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My whole rock tumbler setup just gave out halfway through polishing a batch of Lake Superior agates.
It was on the final grit stage, too. The motor made this sad grinding noise and quit. I opened it up and the belt had completely shredded. Had to finish everything by hand with a cloth and cerium oxide, which took about three hours. Anyone know a good replacement motor that can handle running for weeks at a time?
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dylanward3mo ago
That's the worst, right when you're almost done. I had a Chicago Electric tumbler do the same thing. The stock motors are just cheap. Upgraded to a Dayton gear motor from Grainger a few years back and it's been solid, runs forever. Just make sure you match the RPM and shaft size.
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michaela161mo ago
...or you could just look at it different. Finishing by hand with cerium oxide probably gave you way better polish than a tumbler ever would. Those machines churn rocks for weeks but hand work lets you actually see what you're doing. Might be a blessing in disguise if you ask me.
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susan_ward3mo ago
My last tumbler motor gave up the ghost so quietly I almost respected it. Just a faint hum and then nothing, like it had achieved some zen state of not being a motor anymore. I was polishing some truly mediocre quartz that didn't deserve the effort anyway. Ended up using a jury-rigged setup with an old record player motor for a while. Sounded like a dying insect but it got the job done.
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