Are you thinking about buying a rock tumbler but confused about the difference between
a rotary tumbler and a vibratory tumbler?
hi, I'm Rob and that's what I'm going to explain to you today
this is a rotary tumbler, it's a Lortone 33b
and it works by just slowly turning the barrels around and grinding the rocks
on the inside
typically you do 4 stages in this
you start out with a coarse grit, and then you keep progressing to finer
and finer grits until you get to polish, which is just a very very fine grit
so, the first stage in this is really good for shaping rocks
so if you have a rock with jagged corners and stuff on it, it'll round those off
you can grind them down to remove cracks and holes, and so that first stage does
a good job of this. Now most of the directions that come with tumblers tell
you to run the first stage for a week, and in a week it's not going to do that much
grinding, so I like my rocks completely free of all holes and cracks, so I'll
run them over and over and over, so I'll do like one week and then I clean out the
barrel, then do another week and clean out the barrel, and keep doing that until the
rocks look the way I want them to look. So I might run that first stage for
weeks or even months, it's not at all unusual that I run them for more than
one month
so then after that, you've got 3 more stages
and those 3 stages in here, the way I do it, I go 7 days and then 10 days, and
then 2 weeks
the polish I run for 2 weeks and it seems to give you just a little better polish if
you go for that little extra time
so, for the last 3 stages in this, it takes me about, about a month to do that
this is a vibratory tumbler, this is a Lot-O tumbler, and it's attached to a
big concrete block here, because the whole thing shakes, and if it wasn't on
a block it would just slide right across the floor
there's some springs down here
this is a motor back here, and it's got these two fans attached to it, and inside
the fans there's weights
so the weights go around, they're off center, so as they go around it shakes it
so the whole thing just sort of shakes around, but really really fast
the barrel on this doesn't - it just shakes, it doesn't turn like these do, but if you
open it up and look inside, you'll see the rocks slowly turning around inside there
so the rocks are moving, they're vibrating against each other, plus they're kind of
moving around in a circle inside there
this machine does a good job at polishing the rocks, it can get the polish done
really really nicely, I think more consistently than this machine does
and it does it really quickly, so where this takes a month to do those last 3 stages
this really only does the last 3 stages, but it only takes a week to do them
so I run what would be- it's the 220 grit in this, is the second stage, I run that
220 grit in here for 2 days, then I go to the next grit and run it for 3 days, and
then I run the polish for 2 days, so 7 days total
so where this is slow in those last 3 stages this is really really fast
so let's take a look at the different rocks that I've tumbled in these, so you can
see the difference up close, and we'll do that now
okay, let's start with these three rocks, these were completely done in the rotary
tumbler, this was Serape Jasper from Mexico
in fact I did a tutorial on how to use a rotary tumbler, and these were the rocks
that I tumbled
so from beginning to end, done in the rotary tumbler
in comparison to that, here's some Montana agates that were done completely
in a vibratory tumbler. This is an experiment I did a long time ago,
this was before I was making videos
and I wanted to see if I could shape these up like these are, see how that's all
smooth and there's no holes and indentations, I tried to do that with
these rocks, and vibratory tumblers are very quick, so you don't usually leave them
in for very long, but I did these for 28 days and I changed the grit every day, because
the grit breaks down really fast in a vibratory tumbler
so even after 28 days of shaping them, then I went on for a week after that to
polish them
I couldn't get all these holes out, so you see all these little indentations
and cracks? I don't like that look, but a lot of people think that looks better
looks more natural
so that's up to you, how you like them to look. So those are Montana agates
done in a vibratory tumbler only
these Montana agates were done starting in a rotary tumbler to shape them, and then
I finished up in a- finished them up in a vibratory tumbler
so
you can see the difference
and these are also smaller, because they just wear down a lot more trying to get all
those little holes out
so, vibratory, rotary
here's another example of a rock done in a rotary tumbler, this is a puddingstone
probably my favorite puddingstone
but that was done completely in a rotary tumbler, and the reason I didn't finish
it in a vibratory tumbler is because this
wouldn't fit through the hole in my tumbler
the Lot-O tumbler has kind of a small hole
compare that to these two
these were done in just 3 days using a vibratory tumbler, so they were only in
the vibratory tumbler. It kind of looks like there's something painted on them
there's no coating on any of the rocks that I ever show you
if there is I'll tell you, but so far I've never coated them with anything
these are just polished
so in 3 days they'll look like that, so
once again, let's compare
there's a big difference
and then the other thing I do with this is I make little shapes
so here's a little shamrock, that's a fridge magnet I made
so this is cut out on a saw, and then it goes directly from the saw right into
the vibratory tumbler
and it will keep the shape really nicely
this top part was done on a cab machine but the bottom of this was shaped on a
saw again and then just thrown right into my vibratory tumbler
and it comes out looking like that
this is a guitar pick
shaped this on my cab machine
cut it out on the saw and then shaped it on the cab machine, just got it roughly
shaped in
and then I throw it in the tumbler to polish it up, so
another thing you can do
and then
here's kind of a nice comparison, I think
this is what a cross looks like when I cut it out on the saw, so that's
roughly cut out, you can still see my lines on there where I cut it
this was put into a rotary tumbler to polish it
and then this was put into a vibratory tumbler to polish it
so you see how the vibratory tumbler keeps the nice crisp edges?
they're not as sharp as these edges, they're just rounded off subtley
and then this one's much more rounded off, they all start out the same size
they start out this size, I cut them all the same size all the time
so you see how much more worn down that is?
and how rounded the ends are?
you might like that look, but it's different from this look
so rotary, vibratory
so since this machine is so good at shaping the rocks, I use this kind of
machine just for doing the first stage, so I'll run the first stage in here, and then
when they're done with the first stage I move them over to the vibratory tumbler
and this'll put a really good polish on in just a week instead of spending a month
over here
I also get a more consistently good polish on this machine than I do on this one
they'll both polish rocks up, I just think it's easier on this one
another thing though, is that this uses a lot more grit than this one does
so this is a 3 pound barrel, this is a 4 and a half pound barrel, and you don't
need to weigh your rocks when you're tumbling, but this is just a little bit
bigger
they usually rate them by weight, that's just the approximate weight of the
rocks themselves that's going to be in it, but once again you don't have to
measure or weigh your rocks, I never do
so
my rule of thumb in a rotary tumbler is to use 1 tablespoon
I've got props, 1 tablespoon of grit for every pound the barrel's rated for,
so since this is a 3 pound barrel, I use 3 tablespoons of grit. Some people use
more, I probably am on the lower side of that, but 3 or 4 or maybe even 5 tablespoons
of grit in one of these barrels
this barrel, it depends. And that goes for all stages here, so all the stages, 1st
2nd, 3rd, and 4th I use about that much polish, or grit, or whatever I'm using
in that stage
on this one, I start out with 2 tablespoons okay, so instead of 3 I'm using 2 over here
but then when I go to the last two stages, I use a half teaspoon, which is what this
measure is. So just a half teaspoon for the whole barrel. So over here I'd
be using 3 tablespoons, over here it's just a half teaspoon
so this uses way way way less grit
another thing difference is the kind of media used in this
so you can use plastic or ceramic media in with your rocks
this will use either plastic or ceramic
this one you can only use ceramic
the plastic's too light and just sort of floats up to the top, since this one's
turning it keeps it all mixed up nicely
so they can both use ceramic, this one can also use plastic
personally, I hate using plastic, and I don't use plastic in either one, so to
me that's not a difference at all
next thing I want to show you the difference in is the sound that they make
and I need to get 1 more tumbler, because I want to show you a bigger version of this
also, so you can see how loud each one of these is
this is the Lortone QT-12 tumbler, it has a 12 pound barrel on it
you can also buy this tumbler with two 6 pound barrels instead of the 12 pound
barrel
but it's going to sound about the same
so, none of these have on/off switches, so I'm just going to be plugging them in
these don't really need on/off switches, they just run for literally months at a time
this one you do have to turn it off when you take the barrel out of it, because
it's not supposed to run without the barrel it just shakes too much
it would be nice if this had a switch, but I just have it on a power strip and
I just use the switch on the power strip
so let's listen to the 33b here first
(tumbler rumbling)
so that one is the first tumbler I got
this exact tumbler, it still works
we do not have an insulated ceiling in our basement, and you can't really hear
that one upstairs too much. You can hear it if the refridgerator and everything's off
you can hear it a little tiny bit, but not bad at all, that one never bothered us
this one
bothered my wife, I kind of like the sound of it, because I'm thinking about the rocks
tumbling, but she didn't like it
it's- because it's a bigger barrel, the rocks have farther to fall inside the barrel
it's not the motor that's louder, it's the rocks inside the barrel, so it
makes kind of a thumping or rattling sound
(slightly louder rumbling)
it's the bigger thumps that you can here upstairs really well.
I shouldn't say really well, you can't hear them over the TV, but this one's definitely
audible upstairs
and by the way I've got this up on top of this table here, they'd all be
quieter if they were on the floor, because it does vibrate the table a little bit
so
the Lortone- or the Lot-O
this just makes sort of a humming noise, it's not that rattling noise, so here we go
(motor humming)
definitely a different kind of noise than these other tumblers are. So with this
being such a steady noise, I don't- this one doesn't bother me at all
once again, you can probably hear it upstairs if everything's off and you
listen really really closely
but with it being that steady sound, it's just not that offensive
I have to interrupt the video to make a correction
when I was talking about how loud this tumbler is, I was thinking about my other
Lot-O tumbler that is underneath the stairs that goes from my basement
up to my garage
so it's in a little enclosed space that blocks some of the sound from going
upstairs
when I turned this one on, and it's not underneath the stairs, you can really
hear it upstairs quite clearly. I was really pretty annoyed
so, I did something to help, I put a towel underneath, I just folded up a little hand
towel and put it underneath the tumbler, and that separates the block from the
concrete floor and really helps a lot
you can still hear it upstairs a little bit but it's much better that way. So if you
get one of these, make sure you put something underneath there to
dampen the sound.
okay, back to the video
so, this is the only vibratory tumbler I've ever had
I haven't used any other ones, so I can't compare the sounds of them
I've heard kind of mixed reports about like the Thumlers, the UV-10, the UV-18s
I've heard they can be really loud, and then I've heard that they're not much different
than this, so I don't really know what to say about that, because I just don't have
experience
when I was researching tumblers to buy my first one
I looked at the same comparison, rotary vs. vibratory
and I got the impression that vibratory tumblers were really difficult to use, and
that you had to babysit them all the time
that's a little bit true, but I think it's kind of overblown
so, with a rotary tumbler you open it up once a week to clean it out
and when you put the lid back on for the week you just leave it run for the week,
you don't touch it
beginners usually end up opening it up after a couple of days just to see what's going
on inside
but then it's hard to get the lid back on because it makes a mess, and you've got
to put the lid on and be sure it doesn't leak, so I recommend not opening
it during the week, but if I'm gone for a weekend or even 3 or 4 days, I'll
just leave these running
just tumbling while I'm gone, I don't need to do anything with them, I'm
not worried about them being running while I'm gone
this on the other hand, does need a little bit of babysitting
so what happens on these is it dries out on the inside
especially in the first stage, so the two days that you're running 220, it dries
out kind of quickly
so I check it 3 times, 2 or 3 times a day I used to do it when I got up in the
morning, then after work, and then again just before I went to bed
and all you have to do is you take the lid off, and you can do that while it's running
and you can look in there and you can see the rocks moving around
and if it looks a little bit dry you give it a little squirt of water
in fact I forgot to check this one yesterday and it dried out completely, I had a
big rock in there and it pushed the lid up a little bit, I put rubber bands over
the top, but the lid was up like that, and it was completely dry and stopped
I squirted some water in there until it started moving, I took the one
big rock out so it wouldn't push the lid off again, but that doesn't even hurt it
it's better if it doesn't happen, but even if it does dry out it's not that big of deal
you just squirt water until it moves again and you're all set
so
check this 2 or 3 times a day, after the first stage you really only have to check
it like once a day, and a lot of times I don't check it at all after the first stage
because it doesn't dry out as fast
so, yeah it's a little bit more work, I don't leave this running over a weekend
but I don't think it's a dealbreaker, I wouldn't be worried about the amount
of effort this takes
alright, and then there's a price difference on these
so the price is going to vary depending on where you buy it, but
there's a one-barrel model of this called the 3A
and it costs just over 100 dollars
so that's - you know
the National Geographic I think is 90 dollars, so around 100 dollars
for an entry model rotary tumbler
this costs about 250, with 2 barrels this one's about 140, somewhere around there
this one's about 225, so most vibratory tumblers cost a little bit more than an
entry level rotary tumbler. So I think a lot of people buy rotary tumblers just
because you can get into one for like $100 and people think, well, I don't know if
I'm going to like this or not, so they buy a 100 dollar tumbler, they don't want
to spend 225 for their first one
so, there's a little bit of a price difference
so let's recap
this machine's slower, this machine's faster
this one uses more grit, this one uses less grit
this one's really good at shaping the rocks, rocks will go in here with
holes and cracks and bumps and stuff
and if you run them long enough, especially in that first stage, you can
have them nice and smooth and well rounded. This one's going to keep the
original shape much more
this one requires less attention, you just put the rocks in and you let them go
this one you need to check up on a couple of times a day
this one's a little bit cheaper, especially for an entry model, so if you get one with
just 1 barrel you can get it for about half the price of a vibratory tumbler, of course
prices vary a lot but in general these are a little bit cheaper
and then the sound they make. This can be kind of clunky sounding
and this has more of a hum
I wouldn't say one's really louder than the other, it's more a matter
of a different sort of sound
so which one should you get?
well, if you just want to have one tumbler, or you're just getting started
on this, or maybe you don't have a lot of money to spend on it, the rotary
tumbler is probably the way to go. You can do all the stages in here
it takes a little bit longer, takes a little more grit, so you might spend a little
bit more money on electricity and on grit
but the cost of getting the machine itself is a little bit cheaper
if you're patient, a good machine to use
if you're impatient, this is really nice to either add to it or use instead of it
if you only have this machine, you're not going to get those nice rounded completely
smooth rocks, so if that's what you're after you want to get one of these for sure
if you like a more natural look, then get this one
the other thing is if you're doing shapes and you want to cut out little crosses or
something like I do, this will keep the shape much better, this is going to round
stuff off probably more than you want to
ideally, if you've got the money for it, get one of each, then you can do whatever
you want, I use this for my shaped rocks
my little crosses and stuff, I love this thing for the first stage
like I said, the way I like to use it is run the first stage in this
I could use a lot of these barrels, that's why I built a big tumbler over there
and then just finish them up really quickly in here
so, I'll leave you with that, and if you haven't seen my review of this machine
I'll link that here so you can check that out, so I'll see you over on that video