My wife recently started making beads and other things from polymer clay, and wasn't getting quite the finish she wanted using sandpaper. It turns out that even children's toy rock tumblers are relatively expensive and the professional models are definitely out of our price range, so she asked me to see if I could assemble something from old bits and pieces we had laying around.
The kind of tumbler I've seen before seemed like a fairly simple arrangement - some kind of barrel turned by horizontal rollers, similar to a tumble dryer, so that's what I set out to build.
The kind of tumbler I've seen before seemed like a fairly simple arrangement - some kind of barrel turned by horizontal rollers, similar to a tumble dryer, so that's what I set out to build.
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Parts list - these parts all came from my junk pile. Nothing was purchased for this project, so technically it cost $0 to build.
1) electric motor from Grand Am electric window lifter.
2) old PC power supply. This one happens to be a 90W supply.
3) rollers - could be broom handle or any round pole. These are actually mini rolling pins from my wife's craft supplies.
4) various bits of wood to make a frame and base board.
5) 2 inches of garden hose.
6) power switch.
7) screws, coach bolts w/ nuts
8) anti-slip shelf liner
Tools required:
1) Saw
2) Screwdriver
3) Drill + appropriate sized bits
4) Wrench
5) Sharp knife
6) Soldering iron (or use crimp-on spade connectors)
1) electric motor from Grand Am electric window lifter.
2) old PC power supply. This one happens to be a 90W supply.
3) rollers - could be broom handle or any round pole. These are actually mini rolling pins from my wife's craft supplies.
4) various bits of wood to make a frame and base board.
5) 2 inches of garden hose.
6) power switch.
7) screws, coach bolts w/ nuts
8) anti-slip shelf liner
Tools required:
1) Saw
2) Screwdriver
3) Drill + appropriate sized bits
4) Wrench
5) Sharp knife
6) Soldering iron (or use crimp-on spade connectors)
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but use wut ya got!
verra nice indeed
A few tips: Normally you would use tumbling grit instead of sand. I am going to assume that the beads are already reasonably shaped, you just want to add a polish, so a finer grit or even a polish should work fine.
There is way too much sand. Depending on the size of container, back it off to a few tablespoons of grit, and then fill it up about 1/2 way with water.
You do not need any vanes. If you get the slurry to the right consistency, it will slide as needed on its own.
Good luck and let us know how it works.
P.S. A lot of folks use a thin coat of Future floor wax on the beads, and then bake them gently in a low oven.
Yes, to add vanes is a need. But it is an easy task, now.
We probably won't use the glass jar much. The big red tub in some of the photos is a coffee can with a built-in grip that functions very nicely as a vane. Also, being plastic, I can easily screw through it to add vanes as necessary.