daddydave
starting to shine!
Member since June 2007
Posts: 44
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Post by daddydave on Feb 18, 2008 8:36:38 GMT -5
Was poking around the shed and found myself staring at my wifes treadmill. Variable speed, wide belt ramp, oh, no!!!! Just rig up a roller across it to hold a barrel and let it roll in place. Perhaps a few of those rollers for multiple barrels. Oh, my gosh!! Of course this one is 9 amps (about 1 1/4HP) Electric bill would be too high. What about an ol' cheap treadmill? Maybe. Just playing with the idea and wondering if anyone has tried it? Along similar lines what about barrel interiors. Smooth round, or add bumps to jumble things up? Thinking of 8 or 10" PVC with screw in plugs. Then PVC glue to attach split PVC piping to act as ribs to jumble things up. daddydave ;D - or maybe- daddydave  (after wife finds out) |
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turquoiselover
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2008
Posts: 115
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Post by turquoiselover on Feb 18, 2008 11:39:35 GMT -5
Hi, Dave -
After my dad reconfigured my piece of crud CE dual tumbler, and (he's a retired helicopter mechanic who owned his own repair station) noticing how poorly made and designed it was - got it into his head that he could build a better one. Of course he could (it's not rocket science) and he set out to do just that. He's been working on it since Christmas at a slow rate. I think he's using it as a diversion for the pain in his leg that has been through hell since summer.
Anyhow - he built the barrel out of PVC that looks to be about 1/2" thick, about 8" dia.
He noticed after some experimentation that rocks just slid down hill unless he really made the thing FLY, so he screwed in some teflon "bars". He also made the top and bottom removable, at my request when I explained how important it was to be able to clean this thing thoroughly.
I went over there yesterday and played with it a bit, and seeing that the bottom came off if you weren't careful taking the top off, told him to go ahead and glue the bottom on. I'll just use it for course loads only and just always have a course load going that I can add and remove stuff continuously.
You have to understand - this is a guy who knows NOTHING about tumbling or tumblers being somewhat guided by a total newbie who's only been at this for about 5 months. But he made the tumbler shaft area long enough to accomodate his barrel + 2 Thumblers 3 lbers or my 2 CE barrels and 2 Thumblers! I'll be buying more barrels soon! With the addition of this cool machine, I bring my tumbling quantity up to 6-8 barrels running. And so far I've only sunk $130 into tumblers!
I've heard on this board that PVC is LOUD though - that it sounded like a road grader going by - and I haven't heard this one loaded with rock and grit yet, so I'll have to let you know. My operation is inside the house - so noise is a big deal.
On your other idea - he DID joke about hooking up the tumbler to a treadmill for the dog!
Turq
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lsmike
spending too much on rocks
Maxwell's demon lowers tumbling entropy
Member since January 2007
Posts: 468
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Post by lsmike on Feb 18, 2008 12:50:44 GMT -5
I can't believe the inventiveness of some follks! WOW!Your dad is on the right track for "lifters".The small barrels can be smooth 'cause they rotate fast enough to lift and slide the load.Larger ones need help lifting-for instance,12# Lortones are hexagonal.I think PVC will be loud.Would it be possible to line the barrels with rubber or maybe that Dip-It stuff?
Once they are running, it might be a good idea to load each with similar material weighing the rock in each before and after tumbling.This way you can figure the percentage o reduction as an indication of a barrel's efficiency.Mike.
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Post by Bikerrandy on Feb 18, 2008 13:49:15 GMT -5
Dave, your wife might get tired of walking after a week or two. Make sure that she gets plenty of rest while re-charging the grit.
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Post by catmandewe on Feb 18, 2008 14:12:13 GMT -5
Dave, your wife might get tired of walking after a week or two. Make sure that she gets plenty of rest while re-charging the grit. OK NOW, that there is funny!!! |
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Post by johnjsgems on Feb 18, 2008 17:08:13 GMT -5
Well, if it's in the shed it probably went the way of most excercise equipment. She may be relieved to have you appropriate it so she can have an excuse not to get it back to it's intended use. That said, take it apart and see how it works. If it has a driven roller and a free wheeling roller (just like a tumbler) you may be able to shorten the machine to tumbler size. 9 amps is probably the motor rating at full speed with the maximum size person running for their life. You would want it to run really slow. I think it would be doable. And, you could use the heart rate monitor when you open the polish barrels and check the result.
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Post by deb193redux on Feb 18, 2008 17:30:19 GMT -5
I have looked at treadmills and conveyor systems and thought if there was a tumbler waiting to happen. At least, the rolers couls be salvaged and maybe the bearings - that if the unit cant be used as is. I am not sure all of the rollers in the treadmill are powered. I think just the one on the end. At any rate, a few rollars/pipe and some pillow block bearings are easily enough assembled onto a tumbler frame.
The real cincher is barrels. As noted in prior responses, there has to be enough friction to lift the contents up so they can then slide down the other rocks. Both rubber to increase friction and hexoginal structure can help here. FYI, the 35# barrels sold for the ball-mill machine you see on ebay are made from PVC. They do not have the liner, so they use a really fast RPM. IT is also loud. I saw one a guy had set up and it was teeth-jaring loud.
I have also found that 8" or 10" PVC is not readily available except in larger cities. It is available online, but only in 8' or 10' lenghts, and I only wanted about 20". Unless I was going to make 5 or 6 barrels, it would hav ebeen cheaper to just buy two 15# Thumlers barrels.
I think you could cut hardwood slats with 45-deg angles and make a octogonal barrel. You could glue in a rubber liner, and use a top bottom plate w/gasket - similar to thumbler's 15# barre. You could also use the diameter of the top and bottom plates to fine tune rotation speed. In fact, I was thinking about making plates of different diameters, so I could have the polish RPM slower then the grind RPM. I think the wood/rubber combo would be quieter too.
I also thought about getting the 12" cardboard tubes used for casting cement in foundations, and covering them with fiberglass and inserting a rubber liner.
I also toyed with 2-gallon plastic buckets. Online you can fine special lids with a screw-in type of plate. They would need to be fitted with wood collars that sat on the rollers. A rubber liner to supply some friction.
I suspended all efforts to make barrels when I decided to move last summer. At some point I will get back to this. I have 8 good rollers, bearing, and several motors. So, I am all ears for good ways to make barrels.
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one80mike
freely admits to licking rocks
@(-_-)@ Princess Leia!
Member since February 2007
Posts: 908
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Post by one80mike on Feb 18, 2008 18:50:43 GMT -5
Funny Randy...very funny.
I can see a new exercise video already "Trim Down with Tumbling"...nothing like a bit of motivation to get moving.
Nothing to do with the original thread...sorry.
Mike
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turquoiselover
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2008
Posts: 115
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Post by turquoiselover on Feb 21, 2008 20:47:44 GMT -5
well..................I went over to my parents' house to bring some rocks and some grit to put in the freshly finished barrel on my new homemade tumbler an give it a whirl. I gotta tell ya. The thing is fricking LOUD. I think this was mentioned more than once on this board, and in turn to my father, but it fell on .....deaf ears. Right now it's at HIS house (he wanted to watch if for a couple of days) in HIS garage. I'm thinking that's just where it can stay for now, but I bet he'll call me to come and take it away before a couple of days pass......
Unless he figures out a way to quiet it down, I'm afraid I won't be able to use it, and I'll just run my other barrels on the tumbler.
By the way, Deb193redux ---- I read your post to my dad and he drove over to a place called "Fruit Growers Supply Co" and found PVC couplings. They are 6" long and come in 6,8 & 10 inches across for only $10 each. He said they also have some grey ones made out of a heavier material which are 6 1/2" ID and 7 1/2" OD that go for $30 each. If you want to take back up your homemade tumbler project and would like a couple of these, let me know. I'll help you out getting these to you.
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SirRoxalot
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 790
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Post by SirRoxalot on Feb 27, 2008 18:06:27 GMT -5
Sometimes just forking over the cash is theonly practical way to go, and it makes life so much easier. Life is short, enjoy your hobby. The Lortone 12 pound barrels are superbly designed. Quiet. Sturdy. They never leak. Big enough to do a nice batch yet not so big that you hurt your back hauling them around. Some things it just doesn't pay to try and design yourself in order to save a buck. Make the frame and buy your barrels. In the big scheme of things, they're not a lot of money.
SirRoxalot
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turquoiselover
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2008
Posts: 115
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Post by turquoiselover on Mar 1, 2008 2:37:18 GMT -5
Yep, Sir, I think you're absolutely right. The first time I saw this barrel, I cringed at the thought of supplying it with grit on a continual basis. I just don't think I need something this big. I looked at the Lortone 6 pound at $43 and I think it would handle my needs. Double the size of my 5 3-pounders, it will ride along just fine with 2 other barrels on the tumbler my dad built, and not suck up grit so fast. I'm still a newbie and acquiring rough at a slow speed.
I'm going to my first Gem and Mineral Show tomorrow at the fairgrounds in my city. Hope to see some cool stuff, and maybe buy something. Also taking the fam on a hike in our local mountains (Ojai, CA) and may run across something there, as well.
Thanks for the yank to reality.
Turq
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(after wife finds out)
