kyoti
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2020
Posts: 542
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Post by kyoti on Nov 25, 2020 12:22:41 GMT -5
Well I managed to find a Lortone Qt66 in stock in Minnesota. Should be here sometime next week. Woot! 😃😃 Now I can up my rock game. I have a question about the size of rocks I can tumble in the barrels. I have some larger agates and things I'd like try tumbling. ( it's contagious isn't it?) In the picture below I have a variety of sizes. Could you all tell me what is safe to tumble? Will a larger rock pulverize the smaller agates or if I fill the barrell to 80% will they survive? I don' t want to ruin good rocks. Should I just do a few big rocks and fill the rest with gravel?
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Post by Mel on Nov 26, 2020 20:36:06 GMT -5
As long as they're all similar hardness, and not drastically different (like say a single marble sized stone with a barrel full of egg sized stones), you will likely be OK. When in doubt, just use ceramic media. I've tumbled some fairly large agate heels (left overs from slabbed agate) with various random sized rocks in my QT66 barrels and no issues at all.
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Post by nowyo on Nov 27, 2020 16:49:20 GMT -5
All of those in the picture will fit fine.
Russ
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Post by rmf on Nov 27, 2020 20:35:33 GMT -5
kyoti said, "Could you all tell me what is safe to tumble? Will a larger rock pulverize the smaller agates or if I fill the barrell to 80% will they survive? I don' t want to ruin good rocks. Should I just do a few big rocks and fill the rest with gravel? " Q1 If you are just starting out use the pinkish rock second from the left to test your other rocks. It looks like quartzite. It is hardness of 7. If it scratches rocks they are too soft. Start with a batch of agate or jaspers since they are easier to get a good polish on just starting out. Yes fill your barrel about 80% full including sizes down to 1/4". Small stuff acts as cushioning. Not in a 6# drum you need more cushioning for things like quartz and quartzite to get a good polish. the good news is that if you out grow the 6# drums the Qt66 will also use the 12# drum. The Qt66 and the QT12 are the same base with different drums.
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kyoti
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2020
Posts: 542
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Post by kyoti on Nov 27, 2020 20:57:35 GMT -5
Thanks rmf. This is my 2nd rotary tumbler. The picture was just a pile of rocks I rustled up for size reference. I wasn't sure if I put too many of the larger rocks in the barrel if they would crush anything else with them. I've heard people say the tumbling action of the larger barrels is rougher than my little 3-pounder. Thanks for the warning on the quartz. I'll run those and the sugar agates in my 3a. Good to know I can get a bigger barrel for the same tumbler. That's handy!
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Nov 28, 2020 12:02:49 GMT -5
The height of the barrel, or width, if you will is the limiting factor (of course). I've done bigger stones in a 6 lb barrel before. I'd definitely say to pull the lid gasket off and put a few layers of duct tape over the bolt head before giving it a go. The shape of mine was odd and mostly tumbled end over end and each week I'd give it a 90° turn. You do have to be careful of that narrow dimension since if it can jam up, it will, and can grind a hole in the lid gasket pretty quickly.
Bigger stones tend to help smaller ones grind faster, but once you get to really big stones at the polish stage they can really bruise the smaller ones. To this end when I have a big rock going, I use it to grind my smaller stones, pulling out ones for stage 2 each week. This stage 2 pile is further divided into 'favorite' and 'less favorite' material. The less favorite stuff can go back in with the big rock when it is ready for stage 2, and the favorite material is finished off separately without the bigger stones to avoid bruising at the polish step.
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kyoti
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2020
Posts: 542
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Post by kyoti on Nov 29, 2020 12:30:22 GMT -5
Oh I wish I had seen your reply soone. Benathema. I got the tumbler in last night and set it up this morning. I'll stop the cyle this afternoon and tape up the screw head. I thought it looked unusually high under the gasket. There were a number of things I had to do to the tumbler when I received it. The lid covers and washers were exceptionally sharp and had not been deburred. I had to spend about an hour filing down both lids and washers. I also had to tighten the screws on the chassis and the belt cover. The work begins. Materials. The Lakers are filler gravel. Got a big bag of 60/90 too. Muhaha... Heres the first batch. The manual said to use 10 Tbs of grit which seemed excessive to me. I thought the general rule was 1 Tbs per pound of rock? I used 6 Tbs of grit and 1.5 of used slurry. Did I get it wrong? I also noticed the barrel is louder than my little 3a. It makes a sound like giant popcon popping. I can actually hear it inside my house so I guess thats louder than my vibe even.
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on Nov 29, 2020 13:35:43 GMT -5
I never quite understood the recipes for grit amount in the manuals. It's kind of whatever recipe you find that works best for you. I tend to go 1 tbsp per however many pounds the barrel says it is... Keeps things simple with a variety of barrel sizes. 3# gets 3, 6# gets 6, 12# gets 12. How much weight of actual rock that goes in the barrel can vary depending on density and packing efficiency, so I don't bother with matching the weight of the actual rock with the amount of grit. The few times I've sat my 12# barrels on the scales, they've come in at over 20#s.
The bigger barrels can be a bit noisier since the material has further to fall. The forces are a bit higher. If you can keep airflow going to keep the motor temp down, you can build a cover of sorts to dampen the noise.
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kyoti
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2020
Posts: 542
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Post by kyoti on Nov 29, 2020 20:03:05 GMT -5
Ah man. The tumbler motor has started making a scraping noise. That isn't normal is it? Normally when motors make a sound like that they have a bad stator.
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Post by Mel on Dec 3, 2020 15:26:25 GMT -5
Motor itself? Or just when it's got the cover on?
If it's the latter, pop the cover off the motor space. Sometimes I find the fan will end up scraping the top and it sounds awful (I just leave mine off once that happens). Hopefully that's all it is!
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Post by miket on Dec 3, 2020 15:32:15 GMT -5
How's the tumbler, kyoti? I had to send one of mine in to Lortone (can't remember if it was the 33b or QT66) because when I adjusted the motor to make the belt tighter one of the bolts snapped inside of the acorn nut. They sent me a brand new motor, even paid for the postage. Excellent customer service...
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EricD
Cave Dweller
High in the Mountains
Member since November 2019
Posts: 1,142
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Post by EricD on Dec 3, 2020 18:15:47 GMT -5
How's the tumbler, kyoti ? I had to send one of mine in to Lortone (can't remember if it was the 33b or QT66) because when I adjusted the motor to make the belt tighter one of the bolts snapped inside of the acorn nut. They sent me a brand new motor, even paid for the postage. Excellent customer service... This recently happened to RocksInNJ, maybe they will send him a new one as well
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Post by miket on Dec 3, 2020 19:25:35 GMT -5
How's the tumbler, kyoti ? I had to send one of mine in to Lortone (can't remember if it was the 33b or QT66) because when I adjusted the motor to make the belt tighter one of the bolts snapped inside of the acorn nut. They sent me a brand new motor, even paid for the postage. Excellent customer service... This recently happened to RocksInNJ , maybe they will send him a new one as well I didn't see that. Hopefully, I didn't even tighten it much and it just snapped.
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EricD
Cave Dweller
High in the Mountains
Member since November 2019
Posts: 1,142
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Post by EricD on Dec 3, 2020 19:29:43 GMT -5
This recently happened to RocksInNJ , maybe they will send him a new one as well I didn't see that. Hopefully, I didn't even tighten it much and it just snapped. That is exactly to the word what he said. I think it was over-torqued at the factory, perhaps on a friday
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Post by RocksInNJ on Dec 3, 2020 20:00:03 GMT -5
How's the tumbler, kyoti ? I had to send one of mine in to Lortone (can't remember if it was the 33b or QT66) because when I adjusted the motor to make the belt tighter one of the bolts snapped inside of the acorn nut. They sent me a brand new motor, even paid for the postage. Excellent customer service... SOB! Yup same damn thing happened to me just the other day. First time I ever messed with it and had it barely snug when the damn bolt snapped off into the capped nut. I was thinking about calling them to see if they’ll do anything for me. I’ll definitely have to give them a call tomorrow now. Hopefully they’ll do the same for me. Dis they ask for warranty info or proof of purchase? miket
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Post by miket on Dec 3, 2020 22:42:35 GMT -5
How's the tumbler, kyoti ? I had to send one of mine in to Lortone (can't remember if it was the 33b or QT66) because when I adjusted the motor to make the belt tighter one of the bolts snapped inside of the acorn nut. They sent me a brand new motor, even paid for the postage. Excellent customer service... SOB! Yup same damn thing happened to me just the other day. First time I ever messed with it and had it barely snug when the damn bolt snapped off into the capped nut. I was thinking about calling them to see if they’ll do anything for me. I’ll definitely have to give them a call tomorrow now. Hopefully they’ll do the same for me. Dis they ask for warranty info or proof of purchase? miket If I remember right I called and they said to send it in. I had no warranty or proof of purchase, I said that it was a gift and came from the Rock Shed. Good luck! 😀
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kyoti
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2020
Posts: 542
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Post by kyoti on Dec 4, 2020 13:28:30 GMT -5
SOB! Yup same damn thing happened to me just the other day. First time I ever messed with it and had it barely snug when the damn bolt snapped off into the capped nut. I was thinking about calling them to see if they’ll do anything for me. I’ll definitely have to give them a call tomorrow now. Hopefully they’ll do the same for me. Dis they ask for warranty info or proof of purchase? miket If I remember right I called and they said to send it in. I had no warranty or proof of purchase, I said that it was a gift and came from the Rock Shed. Good luck! 😀 Woo sorry for the super late reply! I spoke with Lortone on Monday and they had me try to adjust the motor to tighten the belt. That actually stopped the motor completely but when we adjusted it back looser, the motor made very little noise anymore. We agreed I'd try to do a test run on the weekend and then tag up again with them this coming Monday. The guy I spoke with was really nice and professional. Very good customer service! Now that I've seen how the belt and motor adjustment works first hand and what to look for, I can tinker with it tomorrow. Hopefully the tension adjustment is all it needs. I'll be very careful about not over tightening the bolts. Thanks for the warning on that guys.
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kyoti
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2020
Posts: 542
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Post by kyoti on Dec 8, 2020 16:49:46 GMT -5
I wanted to update the post to let everyone know that Lortone is sending me a replacement motor. I sent them a recording of the tumbler when it was warmed up and followed some troubleshooting tips to try to narrow down the problem. I'm super pleased with their customer service. They were very responsive and stood behind their product. They also told me it should be ok to run "Mr. Noisy" in the garage until the new motor arrives. Awesome!
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Post by miket on Dec 8, 2020 16:56:58 GMT -5
I wanted to update the post to let everyone know that Lortone is sending me a replacement motor. I sent them a recording of the tumbler when it was warmed up and followed some troubleshooting tips to try to narrow down the problem. I'm super pleased with their customer service. They were very responsive and stood behind their product. They also told me it should be ok to run "Mr. Noisy" in the garage until the new motor arrives. Awesome! Awesome, glad to hear it!
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Post by RocksInNJ on Dec 9, 2020 13:24:38 GMT -5
If I remember right I called and they said to send it in. I had no warranty or proof of purchase, I said that it was a gift and came from the Rock Shed. Good luck! 😀 Woo sorry for the super late reply! I spoke with Lortone on Monday and they had me try to adjust the motor to tighten the belt. That actually stopped the motor completely but when we adjusted it back looser, the motor made very little noise anymore. We agreed I'd try to do a test run on the weekend and then tag up again with them this coming Monday. The guy I spoke with was really nice and professional. Very good customer service! Now that I've seen how the belt and motor adjustment works first hand and what to look for, I can tinker with it tomorrow. Hopefully the tension adjustment is all it needs. I'll be very careful about not over tightening the bolts. Thanks for the warning on that guys. Be careful when you adjust the belt. You don’t want it real tight. There should be a little play in it.
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