Rotary vs Vibe

[adrian65]

Hi everyone,

I have a Lortone 3A tumbler and after the first batch I want to buy another one, but don't know what to choose .

What are your advices, should i take a rotary or a vibe (and in each situation what type)?
I understand the vibes are more fast, but they must have some disadvantages, eitherway the rotaries would have been disappeared by now.

I'm not looking for a "monster", but I'd like to polish larger stones, let's say like a medium/large sized potatoe.

Thank you,

Adrian

[Condor]

If you are wanting to polish larger stones, go with a rotary. My Thumler's Tumbler AR12 has polished some good sized rocks, and they have come out quite nice. If you're going with smaller rocks, then a rotary for the shaping followed by the vibe. Good combination that works very well, and fast too.

Condor

[gaetzchamp]

Adrian-

Here are some other things to consider....

Vibe
Daily Recharging - increased cost, increased time
Finished product not too rounded (at least from my experience), Lots of flat surfaces

Rotary
Takes longer
Make sure you use lots of pellets to cushion
Can leave on while you go out of town for a few days
Doesn't require so much babysitting

Those are a few of my thoughts

Gaetz

[lsmike]

I agree with Condor except that you can also finish larger stones in a larger vibe.In my 25# I just usually add a little 150/220 the second day without completely washing and re-charging;in the 10# Gy-Roc I do a 150/220 rinse and re-charge once or twice-in both I do not re-charge in the other grits.I've been using vibes so long that i've paid for them with the savings in grit.Remember that if you want smoothing a vibe won't do that.Good luck,Mike.

[Bikerrandy]

I've been using a vibe for a year and a half. I finally bought a rotary about two months ago. I'm not impressed, I'll stick with my vibe. Oh, also, I never re-charge mine between stages, ever. I let it run in the same coarse grit for 4 days, same fine for 4 days, and same polish for 2-4 days. I check the vibe twice a day, once when I get up and once in the evening. If it slows down, I use a spray bottle to get everything moving again. I pre-shape everything that goes in and get great results. It's a labor of love! ;D
One more thing- a vibe alone won't produce the results that you're probably looking for. If you get a workforce tile saw and a bench grinder with a lapidary grinding wheel, there's nothing that can't be done.

[adrian65]

Thanks everyone!
One more question: is a vibe noisier than an equivalent rotary?

Adrian

[lastl98]

adrian65 said:

Thanks everyone!
One more question: is a vibe noisier than an equivalent rotary?

Adrian

Absolutely not! Or not in my opinion at least.

I've got two of them running as of today & 6 rotaries running right now. The vibes may be a little bit louder but certainly not by much if that!

Last

[Jack ( Yorkshire)]

Hi Adrian
I dont think so but it all depends on the barrell if its rubber = quite

Plastic = noisey

It dosent matter which machine you use !!

jack
Yorkshire UK