Rob MacLennan

Steel, or aluminum? Either will open over time under load, but carbon steel, spring steel, or stainless steel will stand up much better, requiring minimal maintenance.

Unfortunately I have neither. I have managed to locate several American suppliers who stock replacement parts for this tumbler, none of whom actually list the particulars. I've placed an order with one of them as the belt ultimately failed last night, and the cost involved is minimal.

Do you have recommendations on where to acquire replacement belts for the tumblers, in particular the Model T Rotary Tumbler? I've been running mine almost non stop since receiving it and can see that the belt is loosening up significantly, so I'd like to have replacements on-hand before I actually need them.

For large scales you want to use 5/16", 16 gauge rings. The pliers you mentioned should be a good choice, unless you have rather large hands.

The smaller scale would need to be attached to the larger one, not the grid as a whole, or it would be the limiting factor on the whole build. That means more rings, which would have an effect on the lay of the scale on top of that one.

There is no maximum.

If that's 20 Gauge in AWG, then the wire diameter is 0.8mm. with a 4mm ring that would be (4mm/0.08mm) = AR of 5. Minimum AR for E4-in-1 is 2.9, so that's fine.

Yes, the holes in the scales would be a bit big for rivets. On large scales they're roughly 5/16" and on small scales 3/16". Something like shield scales could work, if you also bought a punch to create your own holes. I haven't done rivets with leather before but you can get both 1/8" and 1/16" punches in the "Other Tools" section of The Ring Lord's site, with which you could add holes to shield scales.

I'm now using both a vibratory and rotary tumbler. The rotary tumbler is loaded with stainless shot and a stainless steel piece, while the vibratory tumbler has walnut media and a couple of dozen brass scales. They're in my basement. I can just hear the rotary tumbler from the top of the basement stairs and have to get into the basement before I can hear the vibratory tumbler. They would obviously be much louder if on a wooden floor rather than a concrete basement floor, but isolating them from the floor with something like a piece of foam play area mat would likely do wonders.

Like Paladin, I'm a fan of 1/4", 16 gauge in Euro 4-in-1. It's reasonably flexible, still gives room for expansions and contractions, and is moderately opaque.

Remove the rings that you placed over the holes of the scales along the edge. Place them instead on the rings between the scales along the edge. In this way the rings and holes in the scales will match the European 4-in-1 strip that you have and you'll be able to attach them.

Look up-thread where I posted a "Scale Tutorial" link. Lots of good info in it, including about expansions and contractions.

It's actually mirror aluminum scales with the protective plastic still on them for assembly. There aren't a lot of contractions. Two on each breast along the vertical centre line. One just at the start of the inward curvature and then one more just before the bottom of the breast. Use them sparingly.

The new forum doesn't have the same features, so the old help wouldn't be much. Help, that is. When you are posting there's a "Drag files to attach, or choose files" below the text window. you can click on "choose files" and then browse to a file on your computer, select it, and it will post as long as it doesn't exceed the listed file size.

They're wearing them for stab resistance. At that size if they weren't welded, a knife would sail right through it.