djalley
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2007
Posts: 18
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Post by djalley on Jan 16, 2007 13:14:26 GMT -5
Hey folks,
Just registered after lurking for a while. I found my ancient Thumblers AR2 in the basement recently and decided to fire it up. Got the grit, and some rocks from therockshed.com.
It seems the AR2 has held up reasonably well for 20 years of non-use, but not without a few glitches. The belt has cracked in 3 places, and believe it or not, one of the barrel lids wore through right in its center. I'm assuming that since that would be about the water level when rotating that this area probably sees some extra wear. I woke up this morning to find half the slurry spilled out. So... getting replacement parts now.
In another note, I found an old apache tear, Brazilian agate, and tiger's eye from batches I did as a kid! It was a great find.
I also found a bunch of rocks laced with copper from my days at Michigan Tech exploring old mine sites. I won't be tumbling these, don't worry, they're too interesting in their irregularity and I think the copper would probably be grinded out anyways.
Anyways, I'm hoping to stick with it for a while and see what I've been missing, so thought I'd introduce myself.
Don
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Post by akansan on Jan 16, 2007 13:21:46 GMT -5
Welcome!
Doesn't surprise me about the wearing on the center of the lids. I have two Thumlers and just had to replace all my lids after about 9 months of constant use. While waiting for the replacement lids arrival, I just slapped more and more duct tape (actually Duck Tape) on the thinning spots. In the end, the only thing holding the web of cracks together and preventing such a mess was the duct tape!
Have fun!
Ronda
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djalley
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2007
Posts: 18
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Post by djalley on Jan 16, 2007 13:28:05 GMT -5
I think I'll try that just to keep them going until the replacement parts arrive.
I found the same tumbler on eBay, so bid on it since the current bid was lower than a replacement barrel. If I win, I'll use the parts and have extra barrels. If I lose, I'll order the replacement parts from the Shed.
Thank you for the welcome. ;D
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firewalker45
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since August 2006
Posts: 929
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Post by firewalker45 on Jan 16, 2007 20:44:24 GMT -5
Welcome to the board. Great bunch of people here, any and all your questions will probably be answered here. Great to see more fellow Michiganders here. Daniel
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carpqueen
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since April 2006
Posts: 93
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Post by carpqueen on Jan 17, 2007 9:08:28 GMT -5
Welcome Don! There is a wealth of information on this forum so don't be shy in asking questions.
Enjoy!
CQ
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Post by BAZ on Jan 22, 2007 22:08:16 GMT -5
Welcome buddy! Those copper specimens sound interesting, WE LOVE PICS!
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Terry664
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2005
Posts: 1,146
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Post by Terry664 on Feb 22, 2007 10:09:15 GMT -5
Hey Don, welcome, we are getting quite a few Michiganers here. Terry
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