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Post by kap on Feb 9, 2008 16:31:54 GMT -5
I am going to get a vibe tumbler and was wanting to know what everyone recommends. Thanks!!! Keith
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JEFFD
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2004
Posts: 242
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Post by JEFFD on Feb 9, 2008 17:08:01 GMT -5
I love my lot-o tumbler. It has tumbled hundreds of pounds and is still going.
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Post by captbob on Feb 9, 2008 17:17:13 GMT -5
Looking forward to the replies and recommendations myself! If you don't mind Keith, I'd like to add a question to your thread.
I've read that the vibes are much louder than a rotary tumbler.
How loud are they, does it depend on the size or what you have in it?
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Post by johnjsgems on Feb 9, 2008 20:10:36 GMT -5
Most vibes are quieter loaded so it is the machine that is noisey. Some sound like electric shavers on steroids. Placing the tumbler on a scrap of carpet helps dampen the sound. Most of the well-known brands are not as soothing sounding as a nice rotary but not so noisey your neighbors will be up in arms. The Mini-Sonics by Diamond Pacific are the noisiest but have no motors to wear out. The Thumler's Industrial models are surprisingly quiet as are the Covington Berry's Blue tumblers. You probably wouldn't want any of them next to your bed.
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Post by Lady B on Feb 9, 2008 21:02:53 GMT -5
Bob and I have a Ray-Tech 5 and a Thumler's Ultra-Vibe 10. If you can afford it go for the a Thumler's! The barrel is so much better than the Ray-Tech. Both are noisier than a rotary but the Ray-tech is much noisier. The Thumler is easy to clean and easy to maintain.
The Thumler doesn't "walk" but the Ray-Tech can even make Dysum gripper move across the floor (we have no carpets in our home; only hardwood floors.) I've put the Ray-tech on thick toweling, a door mat, a heavy quilt. It's always an adventure to see where it will have moved to. We try to tumble it inside the closet with the door closed in the spare bedroom with the door closed but I can still HEAR it. The Thumler could be used in our dining room if we were crazy enough to tumble stones outside of the spare bedroom.
I haven't had an opportunity to see or use a Lot-O but here at our house, the Thumler Ultra Vibe wins hands down! (I don't have tons of comparison batches to speak of but based on our limited experiences, I also think the Thumler does a better job of polishing, too.)
Lady B
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Post by Bikerrandy on Feb 9, 2008 22:24:33 GMT -5
I highly recommend the Thumblers UV-10 as well. I've been using mine for 2 1/2 years and love it.
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Post by captbob on Feb 9, 2008 22:50:37 GMT -5
Hey Keith, I hope you don't mind my asking questions on your thread, just trying to get some schoolin' here.
About the vibrating tumblers, do they need full loads to run? Like the UV-10 says 10 pound capacity. Does it need 10 pounds to work or do you add media to fill it like in a rotary?
I was thinking about vibes for the final stages. But, if I start with 10 or 12 pounds of rough in the rotary, I'm probably not going to have 10 pounds left for the 500 and finer cycles.
Do the stones need to be the same hardness in a vibe like in a rotary, or can they be mixed to fill the bowl?
Lastly (for this post!) do you want separate bowls for different grits or the polish stage like you might have for barrels?
Off to do a forum search on vibes...
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Post by johnjsgems on Feb 9, 2008 23:21:52 GMT -5
Captbob- you can use media to fill the load. I've been using mine mostly for polishing cabs and removing tarnish from jewelry. I don't think hardness of stones is as much of a factor with the vibes as most people use a lot more media than rotaries. Some folks will buy an extra drum for polish only. I'm too cheap. I wash mine out really well.
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Post by Bikerrandy on Feb 9, 2008 23:46:57 GMT -5
Stones of different hardnesses will tumble together in a vibe as long as you don't go crazy with this. I use an extra drum for polish only, and yes, there is a minimum amount required to get the tumbler to work effectively. All of the UV-10's have a stripe around the bowl. You should fill the bowl to the top of the stripe with rocks before adding the grit, then use a spray bottle to apply just enough water to get the grit to cling to the rocks.
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Post by captbob on Feb 10, 2008 0:14:03 GMT -5
Criminy, I've got another question! go figure  I was just reading on the Rock Shed site about using the UV-10 and it said: "Your rocks may vary in size to include a few up to 1 1/2" in diameter." Heck, in the load I've got going now 1ยฝ" is about the SMALLEST rock in the bunch. Is a Vibe not good for doing larger rocks? |
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Post by deb193redux on Feb 10, 2008 2:13:57 GMT -5
The Lot-O is quieter than a rotary. It only holds 4-5lb, and you need arange of size. You can put one or two 2-3" pieces in, but need plenty of smaller stuff too.
Thy Gy-Roc is the most agressive an loudest I have encountered.
Most vibe bowels have a center cone. SO even if the bowl is 12" diameter, you have about 4" one each side and 4" in the cone/center. If you want to run 10 or 15 larger 2-2.5" pieces, you need to put a lot of ceramic media to fill in. ROcks that don't make contact can't get ground.
If you do the rough grind in a rotary, larger peces work better. Sharp angles sometimes get in a clump that does not roll over freely in the vibe. If you want to do dozens of 1.5 - 3" pieces, you should go all out and get a 40# vibra sonic. Or, at least the UV-18.
BTW, how are you doing only down to 1.5" What is the smaller size/fill?
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Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on Feb 10, 2008 2:22:32 GMT -5
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Post by Bikerrandy on Feb 10, 2008 9:06:28 GMT -5
Bob- I've done pieces as big as three inches in mine with no problem, you just don't want to have too many pieces that big in there.
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Post by captbob on Feb 10, 2008 10:39:55 GMT -5
BTW, how are you doing only down to 1.5" What is the smaller size/fill? 2 pounds of 3/8 - 5/8 creamic media seems to be doing the trick. The corners are rounding nicely, but it's only day 5 of the 60/90. I figure everyone does small stones, I want bigger pieces. I'm taking LOTS of pictures and will post a thread when I have spare time. I see many posts here about the Rock Shed... I have placed two rather large orders with them and had superior service and great product from them. I understand why many here rave about the site. It's a GREAT place to buy grits and accessories, BUT...I would NEVER consider buying a tumbler there. Their prices aren't the highest per model that I have found, but they sure aren't the least expensive place by far! Anyone in the market for a tumbler should take some time and shop around. I know that I've saved well over $100 by looking for better prices and I've only bought 4 tumblers so far. Just my 2ยข |
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Post by Bikerrandy on Feb 10, 2008 10:48:33 GMT -5
No kidding, I saved almost $1,000 on my cabbing machine by shopping around. lol... I got my vibe from the Rockshed, mainly because I like dealing with Shawn. I've purchased alot of tumbling rough from him as well. One thing to be careful of is that other suppliers may make of the price difference on shipping and handling costs.
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Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on Feb 11, 2008 4:25:18 GMT -5
Hi asBike randy above says I have delt with Rockshed for 3 years & Shawn , he is superb chap so helpfull and aa chap you can trust
Orders havent always gone smoothly but have always been sorted out quickly and efeciently
I can recomend rock shed from personal experiance
As regards size If it goes through the top it will polish is what they saay and it is true I have ploished plynths 3" X 2 ovals and come out great
Jack
Yorkshire UK
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Post by irishlightning24 on Feb 11, 2008 10:34:20 GMT -5
Keith, I have a couple of Raytech TV5s. In terms of noise while running, I'd say to imagine a kitchen garbage disposal running with nothing in it. I keep mine in the basement and the sound that I can hear in the house is the tiniest whisper of white noise.
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Post by deb193redux on Feb 11, 2008 14:59:17 GMT -5
BTW, how are you doing only down to 1.5" What is the smaller size/fill? 2 pounds of 3/8 - 5/8 ceramic media seems to be doing the trick. The corners are rounding nicely, but it's only day 5 of the 60/90. I figure everyone does small stones, I want bigger pieces. .... Ok, that media should give you enough smaller stuff. Your max size and distribution should only tweak efficiency and not prevent grinding completely. If the rock has some range of motion to slide down the slope as the barrel turns, and if the amount of contact with other material is large - then you should do fine. What size barrel is this in? Just how big are these pieces? For example, a 4" rock in a 6lb (7-8" diameter) barrel will have only about 3 inches of slide as it turns, and will take longer to round than a rock that gets 6" of slide every rotation. It is generally not that folks don't want larger pieces. When people break up rough further, or cut it up, before tumbling it is usually for getting the size optimal relative to the bowl and the other rocks. Ceramic media can replace the smaller rock. Most rotary folks use smaller rock and plastic pellets. (I think you can separate the plastic pellets easier.) Another thing is that if you have smaller rock, it can be as cheap or cheaper than ceramic media. I know Mel likes to put in smaller stuff and just leave it in the course grind until it goes away - or he harvests some to polish a batch of small stuff for his show's mini-mine. Looking forward to your thread. |
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