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Lortone 3A Lapidary Rock Gem Rotary 3 Lb. Tumbler New - Lortone Model 3A Rotary Tumbler Great For Tumbling Rocks. This is a new Lortone model 3A rotary tumbler. It runs on 115V, 60Hz. This model 3A Lortone rotary tumbler is quite simple to operate and gives excellent finish to your stones. It has a molded rubber barrel with screw down closure Barrel interior. Holds up to 3 pounds. The barrel interior measures approximately 4" diameter x 4" deep (101 x 101 mm).
This review is from : Lortone 3A Lapidary Rock Gem Rotary 3 Lb. Tumbler New
Reliable Tumbler . I've collected rocks (mineral specimens) since my Dad took me out to a road cut in the late 60s. We've used a number of tumblers through the years and even tried a vibratory tumbler. The Lortone 3A tumble stands with the best that we've tried. The container is easy to open and fill. The tumbler is quiet and very reliable. I've had to baby sit some other designs that look somewhat similar to this on (overheating, slipping belt, breaking belt); however, the Lortone runs without a problem quietly doing its job. The end product - a batch of polished stones is as good as any I've expected in the 40 or so years I've been tossing rocks into a tumbler.
Reliable Tumbler . I've collected rocks (mineral specimens) since my Dad took me out to a road cut in the late 60s. We've used a number of tumblers through the years and even tried a vibratory tumbler. The Lortone 3A tumble stands with the best that we've tried. The container is easy to open and fill. The tumbler is quiet and very reliable. I've had to baby sit some other designs that look somewhat similar to this on (overheating, slipping belt, breaking belt); however, the Lortone runs without a problem quietly doing its job. The end product - a batch of polished stones is as good as any I've expected in the 40 or so years I've been tossing rocks into a tumbler.
Lortone 3A Lapidary Rock Gem Rotary 3 Lb. Tumbler New Reviews
Has worked perfectly for the past 4 years! . I bought my tumbler well over four years ago and it's performed exceptionally well. Of course, I'm not tumbling rocks, but rather fine silver and Precious Metal Clay. I use the stainless steel shot as the tumbling medium.
To give you a better idea of how well this tumbler works, in addition to using myself I have taken and used it in many jewelry classes (well over 100) and it has traveled all over the country. I haven't had a single problem with my tumbler.
Has worked perfectly for the past 4 years! . I bought my tumbler well over four years ago and it's performed exceptionally well. Of course, I'm not tumbling rocks, but rather fine silver and Precious Metal Clay. I use the stainless steel shot as the tumbling medium.
To give you a better idea of how well this tumbler works, in addition to using myself I have taken and used it in many jewelry classes (well over 100) and it has traveled all over the country. I haven't had a single problem with my tumbler.
Lortone 3A Lapidary Rock Gem Rotary 3 Lb. Tumbler New Opinions
A must have for jewelry makers! . This is definitely a great product. I make a lot of handmade jewelry (mostly sterling silver) and this made the polishing process no work at all. It is a very quiet machine. Easy to use and hardly any setup. Before I bought the Lortone 3A, I made the mistake by trying to save money and purchased a similar tumbler from Harbor Freight. HUGE mistake! It ended up ruining over $100 of handmade jewelry-(something I could have avoided if I would have read a couple of reviews of that particular tumbler. I guess the rubber they use in their tumbler's doesn't hold up like the Lortone's does.) The machine itself is smaller than what I thought it would be, which makes it nice for storage purposes. The only negative I see from the Lortone 3A is that there is no power switch, only a plug-which isn't a big enough negative to take away a star.
A must have for jewelry makers! . This is definitely a great product. I make a lot of handmade jewelry (mostly sterling silver) and this made the polishing process no work at all. It is a very quiet machine. Easy to use and hardly any setup. Before I bought the Lortone 3A, I made the mistake by trying to save money and purchased a similar tumbler from Harbor Freight. HUGE mistake! It ended up ruining over $100 of handmade jewelry-(something I could have avoided if I would have read a couple of reviews of that particular tumbler. I guess the rubber they use in their tumbler's doesn't hold up like the Lortone's does.) The machine itself is smaller than what I thought it would be, which makes it nice for storage purposes. The only negative I see from the Lortone 3A is that there is no power switch, only a plug-which isn't a big enough negative to take away a star.
So far so good! . Like a few others who've reviewed this before me, I'm also a jewelry artisan. I was hesitant to buy it at first but decided that I really did need it to harden and polish my pieces. I have used it about 4-5 times now, 20-30 min each time and I only use it to tumble a few things at once because I'm wary of the fact that things might tangle together.
The unit is smaller than I expected but that's even better because I have very little studio space (it's essentially on the floor in a safe area). It is relatively quiet, which is quite nice. I'm so glad I bought it because my jewelry comes out really shiny and now I don't worry about using dead soft wire (because I can tumble to harden them later!)
However, I did not buy my unit from Amazon because I couldn't find the 1 lb. of stainless steel shot on here for cheap. So I got mine online at Hobby Warehouse - for just about $95, which was the tumbler + 1 lb. stainless steel shot + shipping. I am in no way connected to the company of course - just wanted to help out the next starving jewelry artist like myself!
The unit is smaller than I expected but that's even better because I have very little studio space (it's essentially on the floor in a safe area). It is relatively quiet, which is quite nice. I'm so glad I bought it because my jewelry comes out really shiny and now I don't worry about using dead soft wire (because I can tumble to harden them later!)
However, I did not buy my unit from Amazon because I couldn't find the 1 lb. of stainless steel shot on here for cheap. So I got mine online at Hobby Warehouse - for just about $95, which was the tumbler + 1 lb. stainless steel shot + shipping. I am in no way connected to the company of course - just wanted to help out the next starving jewelry artist like myself!
Simple and Uncomplicated . I love this tumbler. It is plenty big enough to put quite a few pieces of jewelry in it, it's relatively quiet, is simple to use and gets the job done. I put about 1 pound of stainless steel shot in it, add jewelry, add a healthy squirt of Dawn dishwashing liquid and enough water to cover. Plug it in and forget it. The lid doesn't leak at all so no worries. A couple hours later, open it up, pour into a very small holed colander, rinse off all the suds and watch your jewelry gleem. Don't put any soft stones in it such as amber, but I put jewelry with pearls and crystals in it, and they didn't get scratched at all so it is a gentle tumbling that just polishes and cleans to an unbelievable liquid shine.
Review of Lortone 3A Tumbler . I purchased this unit to remove tarnish from, harden and polish wire jewelry. So far it has worked great at all 3 tasks. I think it will be a tremendous time saver.
Cons Review
loved it for 6 months while it worked .... . I've had my Lortone 3A tumbler for about six months and have loved it, or loved its results, anyway. I design "artisan jewelry" and use it about once or twice a week for about an hour at a time to clean and polish small items like earrings, bracelets, necklaces.
I am writing this review because I am now shopping for another tumbler because my Lortone's motor is shot already, and is just chugging along slooooooowly and I'm just hoping to get the last piece cleaned before it dies completely.
IMPORTANT EDIT: well, I called Lortone and they were soooooooooooo helpful!!!!!!!! I love these people and their product. turns out it was the "belt." they immediately sent me three new belts and walked me through the replacement. but my belts were wearing out at the rate of one every two or three months. so they told me that I was probably filling my tumbler with too much water, making it too heavy and stressing out the belts. bottom line: if you're making jewelry with any regularity, get a larger model. this one only handles three lbs., so with the shot and the water and a decent sized silver necklace, the belts won't last long. if you're just going to tumble earrings, this size is okay.
I am writing this review because I am now shopping for another tumbler because my Lortone's motor is shot already, and is just chugging along slooooooowly and I'm just hoping to get the last piece cleaned before it dies completely.
IMPORTANT EDIT: well, I called Lortone and they were soooooooooooo helpful!!!!!!!! I love these people and their product. turns out it was the "belt." they immediately sent me three new belts and walked me through the replacement. but my belts were wearing out at the rate of one every two or three months. so they told me that I was probably filling my tumbler with too much water, making it too heavy and stressing out the belts. bottom line: if you're making jewelry with any regularity, get a larger model. this one only handles three lbs., so with the shot and the water and a decent sized silver necklace, the belts won't last long. if you're just going to tumble earrings, this size is okay.
Not built like they used to be . I had one of these when I was younger, and it was truly a fine product. Unfortunately, like so many other manufactured goods these days, Lortone has cut a few too many corners to save money.
The first time I used it, the barrel would not roll correctly unless I placed some manner of "shim" under the motor side of the tumbler. Though I was mildly annoyed, I decided to live with this defect since I already had the barrel filled with grit and stones, and my daughter was anxious to use her new gift. Unfortunately, during the first few days of use the tumbler began to throw the belt at random intervals, necessitating my taking it apart to place the belt back on the pulleys. I noticed that when I took it apart, the metal used for the frame and cover are both extremely thin and low grade (approximately .024", for reference, that's about ? as thick as a music CD). This flimsy metal was then formed into a frame by some extremely low tolerance process resulting in noticeable misalignments between the motor and drive spindle causing the belt to jump. I remedied this fault by hand bending the metal frame to move the motor into alignment. This worked for a while, but the top cover could not be put back on as it forced the unit back out of alignment. Without a top cover, the unit became an obvious hazard to any curious child's hair, fingers, etc.
Positive that I had voided all warranties at this point, I made several reinforcing modifications to this unit, placed it on a high shelf so my children wouldn't lose digits, and enjoyed three full tumbling iterations before the cheap bushings wore out . Vibrations have also taken their toll on the rollers, resulting in the barrel randomly stopping, causing the entire unit to heat up and smell like burning rubber. I'm on my fourth set of rocks right now, nursing the loudly squeaking bushings with oil and making additional bends in the soda-can quality frame, determined to get my money's worth out of this abomination of manufacturing.
If you're looking for a rock tumbler, get anything but a Lortone. It couldn't be any worse.
The first time I used it, the barrel would not roll correctly unless I placed some manner of "shim" under the motor side of the tumbler. Though I was mildly annoyed, I decided to live with this defect since I already had the barrel filled with grit and stones, and my daughter was anxious to use her new gift. Unfortunately, during the first few days of use the tumbler began to throw the belt at random intervals, necessitating my taking it apart to place the belt back on the pulleys. I noticed that when I took it apart, the metal used for the frame and cover are both extremely thin and low grade (approximately .024", for reference, that's about ? as thick as a music CD). This flimsy metal was then formed into a frame by some extremely low tolerance process resulting in noticeable misalignments between the motor and drive spindle causing the belt to jump. I remedied this fault by hand bending the metal frame to move the motor into alignment. This worked for a while, but the top cover could not be put back on as it forced the unit back out of alignment. Without a top cover, the unit became an obvious hazard to any curious child's hair, fingers, etc.
Positive that I had voided all warranties at this point, I made several reinforcing modifications to this unit, placed it on a high shelf so my children wouldn't lose digits, and enjoyed three full tumbling iterations before the cheap bushings wore out . Vibrations have also taken their toll on the rollers, resulting in the barrel randomly stopping, causing the entire unit to heat up and smell like burning rubber. I'm on my fourth set of rocks right now, nursing the loudly squeaking bushings with oil and making additional bends in the soda-can quality frame, determined to get my money's worth out of this abomination of manufacturing.
If you're looking for a rock tumbler, get anything but a Lortone. It couldn't be any worse.
Zero customer service . Last year I found a large deposit of beautiful green epidote on my property and immediately purchased this lortone 3lb tumbler/polisher to make nice polished stones. After the third barrel of stones the belt on the motor broke.
Try to find a replacement belt here on Amazon.com or better yet try and find one on Lortone's website.
I've contacted the company via email. What a complete waste of time, zero reply. If you wish to purchase this item please take note that "when" you need to replace the three dollar rubber belt that makes it tumble you're going to find it a pain in the you know what to find another one.
Bottom line is this: go with a more reputable company if you're looking for a tumbler/polisher.
One last thing that I would like to mention is that this tumbler/polisher is of a poor design making the rubber belt the weakest link in its construction.
Try to find a replacement belt here on Amazon.com or better yet try and find one on Lortone's website.
I've contacted the company via email. What a complete waste of time, zero reply. If you wish to purchase this item please take note that "when" you need to replace the three dollar rubber belt that makes it tumble you're going to find it a pain in the you know what to find another one.
Bottom line is this: go with a more reputable company if you're looking for a tumbler/polisher.
One last thing that I would like to mention is that this tumbler/polisher is of a poor design making the rubber belt the weakest link in its construction.
Not that great..... . I've had the same problem everyone else has had......belt slips a lot. You no sooner tighten the belt, it warms up again within a day or two, and slips again, leaving the stones, etc., sitting there in the tumbler. Not good. Unless you have time to sit and babysit this for weeks on end, I'd try a different one. I paid over $100.00 for this item, after shipping, etc., and just am not impressed with it at all. In fact, due to this, I'm no longer interested in tumbling stones and the unit now sits on a shelf in a closet. I think I'll stick to buying them. (I was VERY excited about tumbling until I went through this with this tumbler.)
Product Details
MPN : FC200242Brand : Lortone
Weight : 5 pounds
Height : 5 inches
Length : 17 inches
Width : 7 inches
Binding : Kitchen
Manufacturer : Lortone
Model : 3a
Publisher : Lortone
Studio : Lortone
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