Home made brass tumbler.

[DalesCarpentry]

I am in the process of making my own brass tumbler. It has taken me more time than I thought it would. I bet I have close to 8 hours in it now but the good news I am 98% done. I just gave up tonight because I have to go bid a couple jobs in the morning and pretty much ran out of time. If I get a chance to finish tomorrow after I figure out these bids I will post some pictures of it. I think it will work. It is based on a rock tumbler design instead of a vibrator design. I will also be using it to Molly coat bullets. Well you guys take care and good night Dale

[Curtis]

I think you're wise to follow the tumbler type design instead of the vibrating type.  I built one years ago of the vibrating type that worked well ...........that is to say I built and re-built it several times as it tended to fatigue the metal parts that I used to construct it.  Now I have a Franklin Arsenal and a Lyman vibrator type that don't fall apart.

Curtis

[HAMMERHEAD]

Looking forward to seeing your design, I have a nice steel can, about 16"X16", with a clamp on steel lid that I hope to use someday.

[PowPow]

I admire the patience of those who tumble brass.

I found out that I am too impatient for tumbling.
Now I just swirl it around in vinegar for a few minutes, then wash it in Dawn, rinse it, cookie sheet at 200 F for 10 minutes.

[Land_Owner]

Interesting suggestion - vinegar.  I too was impatient.  About 19 years worth of impatience.  I bought a tumbler only last year, on impulse, and have since quintupled (5X) the number of readied cases that I keep on hand in all handgun and 223 calibers!  To say I am "hording" is a good explanation. 

I am shooting a lot more too.  The clean and tumbled brass, by the thousands, in zip locked bags on my counter top adjacent to my reloading bench is only slightly less beautiful compared to the loaded ammo boxes and magazines in the safe awaiting the "gas chamber" and a smokin' hot flash and thundering down range.   

[DDelle338]

  Being the Cheapskate that I am,,,,  I made my tumbler out of an old ice cream maker. Just glued in some thick rubber "paddles" to sort of flip the mixture over, lined the rest of the can between the two paddles with rubber. Then add the media and brass, assemble the parts minus the main paddle. Lay it on it's side, plug it in and away it spins. Oh yea,,,, don't forget to tape over the hole in the lid where the the shaft of the paddle used to come through.
  $$ invested= 0
  Time invested= 40 minutes
  Pats on my own back each time I use it= many

[bobg]

   I did the same thing DDelle did. It worked great. Paid $5.00 for the freezer at a yard sale. I gave it to a friend of mine and he is still using it.

[jcn59]

I make my tumblers out of 14" piece of 4" pvc with screw-in end caps and rotate it off small electric motor thru small gear box at 60-80 rpm, 15 years old now.   Pics if anyone wants them.

[bilmac]

Being a carpenter you may be interested in my first homemade. I made an octagonal box to hold the cases. One of the sides was loose to serve as a door and was held in place with elastic. Had a pipe through the middle for an axle. I used the V belt pullies from an old clothes drier, most of them have a jackshaft, a big pully and a small one mounted together on an axle. You can use it to slow the RPMs of an electric motor down.

[HAMMERHEAD]

Just wondering if the acid in the vinegar is harmful to the brass long term?
I'm thinking of using some kind of liquid because the insides of my cases just keep getting dirtier and dirtier with just tumbling.

[PowPow]

RE: Vinegar
Can't say about long term; I've only done it for a few cycles.

I will say that some of the brass acquires a slight pinkish hue around the neck, but I have seen that on old once fired brass, so I don't know if the vinegar turned it pink, or if it just revealed the pink under the gunk that my walnut media could not remove.

I forgot to mention that I add course sea salt to the vinegar to give it a little bit of mechanical abrasiveness.

I recycle the vinegar (try to keep it away from the salad dressing) and after a few uses, call it 300 pcs, it acquires a weak green tint, which tells me its leeching a little copper out of the brass. Considering how many copper atoms it would take compared to 300 pcs of brass, I have no concern. I think the work of sizing it is more detrimental by several orders of magnitude.


BTW - If someone has something more than anedotal evidence that I am shooting myself in the foot by doing this, I'd be interested in hearing it.

[mbopp]

I use a 3# coffee can (remember 3# coffee cans?). The rollers and drive motor came from old copier parts and test fixtures. I have a 12 hour timer on it, I'll let it run 4 hours or so and sift the cases out.

[Lost Oki]

I set back an old bbq rotisserie motor to make one out of but ended up buying a vibratory cleaner and use walnut shells for the cleaning media.
For those of you using tumblers, have you every tried rice for the cleaning media ??

[jcn59]

Pic of my tumbler.Runs about 70 rpm.   10-15 years of dirt & grime on it.