Lortone 33B Rotary Tumbler Barrel Guide Repair Tip/Tutorial

[Enigman]

Lortone 33B Rotary Tumbler Barrel Guide Repair Tip/Tutorial

1) Have you ever been near your Lortone 33B tumbler while it was running and heard a funny hissing noise like; tsssssst tsssssst tsssssst tsssssst tsssssst tsssssst? If so, then your nylon guide bearing disk at the end of the barrel galley may be worn out. I heard mine doing that the other day and when I removed the barrels I found what you see in the photo. The guide was completely worn flat and allowing the barrel lid to rub against the metal end wall. If this has happened to you, this repair tip is one way you can replace the guide easily and inexpensively. Oddly, the end guide seems to be the only part Lortone does not offer as a replacement part. Maybe they think it will never wear out. I can’t imagine why it’s not offered. But not to worry because it’s easy to fix with a few dollars worth of standard items from your local hardware store.

2) The three items you will need are a nylon washer, a metal washer, and a sheet metal screw. In the photo you can see the three items I used. The nylon washer is for a 3/8 inch bolt size, but the more important size is the O.D. which in this case is 7/8 inch. That diameter is needed to provide enough clearance between the barrel and the end wall. The metal washer only needs to be big enough to cover the nylon washer hole size and admit the sheet metal screw. I rummaged through my leftover hardware boxes for the metal washer and screw so I am not positive of the screw size, but I think it is a #8. The screw just needs to be a tight fit in the hole that is left after removing the old guide bearing. You can pretty much wing it on the metal parts, but the nylon washer sizing is important. The 2 pack shown here was 62 cents at Home Depot. If you had to buy everything it would probably be less than three dollars total.

3) The first task is to remove the old riveted guide bearing. Although the rivet head on top is much larger than the flared rivet bottom, it is much easier to grind off the head of the rivet rather than try to drill out or grind off the bottom of the rivet and the old nylon guide gives you a buffer to avoid damaging the frame. If you have a Dremel tool or hand drill with a diamond bit or grinding bit it only takes a minute to grind off the rivet head.

4) Once you have the old guide removed you’re home free. Stack the metal washer on top of the nylon washer and insert the screw into the hole in the frame. (If you don’t like sheet metal screws you could also use a #6 bolt and nut.) Since the nylon washer hole is much larger than the screw, push the nylon washer as far as possible toward the barrel galley and then tighten the screw.

5) Presto! … You now have a new guide bearing and the best thing is that it will last much longer than the original off center factory guide. With this new one, if a flat spot develops, just loosen the screw and rotate the nylon washer a bit and tighten the screw again. Shazam! … You have a new bearing surface again. This new bearing holds the barrel about ¼ inch from the end wall of the galley. Just check on the bearing once in a while and you’ll be good for a long time and if needed, future nylon washer replacement is quick and easy. I love Lortone tumblers, but this is the one place I’ve seen that they really dropped the ball on design. This replacement fixes that issue without any significant expense. This also works on the model 33-1.5 which uses the same chassis as the 33B.

[Jugglerguy]

I have spun the nylon guide every way possible over the past five years, so it's pretty well worn out all the way around. It's about time that I replace mine too. Thanks for the tutorial.

[cardiobill]

Ditto what Rob said

Bill

[Wooferhound]

My dual barrel Loretone QT66 has the same setup with a guide on the motor end that the Knurled Nut rides in, and the other end is the pop riveted nylon washer. When I first got it up and running, The Free Barrel would ride over to the nylon washer and spin against it. I added cardboard strips under the tumbler on the washer-end to tilt the tumbler up enough so the barrels always stay together on the Guide-end. So no worries about fixing it.