Building a Rock Tumbler

[@MichiganRocks]

Nice work, Thomas! That looks really great and I love how you edited your video. Happy tumbling!

[@99Rockhounding]

I'm glad you liked the editing. I worked almost as hard at that as I did on the project lol.

[@MichiganRocks]

@@99Rockhounding I probably understand that more than most.

[@erikwolf5898]

Not only is your rock tumbler impressive so is the video presentation . Well done man.

[@detour_dave]

Most complete video I encountered on the topic. You do a nice job describing the entire process (end-to-end) especially like the "math" diagram; greatly appreciated.

[@emdorris3319]

Wow! What a great job you did! I had to buy mine from a seller of Lortone products and it was very expensive. I bought the 12lb for larger rocks and the 2-barrel Lortone B. I would rather have it all in one machine like you. I had to be on a waiting list for the 12lb one. It took months and months to get it. Good for you. You are very smart and creative and fun to watch.

[@99Rockhounding]

Thank you so much! That was another reason I went with building my own too. The Lortone tumblers have been very hard to come by lately. Even the 12lb barrel was hard to find, and when I finally did, I got the last one.

[@sandmaker]

Lots a good thinking to fulfill your mission. Great job and it's yours to modify as needed. Super job Be happy, safe and stay healthy 😷⚒

[@upnorthadventureswithccc]

This is a great video for those who consider building one their self. I have thought about it many times. I really like how yours turned out and works. I like the idea of one larger barrel. Thanks much for sharing 👍😊

[@99Rockhounding]

Thank you for watching!

[@RagnarRocks]

Awesome job on the build man! Looking forward to seeing the fruits of your labor!

[@99Rockhounding]

Me too!

[@flowerqueen7630]

This is what ingenuity and golden hands might create 🔧 Awesome!

[@99Rockhounding]

Thank you so much!

[@sarahread1507]

Both my librarian/maker heart and my rockhounding heart are delighted by this! Absolutely awesome project, Thomas!

[@99Rockhounding]

Thank you very much!

[@kevinhartman9108]

That's awesome Thomas. I've thought about putting together a tumbler of my own, but didn't really know where to start. This video helped sooo much. Thanks for the detailed materials needed. Maybe one day, we can all have a tumbler cabinet like Rob @Michigan Rocks

[@99Rockhounding]

That's the dream😂 Good luck if you decide to make one!

[@starbug2601]

Fantastic Thomas I can’t wait to see the results from your brilliant build

[@99Rockhounding]

Thanks! Me too!

[@olmilfishrock]

GREAT VIDEO!!!! I think I just found my first project to work on this winter!! Thanks for sharing!! Keep rockin!!👍😎

[@99Rockhounding]

It would be a great winter project!

[@staceysakkinen1270]

Nice job. I have the Chicago tumbler from harbor freight and l have had mine for about a year now. It runs great. I do oil it up after a 4 week run. Keep up the great videos.

[@99Rockhounding]

Thank you. I've heard some people have had great luck with theirs.

[@Bob-Is-A-PotterNow]

Having parts from a rotary laser engraver attachment and few other odds and ends, the thought of a DIY tumbler appealed. I wanted a larger tank than the kit I'd started with provided. So, I have made a 3D printed a 12 pond capacity tank using PLA and coating the interior (wear surface) with a 5mm layer of a tough silicone I cast in place. Still working on the project, but it should be functional in a week or so. Thanks for the inspriation. My tank, though reliant on some expensive tools, has been fabricated from less than $25.00 in materials. It'll be interesting to see how well it holds up. Enjoyable new hobby!

[@patriciamckean4186]

Wow, looks very labor intensive. Good job.

[@carmenevans7651]

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for finding your KZbin channel.

[@99Rockhounding]

Thank you so much!

[@carmenevans7651]

@@99Rockhounding my agate scouting mission took place today. We went with the better weather. Found one small but unique agate. Nothing more to report.

[@cliffmiller1021]

Anxious to see what it brings to the table

[@99Rockhounding]

I'm hoping to have a batch ready pretty soon here.

[@CityRockhounding]

Wow, Thomas, what a cool build. That should last you a long time. Real solid build

[@99Rockhounding]

Thank you! I sure hope it does.

[@kylaabegglen1275]

That is awesome and pretty impressive too! Can't wait to see your tumbled beauties when they're done. Thanks for a great video Thomas!✌🤠

[@99Rockhounding]

Thanks for watching! I'm excited to see them too!

[@donnalantz7981]

That was cool to see. Both of my harbor freight tumblers died only after a few months as well. Hard and expensive lesson learned. You did a great job. Thanks for sharing.

[@99Rockhounding]

Yeah I've heard you have to get lucky when it comes to those. Thanks for watching.

[@donnalantz7981]

That's why I bought 2 lortone tumblers. I love them.

[@99Rockhounding]

@@donnalantz7981 They seem great, but they're tough to find right now.

[@donnalantz7981]

I know they are hard to find, they sell out fast. Have you tried Kingsley North? I don't remember where I ended up purchasing mine from. Good luck finding one. Well worth the wait.

[@johncloar1692]

Thanks Thomas very good job. When thing come together it is very satisficing. Thanks for sharing you video.

[@99Rockhounding]

Thanks for watching!

[@scottpeters5624]

As an engineer myself, I'm staggered how well you thought, the whole project through, planned and considered so many variables in that thought process ,, well bloody done Thomas!!! 😃 Elon musk, should snap up young minds like yours,!!!

[@99Rockhounding]

Thank you very much! I wanted to make sure this was really planned out so that it didn't end up as an expensive box of parts.

[@j.ericswede7084]

Nice Job Thomas. I too recognized the "Engineering Mind at Work"! How so?, My Dad was a Mechanical Engineer and my Grandfather was a Head Millright in a Lumber Mill. #ItsAGift

[@ericadobrenski4477]

Very cool. I’ve been thinking about how to build one. You have some really good ideas. Nice job!!!

[@99Rockhounding]

It was well worth the effort in my opinion! Thanks for watching!

[@brianholcomb940]

I think it turned out awesome! Thanks for sharing!

[@99Rockhounding]

Thanks for watching!

[@virginiarocks]

Thank you. This is something I’d consider doing now! Well done

[@99Rockhounding]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Serpico1954]

Thanks for the breakdown…inspiration for my next project. 👍

[@caputdraconis999]

Thank you Bhai.... ❤ From India 🇮🇳

[@williamvazzana4923]

Very nice and well thought out my friend. You did amazing on the build and the making and editing of this video. I myself am getting ready to try and build a rock tumbler system. I’ve bought myself 9 3lbs tumblers and am trying to find a couple 12lbs tumblers. I to have used Chicago Electric tumblers. I have two double barrels going right now as I type. I have had to take them apart and replace parts on them at least 13 times. I’m done messing with low quality things so it’s time to build. Hopefully mine will be as good as your and Rob’s from Michigan Rocks :). Once again we’ll done and I truly wish you the very best in life my friend.

[@99Rockhounding]

Thank you very much! Those Chicago Electric tumblers are frustrating. Making your own tumbler would be a great winter project.

[@Kötkylä]

Hello from Finland. Great video 👍 and nice tumbler.

[@wyomingadventures]

Janice turned out great! I would like to do this some day but for now I'm going to try out my new Lortone. Looking forward to seeing what Janice does. Great job Thomas!

[@99Rockhounding]

Thank you!

[@invictusfarmer7188]

i start projects like this with a pile of parts and a dream. by the time the projects done it looks completely different than what i planned lol. nice simple design. amazon just supplied everything for my new auxiliary flat lap with under bench motor.....cant wait to see what i change in the design lol

[@twistydogcreations683]

I have the same cheap Harbor fraught tumbler and yeah, it has soooo many flaws. I've burned through a dozen of the cheap belts and keep meaning to build my own. Between the crappy plastic bushings and the tiny motor it's a constant job to keep running. Your idea of using the sliding door runners is brilliant. 👍

[@botryoidalbishhh3150]

Super excellent video! Building my own tumbler doesn’t seem as daunting now. 👍✌️

[@99Rockhounding]

Glad it helped!

[@kirbycraft9325]

Really cool. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Hey Thomas I want to say thank you for a WHOLESOME and educational channel. I really enjoy, and learn a lot from it. Keep up the good work, and congratulations on your tumbler.

[@99Rockhounding]

Thank you very much! I'm not sure why, but some of your comments got sent to my "held for review" folder, so I'm sorry I didn't respond to them sooner.

[@jefftrag1956]

I read about how to make an industrial tumbler out of a rear axle of a big semi truck with the rims and tires in place. You want to cut an opening in the highest part of the rim to load rocks. The article said a cover is not needed but I always thought if I was going to do one I would have a hinged door sealed with inner tube rubber. The idea is to set up a motor geared down so the tires rotate slowly and all the rocks stay in the lowest part of the tire at all times tumbling over each other. Each tire can hold about 100 lbs of rocks and you have 4 tires going at all times each one with a different grit. Always use the same tire for the same grit. You rotate the rocks once a week and you have 100 lbs of polished tumbled stones each week. I have been wondering if you could use quartz sand as grit for the first stage to do the rough rounding off? I am posting this on all videos about rock hounding to spread the idea, if this is you channel and you do not like that let me know. The fact that the tumbling will all take place in a rubber tire should help keep the noise down. The rocks should never touch the rim. I have suggested to people that they make a soundproof shed just big enough to be practical so the noise will be minimized. Plus the rubber in a tire is thick and should absorb a lot of the noise. Also you should have a small fan on the motor to keep it cool. A high quality motor will be a must as it will run 24 hours a day. I am no expert but with the proper gearing the motor should not be under too much stress. I would sell the tumbled stones. Once tumbled, you grade them by quality and type. Some would be really valuable. I bet you could average $10 usd per pound with just good found material and more if you have high grade material. Definitely not for the weekend rock hound but if you sell stones or want to, what a cheap way to start. You could tumble other people's rocks for a fee or shares too. You could make one with car tires for a smaller scale operation. There has to be a lot of people with 30 year in the making, 3 ton pile of rocks out behind their house. With this they could see results from all that collecting.

[@soozek]

Great job! My tumbler also died after about 4 months of use, perhaps a little less. Although I’m mechanically inclined, I’m not patient enough to make my own, so I’ll be purchasing my next tumbler from Lortone if they ever get them back in stock. I’m thrilled for you that you designed and made your own tumbler, and I can’t wait to see the rocks that come out of it!

[@99Rockhounding]

Thank you! That was another reason for building mine. I had a heck of a time even finding the 12lb barrel.

[@MrMadenuff]

Nice presentation buddy.

[@MNpicker]

Awesome job Thomas!! Turned out great👍!! I have been wanting to make a double 12lb tumbler for a very long time..the winters can get lengthy here in Minnesota..I know I have all the parts... I might as well do it😎

[@99Rockhounding]

Go for it!!

[@dustinfindsrocks]

Awesome work dude 👍🏼

[@99Rockhounding]

Thanks a ton!

[@carmenevans7651]

Well done! And here I had an old sump pump in the basement.

[@99Rockhounding]

There you go! Now you know what to do with it🤣

[@carmenevans7651]

@@99Rockhounding yeah, give it to a rockhound who's into tumbling.

[@carmenevans7651]

Do you have an email I can send my rock scouting report to? If you don't want to put it here, I can send it to Rob and have him forward it.

[@99Rockhounding]

@@carmenevans7651 Do you have Instagram at all? You could send me a message that way. I still have to set up an email for this channel.

[@carmenevans7651]

I'm not on Instagram. Does it work if I send it to Rob?

[@dragonkilt]

Good job. I made one last April.

[@99Rockhounding]

Nice!

[@toddedeker3528]

Cool!! Thanks for sharing!!

[@littlehills]

nice build

[@Ken_G.]

See!! That's why you never throw away wood scraps. I coulda saved myself 3 bucks right there. You did save the door rollers though, so some major points there. Oh, and here's the math, you just needed 2 seconds to get it, right? Nicely done man, beautiful engineering. You'll have to put up a video at some point on tumbling the rocks themselves on there. The barrel speed on that 12 pounder seems slow, I'd be interested to see how that works out too. Bet it would be great with softer and more fragile materials.

[@99Rockhounding]

Thank you! I don't think I could ever make a better rock tumbling tutorial than this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/moqqd5SiZcpkjbs I've noticed in the big barrel there's usually little chips in there, so I'm not sure if it would be better for more fragile stuff. There's also more weight on the rocks, so it might cause softer stuff to wear away faster too.

[@Ken_G.]

@@99Rockhounding Yeah, I love his stuff, he makes great vids. Very cool too, answered a bunch of questions for me when I got started. I've been tumbling about a year now, just got a little Lortone 3 lb. one. Actually got a variety of diamond tips for my Dremel a couple of days ago and just today started going through all of the ones I've done & started grinding away bad spots so I can re tumble them.

[@ruthchapman3847]

Great job

[@99Rockhounding]

Thank you!

[@stephenrothwell8142]

When I watched your first video, I thought. He's quiet but I bet he's a smart cookie. Future Tesla. Awesome stuff.

[@99Rockhounding]

Thank you so much!

[@ФёдорЗародышев-т2ц]

Hi! Great video, thank you! What can you say about these rubberized barrels? These are the barrels that are sold with ball mills on Aliexpress. I bought one and ground coal with glass balls for 8 hours. The result is not very good. The grinding is bad, the coal shines and sticks to the walls, although I dried it at a temperature of 100 degrees Celsius for about an hour. However, I saw many videos on KZbin using such rubberized barrels and the result is good. What could be the problem? Do you need heavier balls? Lead or brass? I tried with different rotation speeds

[@deniseview4253]

Great job! Hope it lasts longer. Which it sounds like it will.

[@99Rockhounding]

That's the plan lol. So far it's been running well without any major issues. Thanks for watching!

[@deniseview4253]

@@99Rockhounding can’t wait to see when the rocks are done! 😁

[@sunqwest1]

very nice

[@99Rockhounding]

Thanks!

[@jacknife10000]

That loud sound on the CE is the bearings going out. You gotta keep them lubed

[@innsxtc892]

Love this video and plan to do the same myself! Did you use 1/2" or 3/4" rollers and how far apart did you space the rollers to fit both a 3lb and 12 lb drum?

[@99Rockhounding]

I used 3/4” rollers and they are 3.5” apart from the centers

[@dreamlookautodetailingauto3353]

Nice video! Your tumbler turned out nicely! So, the rock tumbler cost you only $160. Also, I beg to differ... I would recommend anybody to build one. Doesn't hurt to try...If they have a background of making things & determination, they surely can accomplish... If they have the building skills & patients it will happen. I have that drive and I'm sure many others do too.

[@Rocking-SLC]

Great job Thomas! I think you'll get an amazing return on your investment. I'm curious about the name. I think, if I had the fortitude to build a tumbler, I'd name it Rocksanne! Happy holidays.

[@99Rockhounding]

Thank you! Janice was just the first name that popped into my head lol.

[@nevetsrock]

How’s Janus holding up? Just wondering if you would change the design at all after 10 months of use. Thanks

[@innsxtc892]

Would you happen to have URL links to the pulleys and belt that you used or at least the part numbers?

[@d.jensen5153]

1/3 HP sump pump motor. Wonder if it's any more economical to run than my 1/3 HP evaporative cooler motor? According to the wattmeter, it consumes about 160 W without a load. I decided that was too expensive to run for weeks at a time. But maybe I'm a cheapskate. I'm still looking for a motor that can be run 24/7 yet is in the 40W range.

[@sheilanies152]

I want to get another rock tumbler it will be a 3 pound rock tumbler but at target they are sold out . I have 2 2lb rock tumblers and a 1 way to small not much choice at the time,. I use the small one for my small rocks . I have a bad habit of checking the rocks every day to see if they are smooth enough i get by really cheap i have used the same grit for months if it get weak add more to it .Since we have snow here it is hard getting outside washing all of the grit out . I have been giving it 2 or 3 days . 2 are in my bed room so they are loud . I just want to make sure they don't get real hot .National Geographic one of them was a Dr. Hook an older rock tumbler I bought it for 15.00 at a rummage sale that is what got me started rock tumbling .They all use the same belts .

[@99Rockhounding]

That's interesting. Do you get good results when you do it that way?

[@justinavery4047]

1/3 HP! Did you calculate electrical costs with that?

[@jenniferchristenson4200]

Tysm!!!

[@danielcarene6323]

Nice, I am going to make one myself. Can you share where you found your pulley's?

[@99Rockhounding]

I just ordered them off of Amazon. The big one is a 10.25” pulley and the little one is a 1.5” pulley.

[@rippy4freedom]

Awesome 😂

[@BiplabGanguly-lm6hb]

Nice commentry

[@patrickbeaton6697]

cooooooooooool

[@99Rockhounding]

Thanks!

[@adampatterson]

I'd love to use my wood lathe, but I also don't want to run a 1 HP motor for a week 😂

[@RedNeckSurgeyTech]

Very nice. I built mine for $75. Yours will last longer though, I'm sure.

[@thiswildridecalledlife9194]

How many RPM is your moter?

[@laurieowen8696]

What's the potential of making a polisher for bigger rocks?

[@99Rockhounding]

What do you mean by that? I might buy an angle grinder or a rock polisher one day, but this tumbler can already tumble pretty big rocks.

[@laurieowen8696]

@@99Rockhounding how big? I guess that was my question. 😄 like baseball size?

[@99Rockhounding]

@@laurieowen8696 I’ve actually got one in there that’s probably 3lbs or so. It sort of is the shape of a big steak.

[@laurieowen8696]

@@99Rockhounding wow! Ok. Thank you. I might try to follow your lead and build by your model. I'll let you know😉

[@leif901-5]

How much power/money does it cost to run a motor like that for months on end?

[@99Rockhounding]

I really have no idea. Michigan Rocks did a video on how much it costs to run his tumbler, so I've gotta think it's fairly close. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5_ZoqCkjdysfpY

[@DrIndyJones]

Thanks so much for your efforts and putting together this video and showing this that it can be done! And done quite well!!! Several folks have asked about the source for the bearings and the pulleys. Finding those is the part of the job that me. Luckily, I do have an old sump pump in the garage which I think still works. If you have a moment and recollect where you found the pulleys and the bearings I I know that several of us would sure appreciate that, or could you upload a detailed photo of the bearings connected to the rods? Thanks very much either way and I wish you happy rock hunting!

[@Prosecute-fauci]

Is the motor a 1725 RPM motor?

[@99Rockhounding]

Yes it is.

[@nevetsrock]

How’s Janis holding up?

[@TarnishedViking.]

Awesome DIY Bro! {}

[@99Rockhounding]

Thank you!