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Rock Tumbler

jcdammeyer

jcdammeyer

John
Premium Member
A friend of ours has taken up jewellery making and I remembered somewhere in my boxes of stuff I have an old rock tumbler that my mother used when she was into it. I found it, pulled it out and realized why we'd never done anything with it.

1736826569406.png
Seems the drum that holds the rocks and abrasive was missing.

No problem. I have a 3D printer. A bit or research online and I found this one. A lid for each end. So it rides on the drive shaft on the outer part.
1736826959753.png
1736827007543.png


Didn't work well. Slipped with so little in contact with the long shaft. So I put some rubber around it. Better but as soon as I out rocks in it the drum just sat there.

So I designed my own.

1736827120919.png


Works much better but still slips a lot. Even after smoothing out the bumps from the 3D printing.

The problem is the drive shaft and idler are actually a steel shaft covered in a plastic tube. The plastic has hardened over time which isn't surprising given that it's likely 40 years old.

1736827418394.png


Looking for suggestions on what time of hose or tubing to use that would improve on what is currently there.
 
jcdammeyer said:
A friend of ours has taken up jewellery making and I remembered somewhere in my boxes of stuff I have an old rock tumbler that my mother used when she was into it. I found it, pulled it out and realized why we'd never done anything with it.

View attachment 57846Seems the drum that holds the rocks and abrasive was missing.

No problem. I have a 3D printer. A bit or research online and I found this one. A lid for each end. So it rides on the drive shaft on the outer part.
View attachment 57848 View attachment 57849

Didn't work well. Slipped with so little in contact with the long shaft. So I put some rubber around it. Better but as soon as I out rocks in it the drum just sat there.

So I designed my own.

View attachment 57851

Works much better but still slips a lot. Even after smoothing out the bumps from the 3D printing.

The problem is the drive shaft and idler are actually a steel shaft covered in a plastic tube. The plastic has hardened over time which isn't surprising given that it's likely 40 years old.

View attachment 57852

Looking for suggestions on what time of hose or tubing to use that would improve on what is currently there.
Click to expand...
natural rubber tubing, it provides decent grip, and is cheap. try amazon
 
jcdammeyer said:
A friend of ours has taken up jewellery making and I remembered somewhere in my boxes of stuff I have an old rock tumbler that my mother used when she was into it. I found it, pulled it out and realized why we'd never done anything with it.

View attachment 57846Seems the drum that holds the rocks and abrasive was missing.

No problem. I have a 3D printer. A bit or research online and I found this one. A lid for each end. So it rides on the drive shaft on the outer part.
View attachment 57848 View attachment 57849

Didn't work well. Slipped with so little in contact with the long shaft. So I put some rubber around it. Better but as soon as I out rocks in it the drum just sat there.

So I designed my own.

View attachment 57851

Works much better but still slips a lot. Even after smoothing out the bumps from the 3D printing.

The problem is the drive shaft and idler are actually a steel shaft covered in a plastic tube. The plastic has hardened over time which isn't surprising given that it's likely 40 years old.

View attachment 57852

Looking for suggestions on what time of hose or tubing to use that would improve on what is currently there.
Click to expand...
3d print a tube from TPU. I printed an oring replacement for a kitchen tap. Worked like a charm.
 
It actually prints tubes really well. Just stand them on end and they print almost as well as pla. Usually a little stringing but hit them with a heat gun or a torch and they're fine.
 
Doggggboy said:
It actually prints tubes really well. Just stand them on end and they print almost as well as pla. Usually a little stringing but hit them with a heat gun or a torch and they're fine.
Click to expand...
I've ordered a reel. Be here on Wednesday. The Bambu is supposed to have no trouble printing it but it can't go in the AMS so it will hang on the back. Which means I have to figure out how to tell it to assign the reel at the back.
One link talked about just disconnecting the AMS. Then it would be forced to use the back tube but in reality it's on the selection list so there has to be a way. We'll see.

Meanwhile, this is what the idler shaft looks like. The tube was definitely clear at one time.
1736834053851.png
 
Some rocks are too soft to polish.

A small rock tumbler is just the entry drug into the rockhounding hobby. That's how my wife got started . She will find you quite handy as you repair and refurbish the used saws and grinder/polishers. After the semi precious gemstones are shaped and polished, they have to be mounted, so there is silversmithing as well.. But you get to say you are so cheap that she has to make her own jewelry .
 
jcdammeyer said:
A friend of ours has taken up jewellery making and I remembered somewhere in my boxes of stuff I have an old rock tumbler that my mother used when she was into it. I found it, pulled it out and realized why we'd never done anything with it.

View attachment 57846Seems the drum that holds the rocks and abrasive was missing.

No problem. I have a 3D printer. A bit or research online and I found this one. A lid for each end. So it rides on the drive shaft on the outer part.
View attachment 57848 View attachment 57849

Didn't work well. Slipped with so little in contact with the long shaft. So I put some rubber around it. Better but as soon as I out rocks in it the drum just sat there.

So I designed my own.

View attachment 57851

Works much better but still slips a lot. Even after smoothing out the bumps from the 3D printing.

The problem is the drive shaft and idler are actually a steel shaft covered in a plastic tube. The plastic has hardened over time which isn't surprising given that it's likely 40 years old.

View attachment 57852

Looking for suggestions on what time of hose or tubing to use that would improve on what is currently there.
Click to expand...
I coated the drive shaft of mine with a "stop leak" kind of rubber spray. Problem solved.
 
jcdammeyer said:
I've ordered a reel. Be here on Wednesday. The Bambu is supposed to have no trouble printing it but it can't go in the AMS so it will hang on the back. Which means I have to figure out how to tell it to assign the reel at the back.
One link talked about just disconnecting the AMS. Then it would be forced to use the back tube but in reality it's on the selection list so there has to be a way. We'll see.

Meanwhile, this is what the idler shaft looks like. The tube was definitely clear at one time.
View attachment 57854
Click to expand...
On mine you can either disconnect the ptfe tube on the back that feeds the filament into the cabinet or insert a Y fitting and re-connect the AMS to one side and the back reel to the other side. You will have to manually feed the filament through the ptfe tube until it hits the extruder. I've never used the super super soft tpu, just the regular stuff but it has never been a problem. Everything from flexible funnels to bee brood box plugs to pink unicorns.
1736871937535.png
 
My grade 4 teacher at Richmond Elementary in Victoria ( Mrs Scanlon ) always showed us rocks they had a shop on hillside near the orphanage at the time, now their sons have it on Cloverdale I belive.
 
I hate rocks. A number of years ago SWMBO got the bright idea to populate the yard with flat rocks. ***$#@^()^%#^ So out to many rock piles we go, screwing up my back in the process. Several years go by, SWMBO gets ill and passes on. I get to piss off some of my buddies as i encourage their SWMBO's to come to the farm and take as many flat rocks as their husbands can carry.
Frickken rocks never die, they just get moved around.
 
jcdammeyer said:
I've ordered a reel. Be here on Wednesday. The Bambu is supposed to have no trouble printing it but it can't go in the AMS so it will hang on the back. Which means I have to figure out how to tell it to assign the reel at the back.
One link talked about just disconnecting the AMS. Then it would be forced to use the back tube but in reality it's on the selection list so there has to be a way. We'll see.

Meanwhile, this is what the idler shaft looks like. The tube was definitely clear at one time.
View attachment 57854
Click to expand...

Would 3 or 4 (or 10) fattish orings on the shaft give enough friction?
 
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