Building a tumbler- can’t go $200 right now!

[Smithjdsr]

1) Is tumbling to make nice looking brass or better functioning brass?
2) What speed? This seems ridiculously fast.
https://youtu.be/eQRDuUou1kg

I have a bucket with a good lid, also a shop full of 2x4’s, wheels...

[Hoot]

1) Is tumbling to make nice looking brass or better functioning brass?
2) What speed? This seems ridiculously fast.
https://youtu.be/eQRDuUou1kg

I have a bucket with a good lid, also a shop full of 2x4’s, wheels...

I agree, it looks like centrifugal force would hold everything to the walls.
Drive around on trash day and look for someone throwing out a decent looking treadmill. Even if the controller is buggered (common problem), the 1 HP 36V motor can run off a DC supply. The rollers and pillar bearings can be re-tasked as well.

There's clean enough for reloading and there's eye candy. Vibratory tumblers work fine but boy is that sparkle afforded by wet tumbling, mesmerizing!

Hoot

[Blackedout12v]

I use the harbor freight dual drum rock tumbler, about $45 with a 20 percent coupon. Been using mussleman apple sauce containers for drums, iirc about 50 pc of brass at time. No steel pins, just brass, about tbl spoon armorall wash and wax, and about a 9mm case full of powdered citric acid.1hr tumble time. Works very well IMO, nice shiny clean brass, quick and easy cleanup. Air dry or oven dry if in a hurry, around 225 for 15 min. This was the cheapest way to get into wet tumbling I found and works well for small batch cleaning. I use the mussleman applesauce containers because there easily attainable, have handles that act like baffles to agitate the brass and I like applesauce. the tumbler comes with two drums that work also, just hold less capacity individually. I have never cleaned brass any other way, except a rag, and don't have any desire to do so.

[Hoot]

I use the harbor freight dual drum rock tumbler, about $45 with a 20 percent coupon. Been using mussleman apple sauce containers for drums, iirc about 50 pc of brass at time. No steel pins, just brass, about tbl spoon armorall wash and wax, and about a 9mm case full of powdered citric acid.1hr tumble time. Works very well IMO, nice shiny clean brass, quick and easy cleanup. Air dry or oven dry if in a hurry, around 225 for 15 min. This was the cheapest way to get into wet tumbling I found and works well for small batch cleaning. I use the mussleman applesauce containers because there easily attainable, have handles that act like baffles to agitate the brass and I like applesauce. the tumbler comes with two drums that work also, just hold less capacity individually. I have never cleaned brass any other way, except a rag, and don't have any desire to do so.

That's the route I went when I first got into wet tumbling. Affordable and to be honest, I rarely process more than say 40) 450b cases at a time. That's a typical Range Day's expenditure for me. Once I got the bigger Franklin tumbler, I went back and went crazy tumbling all the range pickups I had stashed over the years until they were done and I had satisfied my need to see bright and like-new shiny. Now its back to just Range Day quantities which the HF rock tumbler could handle. I did try the chips instead of the pins and they do a faster job in either the Franklin or the HF method, though the pins did just fine.

Hoot

[plant_one]

clean enough to reload can be had by a wipe with a towel (in many cases) or a quick rub down with a scotch brite #96 pad (the dark green ones) if you're on a budget.

vibratory tumblers will acheive clean enough to reload for larger batches on a relative budget, and usually can be acheived in an hour or two.

wet tumbling is somewhat - ok mostly! - about bling factor, but its also about time efficiency if you shoot a lot. not only does it clean in and outside - vibratory tumbling is really only good at cleaning and shining the outside - but if you deprime before you wet tumble, the pins will also clean the primer pocket for you too. and when you dont have to clean 1k primer pockets - thats always a happy day in my world!



FWIW - you can do a basic wet tumble in a bucket on the floor using your foot to roll the damn thing around, but as hoot mentioned - an old motor from a treadmill is usually the best option for a budget build.



if you watch, the frankford aresenal wet tumbler kit comes down to around $129 a couple times a year. so save up your nickles and dimes and be ready to clicky quick when the sales show up. https://www.amazon.com/Frankford-Arsena ... 00HTN4R6O/


hth

[Smithjdsr]

I’m thinking I’ll go with the Harbor Freight double for now. I can work in smaller batches until I see my way to spend a little more on a Franklin Armory. I have LOTS of picked-up brass and it needs a good cleaning. My plan is: do a short soak and wash in a bucket, decap, (get the HF tumbler) wet tumble with s.s. pins.

[Blackedout12v]

I’m thinking I’ll go with the Harbor Freight double for now. I can work in smaller batches until I see my way to spend a little more on a Franklin Armory. I have LOTS of picked-up brass and it needs a good cleaning. My plan is: do a short soak and wash in a bucket, decap, (get the HF tumbler) wet tumble with s.s. pins.

One thing I did when I got my HF tumbler was take the rollers out and grease them liberally, check Alignment on the drive pulleys, and drill some extra vent holes on the motor cover ( probably not necessary). Hopefully these things will contribute to a longer service life.

[plant_one]

I’m thinking I’ll go with the Harbor Freight double for now. I can work in smaller batches until I see my way to spend a little more on a Franklin Armory. I have LOTS of picked-up brass and it needs a good cleaning. My plan is: do a short soak and wash in a bucket, decap, (get the HF tumbler) wet tumble with s.s. pins.

dont wet wash before you decap. getting that moisture out of the primer/primer pocket with the primer still there isnt the easiest thing to do (unless maybe you live in the saharah )

get yourself a universal decapper, i think they're like $15 or so. use THAT to punch the primers out, and then go straight into the HF tumbler. basically for time efficency skip the pre-wash completely unless the brass is absolutely FUBAR. then once your brass is clean, worry about resizing and the rest of your brass prep process.

if you already have a vibratory tumbler, a quick pass in that (usually 20 mins) is enough to knock of any range dirt, or heavy debris. i do this to get the rough crud off so that it doesnt gum up my case feeder. if not a quick hand wipe before going into the universal decapper *should* do it.




a point to note about lemi shine - LESS IS MORE! - start with about 1/8th tsp / 2 quarts water and work down from there until you get an unsatisfactory cleaning. then go back to the next highest ammount that you had a good cleaning with. My current recipie is 0.5cc (1/10th tsp) per 2 quarts to clean 5 lbs of brass. Too much can cause spotting or tarnish on the brass, an in the extreme can even damage your brass. It *IS* acid (albeit mild) but too much can permantly damage brass. a bottle of the stuff *should* last most shooters years and years. also, when adding your soap, less is NOT more. You have to have bubbles left after your tumbling time. Thats what collects the schmoo (yes thats a technical term ) suspended in the cleaning solution. otherwise you'll get brass out thats uniformly grey (carbon gets redeposited). the good thing is, if that ever happens - just rinse the brass and pins, put fresh waster, lemi shine, and dawn in - and run for another cycle. it'll take it right off.


hth

[Smithjdsr]

As it turns out, a vibratory tumbler is actually easier to make than a rotary tumbler... if you’re a former chemist with a few odd pieces of lab equipment laying around.

View My Video

[Hoot]

BTW, a shake table, will settle you powder column with amazing effectiveness. Only really helpful when you're running charges that fill the case and you still need a little more room to seat the bullet to the desired depth. It really integrates the granules with a minimum amount of trapped air. A lot faster than a drop tube and definitely most effective with extruded powders. Not so much with ball powders for obvious reasons. If you don't have access to a shake table, you can make one easily from an affordable, adjustable electro-pencil and an eraser.
I have a link to a thread I made on another forum, if anyone's interested.

Hoot