moonmopus
starting to shine!
Member since June 2013
Posts: 45
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Post by moonmopus on Jul 5, 2014 21:24:22 GMT -5
greetings. while looking into the thumler # 140, i came across what appears to be a slightly upgraded rebadged and/or knockoff of the thumler b. it's a 17lb tumbler called the rebel 17. while the utah based company, extreme tumblers, says their tumblers are made for rocks and brass casings, i only see one 3000 rpm model available. i gather this would be too much for rocks but maybe others here disagree. anyone here see one in person and give it a whirl with rocks? there's a bunch of unboxing photos on a gun board that are worth a look for the curious. i have no idea whether or not these are being made by arrangement with thumler or if this is some brazen venture but either way, i thought it was at least worth drawing some attention to the tumbler on these boards.
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donkeyrokman
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since June 2014
Posts: 78
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Post by donkeyrokman on Jul 5, 2014 21:38:39 GMT -5
3000 RPMs? Holy cow. Seems to me the rocks would be stuck to the sides of the barrel by the centrifugal force, like the carnival ride. Heh.
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1nickthegreek
spending too much on rocks
Member since February 2014
Posts: 383
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Post by 1nickthegreek on Jul 5, 2014 22:12:59 GMT -5
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panamark
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,343
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Post by panamark on Jul 5, 2014 23:18:37 GMT -5
Yeah, 40 rpm is do-able. 3000 rpm, whoa clear the decks.
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Post by Toad on Jul 6, 2014 4:52:49 GMT -5
I'd be leery of anything that says it is good for brass and rocks. RPMs might be good but the seal might not stand up to rock tumbling...
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moonmopus
starting to shine!
Member since June 2013
Posts: 45
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Post by moonmopus on Jul 6, 2014 7:23:03 GMT -5
oops. i meant 3000 rpm motor as opposed to thumler's model b 1550 motor. sorry for the confusion. in addition to toad's comment above, this company has no phone support or proven track record. it's nice to look at, in any case.
btw, i'm no engineer but supposing someone had a higher speed tumbler that was too tough on rocks, couldn't a variac / varistat be a reasonable solution?
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panamark
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,343
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Post by panamark on Jul 6, 2014 8:22:28 GMT -5
oops. i meant 3000 rpm motor as opposed to thumler's model b 1550 motor. sorry for the confusion. in addition to toad's comment above, this company has no phone support or proven track record. it's nice to look at, in any case. btw, i'm no engineer but supposing someone had a higher speed tumbler that was too tough on rocks, couldn't a variac / varistat be a reasonable solution? I think it would be easier/better to just change the pulley size on the drum roller.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jul 6, 2014 8:37:39 GMT -5
need to be careful on the torque rating on the motor too. some of the 3000 rpm motors have much lower torque ratings then the 1550 or 1725 rpm motors. I know my tumbler needs some real torque when I hit the switch and it needs to get 40-50 pounds of rock turning from a stand still.
The reloading and brass tumblers do not require nearly as much torque as rock tumblers.
Chuck
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Post by connrock on Jul 6, 2014 9:46:11 GMT -5
The 3000 RPM motor is for cleaning brass,,, NOT for tumbling rocks.The 40 RPM (barrel speed) is twice the speed needed for rock tumbling. I don't think it would be very easy to find the right size barrel roller pulley,or an "O" Ring type belt,needed to cut the RPM's in 1/2. Although the cost of a motor with the correct RPM's (1500) might be high,,, it would be the easiest way to slow down the barrel RPM's. I like the sealed roller bearings better then Thumler's nylon friction bearings,the "knobs" for the cover rather then Thumler's wing nuts and the frame seems to be well made too. After reading everything on both of the web sites and watching some of the videos I would say that this tumbler was designed more for tumbling brass then rock tumbling,,,,mostly due to the high speed motor used. Would I buy it? No,,, because of the high speed motor. connrock
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,352
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Post by quartz on Jul 7, 2014 0:20:46 GMT -5
I took a look and wondered if the motor would hold up to running for the time periods necessary for tumbling. The reviews talked of running a couple hours at a time. 1/30 H.P. seems a little wimpy, but real bearings are a plus.
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Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
Posts: 2,772
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Post by Mark K on Jul 7, 2014 23:25:44 GMT -5
I wouldn't buy that with your money, let alone my own.
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moonmopus
starting to shine!
Member since June 2013
Posts: 45
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Post by moonmopus on Jul 9, 2014 16:35:37 GMT -5
I'd be leery of anything that says it is good for brass and rocks. RPMs might be good but the seal might not stand up to rock tumbling... unless these guys have another machine in the works, i'm inclined to agree. it's kind of interesting in any case. since i am so new to all of this stuff and don't have any skin in the gun game, just when did rotary tumblers take hold in that world? has anyone ever heard relative figures from thumler or people on the business side regarding annual sales of 'reloading' tumblers as compared to rock / lapidary tumblers? just curious.
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Post by connrock on Jul 11, 2014 9:47:57 GMT -5
I've never heard any official figures on it but I would think there are more people around the world reloading ammunition then are rock tumbling? When I shot on a pistol team there were people coming out of the woodwork who reloaded ammo but I was the only one rock tumbling at the time.There were tons of gun clubs all over the State but only very few rock/gem/mineral/fossil related clubs out there and it's the same way today. connrock
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moonmopus
starting to shine!
Member since June 2013
Posts: 45
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Post by moonmopus on Jul 13, 2014 13:03:00 GMT -5
I've never heard any official figures on it but I would think there are more people around the world reloading ammunition then are rock tumbling? When I shot on a pistol team there were people coming out of the woodwork who reloaded ammo but I was the only one rock tumbling at the time.There were tons of gun clubs all over the State but only very few rock/gem/mineral/fossil related clubs out there and it's the same way today. connrock thanks for your input, connrock. anecdotally, that makes perfect sense to me. i'm glad these tumblers are so popular with hunters and sportsmen if it boosts thumler's and lortone's revenue. with cabelas carrying the rock and brass tumblers (i don't recall seeing that they had both last year) maybe it'll even turn folks from that hobby on to rockhounding and rock tumbling as well. i think a lot of you can speak more thoughtfully and experientially to the rockhounding & tumbling hobbies and whether or not it has declined over the decades. i only have memories of my granddads passion and devotion to collecting to go on - which he began in the 40s and continued through the 80s - but just the mere fact that places like sears sold rebadged lortones says a lot to me about the place it might have occupied at one time (then again, i have no clue how many of those were kids' birthday presents that got used once and shelved!)
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Post by connrock on Jul 14, 2014 7:43:30 GMT -5
I think rock tumbling and rockhounding are more popular now then in the past.When I first joined this group it wasn't nearly as big as it is now and it all started out with rock tumbling and eventually expanded into other sections. In a lot of cases people pick up pretty rocks they see here and there and then they want to polish them.They have no clue how to do it and many find this site and off they go. Years ago we didn't have the internet and only had word of mouth and magazines to help us. Todays world is MUCH smaller and we can help people who live thousands of miles from us here,through emails,videos,photos,etc,etc. When I started rock tumbling I had no idea of how to do it and didn't know anyone that even did it, let alone find someone to help me.I made my first tumbler out of stainless steel,,put some "pretty" rocks in it with sand and water.I didn't know the ratio of water,sand and rocks so I just filled it up and tried my best to get the rocks to smooth out and hopefully shine,,,,,even a little! LOL I didn't know that silicone carbide grit existed until some years later when I joined Bob's Rock Shop on line.I was so wet behind the ears that when someone at Bob's mentioned the word "lapidary" I had to look it up because I had no clue what it meant! It wasn't until the internet came along that I got to pursue my interest in mineral collecting either.I've now collected minerals from many of the New England States along with TN,AR and NC.Although my mineral collection is small I have minerals form many foreign Countries and even have a beautiful chlorite/quartz specimen that was collected near Mt. Everest by the Sherpas! I've traded rocks,minerals and fossils with people from all over the world now too. I also learned a little metal work on line.I've made tons of jewelery out of various metals and cut all my own cabs for them. None of this would have happened without the internet and this is why I think rock tumbling,rockhounding and other interests connected to them are much more popular today then in the past. connrock
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moonmopus
starting to shine!
Member since June 2013
Posts: 45
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Post by moonmopus on Jul 14, 2014 8:14:13 GMT -5
I think rock tumbling and rockhounding are more popular now then in the past.When I first joined this group it wasn't nearly as big as it is now and it all started out with rock tumbling and eventually expanded into other sections. In a lot of cases people pick up pretty rocks they see here and there and then they want to polish them.They have no clue how to do it and many find this site and off they go. Years ago we didn't have the internet and only had word of mouth and magazines to help us. Todays world is MUCH smaller and we can help people who live thousands of miles from us here,through emails,videos,photos,etc,etc. When I started rock tumbling I had no idea of how to do it and didn't know anyone that even did it, let alone find someone to help me.I made my first tumbler out of stainless steel,,put some "pretty" rocks in it with sand and water.I didn't know the ratio of water,sand and rocks so I just filled it up and tried my best to get the rocks to smooth out and hopefully shine,,,,,even a little! LOL I didn't know that silicone carbide grit existed until some years later when I joined Bob's Rock Shop on line.I was so wet behind the ears that when someone at Bob's mentioned the word "lapidary" I had to look it up because I had no clue what it meant! It wasn't until the internet came along that I got to pursue my interest in mineral collecting either.I've now collected minerals from many of the New England States along with TN,AR and NC.Although my mineral collection is small I have minerals form many foreign Countries and even have a beautiful chlorite/quartz specimen that was collected near Mt. Everest by the Sherpas! I've traded rocks,minerals and fossils with people from all over the world now too. I also learned a little metal work on line.I've made tons of jewelery out of various metals and cut all my own cabs for them. None of this would have happened without the internet and this is why I think rock tumbling,rockhounding and other interests connected to them are much more popular today then in the past. connrock it's great to read this, connrock! thanks for sharing your story. it's something i can share with my eldest son that will help him appreciate just how fortunate we now are to have access to information and, really, the world at large.
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Post by connrock on Jul 15, 2014 9:28:33 GMT -5
When we first go onto the internet with "dial-up", and long before this site was created,I had several people contact me to ask me to help them with their rock tumbling problems thru emails.I was still trying to get that perfect shine on my tumbled rocks so I didn't consider myself as anyone who was good enough at it to help them.The more I thought about it and the more I thought of how they might be in the same predicament as I was (not long before)I began to try to help them as best I could.At first there were only 2 or 3 people then the word got out and at one time I was helping as many as 24 people,,,,,around the world! Computers and internet connections were as slow as slow gets back then and I spent 6-8 hours every night after work typing away with my 2 fingers trying to help as many people as I could! My wife was VERY understanding and after a while she asked me why I just don't write a book on rock tumbling! LOL It was nice to be able to help people who had no where to find info and I WELL knew that feeling! I don't know if Mark knew what this group was going to turn out to be when he started it but it has helped soooooooooooooo many people, not only with rock tumbling, but also to progress into other aspects of lapidary and metal work as well! I still try to help people here and on other groups but have to take a back seat to many who have progressed MUCH further then I could even dream of! If I had the world at my finger tips as does your son and all the children of todays world,I KNOW I would have done better in life! I'm retired now at 70 years old and I can't get enough of learning on the WWW! connrock
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