Stinking Rock Tumbler

[spiffyman]

Thanks for then info. i'm gonna pick up one this weekend

 

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[Cynangyl]

It looks like the best bet is to stick with the Lortone tumblers....we sell a lot of them and have never had a complaint and I know a lot of treasure club members have them as well and we have one running 24/7 here at the warehouse. Not sure why the Chicago ones stink or how long it takes to cure out but if you don't already have a tumbler make sure and get a Lortone one.....or do a sniff test of others? lol Good luck everyone!!

 

[Hank]

It looks like the best bet is to stick with the Lortone tumblers....we sell a lot of them and have never had a complaint and I know a lot of treasure club members have them as well and we have one running 24/7 here at the warehouse. Not sure why the Chicago ones stink or how long it takes to cure out but if you don't already have a tumbler make sure and get a Lortone one.....or do a sniff test of others? lol Good luck everyone!!

Where do you buy the Lortone ? How much? I had a HF tumbler.... ran it for 3 hrs. and the belt broke...like everything else Chinese.

I remember, [after WWII], when everyone laughed at made in Japan. Now, all savy persons buy Jap.

Wonder how long it will take the Chinese to wise up.....start thinking "quality control"?

 

[Cynangyl]

Dallas of K & D detectors is a dealer on TreasureNet and I know he can get you Lortone tumblers. There are many different models of varying sizes as well as some with double drums on them. His user name on Treasure Net is Dallas if you want to contact him to find out the different options. He is a great guy and a lot of help! Have an awesome day!

 

[Ray S ECenFL]

I bought one (single drum),2yrs ago but have never opened it yet.Still out in the garage.You guys are gonna make me go out and open it.BTW,a good tip some time back was that on the Harbor Freight tumblers,when the belt breaks,just replace it with a wide rubber band.Works great and you can buy a pkg of those rubber bands at lots of places.

I have read other posts concerning the belt on this unit and some people replace it with an O ring. I have not looked at the belt to see what it looks like, but an O ring sounds like a good replacement.

After spraying both drums with the anti bacterial sparay (after the scented ammonia bath) the smell has not gone away, but it does not seem to be as strong. I just finished wiping both drums down with alcohol and respraying the antibacterial spray on them again. Will let them air out overnight again.

BTW, I have two drums for my Lortone unit and they work fine on the Harbor Freight unit. I used these two drums to clean my finds for the year.

If I can not get the stink out of the drums an alternative it to purchase replacement drums for a Lortone unit. Hate to have to do that, but it is an option. I have price them out and most places sell them for $20. I have found one place that has them for $10.

http://www.jatayu.com/Merchant2/mer...TPO-0647&Category_Code=TPO-LR&Product_Count=7

Ray S

It appears that the price has gone up since the last time I viewed this web site. You will have to shop around for a better price.

Ray S.

 

[Michigan Badger]

I've been tumbling coins for more years than I can recall.

Back 40 years ago I was laughed to scorn everytime I mentioned cleaning coins with a rock tumbler.

Today probably 99 out of 100 coin cleaners use them to some extent.

About 4 years ago I picked up a THUMLER brand made in the U.S.A. tumbler for $3 at a garage sale. Since then I've cleaned approx. 6000 ancient and modern coins plus many Spanish pieces of eight in just this one little machine...all stink FREE. My coins are in collections all over the world and sold for as much as hundreds.

If you ever purchased a cleaned ancient coin or shipwreck reale cob then you can bet it spent time in some rock tumbler somewhere.

Contrary to those who do not know what they're talking about, a rock tumbler is one of the most gentil cleaning methods known to man. Time is the big thing. Too much time can kill coins. The right amount of time makes them awesome.

Rock tumblers are are least 1000 times superior to electrolysis. Electrolysis actually distroys the metal. I've had $300 ancient coins turn to ashes in the electrolysis bath. I never lost one in a rock tumbler.

I've never owned a stinky tumbler but then I buy U.S. made THUMLERS. I've never had to replace a drive belt. Due to the U.S.A.'s supreme quality materials belts rarely wear out and tumblers seem to last forever. In fact, I've never succeeded in killing a THUMLER machine.

The point: Don't buy that cheap imported crap.

Badger

 

[Hank]

I've never heard of, [nor seen] , any archeologist, museum curator, serious collector, et cetera using a tumbler to clean 'ancient' coins. Electrolysis is always the preferred method.

 

[Michigan Badger]

I've never heard of, [nor seen] , any archeologist, museum curator, serious collector, et cetera using a tumbler to clean 'ancient' coins. Electrolysis is always the preferred method.

The key words here are "heard of."

The knowledgeable cleaners (many times the museum people don't fit into this category) use diamond tools, wooden picking sticks, and believe it or not--tumblers. Sometimes a very short electrolysis is used but generally not because electrolysis kills patina. A rock tumbler with water and gavel smoothes patina.

The tumbler was used to clean most of Mel Fisher's early cobs. Back then we used steel shot but today we do it differently.

Oh, and you misspelled archaeologist. One of my good friends is an archaeologist and I don't want her to be offended.

Hope I'm not boring you.

Badger

 

[eathan]

Mine did the same thing until the belt broke. I put a replacement belt on and it broke also. The rubber O-Ring belt was dry rotted and inadequate. I went to our Harbor Freight Store and they gave me a new belt - Surprise! It was a different design. It is built like a fan belt rather than an o-ring.

I have heard they have had problems with the belts. Replacement belts are a
$1.99 and are of a different design.

I had a customer call a few days ago who had the belt break on their new Lortone after only a few days of use. I got off the phone and called Lortone. They offered to ship another belt straight away at no charge, before I had even asked about replacement.

I was able to get back to the customer in under five minutes to let them know a new belt was on the way. That felt pretty good.

I own a few Harbor Freight tools, but they're built to be cheap to replace vs. worth it to repair, IMHO.

 

[Patrol]

Harbor Freight replaced my broken belt with a new style belt for free, no questions asked.

Having worked in retail:

1. Always talk to the manager rather than a clerk to get the results you want. A clerk can't and won't give anything away lest he lose his job.

2. The way you approach the manager makes a difference. They will react negatively to a confrontational approach. Instead, appeal to their noble side allowing them to show you that they have power and a good nature by giving you a new belt.

3. Thank them for their generosity - not for them but for the next guy that has a problem.

Stores need customers and their managers realize that.

TE

 

[borninok]

Eathan,

For a "normal" load of clad....say 20 coins.....which Lortone model would you recommend? As you can see from previous posts on this thread, I'm in the market to buy a tumbler..........was all set to buy....and then saw Ray's input. I don't want the stinky problem...and I don't want to keep replacing belts. Can you give us some good advice on what quality of a tumbler we should be looking for? i.e., load vs cost of material, etc.
Thanks,
--Mel

borninok

 

[eathan]

For a "normal" load of clad....say 20 coins.....which Lortone model would you recommend? As you can see from previous posts on this thread, I'm in the market to buy a tumbler..........was all set to buy....and then saw Ray's input. I don't want the stinky problem...and I don't want to keep replacing belts. Can you give us some good advice on what quality of a tumbler we should be looking for? i.e., load vs cost of material, etc.

Hi Mel,

I'm still pretty new to carrying the Lortone tumblers, but I would think the 3 Lb (3-A) would handle a double handful of clad without problem. Years ago I worked for a jewelry company and we used 3-As in a production environment to burnish the earrings before packageing for sale. A handful of earrings isn't much of a load, but add stainless steel shot, water and soap and you have a pretty good load. These tumblers ran pretty much 24-7, and while I didn't work with them directly, I don't recall any headaches associated with them.

 

[TXPlugKutter]

You might also try lemon juice. I know that stuff works great for getting the fish smell off your hands after eating seafood.

 

[Haoleman]

That's interesting! I bought some coffee travel mugs from good old Wal Mart and they too smelled the same. What do you expect for that Chinese crap? Probably made from some toxic waste product that they infuse in rubber to get rid of it by shipping it to America as a consumer good!

Terry

 

[spiffyman]

bought mine this past sat. at HF, to my surprise it didnt smell at all , in the last issue of Rock and Gem Feb. 2008, they talked about it in the field notes section, contact their customer service dept. at (800) 444-3353 and "they would be happy to send them a replacement belt kit free of charge" from David Martel Exe. Vice Pres. HFT

 

[borninok]

Thanks, Eathan. And BTW, welcome to TNET! Hope to see you on the various threads. I think dealer participation on this forum can be very useful to all concerned. It helps the dealers understand our needs and questions. Plus, we get to know the dealers and get the benefit of their expertise. They in turn also benefit from our expertise. Win/Win situation, I'd say.

Take care,
Mel

borninok

 

[eathan]

Thanks, Mel. I've been around TNet for a while, just didn't know about dealer membership beyond the classifieds area until today. I mainly come here because I enjoy it, but hope to offer a little insight now and then. I mostly hang out on the Today's Finds and Oregon boards, as well as in the gold prospecting section. Hope to see you around.

 

[Cynangyl]

Definitely want to welcome you to the dealer status on tnet....of course you have been on that status with me at work all along but glad to see you are now a dealer on tnet.

I vote we all hold Eathan down and force him to post the pic of Oliver sitting in the sluice in the Daily Snaphot area! Come on Eathan!! I am sure everyone would love to see who threw cake at you the other day on your birthday! lol

Okay...back onto the tumbler topic. Lortone makes a great tumbler, we have one running at work 24/7 making rocks beautiful so I know it personally. Now we have Eathan on dealer status to get the info from as well as the product if we want. Sounds like a good alternative to ones folks have had issues with although I noticed atleast one person got a good one from HF. That is great!

 

[sandsifter]

This is what I am going to try.Got a pickel jar just the right size. put rubber bands around it for traction. You should be able to see when they are done, and no stink.

 

[eathan]

Thanks, Cyndi.

Sandsifter, I hope it's a plastic pickle jar. I have a feeling a glass jar, after all that tap, tap, tapping would eventually break.

When I was a kid visiting my uncle's place, my brother and I found his big jar of marbles. We played with them for a while and eventually put them back in the jar one at a time. Plink, plink, plink... After we picked them all up we went to put the jar back on the shelf and the bottom of it just stayed sitting right there on the carpet. Marbles went everywhere and the lesson sorta' stuck with me.

I like your idea though. The Costco size plastic Miracle Whip jars might be perfect for what you're planning. I usually carry one with me when out panning to take my black sands home in. Thery're pretty tough.

Anyway, best of luck!