The Joy of Metal Clay: Tumbler Problems?

My tumbler which I have had for four years began to act up the other week. And my back up tumbler died at the same time.

My first response was helplessness. Then I thought hey, maybe I can fix this.

What happened was a problem with the band inside the tumbler.

Here is a picture of a replacement band below.



The first thing I did was to open my tumbler. My main tumbler is a Loritone 3A tumbler which is pretty common. (My backup tumbler is a Chicago Electric Power Tools tumbler) For simplicity I am going to show how to open and check out the Loritone (since this is more common)

Pictured below is the Loritone 3A:

Unplug the tumbler first!!!

The first challenge is to get the cover off. There are 4 screws the need to be removed:

Two on one end (pictured above).




One in the center (pictured above)

One at the opposite end (pictured above).

Once all screws are removed then gently remove the cover to expose the motor.

The problem with my Loritone tumbler was that the band had come off its tracks (I don't know the right terminology here perhaps one should say the wheels). For my other tumbler the actual problem was that the band was broken and needed to be replaced. Either way the solution is similar you need to put the band back on the tracks.

Above you can see that I took the band, stretched it and lined it up on the grooves. The band on the top wheel is in the grooves but in the picture I am in the process of stretching the band over the lower wheel.

All lined up!!! Here it is with the cover off and the band stretched over both wheels. Now just replace the cover and it should work.