playin4funami
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since March 2011
Posts: 87
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Post by playin4funami on Apr 6, 2011 20:58:13 GMT -5
Howdy I talked about building a rotary tumbler and thought I would post up some pics on the build as it progresses. I cheated and started the build with a fish tank stand for a platform, it will easily hold the weight, and will allow the whole unit to be broken down into seperate parts if I ever want to transport or store it away with only removing four bolts and wing nuts. first problem I ran into was when I opened the four boxes that were supposes to be pillow block bearings, to were upright style, so I cut a peice of flat steel drilled and made it work, just have to over come any obstacles,lol here's the fix on the wrong bearings  and heres the top bearing all in place and firmly bolted into place after carefull alignment  then I mounted the motor on the bottom shelf. I had this motor laying around for years, it is a dual direction 1/4 hp general electric cont. duty motor, with a shaft speed of 1,725 rpm with a 1 inch pully installed.  got the tumbler shafts installed,tightened down and also greased the bearings and oiled the motor just because,lol  then I did a bad thing and somehow fumbled the big pulley I had that was going on this unit, it was an old cast iron affair which was heavy and going to be a nice flywheel pulley, however as I was getting it down off the shelf I slipped and the pulley hit the concrete and broke a big chunk out of it, being this isn't a vibratory tumbler it went in the scrap heap and the build is on hold till I go to town and get another pulley rounded up. Have been toying with the idea of tearing apart a couple old mountain bike gear sets off the back wheel and using two matching sprockets on both shaft ends and making a chain to fit for a dual drive, not sure yet on that idea? |
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Post by gr on Apr 6, 2011 22:03:28 GMT -5
Some nice work there but I have a question, won't the allthread turning cause your barrell(s) to walk to one side. Seems like you could install a stop but wouldn't creat a grinding action on the barrell rim?
P/s nice fix on the pillow blocks
gr
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Post by Toad on Apr 6, 2011 22:08:38 GMT -5
I was wondering about the threaded rollers as well, but I've never built anything so....
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jspencer
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2011
Posts: 929
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Post by jspencer on Apr 6, 2011 22:48:50 GMT -5
I also wondered about using threaded rod for rollers and how it may wear the outer barrel and make it walk to one side. But an easy fix came to mind also. Try finding some rubber tubing or automotive hose to fit snuggly around the rods. If nothing else you may have to split the hose to get it to fit over the threads on your roller shafts. My little rotary has a split rubber tube over the smooth metal shafts to help it grip the bowl. I am also in the process of rounding up parts as I can to build my own machines. Nice fix on the bearings and good design. What are you using for the barrel?
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playin4funami
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since March 2011
Posts: 87
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Post by playin4funami on Apr 7, 2011 8:35:04 GMT -5
the roller rods will be covered with a pvc shell, or something. I just havn't got that far yet. I had some smooth tool steel shafts that wetre going to be used but couldn't find them for the life of me,so grabbed this heavy allthread thats been sitting around in my way, it is 5/8ths inch allthread and I will probably never have any other use for it. Also should mention every bolt has lock washers, don't want this beast vibrating apart while I am not there,lol. will probably get some 1 inch automotive heater hose (soft rubber) to cover the roller rods, it is cheap at 99 cents a foot and should work well.
My barrel isn't made yet, but I have some 10 inch heavy wall pvc, I am going to cut three round end plates that are bigger than the pvc, so the pvc doesn't ride on the rollers itself. with 1/4 inch althread I am going to clamp two of the end peices tightly and semi permanently to the pvc, one on each end, one end will be cut out in the center so that it is really just a ring or collar, once those are fit on tightly I will lay the other end peice on the collar end and drill holes for bolt and wing nut clamps and cut another rubber seal for it. that way I can take off the end peice without disassembling the whole unit. I will get build pics on that to when I get to it. Barrel probably won't be very cleanable, or easy to clean, but I can make 4 or 5 but really this is mainly for doing large amounts of rough. unless I decide to polich some bigger rocks,lol.
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Post by connrock on Apr 7, 2011 8:50:16 GMT -5
Nice job!
I can almost guarantee that you barrel (be it steel or PVC) will slip and not rotate on the all thread rod.
Taking a guess I'd say that your rods are about 5/8" or 3/4" diameter?
I've used Goodyear Ortac Hose to re-cover worn rollers and it holds up VERY well!
It comes in a wide range of sizes but can be a bit difficult to find.
Another option may be to use jackhammer air hose which can take a real beating and would last a long time as well.
I tend to build and re-build things as if they were to last forever so you may be able to find a much cheaper hose to use as a roller then what I suggest here.
Good luck and keep us posted.
connrock
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playin4funami
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since March 2011
Posts: 87
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Post by playin4funami on Apr 7, 2011 12:23:38 GMT -5
thanks, yeah it is 5/8 ready rod and I plan on covering it with automotive heater hose before it is done, got a ways to go yet,lol. also the outside end edges of my barrel (the contact surface) will be rubber coated as well, so it should be rubber on rubber contact between the barrel and rollers, aslo the gearing is not on yet for the dual drive which I think I will go ahead with.
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Post by johnjsgems on Apr 7, 2011 13:02:14 GMT -5
I would get some actual cold rolled shaft stock. All thread is not round and usually won't fit bearings properly. Your bearings will wear out very quickly.
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stefan
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2005
Posts: 13,946
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Post by stefan on Apr 7, 2011 13:40:27 GMT -5
Good catch John! Other than the allthread this machine is gonna be a BEAST!! With that motor you should be able to easily handle 30 lbs of rough or so (heck it might even turn 50Lbs!). Awesome fix on the bearings- I actually think the design is better than it would have been with pillow block bearings. At least the grease feature is nice to have! Funny how cast iron is so durable until you drop it!
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playin4funami
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since March 2011
Posts: 87
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Post by playin4funami on Apr 7, 2011 15:00:47 GMT -5
I made inserts for between the all thread and the bearing, they are two peice deals on each bearing made out of pipe like a collar that fits between the bearing sleeve and the all thread shaft, I have some tool steel shafts someplace, just cannot locate them in the any of the sheds, I keep all kinds of stuff like that from when I was doing factory work that the boss said throw away, most of this machine is freebies that were going in the dumpster. so far I have no money at all in this thing just free scraps. and my labor. but it is a labor of love,hahaha
but I am kinda waiting a bit to see if I find the steel shaft before going much further, if I don't find it then I'll give this a shot.
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playin4funami
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since March 2011
Posts: 87
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Post by playin4funami on Apr 7, 2011 15:13:56 GMT -5
Okay got a little more done today but not much, not much time today. first I built and installed the spring loaded belt tensioner, it will need final adjustment when I get the other parts rounded up and installed for the drive system  then I decided it would need some barrel stops on each end, I needed to add another peice of plate steel to the back end to mount that one to, and the other was already in place, I was gonna use some caster wheels but couldn't remember where the box of wheels was,lol. so I decided to use this old rubber roller that had a steel insert inside. I drilled a hole in the plate steel on each end to accept a 4 inch 3/8th bolt then used two nuts on each oneand ran enough through to use the nuts to lock the bolt in place sticking up, then a couple quick cuts with a cut off wheel removed the heads of the bolts leaving me with upright studs which I deburred. then I cut the roller in half deburred the inside cut steel sleeve,dropped a washer on each stud and smacked a little grease inside the sleeve and dropped the bumpers into place.   thats all I had time for today. Oh yeah, I also rounded up two small matching bicycle chain sprocket gears to use to connect the roller shafts for dual drive, I think I am going to wait and see if it is really needed first before doing the dual drive thing. You can also see in the last pic today the inserts I made to fit between the all-thread and the bearing. they turn very smooth and have no visual wobble or anything. |
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playin4funami
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since March 2011
Posts: 87
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Post by playin4funami on Apr 7, 2011 16:22:06 GMT -5
also some guys were asking how I planned to make my barrels, here is a rough ( really rough I suck at paint,lol) diagram of what I was thinking. I have 10" heavy wall pvc, and I am thinking I may have enough 5/8ths inch thick heavy polycarbonate to cut out and end peice and a end ring( thats the stuff they make those hard white cutting boards out of if I got the name right. and maybe a heavy plexiglass door. I might try to router out the circle where the pipe end connects so it will lock into the end plate and the ring on the opening side. Not built yet and subject to change as the build happens.the routered out ends would be so a 10 inch rubber o-ring seal would fit in them and make the seal.  |
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Post by connrock on Apr 8, 2011 11:48:47 GMT -5
You may find that going "rubber to rubber" will make the barrel bounce a lot but that's just a thought I had?  I know it's VERY late for this but you seem to be very capable mechanically and have resources to build a tumbler like this. This tumbler was designed build by a friend of mine who is a wizard at designing just about anything he wants to. If,in the future you should decide to pursue it I can put you in contact with him. He's a GREAT guy who loves to help! imageevent.com/number9/tumblerGood Luck and thanks for keeping us up to date! connrock Ps:I KNEW I read somewhere about the length of the barrel being relative to it's diameter! Look at what's written at photo's #8! |
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playin4funami
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since March 2011
Posts: 87
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Post by playin4funami on Apr 8, 2011 12:30:17 GMT -5
Connrock that is a very interesting design there. definatley different! I had originally thought about making one of those open top style tumblers that spins at an angle like a cement mixer but decided where I live in the summer contantly adding water every day due to evaporation would be a pain, and if I was going to seal it I might as well build a drum design.
My next item I want to build is a rock saw, problem is I have never used one and don't have a clue as to what makes one a good one or designs that work well. If anyone has any design plans for a large saw that is easy to build and work with I would love to see those, after looking at online prices on some of these machines I know I could build one at a fraction of the cost. If I could find one local cheap enough I would get it to use and modify,lol.
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playin4funami
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since March 2011
Posts: 87
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Post by playin4funami on Apr 8, 2011 12:43:03 GMT -5
Also if there is any math whiz's out there I could use some double checking on my main pulley size. motor speed 1725 rpm with 1 inch pulley. going to drive a 3/4 inch rod, which will turn a 12 inch drum, approximatlely what size pulley will I need on the rod shaft to acheive between 60 and 80 rpm on the drum?
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Post by connrock on Apr 10, 2011 8:50:53 GMT -5
This is a pretty neat on line calculator and I think I checked your speeds right but if not you can just enter your info and have at it,,,, www.pumpcalcs.com/calculators/view/98/This is the info I put in,,,, Box 1(DH) = 1 Box 2(DL) = 0.750 Box 3(NL) = 106.67 Box 4 (answer) = 80.003 RPM's connrock |
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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 Apr 10, 2011 9:18:13 GMT -5
I get 32 inch secondary pulley for 40 rpms, might need jack shaft.
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agatemaggot
Cave Dweller
Member since August 2006
Posts: 2,194
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Post by agatemaggot on Apr 10, 2011 9:52:11 GMT -5
Your old Cast Iron pulley could be welded with Nickle rod or even Brazed for that matter !
Some of the things that show up at our Blacksmith Shop have a whole bunch in common with Humpty Dumpty !
Harley
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playin4funami
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since March 2011
Posts: 87
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Post by playin4funami on Apr 10, 2011 10:08:16 GMT -5
thanks for the calculator, I worked the problem backwards from the barrel and cam up with 2,97 inches or a three inch pulley to acheive approx. 60 rpm on the barrel.
does this look right?
10 inch barrel diameter +60rpm
1 inch shaft= 600rpm
low speed pulley 3 inches
high speed pulley 1 inch
motor speed 1725rpm
so pretty much I need the drive shaft spinning at 600 rpm to acheive a 60+rpm on a 10 inch barrel? the barrel is going to be 8 inch, but collar diameter will be about 10 inch
thanks everyone
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Post by connrock on Apr 15, 2011 7:28:03 GMT -5
Sorry for the late reply,,,
I got the same as you did.
connrock
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X - Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's rocks
- O Henry