Post by L.L. on Jan 31, 2008 23:30:05 GMT -5
I've been lurking around for a while and finally joined up a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was about time that I introduce myself. My name is Lee and I live in Virginia. I'm disabled due to a failed lower back so I can't really spend a lot of time doing anything physical. I have all the time in the world so what better way to spend it than waiting for some rocks to finish tumbling. My wife and I have enjoyed collecting the fruits of other's labors for quite a while, predominately faceted gemstones and cabochons and while reading information on rocks and on the internet and books I figured that tumbling would be something I could handle. She still has to do any heavy work for me, but theres still alot to keep me occupied.
When our kids were little my son and I messed around with tumbling for a while, but when he lost interest his tumbling gear got stashed in the attic. My wife dug the stuff up for me a couple of months ago so I could give it a try. The tumbler was one of those cheap little Smithsonian deals and I managed to get one load of stones through their second step before it died on me.
I have accumulated quite a few stones over the years from various sources. I probably have close to 100 lbs of assorted stones: quartzes (amethyst, citrine, smokey, rose, crystal), jaspers, agates, emeralds, rubys, etc. that I figured I could use something a little larger, so with my wifes help we built a new tumbler. I'm using 6 and 8 inch pvc for my barrels and from what I've seen so far they seem to be doing fine. The tumbler we built has 2 sets of shafts which are each 2 ft long and we intend to add another 3 ft set to handle even larger drums. With the current set-up and barrels I can do about 25 - 30 pounds at a time. We've already burned up a smaller motor so I had to use what I had on hand which is a 3/4 hp continuous duty pump motor. It's actually overkill, but our finances are limited so I make due with what I have. I was always something of a handyman and pack rat before my back gave out so we were able to put together our current rig with very little expense. We had to buy the bearings and belts, but everything else I had available. I'm considering trying to build a vibratory tumbler next. I built the vibrator for my wife to debubble casting investment and I used to use a vibratory tumbler years ago when I re-loaded my ammo, so I think I can come up with a workable design. I figure the worst part will be getting the frequency of the vibrations right, so that they do the job efficiently.
I hope I haven't rambled on to much. I finally got me a laptop at Christmas so I can lie down and play on the computer. The written word is just about the only contact I have with real life people anymore, so forgive me if I get carried away. Anyway, I've already learned quite a bit over the last few months lurking in the background and it's odvious there are lot's of knowledgable people on the forum from who I can continue to learn.
When our kids were little my son and I messed around with tumbling for a while, but when he lost interest his tumbling gear got stashed in the attic. My wife dug the stuff up for me a couple of months ago so I could give it a try. The tumbler was one of those cheap little Smithsonian deals and I managed to get one load of stones through their second step before it died on me.
I have accumulated quite a few stones over the years from various sources. I probably have close to 100 lbs of assorted stones: quartzes (amethyst, citrine, smokey, rose, crystal), jaspers, agates, emeralds, rubys, etc. that I figured I could use something a little larger, so with my wifes help we built a new tumbler. I'm using 6 and 8 inch pvc for my barrels and from what I've seen so far they seem to be doing fine. The tumbler we built has 2 sets of shafts which are each 2 ft long and we intend to add another 3 ft set to handle even larger drums. With the current set-up and barrels I can do about 25 - 30 pounds at a time. We've already burned up a smaller motor so I had to use what I had on hand which is a 3/4 hp continuous duty pump motor. It's actually overkill, but our finances are limited so I make due with what I have. I was always something of a handyman and pack rat before my back gave out so we were able to put together our current rig with very little expense. We had to buy the bearings and belts, but everything else I had available. I'm considering trying to build a vibratory tumbler next. I built the vibrator for my wife to debubble casting investment and I used to use a vibratory tumbler years ago when I re-loaded my ammo, so I think I can come up with a workable design. I figure the worst part will be getting the frequency of the vibrations right, so that they do the job efficiently.
I hope I haven't rambled on to much. I finally got me a laptop at Christmas so I can lie down and play on the computer. The written word is just about the only contact I have with real life people anymore, so forgive me if I get carried away. Anyway, I've already learned quite a bit over the last few months lurking in the background and it's odvious there are lot's of knowledgable people on the forum from who I can continue to learn.