I am planing on making my own tumbler, I have a few assorted bearings, steel rod and acouple of electric motors. Has anyone got ant tips on the design?
Hi John, I saw a guy make a high capacity tumbler with a truck
tire, you know, with a flat tred face, and cut two pieces of round
plywood the and sandwiched the thing together with one bolt in the
middle. Then he made a narrow box for the tire to sit in and
mounted a pipe for a roller and another atached to a motor! Man it
works good. J.A.
You can use a piece of 6 to 12in long PVC pipe with end cap on one
end and the other end with a screw in trap cap of 4 to 6 in dia.
Your motor can be 1/8 to 1/4 HP. depending on the size of your
pipe. 1/8 hp. on 6 in long by 4 in dia. 1/4 hp on 12in long by 6in
dia. Motor RPM 1750 RPM is good [cheapest to buy and easest to
find] reduce the RPM with gear reduction of 25 to 1 ratio. If you
use a motor of a different speed remember the container should
rotate about 60 to 80 times a min. The speed of the unit will
depend on what you are tumbling in the tumbler, so gear the unit as
to your needs.
Hope this helps you Jim Fagan
omf@aol.com
PS. As a knife maker I make most of my own equipment,. I have made
tumblers, vacuum casters, buffers, grinders, heat treat ovens and
forges to weld and melt ferrous and non ferrous metals. I use what
I make and will help others make their own equipment.
Jim, Have you posted directions for how to make a small oven? I
would like to be able to use it for annealing, granulation, and
perhaps applique soldering. Thank you for any help. Ruth
Foxymom123
No, I have not posted plans for a oven. Email me what you have in
mind {size} and I will send you some drawings of different types of
construction that you can use. The thing you want to keep in mind
is what type of tools you have to work with and what type scrap or
junk parts you have to draw from. If the large parts [box with
door, fire brick and heating element] have to be purchased then you
do not save money. The price of the parts will range from one
hundred to two hundred dollars depending on what you can scrounge
up. Example: one small tool cabinet [metal], switch from a electric
fring pan, used soft fire brick, kiln heating element [1000 Watt]
with these you add a thermocouple with a gage [new] and you can
assemble a oven. If you can find or locate for little or no money
all or most of the items then build the oven. If you have to buy
these items you would be better of to buy a used oven or new one.
Jim
omf50@aol.com
Hi John,
You will need a reduction gear to get the tumbler down to a
sensible speed. It’s also a good idea to make a framework to hold
the whole thing together.
Richard Whitehouse
UK
Hi Ruth
There is a small book that you can get that tells you haw to make
a number of things that is used in casting and one of them is a
small furnace for dewaxing. The design of this would give you a
starting point put as someone has pointed out unless you can get
materials at a very low cost it may not be worth it.
The book is called :-
Handbook of Lost Wax or Investment Casting
by James E. Sopcak
pub by Gem Guides Book Co
Pico Rivera. CA 90660
ISBN 935182-28-4
Could we worth having on your bookshelf.
Hope it is of some help. Best wishes.
Major
Major Boyce @pyramid
The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
EVERYBODY has a talent. What is rare is the courage to follow that talent to
the dark place where it leads.