petrifried
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2015
Posts: 100
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Post by petrifried on Jan 31, 2016 14:42:33 GMT -5
I currently have a 15 pound rotary tumbler (just ordered a 12lb barrel that I'm going to add to the rollers hopefully) and think I want to invest in a vibe also. Can you give me some input on different vibratory tumblers? What are some differences between the lot-o and the ultra-vibe? I'm thinking around 10,12, or 15pound compacity. Do vibes reduce chipping and cracks if done properly or is it more to speed up the process? What are the advantages of course grinding in the rotary and finishing in a vibe? Thanks Eric
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,547
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Post by tkvancil on Jan 31, 2016 17:12:23 GMT -5
The Lot-O holds around 4# per barrel. Lot-O's need to be affixed to a heavy concrete block. Sounds hard but isn't at all.
Thumlers Ultra-vibe hold relatively close to their model number. UV10 = about 10 pounds for example. UV's can be set up out of the box no mounting required.
Rotary shapes and removes material FAR faster than a vibe ever will. The vibe will mostly only round off sharp edges. Can't use any thing coarser than 120/220 in most vibes. I do think a properly loaded vibe does have a bit less chipping and etc.
I run a UV18 and like it well enough. Does a really nice job after I learned how to use it. Have two 12# rotaries running 24/7/365. From that I expect to run 4 or 5 vibe batches this year. Takes a lot to fill an 18. This could vary for you of course depending on taste and material.
Whichever you choose my advice would be this ... Get your water and grit formula from the good folks here. Manufacturers usually suggest way too much.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jan 31, 2016 17:24:00 GMT -5
As Ken said, it takes a lot of rotary grinding to produce enough to fill the vibe. That was one of the main reasons I chose the Lot-O. Since it only holds 4.5 lbs., I can run batches more often. If you want to run loads of just one type of rock, then smaller can be better too. I wouldn't want to wait to accumulate 10-18 lbs. of one type of rock to run a load.
Besides getting done quicker, vibes use way less grit. In my Lot-O, I use 2 tablespoons of 220 grit and then only 1/2 TEAspoon of 500, 1000, and polish. So you save money on both electricity and grit.
When you use ceramic media with the vibe, you should greatly reduce chipping and cracks. Use more ceramic for more fragile rocks, or when doing rocks with large flat surfaces. You can also use ceramic if you want to do a smaller load of rocks.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Jan 31, 2016 19:41:08 GMT -5
Just to tag onto what has been said above, I have to run a minimum of 36 pounds in my rotaries at all times to have enough rocks to feed my loto every week. I only have loto vibe tumblers so I have nothing to compare them to. Been running them 24-7 for years with not one issue though.
Chuck
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petrifried
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2015
Posts: 100
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Post by petrifried on Jan 31, 2016 21:04:47 GMT -5
Ok great, that all makes since. I guess one of the main reasons I was thinking about getting one of the larger vibes is so I can tumble fist size pet wood and the occasional monster agate. Would the UV10 tumble a baseball sized rock or two?
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jan 31, 2016 21:29:33 GMT -5
I've never used a UV10, so I can't answer that question. If I was going to order a tumbler that large, I'd buy enough ceramic media to fill it up so I could run smaller loads. If your order from the Rock Shed, you get a discount on rough rocks and grit. I'd ask if that applies to ceramic media also and get a bunch. Buy a bag of the large stuff and another bag of the smaller size.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2016 17:18:43 GMT -5
I bought gyroc because you can stack bowls running 3 stages at a time.
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Post by Peruano on Feb 1, 2016 18:27:12 GMT -5
I'd like to hear the answer to "will they handle a fist sized piece of pet wood?" I'm assuming a 10# machine would. I just finished up a couple of loads in vibes. One was in my first vibe the Raytech Tumble - Vibe 5 and one in the old model of the Diamond Pacific mini-sonic (LSV4?). Both are great machines and performed well for me. I was pushing both in terms of their capacity to handle a large number of slabs (flats tend to stick together and don't roll like rounder rocks) and the size of the pieces that I shoved in them (some were close to 3/4 of a slice of bread, or close to a sugar cookie sized slab. I started a big portion of them in the Gyroc Model B and it clearly was overloaded ad couldn't quite shake the load (or had a dusty belt that was slipping) so it was pushed aside and the load transferred to the smaller bowl of the mini-sonic and it chugged away perfectly (although the more cramped bowl did tend to allow my abusive load of slabs to lock up to a certain degree. The Raytech did just fine although again the large load and large sized pieces did tend to reduce the action somewhat - all that said I produced reasonablely good polish on a bunch of rhyolite and agate/pet wood in a 5 day period. Can't do that in a rotary. Note: I often pregrind some of my pieces before the vibe and slabs are smoother than your broken rough that normally goes into the rotaries. I'd say all three of the my vibes are worth buying and I acknowledge that all three are among the least expensive of vibes so you'll probably do OK no matter what you buy (with some reservations as to anything that Harbor Freight sell in a vibe). Vibes don't change shapes of rocks except when you have something somewhat soft in with a bunch of stuff that is more than somewhat hard. Those are my thoughts. Tom
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,547
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Post by tkvancil on Feb 2, 2016 11:53:34 GMT -5
As to a fist sized rock I can't be sure ... I know one that size would fit into the UV18 ... The instructions say to only put in a few larger 2 to 3 inch pieces.
I would think it might be worth a try but guessing only one that size at any time. I have put in more 2 to 3 inch sized pieces than the instructions say one should with no problem.
First time I did it was a lesson. Couldn't see the biggest rocks coming to the surface. Had heard that if too big the rock could sit on the bottom and wear through the bowl. So in with a finger (which feels pretty cool BTW) and found the biggies. They were moving but not topping out.
An experienced user told me that he had done 3 or 4 goose egg sized rocks in an 18. Gotta have a lot of smalls though.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Feb 2, 2016 12:11:37 GMT -5
As far as size goes for the Lot-O, it is supposed to handle anything that you can fit through the hole. The hole is 2.25 inches in diameter.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,562
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Post by jamesp on Feb 2, 2016 12:49:15 GMT -5
Ok great, that all makes since. I guess one of the main reasons I was thinking about getting one of the larger vibes is so I can tumble fist size pet wood and the occasional monster agate. Would the UV10 tumble a baseball sized rock or two? I have a Viking with a 14 pound hopper. It will polish baseballs if yo do 8 pounds quartz pea gravel media and 6 pounds of baseball sized agates and woods. Vikings come up used on Craig's List from time to time. They cost a lot new. Bigger rocks come at a cost- capacity wise and logistics standpoint. rotary or vibe.
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