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Has anyone done this before? I've been fiddling around with seeing what else would work as a barrel in a Lot-O machine and I think I may be on to something.
At over $80 a pop I think it's not an unreasonable quest to find an alternative. I would dearly love to have four or more devoted barrels on hand but my 'hobby' isn't producing any income to pay for itself at the moment so I can't really spend that much money on it.
The other day I was in the middle of a 500ao load which was already into a thick slurry and I wanted to take out a specific stone and couldn't find it so I emptied the rubber barrel into a bowl. When I went to return the slurried media and rocks to the bowl I made a funnel by cutting the top off a plastic jug but it didn't work because the sludge was too thick. Then I noticed that when I set the makeshift funnel in contact with the top of the rubber barrel while in motion, it perfectly funneled all the media out of the small hole at the bottom.
This got me thinking about how well the vibration of the machine could be used to facilitate motion in such a way and it grew into wondering about alternative barrels. For years we've been buying protein powder in these big plastic jugs with the wide lid - I've thrown a lot of them in the recycle over the years but I still have a handful on hand. Turns out this size of jug fits perfectly snuggly into the Lot-O frame.
This is super preliminary but it's actually working and the wide mouth opening is a DREAM!
It's a bit noisier than the rubber barrel but not too bad. When I first tried it, I emptied the contents of a completely full Lot-O rubber barrel into the plastic jug and it only filled it about a third full and the noise from the plastic jug was really bad. Once I poured a lot of new media and some rocks into it and brought the contents up to about half full the noise calmed down a lot.
With the regular barrel my Lot-O was generating about 60 decibels from 10 ft away and with the plastic jug filled over half full the noise went up to around 67 decibels at 10 ft.
The sweet spot of tumbling action seems to be a little over half full - the lower the content the faster they turn. I filled it almost to the top of the jug and the noise dropped a lot but the motion of the media also slowed down quite a lot - too much.
I'm going to try something - posting a phone video directly to the internet. Let me know if this works or causes any issues - I can always move it to YT if necessary.
BTW, the blue tape around the barrel was just an attempt to see if I could reduce the noise further - I was going to use black gorilla duct tape but I can't find my roll. Turns out it had zero effect on the loudness anyway.
So, I've been running this for 48 hours straight and it is working ... it's really working! haha I'm surprised that nobody else seems as excited about it as I'm feeling. To me this is a literal game changer.
The rocks in this test had already spent several months in a rotary tumbler and I can't remember what else so I need to start a new load to do a proper test. It's going to take a little while to pull it together but I'm going to try to set up at least five of these jugs with 120/200 SiC, 500, 1000, AO polish, and one probably with straight boron, and see if I can create a perfectly tumbled load of rocks.
So, I've been running this for 48 hours straight and it is working ... it's really working! haha I'm surprised that nobody else seems as excited about it as I'm feeling. To me this is a literal game changer.
The rocks in this test had already spent several months in a rotary tumbler and I can't remember what else so I need to start a new load to do a proper test. It's going to take a little while to pull it together but I'm going to try to set up at least five of these jugs with 120/200 SiC, 500, 1000, AO polish, and one probably with straight boron, and see if I can create a perfectly tumbled load of rocks.
I think its awesome Tommy. Will keep this in mind in case I can find a used vib that has no barrel because I cant afford a new one. You said protein powder bottle. Any one in particular? Keep me updated please.
You said protein powder bottle. Any one in particular? Keep me updated please.
I've been buying the MRM on Amazon for a few years but I think it's kind of a common jug size - maybe I'll poke my head in a GNC store (are they still around?) and see if it seems like they all buy from the same plastic jug supplier.
Post by hummingbirdstones on Apr 7, 2022 21:17:54 GMT -5
Very cool, Tommy! If it works like it looks it will, you will have saved yourself a lot of $$.
Robin
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
Very cool, Tommy! If it works like it looks it will, you will have saved yourself a lot of $$.
Thanks Robin! I am super happy about that part but it's also way more than that. If it pans out it literally triples the capacity of a stock Lot-O barrel and provides an open top alternative to that impossibly small top opening that is so difficult to get loads out of - and from which the flimsy little plastic lid likes to fly off of.
btw, did I mention that I don't know how to have a normal 'hobby' without turning it into an obsession? Make a few cabs he says, 2000+ sales and total physical and emotional burnout later...
Did the heavier load weigh down your springs or do they always ride so low to the base?
I like the idea of a bigger opening as I’ve been gravitating towards bigger and bigger tumbles. I like finishing things up in the vibe much more than the rotary, so that would open up more options with the Lot-O.
Keep us updated on how things go. I’m curious to hear how well those plastic containers hold up over time. You could probably use Flex-Seal to reinforce it if it doesn’t hole up on its own.
Did the heavier load weigh down your springs or do they always ride so low to the base?
Good question Brian - my springs have always been low like that, I haven't detected any difference. Would be interesting to compare it against a new Lot-O - maybe mine was out of adjustment from the start? I will start paying closer attention to that.
I like the idea of a bigger opening as I’ve been gravitating towards bigger and bigger tumbles. I like finishing things up in the vibe much more than the rotary, so that would open up more options with the Lot-O. Keep us updated on how things go. I’m curious to hear how well those plastic containers hold up over time. You could probably use Flex-Seal to reinforce it if it doesn’t hole up on its own.
Seriously right. I was also thinking about tumbling a single larger rock and seeing how it went. I think the motion of the media might push it up and out of the media and not allow it to dive under again but it will be interesting experimenting with it. Maybe a jug with the same base diameter but not as tall?
Post by hummingbirdstones on Apr 8, 2022 9:50:23 GMT -5
The videos are working great. No problem on the end-user side.
Robin
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
As a side note, are these videos working OK for everyone? Sure is easier than making a youtube video lol.
The video works fine, but 171 MB's
Interesting idea for a cheap alternative bowl. I wonder how long the plastic will last.
Thanks for the feedback on the videos. Is it requiring you to download the file in order to play? I was hoping it would just serve it to you without having to download it.
Yeah I'm wondering about the longevity of the barrel as well. I've been thinking a lot about Brian's flex-seal idea - I think I'm going to try it and also see about building a bit of a curvature to the inside bottom corners just to make sure the updraft is happening all the way from the bottom. I seem to be seeing the same rocks diving under then coming back up over and over in too short of a time to have traveled to the bottom. I suspect the contents of the bottom half of the barrel are not making it to the surface.
Interesting idea for a cheap alternative bowl. I wonder how long the plastic will last.
Thanks for the feedback on the videos. Is it requiring you to download the file in order to play? I was hoping it would just serve it to you without having to download it.
Yeah I'm wondering about the longevity of the barrel as well. I've been thinking a lot about Brian's flex-seal idea - I think I'm going to try it and also see about building a bit of a curvature to the inside bottom corners just to make sure the updraft is happening all the way from the bottom. I seem to be seeing the same rocks diving under then coming back up over and over in too short of a time to have traveled to the bottom. I suspect the contents of the bottom half of the barrel are not making it to the surface.
You were one step ahead of me on the contouring with the flex-seal. You should be able do some decent tweaking of motion by shaping the innards of the barrel.
I tried to find some good reference point for my comment about the height of your springs, and what I realized is that most don’t have that much clearance front to back. Yours seems to have an inflection point or dip near the front of the machine, which made me worry that you weren’t getting much “spring” action. The pencil restores that curvature to the spring.
Tommy The video displayed and played in my Waterfox browser. I just downloaded it to check out the file properties out of curiosity.
A few months ago, somebody was testing a video upload with cloudinary and I tried to resize it using cloudinary's software. As a result, my bandwith shot through the ceiling.
I was also thinking that you might get better action if you could use some kind of filler to create a more bowl shaped bottom for the container.
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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!