OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 85
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Post by OregonBorn on Mar 17, 2024 18:46:41 GMT -5
KN and some others sell the Rebel 17 Rock Tumbler. 17 lb. capacity, sealed bearings, oversized shafts and rollers, and a thick rubber liner to keep it quiet. $269 (price fixed by the manufacturer/importer). Cody at Moon Valley in Boise sells them with free shipping. KN does not have free shipping. No, I have no vested interest in them nor have I owned or run one. I have 4 old Lortones, a large Scott Murray and several DP vibe tumblers. I am set for tumbler action.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 85
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Post by OregonBorn on Mar 17, 2024 18:35:56 GMT -5
Yeah, MK/Barranca-Diamond is gone and now Lortone is gone. Joining Scott-Murray and Framton, and many others. There is some descent Chinese lap stuff out there, but you have to wade through a lot of crap to get there. I bought a HF double roller tumbler made in china, but it is pure crap. No loss HF not selling them any more. The barrels were the only thing worth anything on that unit. It is by far the worst of all the tumblers I have had, custom, Scott-Murray, Loretone, DP, etc.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 85
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Post by OregonBorn on Feb 25, 2024 1:54:25 GMT -5
Looks like MK Diamond in Torrence CA went under this month. I found this posted on the stone tool contractors web site ( www.contractorsdirect.com/blogs/mk-diamond-annoucement ): So where do I get my saw blades now? Amazon hardly lists any lap saw blades any more. MK Diamond's web site does not list anything about the bankruptcy, so I do not know where any 'designated channels' are being provided. Are we to go to the pastor with a tissue? Apparently all their equipment has been auctioned off. Something about a government Covid loan gone bad? I called their 800 number and all I got was a busy signal.
>>>
MK Diamond
It is with great regret that we announce the bankruptcy of MK Diamond, a company that has been a prominent player in the manufacturing of diamond tools and equipment. Despite its long-standing presence in the industry, MK Diamond has faced insurmountable financial challenges, leading to the difficult decision to cease operations and declare bankruptcy.
This unfortunate development means that MK Diamond will no longer be manufacturing new products. We understand that this news may impact many loyal customers, partners, and employees who have been associated with the brand over the years.
We would like to express our gratitude to all those who have supported MK Diamond throughout its journey. Your trust and patronage have been invaluable, and we deeply regret any inconvenience caused by this situation.
If you have any inquiries or concerns related to this announcement, please reach out to the designated channels provided by MK Diamond for customer support and assistance.
Thank you for your understanding.
Sincerely, The MK Diamond Team
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 85
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Post by OregonBorn on Feb 1, 2020 16:15:28 GMT -5
Note that Davis Creek (DC) in California and Glass Buttes (GB) in Oregon are under different management at the national level. DC is under management of the USDA/US Forest Service, and GB is under management of the BLM. DC has required free use authorization permits for collecting obsidian in the Modoc National Forest. BLM has never required permits for collecting obsidian in the GB area since it was set aside for collecting. In the GB area, you only need permission from the owners to collect anything in the 3 grandfathered Perlite mining claim areas (and ostensibly at the flame site claim). I have not seen anything worth collecting in the Perlite claim areas myself though. At DC up to now, Free Use Authorizations were available during the open season (May-October) depending on weather and road conditions. This year at DC, there will be no permits issued for either commercial or personal-use obsidian collection on the Modoc National Forest for the 2020 season. This includes collecting at the four mines that had been set aside as community collection areas. That is according to the USDA/Forest Service bulletin. That does not in any way affect the GB area though, other than a likely impact and increase in the collecting done at GB by people that would otherwise collect at DC. Note also that the closing of the DC collecting sites is for this year only, and is not a permanent closure.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 85
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Post by OregonBorn on Feb 1, 2020 15:51:16 GMT -5
Yes, closing Davis will create more pressure on GB where there has already been a lot of abuse with people without permits taking tons from some pits, claim jumpers, damage to archaeological sites, etc. Hope that the FS & BLM come up with a strategy that allows reopening public collecting at Davis, and might also be extended to GB and similar sites before such drastic action is taken. Suspect that without enough staffing, the closure could be for a very long time, though. Permits at glass buttes? When did that start? Other than the one or two claims for the fire obsidian I thought it was a free public area. I know that some of the BLM offices apply the petrified wood collection limits to everything, but other than that I haven't heard of permits. roy catmandewe Know anything about this? People like to post online that there are permits required and new claims made at GB, but there are no permits required at Glass Buttes. The ONLY decisions the BLM has made about GB recently (in 2018) are about communications (radio) towers on the two buttes. There are 3 old Perlite mining claims there that were grandfathered when the GB site was set aside for rock hounding and put under BLM management. Then there is the one fire obsidian claim that was disputed some years ago and forced to be taken down after a court battle in Portland was lost by the old claim owners. That claim has been re-claimed again, supposedly for the teenie weenie amount of magnetite in the flame obsidian. It is a BS claim and could easily be challenged again in court. The three old Perlite claims are well known and listed on several maps as well as the mining clams lists online. There are two claims that are adjacent and one that is separate that you drive through to get to Mahogany Hill. There has been a lot of flap about the re-claimed flame site on FB, and its size. The owner got into a huff with me over it on FB. That site is on the hill above and to the left (east) of the cattle pond. The owner claims that it is marked again. I have not seen any claim markers there myself. Several have made other recent claims there marking sites with stakes that I have seen, but none of them are valid according to the BLM. The owner of the flame site claim claims that the BLM is aware of his claim, but the people at BLM that I talked to last year in Prineville said it was not valid. He says that BLM has been updated about his claim more recently. There are many other sites to dig for and find obsidian there. No damage that I have seen, other than pits and trenches being dug. I was there last in July of last year. We went all over the area, including the old Cinnabar mining areas just to the east of GB. The only limit at GB is collecting 25 pounds a day and 250 pounds a year for personal use. One trip to GB and you will have enough obsidian for a lifetime.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 85
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Post by OregonBorn on Jan 21, 2020 22:14:00 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies and offer. The rheostats are soldered in with a lot of solder to the tiny circuit board. I will try to short out the leads on one and see what happens. Other than the rheostats for adjusting intensity, the circuit cards basically just increase the 60 Hz outlet frequency by 60x to 3600 Hz. They may also change the voltage, I am not sure. We shall see...
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 85
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Post by OregonBorn on Jan 20, 2020 3:20:22 GMT -5
Fresh beeswax cappings from the 2019 season, from NW Wisconsin. The cappings have had the honey spun out of them, but have not been processed in any other way. As a raw product it will have traces of honey and propolis mixed in with the loose wax. Also it is darker in color. Still needs to be heated and filtered to get pure light yellow wax. Don’t hesitate to ask any questions you may have. Will update with pictures in the coming days. This product is used for homemade lotions, creams, soaps, and candles. Not nearly as heavy as rocks, I would estimate 8 - 10 lbs in a MFRB. SELLS FOR $2.50 PER LB with shipping charges extra. Thanks for looking! Evan P.S. Shoutout to fernwood for giving me the idea... Thx Beth! That is a good price! Typically bees wax sells for $6-10 a pound. I still have a hot wax capping knife here someplace from my hives 10 years ago. They all died from CCD. One day there were there, and a few days later they were all gone. No honey bees around here any more. When I first moved here ten years ago, when the cherries on my property bloomed, there were thousands of honey bees on them. Now when the cherries bloom, there are no honey bees. Last year some nasty hornets built a nest in one cherry tree and I burned them out. I have been colonizing orchard mason bees here the last few years to pollinate my orchard and berries. I use 1/4 inch bamboo culms with the ends cut open for them to lay eggs in. Now I have lots of orchard mason bees. They are snoozing for the winter here now in racks of bamboo culms.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 85
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Post by OregonBorn on Jan 20, 2020 2:26:13 GMT -5
Dunno if these can be fixed or not. I have 3 Mini Sonics, one is newer and two are older. The two older models vibrate lightly when turned on, but that is it. The rheostats seem to be shot and they do not rotate rocks in the hoppers at all. Or something in the speed control circuits are toast. The newer one in an MT-4 and rotates rocks for a while but then it get louder and eventually stops rotating the rocks and makes a loud klanging noise. One other fellow here posted that his died that way. That one worked for me for several years, and then started the klanging all of a sudden. The other two I got were DOA for parts. I am debating getting a new speed controller and trying that on them. That is the only part that I can see dying, other than the electromagnets. The rest of the parts are non moving and non-electrical. The bushings, hoppers and springs are all OK.
Anyone here have these issues with the Mini Sonics? Anyone fixed them? These are all single 4 lb hopper size plastic boat shaped units. Diamond Pacific listed speed controllers for these in their 2017 catalog that I have, but their site currently says that their 2020 catalog is "under construction" online.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 85
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 14, 2019 16:23:58 GMT -5
I got the split flange bearings/bushings in the mail from Zoro and they fit nearly perfectly. They are made in Germany. Shipping was twice the proce of the bearings, but I got 5 of them. So I have spares. I had to trim 3/16 off the sleeve length as they were a tad too long for this application, but otherwise they are snug and the Scott-Murray tumbler is back in action.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 85
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 10, 2019 0:27:57 GMT -5
But hark! Using Microsoft Edge on this same laptop I can see the dendrites in the polished agates in the photo in the first post.
Weird.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 85
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 10, 2019 0:19:03 GMT -5
I must be rock blind! I do not see anything but the blue screen! Is this the Rock Tumbler rendition of The Emperor's New Clothes?
To quote Sgt. Shultz on the TV show Hogans' Heroes: "I see nothink!"
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 85
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 9, 2019 19:56:55 GMT -5
I do not see anything here. Using Firefox on Windows 10. Just a blank blue field.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 85
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 9, 2019 1:16:16 GMT -5
So I dug deeper and found some plastic flanged bearings from Zoro that are the same size as the Pobco ones. Diagonal split, 5/8" ID, 11/16 OD, 15/16" flange diameter. They cost $2.55 for a pack of 5. Not as good as the ones from Pobco, but what the heck. They are cheap. The flanged bearings are on the web here at Zoro (they also sell a lot of variable size pulleys and belts there):
Shipping is $5, so I will get a pack of 5 for $7.55 and have spares. Maybe these will melt, I do not know. Worth a try. I cannot even drive to downtown Portland and back on $7.50 in gasoline.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 85
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 9, 2019 0:41:03 GMT -5
Uh, he had said bearing, but what he really meant was bushing. He's looking for the original equipment bushing, without going broke! That's why we went with true bearings, because they are more readily available. Not to mention they do a better job. Yep I knew he said bearing and was talking about a bush. You can buy the raw material for bushes (Delrin) in a long stick (usually they will cut a piece to length)all you have to do is put the hole in it and you are sweet. Delrin is great stuff it will stand up to all sorts of abuse from grit and water that destroys bronze or brass bushes. Maybe Down Under this is feasible, but not here. The problem is that the busing is only 1/16" thick. That kind of precision will cost. Lots of re-inventing wheels here. The outside would have to be cut to create the flange, and the flange has expando spacers in them. Also the bushing has a diagonal space in it for grease. There is literally no feasible way to replicate these in a shop as you suggest. Its a $5 part from PobCo. If I had 1/2 inch rollers these would be all of $1.50 each from Covington. They are cheap injection molded parts.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 85
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 9, 2019 0:35:14 GMT -5
Go to a bearing supply place, they may sell or be able to source the correct bearing. Take the shaft and if possible the bearing housing along so they can get an accurate size. Failing that, from the same place buy a small piece of Nylon bearing material or "Delrin" outside diameter to fit the bearing housing, take it to an engineering workshop and get them to bore the correct size hole in a lathe. Scott Murray must have been a bit of an inventor, some very interesting designs there. Uh, he had said bearing, but what he really meant was bushing. He's looking for the original equipment bushing, without going broke! That's why we went with true bearings, because they are more readily available. Not to mention they do a better job. These are bushings, but PobCo calls them bearings. Split flange bearings. High grade plastic with a diagonal space in them. PobCo quoted me $5 a pop in a later email today. Said they last a lot longer than nylon will. They are standard parts, to a degree. Lortone and Covington use the same types of bushings in their tumblers.
To replace these with true bearings I would have to get longer tumbler rods and place them outside the box, and mount them somehow, as you have. Again, more money, more parts, more of a PITA. I am one bushing away from a working tumbler as is. A 10 second fix with the proper size bushing (or bearing).
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 85
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 9, 2019 0:28:42 GMT -5
Go to a bearing supply place, they may sell or be able to source the correct bearing. Take the shaft and if possible the bearing housing along so they can get an accurate size. Failing that, from the same place buy a small piece of Nylon bearing material or "Delrin" outside diameter to fit the bearing housing, take it to an engineering workshop and get them to bore the correct size hole in a lathe. Scott Murray must have been a bit of an inventor, some very interesting designs there. Bearing supply place? Granger is the only place close to that in PDX, and they do not have these. Engineering shop? In Portland? That is a laugh. It would be cheaper to buy the lot of bearings from PobCo. Seriously. Spend $100 to make a $5.00 part there. 'Twas an engineer myself back in the RayGun daze in Sandy Eggo. I could have made these myself there at the General Dynamics fab shop. After that I was an engineer in the Sillly Valley and I could have made one with a printer. But that would be made of a substandard polymer material.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 85
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 8, 2019 14:14:05 GMT -5
So, doing some deep digging online, I found the nylon bushings/bearings that fit this size Scott Murray (5/8") shaft and opening. Covington has similar bushings in their roller tumblers, but only has them up to 1/2" in diameter. They sell them for $1.50. Same bearing, only smaller. MSC does not make these any more. POBCO in Massachusetts makes them. They call them split flange bearings, POBCO part number SLITMD1010. 5/8" inner diameter, 11/16 outer diameter, 15/16" flange diameter. Perfect fit. Only problem is that they have a $100 minimum order to sell direct. They do not have any local retail distributors in this area to order them through, only commercial wholesalers. Of course all I need is one bearing... I do not need 100. Not enough demand to resell the rest of them.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 85
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 8, 2019 0:39:58 GMT -5
I'm not sure if you are looking for the original thin bushings? Because the sheet metal was worn oval, we did a workaround and replaced the bushings with real bearings. Since we were using aluminum blocks to hold the bearings in place on the ends, the only dimension we needed to keep was the 5/8" ID for the roller shafts. The other dimensions made up a commonly used bearing size: 6203-2RS-10 Sealed ball bearing 5/8" x 40mm x 12mm As mentioned in my original repair post ( forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/58090/refurbed-scott-murray-tumbler) we purchased ten of the bearings, because they are a size that can be used for different things. They were purchased from Fremont Industrial Supply www.fremontindustrialsupply.com/qty-of-10-6203-2rs-10-sealed-ball-bearing-5-8-x-40mm-x-12mm-free-shipping/ . They are currently in stock, ten of them (or you can buy fewer) are $23.15, with free shipping. If you are looking for the original equipment style, inadequate (in my opinion) bushings, I have no idea where you can find those. Lortone makes plastic ones for their QT12/66, but not sure of the OD of the rollers. Don't know if they'd fit or not. I got some from Shawn at The Rockshed to fit my Lortone. Bearings are the way to go! Jean
Thanks for the fast feedback. In my case the tumbler is in good shape and the only thing missing is the one thin bushing. Bearings are nice, but this is a light weight tumbler and I have the heavy duty 15# one to fall back on. I also have a QT12, two 3# Lortone tumblers and two Mini-Sonic vibe tumblers. So yes, I am looking for an original thin Scott-Murray bushing. They were made up in Seattle...
One question that came to mind here though, you do not happen to have one of the original in tact bushings from your S-M tumbler that you could part with, do you?
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 85
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 7, 2019 19:29:07 GMT -5
Here is another (edited: custom design) tumbler with dual barrels that roll on top of each other in the cage. I have never seen another one like this one with the stacked friction/gravity drive barrel drive. This one was built by the same guy that built the tumbler that I had above. He says he built 3 of this dual stacked barrel type tumbler. This one was owned by a guy in Vancouver, WA.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 85
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 7, 2019 19:19:34 GMT -5
Here is (edited: custom designed and built) tumbler that I had. I though it was a Scott Murray as it was green and came with a Scott-Murray 15# barrel, and it had a slave drive setup like Scott-Murray tumblers have. However, as it turns out, it was a one-off designed by a guy on this site that contacted me about it. It is way overbuilt. It is now tumbling rock up in Vancouver, BC. Note the side grill, full size bearings with zerk grease fittings, and roller guides for the barrel. And the feet rubbers. This unit will last forever. This came out of a machine shop in Milwaukie that made beer tap handles. They used it for polishing prototypes. As it turns out, the original design had the slave drive on the main drive side, and not as it is here. Someone that had this unit before me changed that around. Also someone changed the wiring to add a bench mount switch. Also it was designed for a different type of narrower barrel, and these were not designed for it. But they work after I added longer bolts to raise the barrel tender rollers on either end so they do not snag the wing nuts.
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