Garberg
starting to shine!
Member since March 2016
Posts: 30
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Post by Garberg on Apr 27, 2016 13:21:31 GMT -5
I'll be honest. I'm mainly not into rock tumbling for the rocks. I can't identify any rocks and I don't care. The main reason to tumble rocks for me is that I get to "MacGyver" things together. To build a rock tumbler that actually works out of crap I have lying around, that's where the fun is for me. My daughter and I built our first rotary tumbler out of her legos and that batch wasn't too bad considering. But now, I've stepped things up a notch. I've built a vibe tumbler out of an old fan motor, a small stool, some leftover MDF, an IKEA-bowl, an LM35 temp sensor and an Arduino micro controller. The fan motor isn't really up for the job of rotating a bolt 24/7 to create vibrations so it gets hot. Therefore I have glued the temp sensor to it and the Arduino controls the motor via a relay that only lets it run between 25 to 40 degrees Celsius (metric system YO!). That should keep the motor from overheating and breaking down. At least for a while. As it stands I get about 11 minutes running time and 22 minutes downtime each cycle. The vibrations could be a lot more efficient and so on. It could't hold a candle to a Lot-O but I don't care. My ghetto tumbler gets the job done and I built it. Out of crap.
It's running my latest batch that has gone through 3 stages of grit in my low-tech-non-lego-but-still-very-ghetto-rotary tumbler. I'll experiment with pulsing the motor to maximize the uptime but for now I could't be happier with it. Future plans will include a vibe-rotary tumbler for polishing and burnishing stages. I'll experiment with different vibration frequencies and rpm. Ideas that'll feed my insanity are always welcome :-)
Thanks for watching.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Apr 27, 2016 17:33:45 GMT -5
That's pretty cool. Does the MacBook Pro have to be connected to it all the time? Because, if so, it's not built of crap and is the most expensive tumbler I've ever seen. Have you considered adding some ceramic pellets? I use them in every load. Thanks for sharing the video.
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,339
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Post by quartz on Apr 27, 2016 22:37:54 GMT -5
Like the project, way more interesting and fun to build sumpin' from nuthin' than just go buy it. Nice job on that. BTW [metric system, YO!].
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Garberg
starting to shine!
Member since March 2016
Posts: 30
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Post by Garberg on Apr 27, 2016 23:52:20 GMT -5
Jugglerguy: I added airsoft bullets instead of ceramic pellets. That completely ruined the vibe action so I had to take them out. And no, the macbook does not have to be connected allt the time. It's just there to upload code and/or display up/downtime and temperature. I'll add an OLED display to the arduino eventually.
Right now I'm tinkering with the code. I want to pulse to motor to get more uptime. It should be possible to make the code self optimizing to get the longest uptime.
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Post by Pat on Apr 28, 2016 0:08:02 GMT -5
That is neat!
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,680
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 28, 2016 9:29:55 GMT -5
MacGyver huh!!! Haven't heard that name in a long time! Awesome project and sharing the experience with your daughter,how cool is that!!
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rodeodan
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2010
Posts: 213
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Post by rodeodan on Apr 28, 2016 9:32:38 GMT -5
That is so neat, I admire your creativity
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on Apr 28, 2016 11:24:29 GMT -5
Ultimate insanity. No new ideas, looks like you have arrived. Love it. Great creative skills.
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es355lucille
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2016
Posts: 194
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Post by es355lucille on Apr 28, 2016 18:09:10 GMT -5
That is High Tech MacGyver! Very cool! Put some pictures up of the stones when you are done.
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