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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Feb 5, 2009 16:56:07 GMT -5
Woohoo! Got some 2 ft of 10" PVC today! :-) :-) :-)
I'll stop by Lowes tomorrow and see if I can get some rounds. If not, I'll cut some plywood.
Chuck
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Thunder69
Cave Dweller
Thunder 2000-2015
Member since January 2009
Posts: 3,102
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Post by Thunder69 on Feb 28, 2009 19:34:18 GMT -5
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jerryb
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2006
Posts: 408
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Post by jerryb on Mar 11, 2009 20:22:11 GMT -5
OK,
here is what i have done. I used 6" pvc pipe 12" long and bought two rubber end caps which i ordered through my local hardware store, cost about $7 each. then I bought a sheet of gasket material and glued that to the inside with 3M super 77 spray adhesive. I made plywood disks that are 7.5 inches in diameter and used threaded rods around the outside of the barrel. this sucker holds about 15 pounds of rough rock and takes lots of grit, but it works great. two years non-stop no problems.
I tried the spray on bed liner, save your money it won;t last the first month. 4" pvc can be done the same way and works great for finer grit where you have less to process. I use 3 lb lortone barrels for my polish.
cheers jerry
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syfun
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since January 2009
Posts: 85
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Post by syfun on Mar 17, 2009 11:09:57 GMT -5
If you can get a straight cut on the larger pvc pipe, you can get some pvc sheets to glue on the end. I just did a quick search and found a couple sites that have 12" X 12" pvc sheets for between $5 and $10 depending on the thickness. You could either glue them on the end and trim off the extra, or cut them in a circle and glue them on the inside of the pipe (you would have to be very careful to get the right diameter). Then you can cut a 4" hole in the middle of one of the ends, glue a piece of 4" pvc to that and use the test plug.
Steve
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drjo
fully equipped rock polisher
Honduran Opal & DIY Nut
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,581
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Post by drjo on Mar 21, 2009 9:29:01 GMT -5
I wanna see the wooden barrel!!!!! (hey, did anybody notice there isn't a foot stomping tantrum emoticon?!) ;D
Dr Joe
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docharber
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2008
Posts: 693
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Post by docharber on Mar 21, 2009 22:14:14 GMT -5
i'll try to oblige. i found out today that Plastyidip, my favorite do-all stuff, is available in a spray can. But, i recently had a bad experience with the stuff that set back my tumbkler project a bit.
I built a barrel, Thumbler's style, with 8 sides and 14" wooden rounds from Lowe'd on each end with a hold in the middle of one for access. I caulked in a pieve pf 4" PVC to hold the test plug I bought as a seal (all plastic except for the center bolt, which I overcoated with PlastiDIp). I made the barrrel facets with MDF and poured in some shellac based primer (Zinser product) to seal it. I ran the unit for a while, until the stiff stopped dripping through the cracks and the barrel was sealed. I poured off the excess after making sure the interior was completely coated. WHen it had dred overnight, I poured in two cans of plastidip and after swirling it around, set the tumbler in motion. This stuff driesa FAST. As it did, It lost a lot of volume, shrank and pulled loose in a couple of places. It puddleed on the access side only and I only looked at the opposite end, which was OK. I had poured off the excess, or so I thought. WHen I put my hand in to check it, I got it all over me and found puddles of the stuff had skinned over when I stopped the tumbler, and I had to remove one end to clean it out. The hardened stiuff is very rubbery but did not coat evenly. I had to cut out and strip a few areas and will need to recoat them. This is getting expensive!. Before I reassemble the barrel, I'm going to look at the auto parts store for undercoating or bed liner in a spray can to complete lining the barrel, and it'll be ready to go. Of course, I'm out of 150-220 grit and 600 grit and don't have any more stuff to fill this 20 lb. monster. The nice thing about this machine is that it should accomodate a smaller load realtive to it's total capacity than many other machines could. Eventually I'll see. I found the barrel ends (the rounds from Lowe's) were'nt very round or flat. Still, after turning the barrel on it's cradle and patiently sanding high spots, it rolls pretty smoothly. I mounted blocks to the beraring supports to keep it in the middle of the cradle but it tended to rub on one end. I addressed this by making a vertical cut down one of the uprights that hold te bearings on one end, and by using a srew mechanism to pull the sections toggether or a wedge to push them apart, I can vary the distance slighhtly beteween rollers and keep the barrel centered. i have run the barrel on the maching overnight and the motor doesn't even get warm. Very smooth. The Lortone QT12 pulleys and belt on the 1/2" rod (increased to 3/4" diameter with sections of vinyl tubing) makes iot turm about 25 times a minute. I have the motor wired to the lower speed setting (1500 RPM no load) I have to push it to get it turning but then it runs like a champ. It will run in either direction depending on which way I push to start it. Weird, huh?
Mark H.
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drjo
fully equipped rock polisher
Honduran Opal & DIY Nut
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,581
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Post by drjo on Mar 21, 2009 22:59:20 GMT -5
Wahoo, getting closer!!
I'd suggest testing the bedliner/undercoat sprays on some scrap first to make sure it dries well/hard & sticks before lining the barrel. You may have to use a sum lamp (not too close) or a hair dryer to cure it.
Keep up the good work, Dr Joe
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drjo
fully equipped rock polisher
Honduran Opal & DIY Nut
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,581
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Post by drjo on Mar 29, 2009 8:43:44 GMT -5
Bump
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docharber
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2008
Posts: 693
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Post by docharber on Apr 27, 2009 19:05:50 GMT -5
THE BEAST IS READY. I'll post my first pics of the baby when it's ready to roll. I coated the inside with plastidip to sttart and finished byu removing the top, scraping off the glop, and recoating it using the PlastiDip as glue for the top/round with a hol;e. i finished coating it with slightly diluted truck bed liner (12 bucks a quart) which seems to be the same sort of vinyl emulsion. I coated the top before reassembling and wiped more on the seams after brad-nailing it back together. The material is gloppy, but it seems to have cured completely in the sun over several days. It's water tight (tested) and ready to go. I should have it up and running this weekend!!!!! Today a tumbler- tomorrow a flat vibrating lap! By the way, I am waiting on delivery of my new flat lap Ameritoool grinder, too! And there was much rejoicing in the land!
Mark H.
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docharber
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2008
Posts: 693
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Post by docharber on Apr 29, 2009 22:28:43 GMT -5
Got the new flat lap today. SSweety tool. I also started the first load in my new tumbler. It leaks. Looks like I'll have to recoat it again, if iot isn't ruined. I.m having problems with squeeky bearings, too. Bummer.
Mqark H.
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