waterboysh
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 386
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Post by waterboysh on Mar 14, 2024 9:03:12 GMT -5
 In case the image goes away, I ran it through an online text extractor. So might not be 100% accurate. |
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waterboysh
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 386
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Post by waterboysh on Mar 14, 2024 9:05:11 GMT -5
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waterboysh
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 386
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Post by waterboysh on Mar 14, 2024 9:06:00 GMT -5
To clarify, neither of these I received directly. They were posted on the rock tumbling subreddit by other users.
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hplcman
spending too much on rocks
Looking forward to my Friday Night Barrel Clean out!
Member since August 2022
Posts: 492
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Post by hplcman on Mar 14, 2024 10:05:31 GMT -5
Oh man. I just made a comment the other day about the lack of availability of lapidary equipment and was hoping that it was due to increased interest in this hobby but feared that it was because we're going to be seeing these companies start going out of business. Lortone going out of business hits hard. I have a 33B and a QT66 and I love those things. I think someone should start a post on alternate suppliers of replacement parts and tips on barrel repair and alternate motors and stuff.
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,622
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Post by dillonf on Mar 14, 2024 10:35:08 GMT -5
Man, tumblers are going to have to make their own machines - between businesses closing and machine shortages . . .
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Post by Rockoonz on Mar 14, 2024 11:34:21 GMT -5
Dang.
I met Doug years ago when they moved some of their rubber parts molds to the company I worked at, I did product development for sales as one of my many hats back then. He had some great stories of growing up with all the old timers who are gone. He left a career in aerospace to take over the company, as I recall. I hope they find someone to keep it going.
Unfortunately it's hard to compete with the Chinese, and I can see that they are getting comfortable enough in their monopoly in this niche that they no longer have to undercut the US competition to drive them out of business. Their prices will rise as well, "we'll sell you the rope to hang yourselves" and all.
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iamchris
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2023
Posts: 722
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Post by iamchris on Mar 14, 2024 12:07:03 GMT -5
Dang. Highland Park picked a great time to jump in on the tumbling side of things. This is no good - we need more competition in the market. The prices are already ridiculous.
Anyone else surprised they have no buyers?
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waterboysh
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 386
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Post by waterboysh on Mar 14, 2024 12:12:32 GMT -5
Dang. Highland Park picked a great time to jump in on the tumbling side of things. This is no good - we need more competition in the market. The prices are already ridiculous. I've done a little bit of looking around and I think Highland Park stands to greatly benefit from this. Their tumblers look like they are very solidly built and the fact they are DC direct drive motors means lower power consumption, the motor doesn't get as hot, and there are no belts to replace. I have no idea if the Lortone barrels fit on their tumblers, but if they do it would be very smart of them to advertise that fact on their products' pages. |
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mgroothuis
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since November 2022
Posts: 167 
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Post by mgroothuis on Mar 14, 2024 13:45:51 GMT -5
I can't help but be confident that someone will pick up where they left off and continue the brand. They have a strong distribution network, loyal customers, quality product, expert recommendations, etc. Obviously it's not as simple as turnkey, but with some restructuring, it seems like a no-brainer.
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Post by chris1956 on Mar 14, 2024 15:27:33 GMT -5
I spoke with Val at Minnesota Lapidary Supply today. I don't mean to push any one company, but he still has a good supply of belts, bearings and other parts for the Lortone tumblers if anyone needs them (since there have been some comments about not being able to find them anywhere). He seems to stock a lot more spare parts than other companies do. He doesn't have all spare parts but he is working at, and seems confident that, he can find other replacement parts for the Lortone tumblers. Although it may take time before he can get it all arranged.
He also seemed confident/hopeful that somebody will purchace Lortone and keep it going. Hopefully, if someone purchases it, they won't send the manufacturing to China (my thought).
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hypodactylus
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2021
Posts: 478
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Post by hypodactylus on Mar 14, 2024 15:55:51 GMT -5
Dang. Highland Park picked a great time to jump in on the tumbling side of things. This is no good - we need more competition in the market. The prices are already ridiculous. I've done a little bit of looking around and I think Highland Park stands to greatly benefit from this. Their tumblers look like they are very solidly built and the fact they are DC direct drive motors means lower power consumption, the motor doesn't get as hot, and there are no belts to replace. I have no idea if the Lortone barrels fit on their tumblers, but if they do it would be very smart of them to advertise that fact on their products' pages. I use my Lortone 3A barrels on my Highland Park 3lb tumbler; they fit/work just fine. |
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khara
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,979
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Post by khara on Mar 14, 2024 17:37:58 GMT -5
What. Is going on with tumblers! Well, actually I can guess.. I’ll refrain from my made in China diatribe.
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cinnamints
off to a rocking start
Member since July 2023
Posts: 1
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Post by cinnamints on Mar 14, 2024 20:26:47 GMT -5
Oh NO. That's a longtime load-bearing pillar of lapidary equipment, hard to imagine the world of rocks & gems without them.
One of my saws is the little vintage Skilcraft 940 4" grinder/trimsaw Gem Maker, and everyone who has seen it asked if Lortone made it as essentially a rebadged LU-4. "Did Lortone make those?" is one of the best things to hear or read about a combo machine.
It's really interesting to me that rotary tumbling is a central point of conversation everywhere this is being discussed. Didn't realize it was experiencing such a resurgence because it always seemed like the polished material was difficult to use.
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Post by Rockoonz on Mar 14, 2024 22:50:43 GMT -5
I spoke with Val at Minnesota Lapidary Supply today. I don't mean to push any one company, but he still has a good supply of belts, bearings and other parts for the Lortone tumblers if anyone needs them (since there have been some comments about not being able to find them anywhere). He seems to stock a lot more spare parts than other companies do. He doesn't have all spare parts but he is working at, and seems confident that, he can find other replacement parts for the Lortone tumblers. Although it may take time before he can get it all arranged. He also seemed confident/hopeful that somebody will purchace Lortone and keep it going. Hopefully, if someone purchases it, they won't send the manufacturing to China (my thought). It would be good if the copywright on the name isn't allowed to lapse, that's how we got HP China when someone forgot to renew it and the Rowlands jumped right on it. The Chinese competition hurt Lortone pretty bad, and so much of it clearly directed at them. What Covington mainstay item will be released next, probably at break even or loss to force them to discontinue it, like Lortones saws? |
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roQhound
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2023
Posts: 104
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Post by roQhound on Mar 15, 2024 15:40:17 GMT -5
I wouldn't be surprised if Highland Park anticipated this. Their new tumblers look pretty good and the owner commented on one of my FB posts recently that they have a larger tumbler on the way, too (like the QT12). They stand to pick up a good share of Lortone users if their machines can use the Lortone barrels.
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hplcman
spending too much on rocks
Looking forward to my Friday Night Barrel Clean out!
Member since August 2022
Posts: 492
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Post by hplcman on Mar 15, 2024 17:37:52 GMT -5
I wouldn't be surprised if Highland Park anticipated this. Their new tumblers look pretty good and the owner commented on one of my FB posts recently that they have a larger tumbler on the way, too (like the QT12). They stand to pick up a good share of Lortone users if their machines can use the Lortone barrels. They would definitely be filling in a gap in rotary tumbling that people have really gotten used to. I love my QT66 and how versatile it is. You can tumble 2-6lb barrels on there, or slap on a 12-lb barrel for the big runs. It's a wonderful machine. |
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geoff59
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2022
Posts: 288
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Post by geoff59 on Mar 17, 2024 4:56:06 GMT -5
Another well known lapidary supplier (not Minnesota LS) told me just a couple of days ago that when they last heard from the Lortone folks, which was more recently than the date on that notice, they were told that they thought they had found a buyer for the business. I guess we wait and see what happens. I went ahead and purchased a 3rd QT66, as I had been thinking of doing so anyway. As for a “new” Lortone, we can all keep our fingers crossed. Hopefully Lortone won’t become a Chinese produced product. And lastly, that if there is no buyer and their production does end, I would agree with the general comment already made that rest of the industry will likely produce at least some Lortone parts, bearings and belts for starters, probably more besides. There ARE a lot of Lortone machines out
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ThomasT
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2022
Posts: 616
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Post by ThomasT on Mar 17, 2024 14:42:02 GMT -5
Unfortunately, in a lot of cases that 'Made in USA' is going to cost apparently more than the market can bear these days.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 88
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Post by OregonBorn on Mar 17, 2024 18:35:56 GMT -5
Yeah, MK/Barranca-Diamond is gone and now Lortone is gone. Joining Scott-Murray and Framton, and many others. There is some descent Chinese lap stuff out there, but you have to wade through a lot of crap to get there. I bought a HF double roller tumbler made in china, but it is pure crap. No loss HF not selling them any more. The barrels were the only thing worth anything on that unit. It is by far the worst of all the tumblers I have had, custom, Scott-Murray, Loretone, DP, etc.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 88
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Post by OregonBorn on Mar 17, 2024 18:46:41 GMT -5
KN and some others sell the Rebel 17 Rock Tumbler. 17 lb. capacity, sealed bearings, oversized shafts and rollers, and a thick rubber liner to keep it quiet. $269 (price fixed by the manufacturer/importer). Cody at Moon Valley in Boise sells them with free shipping. KN does not have free shipping. No, I have no vested interest in them nor have I owned or run one. I have 4 old Lortones, a large Scott Murray and several DP vibe tumblers. I am set for tumbler action.
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