herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Mar 27, 2012 20:33:06 GMT -5
UPDATE: ok folks, i've passed 6 contiguous weeks of this thing. I added 5C of 60/90 a total of three times, and added water as needed. The whole thing weighs well over 100# now and I need to somehow empty and clean it. I am thinking of doing it in batches, removing some amount, cleaning it, and leaving the thing running in the meantime so it doesn't solidify. Alternately I have a giant tub I can dump it into, add soap and water, stir it up and sort of work my way through it, keeping it stirred once a day or so. I'll put everything in other buckets I guess, and do it in 10# batches in the vibe to get to polish. Thoughts/suggestions/ideas? ORIGINAL POST Well through an unbelievable turn of luck and some crazy timing and who knows what else, I just became the owner of a Contempo Lapidary very large rotary tumbler. I was thinking it was a 40# tumbler, but it may be a 65# as I compare the barrel dimensions to the 65#Lortone. It is like 15" in diameter and maybe 16 inches long, and in near-perfect shape. This will be my agate basher. I have 70# of Lakers and they are gonna get in this as soon as I can get some guidance. First, how do I know what "full" is on this thing? The end cover is 8" in diameter. Should I just fill it to below that? Then how much grit? Then for how long before I clean and recharge? Also, is this thing as sweet as I think it is or am I in trouble? Well I ended up putting 48# of lakers and 5# of Bahia agate in. I rounded up to 3.5 cups of 46/70 and 5 cups of water. I'll check it in a few days and make sure there is a slurry. I am pretty sure it is a 65# tumbler, it looks very similar and the dimensions are the same as the Lortone 65# tumbler. I only filled it half way for the first run. Hopefully my wife doesn't object to the noise in the garage, that thing is loud. UPDATE DAY 1 I opened it up at lunch and had a nice slurry. I followed all the suggestions and added more rock up to 3/4 full, bringing the total weight of rock to 90#!!! I added 3 more cups of SiC, 5 more cups of water, buttoned it up and with some effort got it back on the rollers. It is much quieter now. Here it is before closing the lid:
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snuffy
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Post by snuffy on Mar 27, 2012 20:47:11 GMT -5
Haha,better find a source for grit in bulk. I've got an MJR 35lb'er and I use 3 lbs of coarse per load.I would think about 3/4 full, large tumblers use the grit up in about 5 days,at least mine do.When you get the rocks shaped like you want,let the last coarse charge run a week or two longer,and you can eliminate wasting other grits and go to your vibe with prepolish,at least thats what I do.
snuffy
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herchenx
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Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Mar 27, 2012 21:03:40 GMT -5
Thanks Snuffy, so I still fill this beast to 3/4 full? I was going to try 5# of grit to start, let it run 10 days and see what I have. What about cushioning? If I use Lake Superior agate, can I just put in the agate or do I need to add ceramic or something? All the agates are under 2".
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
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Post by herchenx on Mar 27, 2012 21:04:49 GMT -5
Also, do these larger tumblers work faster than 6 and 12# tumblers?
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Post by susand24224 on Mar 27, 2012 21:06:33 GMT -5
Wow! What an impressive monster. Fill it the same as any other barrel--about 2/3rds full. A general rule for 60/90 grit is one TB per pound of rock. So weigh your barrel before and after rock, then one TB per pound of difference.
Another hint--I do *not* fill with water to the bottom of the top layer of rocks in my large tumbler, Big Huey. I go significantly below that since there are that many more crooks and crannies in the rocks for them to settle into when the turn.
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snuffy
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Post by snuffy on Mar 27, 2012 21:10:23 GMT -5
I dont use cushioning in my loads.Those lakers are extra tough anyway, but somebody else may have a better plan.I always have a good variety of different sizes in my loads.
snuffy
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herchenx
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Member since January 2012
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Post by herchenx on Mar 27, 2012 21:19:40 GMT -5
Great info! Could I expect this to smooth hard agate faster than my 12# Lortone?
Then how in the world do I rinse?
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keystonecops
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2010
Posts: 957
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Post by keystonecops on Mar 27, 2012 21:21:34 GMT -5
Daggone John. What a beast. A lot of the agate on our ranch is tumbler stuff. Ya can git biguns, but so fractured ya caint really cab. I'll send ya home with a bunch. Also some fairly hard jasper. Got a semi load of granite rock. Dont know what it'd do tumbled. Later Clyde
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herchenx
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Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Mar 27, 2012 21:24:01 GMT -5
Haha, maybe I will just start sneaking around scraping gravel off parking lots then putting it back polished
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snuffy
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Post by snuffy on Mar 27, 2012 21:38:01 GMT -5
I cant really say the large is that much faster than the 12's.I run 3 12lbers 24/7,really got the big one to do larger rocks,I dont run it constantly.
snuffy
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herchenx
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Member since January 2012
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Post by herchenx on Mar 27, 2012 21:56:08 GMT -5
Susan, what is "Big Huey"
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Minnesota Daniel
freely admits to licking rocks
A COUPLE LAKERS
Member since August 2011
Posts: 891
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Post by Minnesota Daniel on Mar 27, 2012 22:49:59 GMT -5
Lakers are very slow to grind, tough as anything that way, but you'll have a lot of chipping and fracturing if you aren't careful how you load that thing. Trust me on that. I think "tough yet sensitive" is a better way to describe Lakers.
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herchenx
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Member since January 2012
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Post by herchenx on Mar 28, 2012 0:56:43 GMT -5
Bump for the update, it is running now
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surreality
starting to spend too much on rocks
is picking up too many rocks at the beach again
Member since January 2012
Posts: 217
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Post by surreality on Mar 28, 2012 1:15:49 GMT -5
Very awesome find, John! I'll be curious to see how it runs. Usually I see the big barrels like that encased in a metal outer cylinder around the barrel, with the rubber 'inner barrel' as a removeable part. I think the big Lortones are like that, along with the Covintgon larger tumblers, so it's interesting to see this configuration.
I'd keep an eye on it for a bit though, just in case it was supposed to have an outer barrel casing, that the rubber barrel doesn't 'sag' in the middle and potentially warp the rails or cause some other issue. That would be my one concern, since when dealing with that much weight, I could see the potential for that happening with even heavy rubber.
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Post by johnjsgems on Mar 28, 2012 8:35:38 GMT -5
With rubber drum it is 65 lbs. DP bought Contempo and still sells it. Load like any other rotary (2/3 -3/4 full). I had the 40 lb version and I used 2 1/2 lbs. per load. I left the grit in and sometimes added finer grit as the weeks went by. The 40 lb. unit was nice for large loads, could do large rocks but man was it a bear to carry the drum in after rinsing, etc. Raised my electric bill with the 1/3 hp motor (same as yours) running 24/7.
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rockdewd
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2007
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Post by rockdewd on Mar 28, 2012 9:49:28 GMT -5
I use 46/70 grit in my 40 lb rotary. It holds up much longer than 60/90...
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herchenx
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Post by herchenx on Mar 28, 2012 10:42:03 GMT -5
Dee, the barrel is essentially thick plastic, not rubber (which is why it is so loud) and doesn't have any missing metal. It is plenty rigid.
John, I hesitated to fill it further because it was at half full and it was already carrying 53#. Assuming it is a 65#-er, it seemed that if I went to 2/3 or 3/4 it would get too heavy. I have some more lakers I can add, I just don't want to overload it.
Oh and Rick, I did use 46/70 - and it is nice to hear from another Coloradoan!
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Post by connrock on Mar 28, 2012 12:05:37 GMT -5
John, Irregardless of the weight,,,if you don't fill the barrel (with a mix of different size rocks)to the proper level the rocks won't tumble properly. As you can see here in the photo,when I did a "thing" on Apache Tears,I have almost 8 lbs total weight in a 6lb barrel.The rubber gasket,plastic nut and aluminum cover are not included in this weight on the scale and I think they would make it pretty close to a full 8lbs if not a tad over? I think that any barrel that's loaded properly will weigh more then what the "size/weight" of the tumbler really is,,,,especially the bigger tumblers. My 15 pounders are always way over 15 lbs when they hit the machine and I've run them for years now. I doubt very seriously if the tumbler manufacturers actually think about what a properly loaded barrel is as far as a mixed size load? You can keep a 15lb barrel to 15 lbs if it's loaded with all the same size rocks but not if smaller rocks are added. As for amounts of "rough" grit I use a "formula" of 1 lb of grit for every 10 lbs of rocks. Here I have 4.60 lbs of rocks,,, Here I have the amount in lbs of grit I used for that load,,,, I use 60/90 grit but think this can be used for any grit used to rough rocks. Good luck with "Daisy Mae"! LOL NEVER give a rock tumbler a masculine name,,,,it'll be WAY too rough on the rocks! LOL connrock
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Mar 28, 2012 12:49:00 GMT -5
I agree with Daniel: Lakers will badly chip and fracture if the barrel is not full enough! Load it at least 2/3 full, 3/4 is better. I speak from experience.
In my experience, my 50# tumbler does produce results faster than my 15# tumbler. I've always put that down to the extra weight helping with the grind.
Chuck
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herchenx
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Member since January 2012
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Post by herchenx on Mar 28, 2012 13:03:45 GMT -5
Thanks all,
I will head home at lunch and load it up so it is more full.
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