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Post by velodromed on Mar 24, 2024 10:26:39 GMT -5
That’s a bummer that there’s so many scams out there and you’ve been hit by them. I’ve had good luck with Facebook marketplace, but only because I deal with local sellers. Like the loretone and lot-o I recently bought, I thought it was a pretty good deal. I haven’t done a ton of deals, maybe about a dozen. I’ve also sold some things with good luck. It’s not my ‘go to place’ though for buying things. I agree with you that it’s pretty sketchy. Even with local you need to be careful. About a month ago or so I was looking for something and found a local listing. Contacted the seller who said it was still available. When I contacted him about meeting locally to pick it up he did not respond. About an hour later he had deleted his account. Clearly he was a scammer counting on people wanting the item shipped.
I have also heard various stories about people going to meet supposed sellers and getting robbed. These are most often with car ads so the person will be carrying large amounts of cash. If meeting someone in person, best to meet somewhere with a lot of people and preferably lots of security cameras or at a police station parking lot. Legitimate sellers should not have any problem with either of these.
Yup, I know to be careful and run well heeled. And you’re right about choosing a good meeting spot.
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Post by vegasjames on Mar 24, 2024 10:38:22 GMT -5
That's all common sense IMO. Scammers been scamming since long before FB. It's the internet, you can't trust 9/10 what you see. There are legitimate sales happening too, though. I've only had good experiences on marketplace. Yes, I have had a few good experiences as well, but also some bad ones.
Such as some Kentucky geodes I ordered. The ad was very misleading as most the geodes were dime to quarter size. And they sucked. Many were solid nodules, not geodes and no real color, just a bland yellow inside.
Then I ordered a flat lap, which was supposed to include 3 laps and 3 polishing pads. The flat lap and the 3 metal laps came with no problem, but the 3 polishing pads, which are what I really needed were not in the box. I messaged the seller and I am holing he sends me the polishing pads that were supposed to be included as well.
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pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,416
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Post by pebblesky on Mar 24, 2024 22:17:20 GMT -5
I'm loving my Rebel 17, might get another one. For someone like me who finishes in a vibratory tumbler, this size is perfect for coarse tumbling. I think the 3lb barrels are annoyingly small unless you're finishing in rotary and want to be as careful as possible. The only downside is checking every rock's imperfections takes about 30 min per cleanout. I think 30 minutes is already super efficient 😂
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pebblesky
fully equipped rock polisher
Purchased another UV mini bowl for tumbling
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,416
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Post by pebblesky on Mar 24, 2024 22:21:23 GMT -5
Now even the Rebel 17 tumblers are out of stock (low speed). Did see this nifty tool on their site though. nut wrench. $25 seems too expensive tho, looks like a 50c 3d printed tool Wow with two $25 I could almost get another Ultra Vibe Mini Bowl...
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zebra61
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2024
Posts: 116
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Post by zebra61 on Mar 25, 2024 11:19:11 GMT -5
Arrived home to a silent R17 the other day and noted a broken belt. (and no spares on hand) So I made an online order for a new inner cover, one of those wrenches and 8 spare belts so there are no more silent tumblers. You're absolutely right about the wrench, it's grossly overpriced but it's quite well-made and makes nut removal a breeze. I'm not planning to use it to tighten the nuts tho, it's just to make removal easy and less painful for my hands. (such a wimp) $23 is exorbitant for the tool, but I paid it. Now who's the fool? I'm quite happy with the R17's and sometimes wonder why I bought 33B's at all. For a few extra bucks I could've put another R17 to work. But it's nice to have a few smaller drums around to feed the vibes and the hushed sound of rolling rocks provides a little white noise to improve my sleep these days.
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Post by velodromed on Mar 25, 2024 14:26:28 GMT -5
Just be careful to not over tighten the nuts, please. If the screw posts are damaged doing so, the barrel is toast. Unless it can be re-threaded etc. The best way I’ve found to tighten the lid without leaks is to first, clean the top and under the rubber lining very well. The next hint was mentioned by someone earlier in this thread…’lightly spray the lip with water before laying down the rubber lid liner’. Then I tighten the screws as I normally would, in a criss cross pattern. Since I added ‘wetting the liner lip’ to each clean out I haven’t had any leak issues. Which is really cool.
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zebra61
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2024
Posts: 116
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Post by zebra61 on Mar 26, 2024 12:52:11 GMT -5
Just be careful to not over tighten the nuts, please. If the screw posts are damaged doing so, the barrel is toast. Unless it can be re-threaded etc. The best way I’ve found to tighten the lid without leaks is to first, clean the top and under the rubber lining very well. The next hint was mentioned by someone earlier in this thread…’lightly spray the lip with water before laying down the rubber lid liner’. Then I tighten the screws as I normally would, in a criss cross pattern. Since I added ‘wetting the liner lip’ to each clean out I haven’t had any leak issues. Which is really cool. Yeah, like I said in my post, 'I'm not planning to use it to tighten the nuts tho'. I've been using it to remove the nuts and it's sweet for that. I haven't experienced a single leak from either of my barrels. BUT!!! I opened a barrel and had significant slurry between the cover and the cover liner, so much that I junked the original cover liner. The tumbler was running a big batch of crushed stones so I'm wondering if a couple sharp stones got jammed up against the lid and punctured it. Hasn't happened since. But you're right, making a wet seal is always better that a dry one. There's a reason that mechanics use a drop of oil on the oil filter seal right? I'm looking forward to opening both of my R17's tonight after work. #1 has been running a batch of mixed 7's for 8 weeks now so I'm hoping that half or more will be ready to move forward. #2 has been running the graduates from #1 each week so there should be a good bunch for heading for pre-polish. Exciting times for a rock tumbler guy! Mark
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