dsmith14469
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since May 2009
Posts: 82
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Post by dsmith14469 on May 11, 2009 13:59:28 GMT -5
I am just starting to get into rock tumbling. I joined the local lapidary club here in Rochester NY and I will be learning to make a Cabochon on Wednesday. I am currently using a Harbor Freight dual rock tumbler but I have ordered parts to make a new one. I reading through the postings on barrels and tumbler setups I have a design in mind for the tumbler. I just came up with a crazy idea for a quad barrel that I wanted to pass on and get some feed back. From what I have read, most of the states are the same time and you check things after 5 or 7 days to recharge. This idea would use four sections of PVC pipe and a wood disk to hold the pipes in place. I don't know if the pipes would have to be fixed or if you could have holes and make the pipes removable. If on pipe were removed, would this still rotate of would it be off balance. Comments are appreciated Dean
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Saskrock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2007
Posts: 1,852
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Post by Saskrock on May 12, 2009 0:46:44 GMT -5
Interesting idea, I think it should work. You would have to make it spin faster than a barrel that size normally would so you would get the rpm to match a 4" barrel. I think you would have to keep it balanced or it might slip or bounce. You could just put a rubber sheet over the wood then hold the ends tight with ready rod.
Cool idea.
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on May 12, 2009 10:22:40 GMT -5
Hi Dean,
Welcome and thanks for posting the idea. I'm curious what advantages this may have over a single barrel without tubes?
I suppose it would allow you to run smaller loads (e.g. of different hardnesses) at the same time.
Chuck
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dsmith14469
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since May 2009
Posts: 82
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Post by dsmith14469 on May 12, 2009 10:49:23 GMT -5
The advantage I can think of is to make the tumbler a vertical design and instead of making it too tall or wide this might allow for more barrels to run at the same time, multiple hardness, multiple stages of the process. Another possible advantage to this setup is you could have one larger barrel 12 inch diameter and this could be running next to it (not sure of rotation speeds matching though) and they would both be able to run on the same rods.
The drawing above is slightly incorrect. I had planned on the barrels sliding into the pair of wooden disks with the wood disks being permanently connected together via wood dowels. Then one would only have to slide out the barrel they wanted to check the grits or to replace the barrels with another after it was done.
In doing more thinking I might put this design on the back burner. The problem I foresee is removing the barrels. I was thinking 4" PVC pipe but then I remembered the end caps of the pipe would be larger than the pipe which means the wooden disks would need larger holes which means coming up with someway to secure the pipes in the disks.
I still need to build my tumbler first. ;D I plan on using my harbor freight barrels at first.
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on May 12, 2009 13:33:32 GMT -5
You're right about running multiple stages. I tend to forget that since I use a rotary only for the rough grind.
If you put the pipe all the way through the wooden disks, you can put the end caps outside the disks. You could probably just wrap tape around the cap and pipe and that would be enough to keep them from sliding out. Straps across the ends would also work.
The rotation speeds between a large barrel and the cluster barrel would definitely be significantly different.
Threaded rod might be an easier way to connect the disks together. You might even be able to get away with a single one through the middle...
Chuck
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dsmith14469
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since May 2009
Posts: 82
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Post by dsmith14469 on May 12, 2009 13:56:33 GMT -5
Would the rotation speeds be different? If you have the four barrels "locked" into place on the larger disk they would complete one rotation at the same speed as the larger disk, wouldn't they? As the 12" wood disk rotates one cycle the smaller barrel would also make one rotation. If this is true then you could have one quad setup on the bars and one 12 inch barrel for large quantity roughs. Now this is leading me in another direction. What if the wooden disk barrel holder was direct drive off of a single rod from the pulley/motor instead of the wood disks being driven by to two bars. I see a problem with the direct drive concept. The tumbler wants the shaft-to-barrel size difference to slow down the motor/belt more. With a 1750 rpm motor with a 2 inch pulley, I would have to have a 60 inch pulley on the shaft to slow it down enough. The other option would be to have a second pulley/belt combination to slow the direct drive wood disk down. Ah well. So many ideas.
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on May 13, 2009 6:22:48 GMT -5
A 4" barrel needs to turn more quickly than 12" barrel in order to get the same amount of tumbling action inside the barrel.
Pulley systems are generally preferred because they are naturally forgiving. If something causes the shafts to stop turning (e.g. a bearing seizes) then the belt can slip on the pulley. And yes, you do have the problem of speed reduction.
I had another thought on the tubes: if you use test plugs on both ends, you'll be able to slide them through the disks.
Chuck
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dsmith14469
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since May 2009
Posts: 82
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Post by dsmith14469 on May 13, 2009 7:53:23 GMT -5
Test plugs, that is exactly what I was looking for. The closest I was able to find was the rubber caps that go over the end of the pipe and is secured by the metal band with the screw tightener.
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Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on May 15, 2009 4:06:20 GMT -5
Hi Dean
A interesting Idea
I have found that I got a better grind in a bigger barrel due to the weight on the grit and stones as the cascade over themselfs
I dont know if others have had the same experiance but the difference was quit a big one
I have used many 4" pipe tumblers as well as the small Lortone Rubber tumblers
Just my experiance
Have a good day
Jack Yorkshire UK
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on May 15, 2009 6:41:40 GMT -5
I agree with Jack. My 15 lb. tumbler works faster than my 4" PVC tumblers did. My 50 lb. tumbler seems to work even better, so far.
Chuck
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