Tru-square Metal Products Model B Heavy Duty 15# Rock Tumbler, THU140

15lb tumbler and from a company that has been around for ages. My first Thumler Tumbler was bought for me about 1968 and it still works great today. I have only had to change drive belts after all these years. The new tumbler I bought for larger processing size. One thing to note for people not familiar with tumbling in general. this tumbler and any rotary tumbler are made for softening and rounding the stones and do so by the hexagonal barrel causing the material to move more with the grit and becomes a more aggressive tumbling process than a vibratory tumbler which is more designed for polishing than shaping a stone. That is why polishing such as ammo brass and other polishing is done with vibratory tumblers. If you only want to polish a stone that is already smooth then go Vibratory and Thumler's Vibratory tumblers are equally as well built as I own those also.PROs:1) The heavy steel construction, it will last a lifetime2) Rubber Inner Barrel cuts down on the sounds of tumbling. If you've ever heard a cheap tumbler with a plastic barrel you know what I mean - won't name names but buy quality not cheap junk.3) Inner Barrel and lid gasket are replacable if you ever have to and they are not expensive.4) Same strong motors they've used for generations and they just work!5) Inexpensive rubber drive belt you can buy anywhere and they all work6) Torque. The motor can drive heavy loads with ease.Cons: None really but one suggestionOnly one and it has nothing to do with the tumbler but a person preference. I would much rather have a round knurled nut instead of wingnuts for the lid hold downs and maybe some rubber track on the bottom of the unit. In place of the missing rubber feet I just place the unit on an old shop towel to not have the vibration of the unit transferred to the concrete making it even quieter.I would buy one of these any day of the week. They work great!

Ran perfect with 15 lbs of stones for two weeks…good machine

We started with one of the Nat Geo tumblers but had some problems with the unit stopping during the tumbling cycle. Add to that, the lid was damn near impossible to unscrew. We chose this one primarily due to the wing-nut capped lid. The unit has been running nearly non-stop for over a week... just had to oil the ends of the spinning rods a bit. It's a little noisy (it's kept in a separate garage). There's no on-off switch - just pull the plug. Overall we are quite happy do far.

I had already purchased 2 of these, and really love them. So I ordered another. Having 3 of these and set up in the garage makes tumbling more fun and speeds the process up a lot. These tumblers are built to last, but you must keep them clean to prevent any future problems. Would recommend these products.

The media could not be loaded. When I first got this, I was very disappointed. Some of the metal frame was bent and the pulley was covered in grease apparently so it didn’t get any traction to spin the barrel. Contacted Thumler Directly and spoke to someone who walked me through getting it to work. Wiped off any grease residue that was on the pulley cord and the pulley itself and it was able to spin.Had it for several months and it has been working and it does its job. Polished up quite a few beach rocks and they look great.That being said, I still have some criticisms of this product. It’s definitely overpriced. The motor runs very hot. After less than 3 batches the inner lid gasket is already wearing thin and about to tear. Thumler apparently charges like $18 for a new thin piece of plastic to put under the lid as a gasket. (FYI, you can buy 1/16” Thick rubber sheets by the foot for much cheaper and just make the gaskets yourself). Also, the barrel doesn’t roll completely straight and it starts to slide off to the side and grind away at the roller edges leaving red and black dust all over the bottom.Also, I suggest buying the bulk grit and polish, don’t bother getting the small 1 pound of each stage kits- I’ve gone through over 10 pounds of stage one grit in less than 3 all stage completed batches. (you will use the most step 1 grit, most of the other stages are 1-2 weeks max , but often times I’ve had to keep stubborn rocks in step one for 2-4 weeks to get the shaping I want. Stel 1 grit is available in 10lb buckets for about $30 on amazon).All in all, this seems to be a decent tumbler with an impressive capacity, That being said I still feel it’s way overpriced. $200… maybe $250.. either one of those would be a fair price for this machine- But at its current price, I have to say this model is not worth it.

I bought this tumbler about two months ago and have used it through one cycle of polishing. It is huge! I only put 7lbs of rocks in it with plenty of room to spare and then filled up the empty space to 3/4 with poly plastic beads. The beach rocks turned out gorgeous! I set it up in a tray in my bedroom walk-in closet and it was quiet enough to leave in there the whole time, although it’s not close to my bed area. I thought maybe I’d have to put it in the basement but it was perfectly fine. I noticed that if I added too much water to the mix it sloshed more and was noisier, so I took some out and it quieted down. It ran 24/7 without a hitch. No rubber wore off as long as I positioned it right on the roller. I am going to attempt a heavier batch next, 11.5lbs with room for the grit and plastic beads. I am going to use ceramic pellets for filler at some point, but they will add weight and I won’t be able fit as many rocks, but I’m doing some big ones and may need them to keep the rocks apart. I suppose I could also use a combination. It’s also important to burp the lid once a day because the heat from the friction causes a small vacuum and the rubber seal will stick to the inside rubber liner if you forget makimg it harder to get off. I will see how the machine holds up to more weight. I’m very happy with this large barreled tumbler so far.