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Post by holajonathan on Oct 12, 2021 21:59:29 GMT -5
Good info. I will be interested in your side-by-side comparison. I currently have a single barrel lot-O and the dual barrel model. I recently purchased a large (40 pound capacity) Raytech vibe tumbler that has the same shaped hopper as your UV-10. I think the Raytech model # is av-40. It's on back order (like everything right now) so I'm waiting for it to arrive. The Lot-O is an incredible polishing machine, but as you point it, it has a real limitation when it comes to polishing flats, especially larger ones. I hope to be able to use my new, larger, donut shaped vibe to polish whole slabs. The dimensions of the hopper will permit quite large slabs, up to at least 5" x 4", if the tumbler can in fact keep such a large slab moving when loaded primarily with ceramic media or smalls. We shall see. Whoa, that Raytech should be fun. After this heart experiment I have been seriously considering stepping up to a UV-18 or even the UV-45. They are having the same issues as everyone else though as it relates to supply chain issues. May have to give the Raytech a look, may be whoever gets there issues resolved first gets to take my money. If I get it before you make a purchase, I'll let you know if I am successful at getting it tuned right for rocks. It is an industrial tumbler, used primarily for deburring steel. But there's no reason it can't be used for rocks, I've just got to mess with the tuning on it and see what I come up with.
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fishnpinball
Cave Dweller
So much to learn, so little time
Member since March 2017
Posts: 1,491
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Post by fishnpinball on Oct 12, 2021 22:40:01 GMT -5
Great work, hearts are tough.
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Post by Rockindad on Oct 13, 2021 12:07:18 GMT -5
Hmmm, got the wheels turning now!
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Post by Rockindad on Oct 13, 2021 12:09:47 GMT -5
Whoa, that Raytech should be fun. After this heart experiment I have been seriously considering stepping up to a UV-18 or even the UV-45. They are having the same issues as everyone else though as it relates to supply chain issues. May have to give the Raytech a look, may be whoever gets there issues resolved first gets to take my money. If I get it before you make a purchase, I'll let you know if I am successful at getting it tuned right for rocks. It is an industrial tumbler, used primarily for deburring steel. But there's no reason it can't be used for rocks, I've just got to mess with the tuning on it and see what I come up with. I'll be watching. I thought for sure I would be tearing into the UV to get it to do what I wanted it to do but was able to manipulate it enough with slurries and load fill.
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Post by holajonathan on Oct 13, 2021 16:33:21 GMT -5
If I get it before you make a purchase, I'll let you know if I am successful at getting it tuned right for rocks. It is an industrial tumbler, used primarily for deburring steel. But there's no reason it can't be used for rocks, I've just got to mess with the tuning on it and see what I come up with. I'll be watching. I thought for sure I would be tearing into the UV to get it to do what I wanted it to do but was able to manipulate it enough with slurries and load fill. The raytech I bought has a built in adjustment. You just loosen a bolt that holds the shaft counterweight in place, and it swivels in and out. The further the counterweight moves from the shaft, the more off balance it makes the rotating mass, and the intensity of vibration increases. The close the weight is to the shaft, the lower the intensity. I am hopeful that it is not too powerful at its lowest setting. That is my only concern. I already bought an extra hopper for it which did arrive, and I can fit over 40 pounds of ceramics into the hopper if need be. So if nothing else, all that weight should dampen the action down to an acceptable level. It's bad when I spent half as much on ceramics as I did on the vibe tumbler itself. But if I use them for AO stages only, they will last forever. I'm going to try quartz pea gravel for the SiC stage, since that stuff costs almost nothing compared to ceramic media.
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Post by Rockindad on Oct 13, 2021 18:05:52 GMT -5
I'll be watching. I thought for sure I would be tearing into the UV to get it to do what I wanted it to do but was able to manipulate it enough with slurries and load fill. The raytech I bought has a built in adjustment. You just loosen a bolt that holds the shaft counterweight in place, and it swivels in and out. The further the counterweight moves from the shaft, the more off balance it makes the rotating mass, and the intensity of vibration increases. The close the weight is to the shaft, the lower the intensity. I am hopeful that it is not too powerful at its lowest setting. That is my only concern. I already bought an extra hopper for it which did arrive, and I can fit over 40 pounds of ceramics into the hopper if need be. So if nothing else, all that weight should dampen the action down to an acceptable level. It's bad when I spent half as much on ceramics as I did on the vibe tumbler itself. But if I use them for AO stages only, they will last forever. I'm going to try quartz pea gravel for the SiC stage, since that stuff costs almost nothing compared to ceramic media. Yeah, ceramics can be spendy. We started using pea gravel within the last year and the results are the same. A few months ago we were running short on ceramics and what we had left got combined with some gravel so now we have the best/worst of both worlds. Sooner or later we'll sort it out and reserve one or the other just for polish, one less thing to clean up that way.
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Post by holajonathan on Oct 13, 2021 18:16:21 GMT -5
The raytech I bought has a built in adjustment. You just loosen a bolt that holds the shaft counterweight in place, and it swivels in and out. The further the counterweight moves from the shaft, the more off balance it makes the rotating mass, and the intensity of vibration increases. The close the weight is to the shaft, the lower the intensity. I am hopeful that it is not too powerful at its lowest setting. That is my only concern. I already bought an extra hopper for it which did arrive, and I can fit over 40 pounds of ceramics into the hopper if need be. So if nothing else, all that weight should dampen the action down to an acceptable level. It's bad when I spent half as much on ceramics as I did on the vibe tumbler itself. But if I use them for AO stages only, they will last forever. I'm going to try quartz pea gravel for the SiC stage, since that stuff costs almost nothing compared to ceramic media. Yeah, ceramics can be spendy. We started using pea gravel within the last year and the results are the same. A few months ago we were running short on ceramics and what we had left got combined with some gravel so now we have the best/worst of both worlds. Sooner or later we'll sort it out and reserve one or the other just for polish, one less thing to clean up that way. I've use aquarium gravel as well as ceramics in the Lot-O. I don't see much of a difference, but the gravel can potentially trap grit, so it's probably best used only for SiC or only for the AO stages. I've never had problems with ceramics trapping grit. They crack once in a while, and if I notice, I throw them out. I wanted ceramics for my big vibe for the extra weight. They are a little heavier than the same quantity of gravel.
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Post by Rockindad on Oct 13, 2021 18:35:37 GMT -5
Yeah, ceramics can be spendy. We started using pea gravel within the last year and the results are the same. A few months ago we were running short on ceramics and what we had left got combined with some gravel so now we have the best/worst of both worlds. Sooner or later we'll sort it out and reserve one or the other just for polish, one less thing to clean up that way. I've use aquarium gravel as well as ceramics in the Lot-O. I don't see much of a difference, but the gravel can potentially trap grit, so it's probably best used only for SiC or only for the AO stages. I've never had problems with ceramics trapping grit. They crack once in a while, and if I notice, I throw them out. I wanted ceramics for my big vibe for the extra weight. They are a little heavier than the same quantity of gravel. You can always sort the gravel, we did that ONCE, talk about a tedious job. Wouldn't want to do 40 pounds of it . The ceramics pack a lot tighter as well, less air space. I like it better when it comes to cleanouts as well, typically a lot easier to find the actual target rocks.
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Post by holajonathan on Oct 13, 2021 18:41:00 GMT -5
I've use aquarium gravel as well as ceramics in the Lot-O. I don't see much of a difference, but the gravel can potentially trap grit, so it's probably best used only for SiC or only for the AO stages. I've never had problems with ceramics trapping grit. They crack once in a while, and if I notice, I throw them out. I wanted ceramics for my big vibe for the extra weight. They are a little heavier than the same quantity of gravel. You can always sort the gravel, we did that ONCE, talk about a tedious job. Wouldn't want to do 40 pounds of it . The ceramics pack a lot tighter as well, less air space. I like it better when it comes to cleanouts as well, typically a lot easier to find the actual target rocks. Been there, done that (sorting gravel). I even tried to get my wife involved, which worked for about 2 minutes. I got maybe 2 pound sorted before giving up.
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Post by Rockindad on Nov 16, 2021 16:41:34 GMT -5
Just a little update on these. So after a month and a half of these being done and family, friends, coworkers, etc. looking at these the crowd favorites are definitely the Carnelians in group 6. This is a bit frustrating to me as the more I look at them, the more I dislike them. No doubt the material is beautiful and shines wonderfully but I just cannot get past the flat spots. Even when I point out a multitude of others that I feel are superior I get "Yeah but I really like the way they look" . Even my daughters did not listen as they each chose one for themselves. Now these were not sales pitches and I ended up giving a bunch away, I was just feeling the crowd out to see what the selling potential of these could be. If I were actively selling them then I would follow: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" or even: "There is no accounting for taste"
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