Help with Lot-O Tumbler

Hi and welcome to the forum. I'm no tumbling expert by far and I'm sure others will chime in with more but it might be helpful to describe your setup - ie: how full is the barrel and are you using ceramic media or something else? If so what is the approx ratio of rocks to media etc. Also how much water are you starting with?

Hi Tommy, thank you for your reply! And thank you for the welcome! I fill the barrel up until there is about 1 inch from the top to where the rocks and media are. I use mixed ceramic media (large and small pieces) that has been rounded around the edges in my rotary tumbler. I just poured out the barrel and it looks like I am using about 60% media and 40% rock. I fill the barrel with the rocks and media, fill it with water and then turn it upside down with my hand covering the top and let the water drain out. Then when I place the barrel in the tumbler and turn it on, I slowly add the grit.

Here are the photos of my tumbler which shows that the metal springs are somewhat crooked. 

You should be able to push that right back into alignment and hopefully your dowel will line up in an optimal position. Assuming your moisture and fill levels are correct, a few more things to check:

-Make sure all of the fasteners are tight- those springs are not out of alignment because they are loose are they?

-Speaking of the springs, while you are checking the fasteners make sure none of the springs are broken. This can be hard to see so really get in there and take a good look.

-Are your fan weights aligned? They should line up with one another as close as possible.

-A LOT has been written about the placement of the dowel, do some research on this if all else fails. Ours was off considerably.

Any one or combination of the above could negatively affect the motion in the barrel considerably. Good luck!

ETA: One more thing- make sure you do not force your barrel into the frame by pushing down on it, just setting it in the frame is fine and results in much better action.

Welcome sir

Hello everyone! It's been a while since there has been a post to this thread, but I just wanted to share my experience with a new single barrel Lot-O.

Background: watched a lot of Michigan Rocks on Youtube (thanks Jugglerguy!). After polishing one batch in a rotary tumbler last year, I found that I was too inpatient to wait that long for each batch. Inspired by Jugglerguy, I got a Lot-O vibratory tumbler and have finished 4 batches so far.

My Lot-O may be one of the finickiest ever made. I followed the instructions from Jugglerguy on Youtube, but never got it to run as smoothly the video. Every single stage would slow or stop by itself within hours, no matter what I did.

My general impression is that every Lot-O is unique from every other Lot-O and you will have to figure out how to use it (at least that is the way it was for me!). Compared to a rotary tumbler, the rotation of rocks inside a Lot-O without intervention will ALWAYS slow down and stop (vibrate in place without turning over) but a rotary will keep turning no matter how long you leave it on. When the rotation of rocks inside a Lot-O stops and the rocks are only vibrating in place, they will chip and crack.

The hope is that this compilation of useful information from this forum will help others in the future.

With gratitude to Jugglerguy, jimaz, brybry, jimmie,. fourfourmag, johnw, grumpybill, connrocks, oldschoolrocker, Rockindad, bbrooker88, and any others I might have missed for the following tips. And of course, to itsbree823 for starting this thread.


It seems to be a given that Lot-O's need to be glued to something heavy and the dimple in the barrel filled.
These are the 11 other different factors that have slowed or stopped my Lot-O (in no particular order):

1. How the Lot-O is mounted and sitting on the floor. Mine is mounted on a concrete block filled with concrete sitting on the concrete garage floor. Adding any kind of vibration dampeners (towels, Styrofoam, cork, door mat, silicon pads, more concrete blocks, etc) will change how well the Lot-O works. If pushing down on the concrete block makes the tumbling better, try putting in or taking out things between the concrete block the Lot-O is sitting on and the floor.
2. Amount of water in the barrel. One or two sprays too much from the water bottle and my Lot-O will slow dramatically or stop altogether. Not enough water will cause it to slow down faster. The amount of water to spray depends on outside weather conditions (hot or cold), the amount of grit, the amount of Borax, and how many hours since the last spray. Make a chart and see how long each combination goes before it slows down. Try seeing how many sprays from your particular water bottle takes to slow down a fresh start in the Lot-O and write it down.
3. Amount of rocks/ceramics in the barrel. Too much in the barrel may slow or stop the rotation of rocks. Use the widest part of the barrel as a measurement to see whether the rocks should be above or below that line. Try plugging in the Lot-O and see if the batch turns without any grit, borax, or added water. Remove enough rocks or ceramic so that it moves.
4. Composition of rocks in the barrel. One of the batches would not move well no matter which barrel I used (I have an extra barrel for Polish). Try a dry run with only rocks and filler (ceramic or plastic) to see if it will run without any grit, borax, or added water. My Lot-O will jokingly run well for a few minutes and then slow down to a stop after 10 minutes on a dry run. If the speed of the tumbling is unchanged after 10 - 15 minutes, it should be okay to add grit, borax, etc. I measure the speed by counting the seconds it takes for a rock to appear and then disappear as seen through the opening of the barrel (not the most scientific, but the best I could come up with).
5. Fan position. Make sure the weights are on the same side of both fans. If the Lot-O stops and the rocks are vibrating in place, or if you accidentally brush one of the fans while it is spinning, check the fan alignment. The Lot-O can vibrate the fans out of alignment if the rocks are not turning over smoothly or if the rocks are vibrating in place or if you remove the barrel with the motor running.
6. Dowel position. Mine needed to be re-aligned and then glued in place. There is an entire thread elsewhere on this.
7. Barrel height. How high up or down the barrel is sitting in the tumbler (it will settle lower as it tumbles). If it was moving well and a few hours later it has slowed or stopped, try lifting the barrel up a bit to see if it helps. Too heavy of a load in the barrel will cause it to settle lower as it vibrates. A new barrel has a smooth oily outside surface compared to a used barrel and will move around more.
8. Amount of borax. Play with the amount of Borax from the online recipes (I generally follow Jugglerguy's recipe). Adding borax sometimes speeds up the rotation of the rocks and sometimes slows it down. If it slows it down, sometimes a few sprays of water will help.
9. Barrel direction. When the Lot-O slows or stops, rotate either clockwise or counterclockwise and see if things start moving again (the height will change as well since you have the lift the barrel to rotate it). If you find a height or direction that works best, you can use blue tape or masking tape on the barrel to mark the position and then put rubber bands on the barrel to create a ledge at that position so that it will settle there for future runs.
10. Barrel orientation. Sometimes, which some batches, my Lot-O works better with the opening of the barrel pointed more towards the one side or the other.
11. Slurry thickness. Adding 0.5 teaspoon of whatever stage grit every 12 - 24 hours has helped me for slows down at any stage.

There may also be a "breaking-in" period for the Lot-O and barrels, but since this is my first Lot-O and first vibratory tumbler, it may just be my inexperience. When things slow down or stop, the fix that works almost all of the time in any stage is starting all over. That means dumping out the entire barrel, washing everything out clean in a colander, refilling the barrel, then putting new grit or polish in. It seems to be equally effective to keep everything in the barrel, filling the barrel with water, flipping it upside down to drain the water (over the colander with my fingers over the opening as Jugglerguy does in the videos), and repeating until the water coming out runs clear. Then putting new grit or polish in.

Hope this helps!

hello everyone,  I've followed this board for years just never posted. yeah I'm the quiet guy you gotta keep your eye on. j/k anyways i felt the need today after reading this thread. i owned a single barrel Lot-o for 15 years that thing was great until the motor went. 15+ year old welds couldn't handle the new motor and every weld broke within 2 months. got tired of fixing her so she got retired and replaced. go big or go home i always say so i upgraded to a twin barrel, Yay me!! i read thru every thing mounted it all perfect and everything...... here's where things get strange. my first 6-8 double batches i basically ran them like i did the single barrel and i was getting 'the wet look' and the depth that i9 was used to and then some. i couldn't have be happier until..... i peekin to check on a batch in its final burnishing stage and there was hardly any movement . now months later i still cant get any action out of those rocks. i have to disagree with 'Newtorocks' (no offence what so ever and i totally appreciate your thoroughness in your post) because in my experience with my single barrel i could NEVER have it tuned all the way up. I know what kinda action you should get outa this thing.  i've tried every reasonable suggestion and even some that weren't. i just cant get any action outa those lazy good for nothing rocks, they just want to sit there laughing at me!! (still wondering why i don't post? wasn't joking, remember "its always the quiet ones ya gotta watch") no, i'm not crazy. just having fun with something that's really pissing me off. my thoughts/question = Motor? why motor, because that's the only thing it could be. nothing is broken. nothing changed. it was working as I expected it should. then just Poof! i'm not an electrician! i'm the Glass Blowing Rock Guy, i have no knowledge if the gibberish i'm trying to speak about but could Lot-o-tumblers have been shipped out with faulty motors? i don't know if electric motors can just 'weaken' instantly I.E. still run just not run good enough. i would greatly appreciate any feedback. and thank you for taking the time to read my gibberish.