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I came home to my Tiger's Eye not moving at all and just sitting in place vibrating. I've done all I think I can do to make sure it's not anything in my process. Not to much or to little water. A good mixture of filler to rocks. etc. So, inspired by this thread, I adjusted my dowel. Here are the results
1. This is the movement with the factory dowel placement. There are just rocks, ceramics, and enough water to coat everything. No grit added yet.
I'm actually slightly concerned I over did it a bit and it's going to fast. It's always sped up though after adding the Borax and grit, but then slows down a ton 12 - 24 hours later once a good slurry starts to develop. So I'll see what it's doing tomorrow when I get home from work I guess.
Here's where I moved the dowel to. You can see the marker line where it was from the factory. I didn't realize until after that the angle is a little wonky, but basically the edge of the dowel lines up with the edge of the vertical part of the frame. The angle makes it look slightly further back than it actually is.
Last Edit: Jul 6, 2022 11:46:36 GMT -5 by waterboysh
I checked it this morning as I left for work and added a little water. There was a good slurry already and it had slowed down quite a bit. I'll take another short video when I get home... that'll show how the rocks are moving after about 24 hours. But I think this is going to work a lot better. If you read through the thread I linked from a couple of years ago, a common theme was 1) Sluggish movement with just rocks/ceramic, 2) Movement picks up after adding grit, but 3) After about 24 hours the slurry becomes to thick and no matter how much water is added or removed the movement is very slow and/or stalls completely.
That's exactly what I have been experiencing as well. I was not expecting moving the dowel to make such a drastic difference though. But, after looking at Rob's video here, I think his is going about the same speed.
Wow, you have that thing turning over fast. Mine, before I moved the dowel, was moving much slower that yours in the first video. It makes me wonder if they changed the motor or reduced the weights to save the motor. After moving the dowel, the front edge of the dowel is even with the frame, mine is turning over a bit faster that yours in the first video.
I'd be interested in seeing the results you get at hyper-speed tumbling.
After moving the dowel, the front edge of the dowel is even with the frame.
That's where I moved mine to as well. The angle of the picture makes it look further back than it actually is. I'll update later tonight how the movement is after 24 hours. But, we're going camping this weekend. So tomorrow morning I'll be washing it out and just letting it sit in a bowl of water until we get back Sunday before starting polish. But, hopefully early next week I'll have a bunch of super shiny Tiger's Eye to share.
I'm glad you were able to make use of the thread you noted in your OP. Truth be told, for a variety of reasons, I've not run a completed batch (all stages after coarse) since moving the dowel on my machine. I'll be paying attention to your end results! Thanks for sharing.
In my opinion, only having my Lot-o for a couple of months now, this seems like the perfect rate of rotation. It starts off pretty fast when you first add the grit, but it slows down once a slurry is formed, but it's still strong enough to move the rocks. Before I moved the dowel, it would basically just stop moving at this point.
Last Edit: Mar 10, 2022 16:59:11 GMT -5 by waterboysh
Post by fivedirections on Mar 7, 2022 23:41:16 GMT -5
I adjusted my Twin after reading this thread and have been very pleased.
My observations where that action increases as you move the dowel closer to center up until the point you pass the edge of the machine. After passing the metal frame action would again decrease.
Also the amount of action in each barrel can be adjusted and tuned. Very much like the bridge on an arch top instrument.
Mine was initially 1/8 inch back which may be a standardized setting... everyone's I have seen in the pictures here seemed to start like that, and after I got it to my liking is was actually quite close to that setting. Mine needed just a touch to keep things rolling steady. Now it does not fool me into thinking it needs more water than it does so I look forward to seeing the new work that it does.
Post by waterboysh on Mar 10, 2022 17:02:00 GMT -5
Another update: This is the first time I've run anything through SiC 120/220 after moving the dowel. Before, it would seriously clog up after about 18 hours and I was lucky to get 24. After 24 hours, the rocks would just stop rotating. But now, they stayed moving throughout. This is what it looked like after 46 hours.
Last Edit: Mar 10, 2022 17:02:32 GMT -5 by waterboysh
Hello, 1st post. I appreciate all the information on this site. I got a lot-o tumbler for Christmas and have struggled with getting a vigorous tumble. Moved my dowel today and things are moving nicely. Thanks again.
i'm not even sure it needs re-gluing ... took mine apart and husband drew a few lines, drilled 3 sets of holes and i can drop little "pin" type nails in. however i still have to loosen the nuts to adjust it - just taking the little nails out doesn't help. (i too have recently moved mine and the action is much better. can actually get 48 hours without a total bog down now ... running my second batch through at the new setting, should be finished tomorrow - can't wait to see. first results were pretty good but think i needed a touch more media in my media:rock ratio.) my favorite test is to count off the seconds between some recognizable rock disappearing down the back and then reappearing after a trip around in the front. usually about 4 seconds for me, at start-up. varies though but as long as it's not forming some clump of smalls at the bottom and can kinda go the whole 2 days or so, i'm happy.
Last Edit: Jan 2, 2023 19:04:50 GMT -5 by ataraktos
i'm not even sure it needs re-gluing ... took mine apart and husband drew a few lines, drilled 3 sets of holes and i can drop little "pin" type nails in. however i still have to loosen the nuts to adjust it - just taking the little nails out doesn't help. (i too have recently moved mine and the action is much better. can actually get 48 hours without a total bog down now ... running my second batch through at the new setting, should be finished tomorrow - can't wait to see. first results were pretty good but think i needed a touch more media in my media:rock ratio.) my favorite test is to count off the seconds between some recognizable rock disappearing down the back and then reappearing after a trip around in the front. usually about 4 seconds for me, at start-up. varies though but as long as it's not forming some clump of smalls at the bottom and can kinda go the whole 2 days or so, i'm happy.
I actually didn't have a need to move it again since reducing the amount of grit in a fresh barrel really made all the difference - i was using too much 120/220 and it was bogging it down.. I like the test you mentioned of timing how quickly the same rock comes around - am curious to see what mine does - thanks!
i'm not even sure it needs re-gluing ... took mine apart and husband drew a few lines, drilled 3 sets of holes and i can drop little "pin" type nails in. however i still have to loosen the nuts to adjust it - just taking the little nails out doesn't help. (i too have recently moved mine and the action is much better. can actually get 48 hours without a total bog down now ... running my second batch through at the new setting, should be finished tomorrow - can't wait to see. first results were pretty good but think i needed a touch more media in my media:rock ratio.) my favorite test is to count off the seconds between some recognizable rock disappearing down the back and then reappearing after a trip around in the front. usually about 4 seconds for me, at start-up. varies though but as long as it's not forming some clump of smalls at the bottom and can kinda go the whole 2 days or so, i'm happy.
I actually didn't have a need to move it again since reducing the amount of grit in a fresh barrel really made all the difference - i was using too much 120/220 and it was bogging it down.. I like the test you mentioned of timing how quickly the same rock comes around - am curious to see what mine does - thanks!
I often wonder, too, how much the barrels differ! i swear my polish barrel is stiffer or somehow isn't as active as my other one. (i mean, i guess the other one is wearing more with abrasive grit cycles vs polish) and how much you shove the barrel down makes a difference. my polish, right now, nearly 3/4 finished, with my very rough counting estimate is rolling rocks at about 7 seconds. (gotta consider a spray or two before bed.) but still i think counting gives me an estimate of how things are going, along with eyeballing it. (it reminds me a bit of baking bread, that "more flour, as needed" part! =)
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Welcome to the Rock Tumbling Hobby Forum where we share a love of rocks and a sense of community as enduring as the stones we polish.
The RTH Forum of www.RockTumbling.com is an Amazon Associate site and we earn money from
qualifying purchases you make after clicking on our links such as this
Rock Tumbling Supplies on Amazon
link for instance, or any of our various product ads and banners. By clicking our links every time you begin your Amazon shopping
experience, you are generating a bit of revenue for the forum which helps us cover our expenses. Thank you for your support!