LOT-O-TUMBLER
& LOT-O-TWIN-TUMBLER
MOUNTING INSTRUCTIONS
Using Solid Cement Block (40 Ibs.) - Coat top of block with latex base
paint (old inside wall paint will do nicely).
Allow to dry. Remove protective
paper from double sticky tape on bottom of board. Apply unit to floor and press
down firmly.
For Lot-O-Twin-Tumbler - Use solid cement block 12 x 12 x 12 or 100 lb. minimum or
on cement floor. Remove protective paper from double sticky tape on bottom of
board. Apply unit to floor or cement block and press down firmly.
CAUTION
1.
Keep
fingers and grease off double sticky pads.
2.
The
heavier the base the better the action.
3.
Do
not mount on table or bench without putting unit on block first.
4.
On
Lot-O-Twin-Tumbler both barrels must be in use.
5.
Plastic
pellets are not recommended in a vibratory tumbler.
OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
1. Fill barrel with agates - about four
pounds of stone. These can be mixed sizes. (Action is fast, but gentle.) It is
important to keep the barrel full. If after grinding it is not full, add some
from a previous batch to keep it full.
2. Rinse agates with water to remove
mud. (Submerse filled barrel in container of water. Remove, shake and drain off
water.
3. Replace barrel in frame firmly. Add
2 Tbls. medium 180 to 220 grit size.
Place cap on barrel.
(Punch small hole in cap to relieve pressure.) Add 1/2
cupful of water to keep a creamy consistency.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 at 12 hour intervals until desired
amount of agate has been removed. Average time: 3 to 4
days. Add 1 capful of water after 12
hours if rocks cannot be washed.
5. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for 24 hrs.
6. Repeat steps 2 and 3, substituting
600 grit. Tumble 24 hours or less. Use only ½ teaspoon of 600
grit.
7. Repeat steps 2 and 3 using only ½ teaspoonful
of tin oxide, Rapid Polish No. 61, or Lusterite
Formula II.
Tumble 24 hours, and no more. Rinse thoroughly and admire.
Suggestion for easy clean-up: About 15 minutes before cleaning
out each time, add 1 cap full of water and about 2 drops of liquid detergent.
Let run for 15 minutes and your rocks will wash off sparkling clean.
DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS
STEP
1: ROUGHING
In the roughing cut
the goal is to remove the undesirable outer portion of the agate. This
usually takes the longest time and is not as critical as some of the other
steps. With the Lot-O-Tumbler, use of a medium grit such as 180-220
will do the fastest job of removing this outer material. (Use of a
coarser grit such as 60-90 silicon carbide does not improve the
performance.) The grit has to cling to the agate as it rotates in the
barrel. Coarser grit tends to fall off the agate as it rolls and delays
the roughing action. In order to grind away the rock, the grit must be in
between the agates when they come together. If two rocks merely tumble
together, there will be a buffing action but the outer portion will not be
removed. Anything which keeps the agate from coming together on the
silicon carbide grit will reduce the action of removing the undesirable rock.
The best action is
achieved by wetting the rock just enough for the silicon carbide grit to cling
to the agate as it tumbles. This is achieved by putting just enough water
in the unit to insure that the agate is wet. If too much water is used,
it will cushion the vibration and increase the roughing time. For a full barrel of agate in a variety of sizes, start with only
the agate wet. If the agate cannot be rinsed in 12 hours add 1
capful (red tumbler cap) of water.
The Lot-O-Tumbler
breaks down the 180-200 grit rather rapidly. Therefore, on the first two
days of tumbling, there should be a fair amount of grit placed in the
unit. The usual amount is about two tablespoons of silicon carbide.
When the agates are washed daily mud and grit will be observed coming
out. There should be a small amount of the original grit remaining to
insure that the unit is grinding over the full period of time. On the
last day of the 180-220 grit, it is best to use a light charge of silicon
carbide so that all the grit will break down and the agate will start to polish.
This insures that none of the coarse grit is carried over into the next polish.
As the grit breaks
down and the excess material is removed from the agate, mud forms inside the
barrel. This mud tends to reduce the action of the unit so regular
removal is important. The barrel and agate should be washed every 12
hours if possible. In this washing, where the same grit is used, it is
sufficient to simply fill the unit with water and swish it around. For a
faster roughing the mud and excess material should be removed every 12 hours.
Some difficulty may
be encountered in this first step if the lid pops off the unit. This is
due to the generation of gas during tumbling. The problem can be reduced
by punching a small hole in the top of the cap to allow the gas to escape
without removing the lid. The normal grip of the lid is gas tight and
should remain on the unit unless it is stretched by some means. In this
case, a substitute lid can be used from such items as potato chip, dog food, or
cat food cans.
STEP 2: START OF
FINISHING OPERATION
In the first
step of tumbling agate, a rough grinding action is used to remove the
undesirable overburden of the agate. This rough grinding action produces
a finish which is smooth and is dull in appearance. In order to obtain a
bright luster, the external surface of the agate must be smoothed so that no
visible scratches are seen. This intermediate polish or 600 grit silicon
carbide is used to start the polishing action. By allowing the tumbler to
run fort a longer time on the roughing grit it is possible to break down the
roughing grit and start the polishing process.
However, this process takes longer than changing to a finer grit.
In the
Lot-O-Tumbler process all that is necessary is the rinsing of the agate and
dumping of all the old mud and grit. 1/2 teaspoon of the fine or 500F
silicon carbide type is added. This insures the breaking down of the grit
and less difficulty of carry-over to the polish stages. After 24 hours of tumbling the agate should show an increase in
luster.
In order to polish
materials such as Apache tears and quartz, it is necessary to cushion the
action in the 600 grit and polish of the tumbler. This cushioning is easy
to do by adding more water with the grit to reduce the action and bring on a
luster to these hard-to-tumble materials. The grit and agate are placed
in the barrel and enough water is added to be visible through the top of the
agates. This cushioning material is adequate to produce a fine finish on
hard to tumble materials without the addition of any other materials such as
tumbling pellets.
STEP 3: FINAL OR
POLISH STEP (A
separate barrel is recommended for this step)
Before proceeding
into this step all the material being tumbled should be removed from the
tumbler barrel and inspected for any residue grit left from the previous
step. The barrel, too, should be inspected to be sure that it is
clean. If any of this grit is carried over it will continue to scratch
the surface and prevent development of a high luster. With the proper
amount of 500 grit there is less chance of carry over
and less washing to be done.
This polishing
operation is accomplished in the same ways as the previous steps except that a
polishing compound such as Rapid Polish, tin oxide, or Lusterite
Formula II is added instead of the silicon carbide. Again, only enough
water to wet the agate is placed in the barrel. Then add about ½ teaspoon
of polish - just enough to insure a light coating on the outside of the agate -
indicating that enough polish has been added. This polish does not break
down like the silicon carbide and can be reused. However, the quantity used in this unit is so
small that it may be more practical to discard after use. The risk of contamination of polish increases
with each reuse and could produce inferior results.
On the hard to
polish materials such as Apache tears and quartz, the polish is introduced
along with sufficient water to submerse the agate. This provides the
cushioning action necessary to produce a shine on these materials. In
some instances it may be desirable to operate the unit for more than one day to
produce the desired finish. Usually one day is enough time, but longer
times will not materially effect the agate and may
produce a higher shine on hard to polish material but not on agate.
SPECIAL OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES
SLABS: Aluminum oxide pellets are
recommended for slabs. To keep them apart and for
faster grinding action. It is possible to tumble a full load of
slabs in the lot O Tumbler by using the regular techniques described.
Some difficulty is encountered if the slabs are not completely smooth, or are
stepped by the saw cut. A longer tumbling time will remove the
step. If the slabs do not seem to polish adequately, the difficulty is
usually in the roughing of the slabs prior to polish. A fair amount of
material must be removed from the surface the slab prior to polishing.
This may involve considerably more time than the three days necessary for the
round agate. More frequent washing is needed. Follow the normal
instructions being used for cabochons below, after roughing to achieve a high
luster in 4 days.
CABOCHONS OR FREE FORMS: The finishing of cabochons
cab be completed in the Lot-O-Tumbler, normally if the
cabochons have been taken from a 220 grit silicon wheel. Normally the
amount of material removed in one day of tumbling in 220 grit is equivalent to
the thickness of the pencil line used to mark the cab, and almost insignificant
in the mounting of the cab. Cabochons finished with a tumbler are
sometimes more desirable than those finished by hand because the tumbler
polishes both front and back of the cab. Day 1: Put cabochons or performs that you want polished in
barrel, fill with aluminum oxide pellets to 3/4 full, turn on machine and add
aluminum oxide pellets to get best rotation. Add 1/2 of red cap of water,
1 1/2 tsp of 180-220 grit. Run for 24 hours. Wash out and put
contents back into barrel. Day 2:
Add 1/2 tsp of Fine Grit run for another 24 hours and wash out. Day 3: For the best results we
have found that on the 3rd day, to add 1/2 tsp of 1000 or 1200 graded aluminum
oxide grit. Run for another 24 hours then wash out. Day
APACHE TEARS: In the finishing of Apache
tear, it is important to remember that they are delicate and chip easily.
Care should be taken in the final finishing to prevent chipping. Tears
are started in the same way as agate with 200 grit and a small amount of water
in the tumbler to assure fast removal of the extra material. This
requires two to three days of tumbling. Wash away the excess material
that has been removed and replace the grit after each day. After roughing
in 200 grit, all of the tears should have a uniform surface. When the
tears have been ground so that most of the chips in the tears have disappeared,
the finishing operation can be started. The tears are placed in the
barrel with enough water so that the water is visible down through the top of
the tears, and 1/2 teaspoon of 600 grit added to begin the polishing. After
18 hours, the tears will begin to shine but will still look cloudy and
non-transparent.
At this point all
evidence of grit is removed from the tears and the tumbler barrel. The
tears are put back in the barrel with water to cover and one teaspoon of Rapid
Polish 61 or tin oxide for polishing. Two days is usually sufficient to
produce a high luster on the tears. (Experimentation with a long period
of time in the 600 grit will help the operator find the fastest time for
polishing this material.
When tumbling tears
it is recommended that one tear be removed daily to use as a comparison with
the progress of the others. If the corners are shining while the flat
portion is still cloudy, a longer period of tumbling is needed to improve
appearance. If the corners are checking out and the flat portions are
shiny, the action is too aggressive. It is important to keep the tumbler
as full of tears a possible during the polishing operation in order to
avoid the too aggressive action.
QUARTZ: All styles of what is
normally referred to as quartz are handled in the same way as the Apache tears.
The same method of roughing and polishing will produce excellent results.
TURQUOISE: Turquoise is an extremely
soft material. Care must be taken in the roughing cut so that not too
much material is removed. Start with a 200 grit,
or better yet, plastic pellet with grit imbedded and check the operation
periodically. Intervals of two or three hours are usually adequate in the
roughing cut if turquoise. The finishing procedure is the same as for
normal agate but the polish will be less than adequate. After normal polishing the unit can be filled with water on the
polish cycle to obtain a more lustrous finish. A dry polish is
then required to obtain the best results such as that used to polish silver to
brass (walnut hulls and red rouge).
SMALL STONES: Small stones are processed in
the same manner as other material of similar hardness. Sometimes the
smaller stones will increase the weight of the tumbler and reduce the
action. If the stones are all less than 1/4 inch in diameter, the load
size should be reduced.
LARGE STONES: Normally anything that can be
put thought the lid of the tumbler can be tumbled. If one or two large
stones are tumbled, the remaining load should be of small size in order to
obtain roper tumbling action. It is not advisable to tumble just two or
three large stones by themselves. Large stones are handled in the same
manner as other material of the same hardness. A mixture of sizes in a
single load is suggested.
WARNING: If the material in the tumbler
does not roll, difficulty will be encountered in all steps. A small load
is one reason for lack of rolling. The other reason may be mechanical,
lack of adequate anchor weight, broken springs or faulty motor.
Cerium oxide has
not proved to be a good polish for use in the Lot-O-Tumbler.
Plastic pellets are
not recommended for a vibratory tumbler.
The unit as it is
shipped from the factory is resonantly tuned to provide the maximum amplitude
of vibration under a full load condition. The tuning is accomplished by
the position of the tuning bar which is underneath the springs on the motor end
of the unit. Moving the tuning bar changes the amplitude of
vibration. It is not recommended that this be done until the operator has
become familiar with the unit. With the tuning set for maximum vibration it is
important to have a full load of agate. Anything less than the four
pounds which the unit is designed to tumble will generate an action that is too
aggressive and could result in damage to the unit or to the agate. Do not
attempt to tumble small quantities of precious material without providing a
filler to bring the weight close to four pounds. Use a tennis ball with a
hole, set in barrel instead of the cap for a few stones. Be sure to add
agate to the regular barrel.
Taken from Instruction booklet for
the Lot-O-Tumbler manufactured by BELT INC