Homers: Rock Tumbler

Gone a bit further, redesign:

Same basic design, but now pulleys instead of gears with Oogoo belt drive.

The gears were loud, pulleys virtually silent.

Also now using 1 mm thick rubber sheeting.

Rollers much thicker, no oogoo covering, it wore out too easily, instead they have bands of rubber sheet.

Drum has rubber sheet inside ends for sealing, rubber covering inside main drum to deaden rock sound, rubber bands on outside of ends to mate with bands on rollers.

Rubber sheet under base.

Now have 2 of them. Don't really need silencer box anymore.

I've gone through 1 round of rolling with Grand Daughters rocks, usually 4 stages:

1 Coarse
2 Medium
3 Fine
4 Polish

Did stage 1 to 3, 1 weeks rolling for each stage. Results ok, but not sure.

So, now doing full test with known good gemstone mix from National Geographic.

Rolled for 1 week on coarse, wanted round pebbles, didn't get that, but I don't think it works that way, so ran it for another week:

Original rocks

After 2 weeks coarse rolling

I'll take them through full sequence, currently been on 2 Medium since Friday 8th December 2017.

But what do you do with results? Get nice shiny pebbles, what then?

I thought I could cut rocks into smaller nice shaped pieces using dremel, no chance. But I could break them with a hammer, so I now have a second set of much smaller rocks:

These are in the second rock roller, been on 1 Coarse since Friday 8th December 2017.

Maybe once polished I can drill them and thread them as beads?

I've actually bought 3 sets of rocks from National Geographic, 1 polishing as supplied, 1 broke up the 2nd for smaller sizes, final set is to pass with rock rollers to Grand Daughter (once I'm happy with them).

Leave off publishing on Thingyverse for now, no point publishing until I'm convinced.

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Rocks 1 progress: