CompuServe Thread

Frank… I think you're in the right forum…here's a few thoughts on tumblers. Lortone makes a 3# unit that I would recommend as a good quality starter. All tumblers make some noise but it ran as quiet as any I've tried or heard. I found that it helps deaden the drone to put a cardboard box about 12" cube over the unit. Let's it breath well enough to keep from overheating but stops a fair percentage of the sound. If I recall I paid about $40 retail for it and found it to be up to the task of running continuously for about a year and a half with only the recommended maintenance (cleaning and oiling). It didn't wear out, I changed interests. When I progressed to running three tumblers I still used the 3 pounder for final polish. Had a 10# unit for course grind, a 6# unit for medium grind. For me this was a nice settup because the number of stones I wanted to move to the next finer step was never the entire batch. Doing it this way also avoided the risk of contaminating the next batch with grit trapped in nooks or crannies of the tumbler itself (there's enough of this problem with the occasional piece of grit stuck in cracks in the rocks). I'm in So. Calif so I don't know where you might look to find the Lortone line, but you might try the phone book under lapidary supplies, also rock and gem stores or clubs. Small jewelry stores may be able to give you a phone number of a local club. 3# refers to the fact that the above unit will hold about 3 pounds of rocks when full to capacity. Congratulations on your choice of a gift too! It takes time for the results to occur but the process is a lot of fun to persue. -Russ