The 3A is the machine most lapidary dealers put in a beginner's hands: one molded rubber barrel of 3 pound capacity, a steel base about 6 by 9.5 inches and a UL listed motor whose design has barely changed in decades. Lortone lists it at around 130 dollars direct, which makes it one of the cheapest rubber barrel tumblers that is not a toy. The rubber drum matters more than the price: running noise stays closer to a desk fan than to a cement mixer.
Real load is roughly 2 pounds of rock, because water, grit and plastic pellets eat the rest of the capacity. That suits jewelry batches, small agate and a single grit stage at a time. Barrel walls are round and smooth, so grinding action is gentler and slower on hard material than in faceted barrels. There is no timer and no speed setting, you plug it in and check the slurry every day or two.
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