I was a bad boy recently. I stopped in my local rock and gem shop not planning to buy much, and I walked out with a Lortone QT12 rotary rock tumbler, my fourth rock tumbler.

My 12-pound barrel in the foreground, two 6-pound barrels in the back. The rubber barrels have an oily residue when new, so you have to clean them thoroughly before tumbling. I believe not cleaning a barrel has led to one of my tumblers exploding in the past.
The Lortone QT12 runs a 12-pound barrel. I also have the QT66, which runs a pair of 6-pound barrels. This time, I said screw it to my 4-pound barrel and set the QT12 and QT66 up with 24 pounds of Dallasite.
I have so much nice Dallasite. I only realize it when I go to load the tumblers and use so little of my collection. I’m starting to figure out the right mix of rock sizes to put in. I think these loads are going to tumble really well.

You can’t tell here, but there is a lot of Dallasite tumble rough in this 12-pound barrel. I also chucked in a few other nice beach rocks.
Thanks for looking. Keep on tumbling!
That is a mega-sized tumbler. I am so jealous!
Thank you! Here’s what I really want though: http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/tls/4605072416.html
…excuse me while I pick up my jaw from the floor.