Thulmers Ultra Vibe 10

[Apehanger]

Does anyone have experience of the above vibrator?
I have found a supplier on ebay. Unfortunately it is from Hong Kong but I have had stuff from there before, without any problems .... so far.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brand-New-Mini-Vibratory-Media-Tumbler-Wet-Dry-Polisher-Finisher-Cleaner-/140644324780?pt=UK_Jewellery_Watches_JewelleryBoxes_Supplies_CA&hash=item20bf0e15ac

Any recommendations, or otherwise, gratefully received.

Thank you

[ScarlettoSara]

Krystee and John and lots of others have tumblers and rock vibrators. They will show up soon:)
I want to get one of those too:) I think that is same one that Krystee has and she gets the best shine in the world:)
Here is her tumbling tutorial:)
http://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/index.php/topic,10149.0.html

[mirkaba]

I have a Thumler UV-10 Its a great machine. Retired to burnishing silver now. The one on Ebay looks like it might be a Chinese knockoff. Thumlers are made in Auburn, Washington USA.

[tntmom]

UV-10's are great, just make sure it is rated heavy duty for rocks.... some are only rated for metals.  If it's a metal tumbler then it will break down immediately!

I prefer the Lot-O.  It is a smaller barrel at 6lbs versus 10 but can polish much larger rocks.  Any rock that fits through the opening will polish.  I've done small fist size rocks and decent sized slabs with no problem.  The UV-10 can't handle the larger rocks.  The UV has a doughnut bowl whereas the Lot-O is an open round barrel.  There are drawbacks to the Lot-O though.  It has to be glued to cement in order to function properly whereas the UV-10 can be moved to wherever you want it.  In my opinion, the top 3 brands of vibrating tumblers are the Lot-O, The Thumlers UV and the Gy-roc that John jsgemslapidary.com sells.  I have never tried the Gy-roc before but I have heard of a lot of people that love it.  You can either piggy back it  to run multiple loads or order a lap pan lid that converts it to a vibrating lap that you can use for slabs while tumbling your other material.  In the future I want to try that one.

Good luck, I LOVE my vibrating tumbler!

ps  just looked at the ebay listing that you posted......I wouldn't trust it, I think Bob is right.  And it's missing the silver label.

[deb193]

on the UV-10 I think the barrels come with wither a yellow or blue band, and the color indicated normal or heavy duty. You do want heavy duty. Also, as noted above, be suspicious of a knock-off if you find an hong-kong seller offering an American made product.

The Lot-O can run smaller loads.

[Apehanger]

I realise it is not labelled as a UV-10, but it's the same as.
The reason I could be interested is because the motor is 240V which is what we have over here. Unfortunately you cannot get vibratory tumblers over here so I would have to import one.
The only other option is to import a 110V vibrator from the U.S. and connect it to a transformer, as used on building sites. However this adds about another $80 to the cost and would increase running costs due to transformer heat loss etc.

 

[mirkaba]

In 90 percent of all cases the Chinese knock-offs appear the same but are very very shoddy. I think it is a matter of no quality control. Even most of the stuff made in China and American branded is crap. I bought a Chinese angle grinder a couple years ago. After about an hour of use it flew apart and burst into flames!!!