Improvements To My Vibrating Tumbler Design

     Buyers of my book know that the vibrating tumbler design is a good one, and can be easily and cheaply made, even though it took me years to get right.  I have built another tumbler just recently, to handle larger loads, and wanted to add some improvements I made for the users of my instructions. 

     First thing:  When using hose clamps to fasten the motor in place in its sling, consider replacing at least one of the hose clamps sets with one of those cheap ratchet straps that you can buy for very little money, just about anywhere even the dollar store.   You trim off the excess strap, and then hook the ends together and you have an adjustable clamping strap that is cheap and can be reused or adjusted when needed.  This is best to tie around the motor and the suspension strap.  In the picture it is the red strap down around the motor, holding it together with the suspension strap -- the ratchet is in back of the motor.  Remember to get it very tight when you do it, but it works well.

     Second:  I left one of the tire tubs whole, instead of cutting in half, and was able to then secure it better by putting a strap across the entire top of the tire, fastening at the top of both posts.  In the picture the strap is not fastened yet, i just nailed it into the top of the posts before I used it, and I then move the strap itself  back and forth to remove the tub.  I also made a very tight fit for the tire between the posts, please notice that as well.    You will have to make some adjustments, but a whole tire seems much better than a half tire for several reasons.  It saves the labor of cutting the tire in half, it can be used to secure the tub better, and also it keeps edge splash down.

     Finally, instead of using a small fan to cool the motor, I bought a used high powered hair dryer which really puts out the airstream, choose the cold setting of course.  It keeps the motor cool a lot better than regular fans, especially when directed through the motors windings. 

My Vibrating Tumbler

It will be hard for anyone to build one of these and make it work without the books chapter, but this will show the buyers of the book a larger sized quickie version of the tumbler I developed for my book and work.  It is a monster, and works well, and can easily be constructed anywhere.  A 50 pound capacity vibrating tumbler is worth a few thousand dollars at least if you buy it new, so one can begin to realize the savings when building your own equipment.  as with any equipment, one must constantly monitor production and quality, adjusting the machinery to wear of many types, and variance in loads.  If one sticks with it for just a few hours, one may gain an advantage extraordinaire.  The smaller version of this tumbler, as explained in the book, is good for a few pounds of rock, but the size of the machine is limited only by your resources at hand.  Most of this is made from salvaged parts, if not all of it.

The Ad For My Book On Building Lapidary Equipment

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How To Build Diamond Trim Saws, Large Sized Diamond Drop Saws, Vibrating Tumblers, Giant Rock Saws For Cutting Decorative Tiles and Facings, Great Flat Laps, Bench Grinders, A Portable and Trouble Free water source for all Lapidary Operations, and much more.
This Self Published book is comprised of five plan sets which have consistently sold for 20 dollars each over the last three years or so, plus one plan set usually priced at 10 dollars, PLUS quite a few tricks and tips concerning other bench tools, methodology, and efficiency in the Lapidary Shop which have never been offered before.
These plan sets have been entirely redone with computer drawings and rewrites to the text which incorporate new information from R & D over the last 7 years. The book is over 45 pages of cut-and-dried and easy-to-understand How To Build Better Lapidary Equipment information, which will save the buyer THOUSANDS of dollars in equipment costs. I have many many happy customers who have purchased this information as individual plan sets, and do not even consider the cost of the plans themselves, because of the money they saved. Now, you can possess the entire inventory of plan sets as the book How To Build Better Lapidary Equipment, by Bill Gallagher, for a savings of over half, and with this information you can set up a full service lapidary shop for literally pennies on the dollar. With this information you can go into production, if you desire.
My diamond saw plans are the easiest, safest, and most effective plans for this type of equipment anywhere. The Vibrating Tumbler plans introduce a whole new way of achieving vibratory energy for abrasion, and unlike so many of the manufactured competitions machines, my design lasts and lasts and lasts. AND it is a lot simpler than anything out there. Over 3 years of long-hours and self-financed R & D went into that design, and it is a better way. The Flat Laps and Bench Grinders are two good chapters with three or four different designs for the grinders, some mine, some gotten from seeing old timers machines. The Giant Rock Saw is a machine I had only heard about 15 years ago, but I built one about 4 years ago, and it worx. These plans tell how to make the Giant Rock Saw, as well as my improvements made to the basic idea. The only thing not in the book is a facetor plan set, and that is because you would need a machine shop to build a facetor, whereas all the machines included here can be built from salvaged parts and lumber easily, safely, and with very little hassle, and they WORK well for a LONG time! Here is the Table of Contents:
I. How To Build A 6" 8" or 10" Diamond Saw
II. How To Build A Better Vibrating Tumbler
III. How To Build A Flat Laps for Grinding Sanding Polishing
IV. How To Build Bench Grinders From Old Car Parts
V. How To Build A Giant Rock Saw
VI. Trouble Free and Portable Water Source For ALL Lapidary
VII. Abrasion Theory and Application
VIII. Lapidary Shop Tips, Mounting Motors, Motor Attachments, Stone Holders and Jewelers Vise You Can Make Easily, Obtaining Free Abrasives, MORE.
IX. NEW! Build a nice large sized slabbing diamond blade drop saw. Excellent and easy design. Perfect for many things, including splitting geodes, preforming spheres, slabbing larger sized materials. Save big dollars by building this awesome saw.
X. Bill Gallaghers American Jamb Peg Faceting Configuration.  A better way.
This is a book of plan sets which usually sell for 20.00 each.  Special attention has been paid throughout the book to highlight sourcing of materials by salvage, and modification of the plans to match the particular materials at hand. Building these machines is not hard to do, and do right, for anyone with good mechanical and electrical aptitude. Once you have built a machine you never need worry about breakdown again, because you will know it inside and out, and repair is a breeze. 
Please see my other auctions for more.  Write with questions. FREE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE.

Using Wood To Build Lapidary Machines

Terry at Gunn Cues here in Tampa (tampabilliards.com) and I were talking one day about construction of machinery.  He is adept, and a long time user and constructor of many machines, mostly woodworking, because he is a world class cue maker.  He advised me to start using wood to construct the frames and boxes for my lapidary machines;  it would be a lot easier, less expensive, and it would vibrate a lot less.  I had almost always seen lapidary machines in metal, totally metal, angle iron, sheet, bar, all welded and watertight.  This idea of wood flew in the face of my experience, but it was a great suggestion, and one that will be incorporated into the next edition of the book.  There is some leakage, and that can be overcome with fibreglass, but overall, I operate outside most of the time anyway, so the leaks were not a problem, as I drained the machines after use anyway.

I was able to construct things a lot more easily from wood, and yes, much of the vibration was nixed.  Very nice.