearing is rhythmic with each "noise cycle" lasting about one revolution of the barrel. The pvc end-cap shows some of this rhythmic wear, too. I'm also wondering about the bearings and grease. I did not grease them when I installed them and in looking them over tonight the fittings on all four bearings were loose. I tightened them up but it got me to wondering if they ship these things out without grease in them. They felt good and smooth and seem to be running cool, but the black vertical sides/walls of the bearings seem to be "wobbling" as they turn. They will get grease tomorrow. Here are a couple of shots of the wear patterns in the barrels. Not running true? Shafts not parallel? Could this be causing, or be a symptom of the noise. Coupling... IMG_9499a (Custom) by Intheswamp, on Flickr PVC end cap... IMG_9503a (Custom) by Intheswamp, on Flickr
|
|
Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
|
Post by Intheswamp on Dec 30, 2015 18:45:49 GMT -5
Then there shall be a gazillion-and-one. Smaller cup? Nah, I think I can make the large plastic Hardee's cup work...just fill half-full, more or less.
|
|
Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
|
Post by Intheswamp on Dec 30, 2015 18:24:14 GMT -5
I still like the idea of them inside...just below the rim.
|
|
Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
|
Post by Intheswamp on Dec 30, 2015 18:22:06 GMT -5
The red clay... I figured I'd give it a shot and see what James has been raising cane about... Just remember that you are taking advice from a guy that uses his wife's heirloom dish towels as packing material to ship rocks off to distant States. Road to ruin I tell ya! Well, I gotta take one road or a'nuther! You gotta admit, James' road is more interesting than a lot of'em!!!!
|
|
Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
|
Post by Intheswamp on Dec 30, 2015 18:18:55 GMT -5
The secret to snapping those rocks is a 4 ounce flat faced hammer Ed. It is difficult to get a high speed with a heavier hammer for me anyway. You can grind/saw a regular hammer. Just make sure the striking face is flat and not pointed or you will generate fractures. The rock slurry is no different than the clay slurry. Same result. Some frown on a milk shake thickness slurry. You start to see how pretty those rocks are as you grind some meat off of them. As you get closer to the final grind you can leave the slurry to the thicker side to avoid frosting that quartz. Will you do 220-500-polish in a vibe ? Probably best...I would consider 46 RPM on the fast side for finishing. I can't remember if you have a two speed motor... I think I have a yellow-handled flat-faced hammer that a guy give on the side of the road one afternoon...seems Auburn and Alabama was playing that day. I'll work on leaving more slurry in there to reach a thick consistency by last grind. My intentions with the big tumbler is to only do coarse grind. I'm hoping to get three Loto loads out of the coarse tumble. Which is going to lead to another thread about setting up and running the Loto. Yeah, I'm beginning to wonder about 46rpm maybe being a little fast...I definitely won't be doing any finer grinding in it. The motor is a 2-speed motor but I've only got it wired for the higher speed...1750rpm, I believe. The lower speed was around 1140rpm.
|
|
Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
|
Post by Intheswamp on Dec 30, 2015 17:00:52 GMT -5
We don't need no stinkin' traffic lights...folks around here got headlights on their vehicles for when it gets dark!!!!
|
|
Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
|
Post by Intheswamp on Dec 30, 2015 16:56:37 GMT -5
Yelp...cool fountain water...not the wimpy clear plastic jug stuff but the old square metal fountain water...vintage!!!! The clean out... I wanted to see what progress had been made. I started to save some of the slurry but then it was one of those "fugidaboudit" executive decisions. If it's any consolation I didn't wash the barrel out, it had a nice coating of slurry inside it. Next clean out I figure I'll leave a good bit more slurry in there. The red clay... I figured I'd give it a shot and see what James has been raising cane about... Nope, haven't built the second barrel yet. Gotta find another piece of 6" pipe. The rest of what I had has a crack running down the length of it. City cut-off piece. I'll have to bump my water department guy up for some more. I've got the fittings on hand, just needing the pipe (and don't want to buy 20' of it!). The rocks... Don't mess with my rocks!!!!! Them's purdy rocks...a bit fractured, but purdy. I've gotta get the knack of busting rocks like "Chain Gang" jamesp does...and get some of those *clean* pieces without the cracks in'em!!! Working on the chain...gang. Once these flood waters recede I'm expecting on getting two or three new rocks. These rocks seem to be grinding down fairly fast...I'm wondering if I need to slow the tumbler down a bit...cruising at around 46rpm.
|
|
Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
|
Post by Intheswamp on Dec 30, 2015 15:14:44 GMT -5
|
|
Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
|
Post by Intheswamp on Dec 30, 2015 15:05:58 GMT -5
Pickin' sides already, ja? James, Gov. Bentley wants his piece of glass back....
|
|
Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
|
Post by Intheswamp on Dec 30, 2015 14:43:22 GMT -5
Did the first clean out on the maiden load in the Money Pit last night. It's been a week. After I rinsed the rocks and started adding them back to the barrel, a few handfuls at the time...throwing in a few tablespoonfuls of #80 grit with a small handful of Crenshaw County red clay (not to be confused with CCC, Crenshaw County Corn, that my granddaddy use to sell in bottles)as I went. Topped it off with a few new rocks and 1-1/2 large plastic Hardee's cups of nice cool water fountain water. So basically for the people who read slow and understand slower (like me) it went...a layer of rock, a few clumps of red clay (not ccc!), some grit, and repeat...to be topped off by the water. She's (or he..or it...or whatever is politically correct today) is tumbling along once again... Frist clean out... by Intheswamp, on Flickr jamesp broseph82
|
|
Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
|
Post by Intheswamp on Dec 30, 2015 12:04:49 GMT -5
Btw, Chuck.....awesome score!!!!
|
|
Intheswamp
Cave Dweller
Member since September 2015
Posts: 1,910
|
Post by Intheswamp on Dec 30, 2015 12:04:00 GMT -5
Only thing I have seen in pawn shop here was a Home Depot tile saw for same price as new. Ditto...but might I add, I found abused tile saws for the same price as HD new ones.
|
|