Performance improvement for Harbor Freight Vibrating Tumbler 

I have no dispute with anyone but I cannot do as you suggest because I do not have a stock one. In any case I have no intention of getting into a dispute nor trying to prove anything. The facts are that I bought the tumbler, I was not impressed by it, I modified it and now I am pleased with it. I thought that it might be useful to others so I made a video. If a few others do not like it that's fine by me, I have no desire to argue or try to change anybody's view.

@@MotoChassisByTonyFoaleYes, exactly. And thank you for doing it so we can see if we would benefit as well. You are not working for us. We are privileged to be able to benefit from your effort. Thank you.

Thank you.

I know nothing about polishing rocks but I would have thought that you would do better with a drum type tumbler. I prefer those but the noise is unbearable so I only use that when I am not in my workshop.

​@MotoChassisByTonyFoale a rotary tumbler is better in terms of shaping and rounding rocks, but the smoothing and polishing steps are done much quicker in a vibratory tumbler. I just buttoned it all together, and it seems like it's going to do well. Stirring motion is good, noise is reasonable, and the whole assembly seems quite solid. Very impressed so far.

@@dmoore0079 Thanks for that. As I said I know nothing about polishing rocks. good luck with it.

In the US: McMaster Carr # Medium-Strength Threaded Rod Class 8.8 Zinc-Plated Steel, M5 x 0.8 mm Thread Size, 1 M Long 99067A242

I do not recall having to get long bolts but it was done a while back and I might have forgotten. I'll check and get back to you.

@@MotoChassisByTonyFoale I could very well be mistaken, but it seems that since the motor shaft once went though the hole in the bracket that the motor was once flush-mounted inside, the fan end of the motor will now be bolted in that end, requiring the spacers to be located between the motor housing and once-motor shaft end/now fan end in order to clear the fan blades , necessitating the spacers and longer bolts/rod there.

@@kohgoes I think that you must have a somewhat different machine than I have. Mine had no fan, therefore I am unable to comment on what yours is like.

OK, I checked mine and as I thought there must be differences to those being mentioned here by others. Mine does not have through bolts to mount the motor and mine does not have a fan. So for anyone else who wants to follow my modifications all I can suggest is that you just take the basic idea and work out how to apply it to your own situation.

Big difference in before and after usage.

When I was doing it, I was not thinking about making any video, only after some time and period of use.

I have not had experience with coins but I found that for some items a rotary tumbler is best, although noisier, yet for other jobs the vibratory one does a better job.

@@MotoChassisByTonyFoale The general concensus is that vibratory is not very effective for coins, but I don't see why not if the right media is used (and the tumber is upgraded to work effectively, as you show here!). Cheers!

@@Donorcyclist Interesting.

yes, a vibratory tumbler is somewhat mesmerizing to watch when loaded and running.

can you explain the welder some more.

@@MotoChassisByTonyFoale Sure. Princess Auto is like Canadian Harbor Freight. They used to (still do?) sell these cheap little arc welders. They had a 70 amp and a 90 amp for more money. The welders are identical, with the transformer installed in a slightly different position inside the machine. There was a dial on the front of the welder that would push a separator plate between the primary and secondary of the transformer to decouple them magnetically. Turn the dial to minimum amps and the plate goes all the way in, mostly blocking the magnetic flux. Turn the dial to maximum and the plate comes almost all the way out. The chassis came with two sets of holes in the base where you could install the transformer. The 70 amp was installed in one position, the 90 amp in the other. All you had to do was move the transformer over to the other set of holes and the separator plate would be able to move to the full out position and you'd get the full 90 amps.

@@joels7605 I love it.

I was such a teacher for one year only. I hated it. I am a mere engineering scientist, completely self taught in the manual arts.

Your bowl wore down and it leaked? If so, that's what I am dealing with right now. Learning all about HDPE.

@@Photomomlove Pretty much. It developed a leak at the parting line. I wrapped it with Gorilla tape, and then lined it with duct tape. Crude but effective repair.

@@Dr_Xyzt. You might try removing the tape inside, clean the bowl, and line the entire bowl with Plastidip. Should be resistant to wear and will plug the leak.

Ola, The springs and the mass of the moving parts will define a resonant frequency. It would be best if that frequency coincided with the motor speed. However, the overall mass is not fixed, it depends on the load that you put in it. I have not measured the spring rates nor the resonant frequency but that is an area for further investigation. It is doubtful if the "as bought" spring rates are anywhere near optimal. It is a question of having spring rates within a workable range. It is not as easy as hard or soft. If very hard then it will lock the barrel and you will get no agitation, too soft and they will not be able to support the weight.

Not so. Performance was improved at both light and full loads.

@@MotoChassisByTonyFoale My HF vibratory tumbler works absolutely *perfectly* at 3 to 5 pounds load with no modification. The tumbling action of the media is perfect. The vibrating action is smooth and the unit does not move during operation. I do not have any idea what your problem might be and from my experience with the unit, I completely disagree with your suggested modification.

No it was just a remnant from when I was machining something long forgotten.

The bowl should not rotate continuously but sometimes they do. I replaced the rubber mat under the bowl with a softer rubber and that fixed it.

@@MotoChassisByTonyFoale ty

I think he's in Spain nowadays. But they will be 230V as well, so I would assume a transformer, 230 to 110 are readily available for 110v powertools that you use in industry. Having said that, they also have 230V in the States for high load items.

I lived in the US for 3 years so I have enough 110 V tools to have warranted dual wiring my workshop with the US sockets fed from a largish 2:1 transformer. Of course I have 50 Hz not the US 60 Hz but that only affects induction motors.

Mike, the weight is there to create an out of balance vibration which shakes the container.

I have not had that problem but my use is not intensive.

I neglected to photograph the piece but it was as I drew on the board. Attaching to the shaft was just like the original, a hole fitted over the shaft and the piece was cross drilled and tapped for a retaining grub screw.

It did originally but after the mods it works fine whether full or half full.

You can buy liquid rubber or vinyl and put several coats on the inside. Make sure the surface is very clean and roughed up so as to better the adhesive qualities. You will likely have to renew it every so often.

I have not had any problem like that but @melgross has a suggestion in his reply.

A gearbox for a model car maybe. You can get larger tumblers, my guess is that very large ones might have a different mechanism.

@@MotoChassisByTonyFoale sorry my English isn't so good Mr Foale... I mean gears from motocycle gearbox for reducing friction....

@@vpservice1016 No I do not think that it would suitable. I think that you have two options, one is precision grinding and there is a process called "chemical polishing".

@@MotoChassisByTonyFoale Look into the REM process. www.remchem.com/

@@chip-load Very interesting. Like @VP SERVICE I too want to get some motorcycle gears super-finished.

It works for me and I have read the instructions.

The modded version generated more movement near the media, he made the machine better at using smaller batches of media. Originally it was designed to move a greater quantity of media which would have reached higher up the shaft. His modification did reduce the leverage, but positioned it at the right height to move his media.

@@connercoulson9247it didn’t improve it. It just changed the amount of media needed, which is fine. But the more media, the stronger the results. Everyone making mods to equipment is convinced they discovered something and that it’s better.

My labour rates are high.

Bearings get hammered in all these tumblers, this conversion is no worse.

IIRC it is 1500 rpm on 50 Hz supply and 1800 on American electricity.

@@MotoChassisByTonyFoale Thanks for that reply.

Interesting.

@@MotoChassisByTonyFoale This same engine 2.5HP, with other mods was used in WWII bomber as an APU. It has ball bearings on the main crankshaft, what I found clever was a check valve that let the crankcase pressure out on the piston down stroke, so a negative pressure was formed, which kept oil from leaking out the metal shields on the ball bearing mains. Also had an interesting cam follower that must have modified the cam timing. It is of that era with a flat head or "L" head combustion chamber. The Lauson brand got bought by Tecumseh in the late 50s. And it looks like they just bought the production facilities and abandoned the Lauson engine designs. I can't imagine this 2.5HP being much of a motorcycle engine with Indian, and Harley Davidson being available at that same time, with much more power. So now I will modify my vibrator and see if it will actually clean corroded metal. Thanks for you videos.

I believe so but I think that the tumbler type are more popular for rocks.

Sorry to hear that you had a problem. I did not need any additional parts.

The CoG has to be a user input because it varies with bike, rider and setup.

I made the video because I was asked to but that was a year or two after making the mods so I not video the actual modification.

Some of us like a good physics lecture...

When you understand the operating principle and physics of it, rest is simple. Also he explained what he did. Cut the shaft shorter, made similar weight but shape counter weight, swap the motor upside down with 4peaces of 10mm spacers dropping motor bit further down.

Ungrateful

@@angusgathis wasn’t a lecture in physics. It was his thinking about what he believes is a problem and his supposed solution.

A little tongue in cheek comment on the parent comment here. Just roll with it. @@melgross

Obviously our tumblers are different models, mine has no fan.