Tumbler for polishing acetate.

[94ndta]

First time poster.

Full disclosure, I am not tumbling rocks. I am tumbling acetate. I am a microproduction eyeglass maker. Currently, I am tumbling acetate using a Rebel 17 tumbler with the appropriate media/polish. It works for 1-2 frames at a time, but I am looking to be able to do more.

I acquired these barrels specific for tumbling acetate. I ordered a machine from France and it was a very minimal investment to send these barrels with it.

While they fit on the base of my rebel 17 tumblers, they only spin at 18 rpm. I need them to turn AT LEAST at 40rpm, no more than 50 rpm.

So, I am going to have to build a machine to accommodate it. The barrels themselves weigh less than my current rebel 17 barrels, but they are 45.5mm (or almost 18") in diameter and 24mm wide (or 9" wide). I will have all three tumblers on the same base (or at least that is the idea). Even with the media and acetate, they will be light. Maybe 15lbs.

I will post pictures of progress along the way.


What I need the most help with is coming up with the right size pulley, motor, spindle, etc to make the barrels turn at the right speed.

[vegasjames]

welcome to the forum from Southern Nevada.

Looks like a great set up and would extend the life of the barrels. I have had the rims of the metal barrels finally come apart from rolling on the rollers.

[Pat]

I have no idea, but welcome from California.

[aDave]

Welcome to the forum.

I just did a quick Google search for "pulley calculator" and came up with this: www.blocklayer.com/pulley-belteng . Don't know if it will be helpful or not. One member here, Drummond Island Rocks, has built his own tumbler cabinet and has a file to do pulley calculations (at least he did at one time). I've tagged him here, so maybe he'll jump in with some advice.

[parfive]

Well, for starters, those mms should be cms.

Assuming you’re in the US, eighty-six the mms and stick to English measurements for your rpm calcs.

[parfive]

forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/post/869618

[94ndta]

Jan 15, 2023 20:24:50 GMT -5 parfive said:

Well, for starters, those mms should be cms.

Assuming you’re in the US, eighty-six the mms and stick to English measurements for your rpm calcs.

Lol, good catch.

I work in mm all day, my brain must have defaulted to it!

[94ndta]

Let’s bump this.

I can do up to 36 pairs of glasses at a time.So far so good! Here are a few pictures and a video.







Here is a video. I had to re-do the spindles and pulleys a couple times because my math was off and the speed was not right. Also, started with too small of spindles and created some “burnout” on the spindle. We are ready to rock now!