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Post by puppie96 on Oct 17, 2004 1:57:00 GMT -5
I had a disaster last night.
Actually, I had a succession of disasters starting from yesterday morning, not rock related for the most part, but let's just start around midnight or so when the rock disaster happened.
I've got this really cramped workshop space by the furnace in the basement and have 4 Lortones & one Raytech running on the cement floor. The new 12-lb Lortone is in the back under the steps, hardest to get to, with the others between it and the world. Anyhoo, I decided I wanted to take a look at the stuff in the 12 lb loaded barrel, which these barrels while loaded are very very heavy (more than 12lb for sure!) Anyhoo what happens is this thing slips out of my hands and lands head down, the top flies off and mud and rocks go everyplace, including swamping the bottom of the other tumbler bases as well as the power strip. Mud ran under the furnace and under the wall (just a partition) heading toward the floor drain. Not only could I not even think of how to start cleaning this up, all 3 of the other Lortones got stuck. All of them. I went to work and got alcohol and paint thinner and q-tips and cotton balls and started cleaning everything in sight, taking the belts off, reoiling, tightening belts, nothing worked, these would not run under load, the multi-barrels would barely turn one barrel. At 5:07 AM I gave up because my knees, butt, thighs, back, and hands hurt too much from squatting on the floor and trying to do all this.
Today I looked it over again, decided that since the belts were still slipping I must need to do something more, so I took them all off and washed them with soap and water again and then roughed them up a bit with an abrasive dish cleaning pad, cleaned the grooves in the pulleys again, put them back. This seems to have done the trick, everything is up and running again, but I have no idea how I will ever be able to clean up the mud residue all over the floor.
Thank you for listening.
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birdseed
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since September 2004
Posts: 167
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Post by birdseed on Oct 17, 2004 2:18:47 GMT -5
Rock tumblers got to be T_O_U_G_H!!!--Don't let the little things bother you...Get in there and clean it up! NOW!! Then get me a cup of coffee!!!
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Post by rockyraccoon on Oct 17, 2004 5:08:41 GMT -5
puppie i was feeling so sympathetic (still am for that matter) then read birdseed's post and busted out laughing. get out of those pot seeds bird strictly birdseed for you . wonder would it be easier to get up once it's dry. then use a straight hoe and sweep up the powder. then maybe a shop vac. kim
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HarryB41
has rocks in the head
Member since September 2004
Posts: 605
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Post by HarryB41 on Oct 17, 2004 7:41:09 GMT -5
Nearly the same thing happened to me. What I did was.. I just took my tumblers outside and sprayed them with my garden hose. Be sure to let them DRY COMPLETELY, and OIL them, before plugging them back in. Worked perfect and now I am very careful when I pick up my tumblers. Harry
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llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on Oct 17, 2004 8:20:41 GMT -5
Oh puppies, that is a disaster! And a mess! Glad you got your tumblers up and running again. As far as the mess goes, I think Kim has the right idea. Let it dry then just scrape it up with a shovel, hoe or whatever and suck the rest up with a shop vac. I dropped a barrel on the carpet and was able to clean it up without it even leaving a stain, so I'm sure your mess with come up with no problem - except an aching back! llana
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Post by Cher on Oct 17, 2004 11:13:07 GMT -5
OMG Puppie I am so sorry. What a horrible thing to happen, sure glad you got your tumblers running again.
Cher
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shorty
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2003
Posts: 392
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Post by shorty on Oct 17, 2004 11:29:22 GMT -5
hi all ....that happend to me to... and i learnt a lesson dont mess withit if not broke... it seems every time i try to do something with my tumblers i just mess eyery thang up . let it dry and it will cum up easy . i now it happend to me sorry shorty
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Post by stoner on Oct 17, 2004 14:25:38 GMT -5
Hey Puppie. Sorry to hear of your diaster. Just for future reference, paint thinner is used to thin oil based coatings, and is in itself oily. Not good to clean belts and pulleys. It's ok for the bearings cuz you want them oiled anyway. Alcohol is the safest to use on belts and pulleys. Glad to hear you're up and running again.
Ed
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Skipper
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2003
Posts: 258
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Post by Skipper on Oct 17, 2004 15:24:47 GMT -5
I have a brand new QT66. My daughter (1.5 yrs) helps me moves rocks in and out of tumblers. However, she got hold of the washer (not the nut) and dropped it down a water pipe. I can't get it out. Argh! Good thing she's cute...can't stay mad.
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WilliamC
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2003
Posts: 416
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Post by WilliamC on Oct 17, 2004 15:25:36 GMT -5
Greetings All,
Sounds like a long night cleaning up a big mess, but you seemed to have perservered and overcome. If I read your message right you spent near on 5 hours cleaning up. That takes a different kind of grit than what goes into the barrels, to keep at an unpleasant job when you're tired and hurting. Glad to hear that you got the tumblers working again. As for the mud on the floor, well lots and lots of wet paper towels will get it up.
Keep on keeping on.
WilliamC
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Post by krazydiamond on Oct 17, 2004 16:38:25 GMT -5
oh, wow, so glad to hear you got everything back to working, i think i would have sat right there and cried....
shop vac sounds like the way to go....
KD
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Post by puppie96 on Oct 18, 2004 2:39:26 GMT -5
Thank you everybody for your support, now where else would you ever go to find anybody who would have sympathy?
About that paint thinner, I don't know about you guys, but my lortone rods seem to build up a black tarry substance over time, and it's hard to get off even with alcohol. The paint thinner or acetone does the job. I only use alcohol on the rest.
All this just cause I peek too much, and oh, by the way,
GO CARDINALS!
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Post by Cher on Oct 18, 2004 6:51:28 GMT -5
Puppie, I've noticed that on the rods on my Lortone too. Glad you mentioned that, I was wondering if it was a normal thing.
Am shutting the tumblers down today for a few days while I go visit my grandbabys. I'd just leave 'em on, doubt there'd be any problem but guess it's better to be safe than sorry.
Cher
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Post by connrock on Oct 18, 2004 18:26:11 GMT -5
TEE HEE HEE!! I think you're puttin the alcohol in the wrong place!!LOL Or maybe the "bird" can send ya some of that "special" seed!! Just kiddin pup's,,,,, Been there,,,,,,,,Done that!! The "few" times I resurfaced my floors with that wonderful gray ooze we all strive for I let it dry and scraped it up with a thin piece of sheet metal and then shop vacuumed it up.I tried the sweepin thing but the cloud didn't settle for a few days!! The rock shop looked kinda like the area around Mt Saint Helens for quite a while!! Oh yea,,,,,, One more tip from an experienced old hand,,,, Make sure the shop vac hose is shoved into the suck hole!! Tee Hee Hee Tom
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llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on Oct 18, 2004 18:57:54 GMT -5
Make sure the shop vac hose is shoved into the suck hole!!
OMG, I am about to choke from laughing so hard! Can't stop laughing long enough to type more ;D
llana
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Post by krazydiamond on Oct 18, 2004 19:08:10 GMT -5
you mean they have BLOW holes?
things you never wanted to know about shop vacs,,,,
KD
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llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on Oct 18, 2004 19:17:55 GMT -5
Yep, or at least the older ones do. All older vacs had a blow hole. I attached the cap of my broken hair dryer to the vac blow hole and dry my hair. Back in the dark ages before they had hand held hair dryers.
llana
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Post by krazydiamond on Oct 18, 2004 19:20:25 GMT -5
coulda patented that one, llana....so tell me about your 10" saw..
KD
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Post by puppie96 on Oct 18, 2004 23:13:24 GMT -5
I scraped up some amount of the mud while still damp. Mopped at it with rags and paper towels. A bunch of it went under the furnace. Can't get it from there. Don't have a shop vac. Thought it might clog/destroy regular vac. Don't want to sweep, can't be good to breathe this stuff.
Alcohol was imbibed as well as used for mess clean up purposes. Both were somewhat helpful.
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