Thumler's Model B HELP!

How long had it tumbled?

What are you tumbling?

Is it facing N-S or E-W?

Dr Joe

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everyone knows tumbler barrels have to have the lids facing East (coincides with Sun/Moon rising).

I thought that was only for Muslim tumbler barrels. And the tumbler has to sit on a prayer rug.

Trying to figure out how to get my lot-o barrel lid E-W

snuffy

Now I know what I did wrong. I will try to re-orient the tumbler today with the lid facing east. Then I will wait a long time before opening it.
Dr Joe, I am tumbling a variety of sizes of mostly agate, jasper, and Flint Ridge Flint and it ran for 1 week. My 33B barrels have to be recharged each week. It seems that is not the case with the 15 lb'er.
Thanks for all the feedback,
Tanya

My first guess would be the rock sizes. It's easy to be inclined to put a bunch of big rocks in these big tumblers, but you need plenty of small and medium sized ones too. Make sure your water levels are good too - just to the bottom of the rocks. (I sometimes use a little less in these big barrels because it creates a pretty thin slurry) Also, make sure you're not putting too much grit in - 1TB per pound and I'd suggest 12 in this tumbler.

I think a week is enough time to break down the grit, even in these big barrels. There's a definite learning curve with these larger tumblers, but personally, I've found they're less prone to issues than the smaller units. You can check the barrel every few days and if you don't see a good slurry or you see a lot of floating grit, chances are good you're experiencing the same issue.

On another note, I've been fighting similar issues since I've started using ceramics, primarily in my 3lb barrels. I know my size distribution isn't the issue and I've checked a dozen other things, but still haven't come up with a conclusive solution yet. For the time being, I've been vigorously shaking the barrel every day or two and this seems to help the load get by.

Wow Revco, I don't think I can vigorously shake this big thing. But I'll try.
Tanya

Tanya,

The reason I asked about the revolutions, was because I had the same problem when I fired up my used Model B. I decided to buy a new motor and rollers and refurbish the unit.

That was a about 18 months or so ago and the unit has been turning 24/7 365 ever since. My "B" is now turning at 18 revolutions per minute. Now that may not seem like much of a difference, but over the course of a week, it adds up:

That's 2 revolutions difference per minute
120 per hour
2880 per day
20,160 per week

I'm not sure what the "B" is actually supposed to turn at (maybe JohnGems knows) but I do know that 1 cup of 60/90 grit should be exhausted in 7 or 8 days in a Model B producing an excellent thin slurry with agate and Jasper. You might have to add a little time because your unit is turning a little slower.

I also think revco is right... you need a lot of little helper pea to dime sized rocks in your load. They're the workhorses of any tumble.

2/3 to 3/4 full (actually measure this and put a piece of masking tape on the inside of the barrel before you fill it, until you get a good feel for the load level. Take the masking tape out before you close the lid). Water to the bottom of the top rocks (as Revco said, you can back off this a bit) You should be good to go!

I use about 3/4 cup of grit and I fill only 2/3 full, with water level to the bottom of the top layer. You might try a little less water. I also recycle the slurry and gravel, and only use the tumbler for coarse grind. Even so, I find that my 15 lb. barrel doesn't round rocks as fast as my 50 lb. barrel.

Your RPMs sound close enough to me. I never use ceramics in a rotary---too expensive to grind into mud for me.

Hope that helps!
Chuck

Okay, I have a lot to work with. I am going to open it now and add some of what was called Texas tumbling mix on Ebay which turned out to be pea sized rocks from a river bottom I am guessing. Ebay scares me after that. Anyway it will be perfect for some smaller filler and won't take up any more space. Just fill spaces.
By the way John do I hold my mouth like I do when fishing? Please let me know. I already turned it to the East lol .
Thanks for the phone number in case I can't figure this out any better.
Blessings,
Tanya