Final Tumble of 2022 - Final results from the Thumlers UV18

[@LanceDean]

Nice work as always, Ed. I liked how you wiped up around the lid of the Ultra-Vibe. Drives me crazy to see fellow rock tumblers that never clean off anything on these hundreds of dollar machines. 👍

[@puliendopiedrasdecostarica]

Wow beautiful pieces nice shine.

[@archive8080]

This is an awesome machine. If I had the room for it and could afford it(assume it's expensive?) I would buy it in a heartbeat.

[@kimdedominicis6893]

So bummed that you’re done until spring😢. Have a great winter!

[@bunk822]

Nice rocks

[@edcctf]

Thank You!! :)

[@ssb83221]

Set a cardboard box upside down over the tumbler. Muffles a lot of the noise.

[@jkoons]

Now everyone is going to know I am over 50 and still in school! :) In all seriousness, James - if you are watching, even the adults are learning from your teacher. Can't wait until spring!

[@edwardrick7388]

What is the frosting, why does it happen? I've noticed it from the lot-o now. Also cloudy reflections. Have you encountered that before? Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks for the great videos.

[@edcctf]

I have had it. Sometimes it can be that you have a rock in your batch that is harder than the rest and it is chipping or scratching the other rocks. I'm very guilty of this, I tend to have all kinds of rock. You really are best off doing batches of one kind of rock... It can also be residue from the slurry and some people do an extra step where they tumble the batch an extra few hours up to an extra day with just water and dove soap (called a burnishing stage). I haven't really noticed a significant difference from a burnish so I don't tend to do them.

[@susananderson9619]

Ok, so what's the end result? Do you turn the rocks into something

[@edcctf]

Just shiny. That's all I was looking for!

[@justinclock337]

What are the white little ceramic chunk pieces and where can I get them?

[@edcctf]

It's called ceramic media and it is basically filler/cushioning. By going with a fair amount of it my rocks won't be slamming against each other as bad as if it were all rocks. I buy mine from The Rock Shed or Kingsley North whichever has the best price when I need it. (By the way, those are the only two places I'll buy grit as well.)

[@edwardrick7388]

Im thinking about a replacement for the Lot-o, because of its design but why on earth is the shaft made out of a material that can rust? That seems like incredibly poor design. If forks and knives don't rust, why should that shaft. Is this allot of upkeep? I just don't trust threads... Is there any way to put a material on the shaft so it doesn't rust?

[@edcctf]

That's a good point. I have seen videos where people have said that they replaced the center post and put in I think a stainless steel center post that wouldn't rust. I hadn't thought much more about it, but you are absolutely right, for the cost of the machine it should probably come with a stainless steel center post. Realistically, you aren't going to keep it dry. There's no way to do that. I've oiled mine and I've kept it functional, but I also use that tumbler infrequently. I love my LotO, but it is limited in the size of the rocks you can put in it so I usually end up using the Thumlers once or twice a year when I have some bigger rocks I want to tumble.