Swamp Tumbler Project...aka Ed's "Money Pit Tumbler"
Oct 14, 2015 11:56:22 GMT -5
captbob, 1dave, and 1 more like this
Post by Intheswamp on Oct 14, 2015 11:56:22 GMT -5
Ok, I've been bouncing all over the place in different threads talking about building a tumbler. Well, I should've started a dedicated thread some time back but better late than never, I guess.
The plan/design is completely original. Just because it will probably look *exactly* like one of jamesp/Jim's big tumblers means nothing...just coincidental. Also, the fact that I used parts that Jim sourced for me, means nothing, again just coincidental. And those photos that he posted for me to look at of his tumblers...just coincidental that my tumble will look *very much* like these. Amazing ain't it? Hopefully mine will perform close to how well his does. Thanks, Jim!
And thanks to everyone else that has given me input on this project and rock tumbling in general...this is a great bunch of folks here on the RTH forum!!!
My intention is for the large rotary (barrel) tumbler to do coarse grinding only. Further fine grinding and polishing will be done in a Lot-O. Keeping the Lot-O fed will me the primary goal of the large tumbler.
The biggest barrel (8"x28") that I feel will fit on this tumbler would probably hold 55 pounds of rough if filled up to 75% capacity...I'm not going to have a barrel that large, though...I don't need the hernia. I'm planning on going with 6" diameter barrels. I hope to have one that will hold somewhere around 20 pounds and another smaller one....maybe holding around 12 pounds. Maybe even a very small one that will hold 6 pounds or so. The problem are the fittings...they can get expensive. There' s not a big cost difference in making a long barrel or a short one...both length barrels take the same fittings and the fittings are the expensive part..the extra few inches of pipe is cheap relative to the fittings. Thus I'm really shooting to have only two barrels that will fit together on the tumbler....a large one and a smaller one.
WARNING!!!!....I'm no carpenter!!!! ...but, I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express a few years ago!!!
Thus far, here is the parts list:
1 - Motor (best application, has cradle mount, 1/2" shaft): 1/6-1/18 HP 1725/1140 RPM 115 VAC MARATHON MOTOR @ Surplus Center
1 - Motor (has front mounting prongs, 1/2" shaft): 1/20 HP 115 VAC 1110 RPM 3 SPEED MOTOR
4 - Pillow Bearings: 3/4" PILLOW BLOCK BEARING
4 - Shaft Collars: 0.75 DOUBLE SPLIT SHAFT COLLAR
1 - Large Pulley (roller shaft): 9.75 O.D. 3/4 BORE 1 GROOVE PULLEY
1 - Small Pulley (motor): 2.65 O.D. 1/2 BORE 1 GROOVE PULLEY
1 - Small Pulley (motor): 3.75 O.D. 1/2 BORE 1 GROOVE PULLEY
1 - Small Pulley (motor): 4.75 O.D. 1/2 BORE 1 GROOVE PULLEY
2 - Small Pulley (posi-traction): 3.75 O.D. 3/4 BORE 1 GROOVE PULLEY
2 - Steel (roller) Shafts: Steelworks 3-ft x 0.75-in Hot-RolLED Weldable Steel Metal Round @ Lowes This bar will not fit the pillow bearings!!!!
2 - Steel (roller) Shafts: C1018 Cold Finish 0.75"x48" Round from "MetalsDepot" These are supposed to have a more precise tolerance of measurement.
1 - Recycled heavy-duty electric cord cut off of an old electric pressure washer...will cut to length. It has a built in GFI which might or might not be a problem.
Ok, two motors... the motor with the front mount prongs was all I could find at the time I ordered. Jim posted a link a couple of weeks later to the cradle mount one that SC had recently put in stock. I'll use the prong mount one for a backup, maybe. It will be much easier to mount the cradle mount motor.
The two shaft collars will help secure the roller shafts within the framework and keep them from wondering back and forth.
Multiple small motor 1/2" bore pulleys will give me the ability to adjust speeds from slow to high when using a 1140rpm motor. Still, a 1725rpm motor will only get down to around 40rpm at the slowest speed using the 2" pulley. The 1140rpm motors appear to draw less current and thus run more inexpensively.
The 3/4" steel shafts were pricey at Lowes, but they're new and undamaged and I don't really have access to a good junk yard to search, nor the time. This should handle anything I put on it. 1/2" shafts at Lowes are about a third of the cost as the 3/4"...if you're only going to be turning 4" barrels then they will probably be thick enough, but while investing in bearings and all why not spend the "slightly less than $20" and have something that you can expand to larger barrels with simply by spreading the pillow bearings out a bit further? The cradle mount motor that I'm going with looks like it will cost me right at $20 a month to operate...that's within my tolerance range. Just some food for thought.
I've got some leftover 2x10 and other lumber from a recent roofing job, so I'm set there.
Stuff I still need to source and acquire...
Nails
Screws
Bolts
Hinges
V-belts
Well, that ate up enough time for now. I'll add more as I think of things or progress with it.
The plan/design is completely original. Just because it will probably look *exactly* like one of jamesp/Jim's big tumblers means nothing...just coincidental. Also, the fact that I used parts that Jim sourced for me, means nothing, again just coincidental. And those photos that he posted for me to look at of his tumblers...just coincidental that my tumble will look *very much* like these. Amazing ain't it? Hopefully mine will perform close to how well his does. Thanks, Jim!
And thanks to everyone else that has given me input on this project and rock tumbling in general...this is a great bunch of folks here on the RTH forum!!!
My intention is for the large rotary (barrel) tumbler to do coarse grinding only. Further fine grinding and polishing will be done in a Lot-O. Keeping the Lot-O fed will me the primary goal of the large tumbler.
The biggest barrel (8"x28") that I feel will fit on this tumbler would probably hold 55 pounds of rough if filled up to 75% capacity...I'm not going to have a barrel that large, though...I don't need the hernia. I'm planning on going with 6" diameter barrels. I hope to have one that will hold somewhere around 20 pounds and another smaller one....maybe holding around 12 pounds. Maybe even a very small one that will hold 6 pounds or so. The problem are the fittings...they can get expensive. There' s not a big cost difference in making a long barrel or a short one...both length barrels take the same fittings and the fittings are the expensive part..the extra few inches of pipe is cheap relative to the fittings. Thus I'm really shooting to have only two barrels that will fit together on the tumbler....a large one and a smaller one.
WARNING!!!!....I'm no carpenter!!!! ...but, I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express a few years ago!!!
Thus far, here is the parts list:
1 - Motor (best application, has cradle mount, 1/2" shaft): 1/6-1/18 HP 1725/1140 RPM 115 VAC MARATHON MOTOR @ Surplus Center
1 - Motor (has front mounting prongs, 1/2" shaft): 1/20 HP 115 VAC 1110 RPM 3 SPEED MOTOR
4 - Pillow Bearings: 3/4" PILLOW BLOCK BEARING
4 - Shaft Collars: 0.75 DOUBLE SPLIT SHAFT COLLAR
1 - Large Pulley (roller shaft): 9.75 O.D. 3/4 BORE 1 GROOVE PULLEY
1 - Small Pulley (motor): 2.65 O.D. 1/2 BORE 1 GROOVE PULLEY
1 - Small Pulley (motor): 3.75 O.D. 1/2 BORE 1 GROOVE PULLEY
1 - Small Pulley (motor): 4.75 O.D. 1/2 BORE 1 GROOVE PULLEY
2 - Small Pulley (posi-traction): 3.75 O.D. 3/4 BORE 1 GROOVE PULLEY
2 - Steel (roller) Shafts: C1018 Cold Finish 0.75"x48" Round from "MetalsDepot" These are supposed to have a more precise tolerance of measurement.
1 - Recycled heavy-duty electric cord cut off of an old electric pressure washer...will cut to length. It has a built in GFI which might or might not be a problem.
Ok, two motors... the motor with the front mount prongs was all I could find at the time I ordered. Jim posted a link a couple of weeks later to the cradle mount one that SC had recently put in stock. I'll use the prong mount one for a backup, maybe. It will be much easier to mount the cradle mount motor.
The two shaft collars will help secure the roller shafts within the framework and keep them from wondering back and forth.
Multiple small motor 1/2" bore pulleys will give me the ability to adjust speeds from slow to high when using a 1140rpm motor. Still, a 1725rpm motor will only get down to around 40rpm at the slowest speed using the 2" pulley. The 1140rpm motors appear to draw less current and thus run more inexpensively.
The 3/4" steel shafts were pricey at Lowes, but they're new and undamaged and I don't really have access to a good junk yard to search, nor the time. This should handle anything I put on it. 1/2" shafts at Lowes are about a third of the cost as the 3/4"...if you're only going to be turning 4" barrels then they will probably be thick enough, but while investing in bearings and all why not spend the "slightly less than $20" and have something that you can expand to larger barrels with simply by spreading the pillow bearings out a bit further? The cradle mount motor that I'm going with looks like it will cost me right at $20 a month to operate...that's within my tolerance range. Just some food for thought.
I've got some leftover 2x10 and other lumber from a recent roofing job, so I'm set there.
Stuff I still need to source and acquire...
Nails
Screws
Bolts
Hinges
V-belts
Well, that ate up enough time for now. I'll add more as I think of things or progress with it.