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How i built my own rotary tumbler (Page 7 of 31)
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Just wanted to give a BIG thanks to BIGGDAWG for the idea/motiviation.
Mine is curently on a wood bas but will be getting a welded frame soon. Also I used 1/2" shafts 36" long but might cut them down as they flex a little in the middle, but otherwise works great. Brass.... 
(fixed first pic link) |
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Here's a Slideshow of my Tumbler. Another one made out of wood. Not as fancy as others here but it is awesome! :)
Wet Tumbler Slideshow Forgot to mention that I went with 1.5" and a 6" pulleys which give me right at 50rpm on the drum. Also, it took one 8ft 2x4 and a 2x2 sheet of plywood. I had Lowe's cut the 2x4 for me and the plywood was pre-cut. I used blind nuts on the underside of the plywood. Also, I put rubber fender washers between the wood/motor and wood/bearings. Nice and quiet. EASY! Thanks again BIGGDAWG! |
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Originally Posted By SCRAMBLD:
Time for some bling!! http://images51.fotki.com/v628/photos/6/60416/1967545/freshouttathetumblersoShiney-vi.jpg 8lbs of 30-06 and 10 lbs of media http://images60.fotki.com/v661/photos/6/60416/1967545/3006brass8lbs-vi.jpg befor Jason good job those look awesome. i never get tired of seeing blinged out cases. i am kind of sad that i don't have any more to clean right now. i got all my stashes cleaned some 20000 worth 
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Originally Posted By mygreenkaw:
BIGGDAWG Has tumbling that much brass caused any damage to the PVC drum? Just cursious how it will hold up over time with all the brass and media tumbling around inside. i haven't had a problem yet. i do use 2 drums a large drum and a small drum. both are still in great condition. not saying they won't wear out sometime. the agitators don't have any sharp edges anymore but all is good. |
| I would like to have more of an explanation on the motor setup. I looked up the specs on the motor you are using and it says it operates at 1725 rpm. Using the link to the calculator in your post and putting in the 1725 rpm with a 1-1/2 inch pulley and a 3-1/2 inch pulley the input rpm would be 739.29. How do you get to 60 - 80 rpm with this setup? Other than that I like your machine and am attempting to build one myself but the motor speed has me puzzled. |
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you take your 739.29 rpm that is your drive shaft rpm for the drum. you take the diameter of that shaft and it is used as the drive pulley diameter in the calculator then you take the
diameter of your drum that is your driven diameter. plug them in and it tells you your drum speed–– driven gear in the formula so for your example if you are using a 6" drum and 1/2" shaft with rubber hose that makes it a 3/4" shaft. plug them in and you get 92.41 rpm drum speed or for an 8" drum you would have 69.31 rpm drum speed. i run 4" driven pulley and 1.5 drive on my motor fyi does that help? Originally Posted By ukwildcat53:
I would like to have more of an explanation on the motor setup. I looked up the specs on the motor you are using and it says it operates at 1725 rpm. Using the link to the calculator in your post and putting in the 1725 rpm with a 1-1/2 inch pulley and a 3-1/2 inch pulley the input rpm would be 739.29. How do you get to 60 - 80 rpm with this setup? Other than that I like your machine and am attempting to build one myself but the motor speed has me puzzled. |
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Has anyone ever tried using the SS media in a dry vibration type tumbler?? Just wondering if it would work or not.
Not able to build much now in the way of a wet tumbler. I have been lurking for a while since I was injured on my last deployment, the past year has been spent in surgeries to rebuild my leg but now that I am in the rehab phase for the next year or so I figured it might be time to try reloading for my AR. Still have to get my brass and bullets though. I do have a Lyman vibration type tumbler, just hoping that it might work with this stuf. |
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Originally Posted By ukwildcat53:
That makes much more sense. Thank you so much for the explanation and thanks for sharing your tumbler with us. Mine is almost done and I can't wait to get some brass in it. Thanks again for the information. Your welcome glad I could help and inspire. |
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Originally Posted By victor3ranger1: Has anyone ever tried using the SS media in a dry vibration type tumbler?? Just wondering if it would work or not. Not able to build much now in the way of a wet tumbler. I have been lurking for a while since I was injured on my last deployment, the past year has been spent in surgeries to rebuild my leg but now that I am in the rehab phase for the next year or so I figured it might be time to try reloading for my AR. Still have to get my brass and bullets though. I do have a Lyman vibration type tumbler, just hoping that it might work with this stuf. Won't work. Vibrating tumbler needs light weight media like corn cob or walnut. SS media would stay on the bottom of tumbler and make noise. If this would of worked we all would of just changed media and kept using our vibrating tumblers.
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Originally Posted By GTLandser: Depending on how grubby my 5.56 brass is, I use between 15 and 25 Lbs in a 5 gallon bucket. Depending on tarnish I adjust between 800 and 1500 rounds, and 15 to 25 Lbs of pins.Ok, so what is the consensus on the ratio of brass to SS pellets? Conventional wisdom tends to center around 5 Lbs/gallon of water. I think that the larger tumbling diameter of the 5 gallon bucket increases the kinetic energy of the falling pins which lets me use fewer pins (less pin poundage by weight). Swinging a 75 pound bucket around is a PITA, which is why I drop it to 15 Lbs of pins when the brass isn't too bad. -This is only a theory. BIGDAWG might be noticing something similar in his larger diameter PVC tubes, but we haven't compared notes, so I don't know if he's seen anything comparable. The only reason I noticed is because my life is so barren of excitement.  |
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Originally Posted By GTLandser:
Ok, so what is the consensus on the ratio of brass to SS pellets? when i tumble i try to stay 1-2lbs less brass than the media as a max ratio. sometimes i will tumble 50 or less cases in my 1 gallon tumbler with 5lbs media. and they clean up faster. so the less brass to media the faster they will get done and vise versa if you use more brass to media. and yes kaos for the most part 5lbs to 1gallon of water but i have found in my 3 gallon drum i can run up to 25lbs of media and 22lbs of brass and it works rather well. |
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For those interested, US Plastic (online) offers "pickle jar" type 1 gal containers for cheap. If you don't have a source for cheap/free PVC or other parts, then these may be worth a look. I have not tested mine with liquids/brass/media, but they seem pretty sturdy, I think they are for lab/chemical and food storage use....and the price is right...you could buy a bunch of these for the price of PVC and fittings.
If you are set on having agitators in your drum though, PVC still looks like your best bet. here is the link |
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Great thread! I will get started on mine soon. |
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This thread is like watching a loaded 1911 with the safety off just laying on the ground in the middle of a playground-Aimless
This thread is like watching a loaded 1911 with the safety off just laying on the ground in the middle of a playground-Aimless
My barrel looks sorta like a bottleneck piece of brass. Don't it? LOL
Thanks BIGGDAWG, I used your blueprints and made my own tumbler. I bought my motor at my local Rural King for $55 brand new. 8000 series 1/4 horse 1725rpm. |
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Originally Posted By xtreme762:
My barrel looks sorta like a bottleneck piece of brass. Don't it? LOL
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/5892/imag0011cx.jpg Thanks BIGGDAWG, I used your blueprints and made my own tumbler. I bought my motor at my local Rural King for $55 brand new. 8000 series 1/4 horse 1725rpm. that looks great. good job glad i could help. |
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Originally Posted By Smworker1:
Originally Posted By genesis:
Great thread! I will get started on mine soon. LOL. And I was gonna paint mine red, now I'm thinking of more of a brass color, Well, I painted the frame red. I didn't want to do a color that was already done. Little did I know, red has been done already, a few times. That's ok, when it needs paint later, I'll paint it Fast and Furious ORANGE or something.
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"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke
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Originally Posted By coues7:
Are there any studies that show tumbling brass with SS hardens the brass? Google Search And Google Search |
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke
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I just spoke to a women named Cathy over at Pellets LLC. She told me that they no longer sell SS media to consumers unless you buy at least a 50lb. bag @ $5.20 a .lb..
There is a guy named Kevin that works there that is taking care of all the reloaders calling for media. He is also the guy in charge of distribution to various reloading suppliers that Pellets LLC. is distributing to. Just figured I would put this out so everyone knows Pellets LLC. is no longer selling to peons. |
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke
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Originally Posted By xtreme762:
I just spoke to a women named Cathy over at Pellets LLC. She told me that they no longer sell SS media to consumers unless you buy at least a 50lb. bag @ $5.20 a .lb.. There is a guy named Kevin that works there that is taking care of all the reloaders calling for media. He is also the guy in charge of distribution to various reloading suppliers that Pellets LLC. is distributing to. Just figured I would put this out so everyone knows Pellets LLC. is no longer selling to peons. Not true, the minimum order is 25lbs. I just bought from them last week(ordered from Kevin). (Unless they have changed since last Tuesday) |
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"Only a godless heathen would put beans in chili."- cfbigdaddy
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Originally Posted By cfbigdaddy: Originally Posted By xtreme762: I just spoke to a women named Cathy over at Pellets LLC. She told me that they no longer sell SS media to consumers unless you buy at least a 50lb. bag @ $5.20 a .lb.. There is a guy named Kevin that works there that is taking care of all the reloaders calling for media. He is also the guy in charge of distribution to various reloading suppliers that Pellets LLC. is distributing to. Just figured I would put this out so everyone knows Pellets LLC. is no longer selling to peons. Not true, the minimum order is 25lbs. I just bought from them last week(ordered from Kevin). (Unless they have changed since last Tuesday) <removed>dryflash3 I spoke with Cathy 5 minutes before posting in this thread, and this is what she told me. I'll find out tomorrow when I speak to Kevin and post back with what he says. |
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke
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Originally Posted By xtreme762: Originally Posted By cfbigdaddy: Originally Posted By xtreme762: I just spoke to a women named Cathy over at Pellets LLC. She told me that they no longer sell SS media to consumers unless you buy at least a 50lb. bag @ $5.20 a .lb.. There is a guy named Kevin that works there that is taking care of all the reloaders calling for media. He is also the guy in charge of distribution to various reloading suppliers that Pellets LLC. is distributing to. Just figured I would put this out so everyone knows Pellets LLC. is no longer selling to peons. Not true, the minimum order is 25lbs. I just bought from them last week(ordered from Kevin). (Unless they have changed since last Tuesday) <removed>dryflash3 I spoke with Cathy 5 minutes before posting in this thread, and this is what she told me. I'll find out tomorrow when I speak to Kevin and post back with what he says. <removed>dryflash3  |
"The two most important things in life are good friends and a strong bullpen."- Bob Lemon
"Only a godless heathen would put beans in chili."- cfbigdaddy
"Only a godless heathen would put beans in chili."- cfbigdaddy
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Originally Posted By cfbigdaddy: There was a posting a few weeks ago letting us know a member had spoken to Cathy while ordering, and she told him that they were going to change their policy on minimum orders soon.Originally Posted By xtreme762: <removed>dryflash3 Originally Posted By cfbigdaddy: <removed>dryflash3 Originally Posted By xtreme762: Not true, the minimum order is 25lbs. I just bought from them last week(ordered from Kevin). (Unless they have changed since last Tuesday)I just spoke to a women named Cathy over at Pellets LLC. She told me that they no longer sell SS media to consumers unless you buy at least a 50lb. bag @ $5.20 a .lb.. There is a guy named Kevin that works there that is taking care of all the reloaders calling for media. He is also the guy in charge of distribution to various reloading suppliers that Pellets LLC. is distributing to. Just figured I would put this out so everyone knows Pellets LLC. is no longer selling to peons. I spoke with Cathy 5 minutes before posting in this thread, and this is what she told me. I'll find out tomorrow when I speak to Kevin and post back with what he says. http://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/25767/38754.JPG I'm just going to assume from the above that the new policy is in effect. |
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Originally Posted By Husky79: Yup spoke to kelly via email on 3/27 he mentioned that they will only sell large quanity of #25 at 6.00/# or #50 at 5.25/#. So those who got it before the change are lucky because it was really dirty cheap before! I just got off the phone with Kevin, and he confirmed the above. He suggested the usual suspects - Buffalo, Midway, Sinclair, and SS Tumbling Media. I guess the distributors were getting tired of being undercut by Pellets, so it's a 25# minimum. |
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Originally Posted By Jailer:
BIGDAWG, I noticed you used bolts and nuts on your later drum designs as opposed to rivets on the earlier one. Did you have any problems with the rivets working loose? Just curious as to why you made the change. Getting ready to start on mine and just trying to cover all bases before I start. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Originally Posted By Dannofree:
Originally Posted By Jailer:
BIGDAWG, I noticed you used bolts and nuts on your later drum designs as opposed to rivets on the earlier one. Did you have any problems with the rivets working loose? Just curious as to why you made the change. Getting ready to start on mine and just trying to cover all bases before I start. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile no i didn't have any problems i just wanted to make it completely water tight with no chance of leaking so now i put the screws under the caps so when i glue the fittings on it seals and covers the screws. also didn't like the look of the silicone on the outside where the rivets were. |
Place holder until i get my photos up but just finished my trail run of some old 38 special I had lying around. And I must say that I am impressed. Way easier to clean the cases and overall cleaner then my Lyman got them. Had a couple issues but nothing major other then my grip tape wearing down the rubber hose over my crossbars (and 1 small section of metal bar ) and my pipe fitting leaking. Now I need some more media and a larger tumbler!
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Just finally got mine completed and ran dry run everything is working! Now just got to find time to do a batch run. Hopefully tomorrow. It took me a month to build this.. Time is luxury to me.. will have to get some pictures up soon.
BTW big thanks to BIGGDAWG! EDIT, the cylinder is 12 inches long 6 inches diameter, so that is equilavent to about 5.8 gallons right? |
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Originally Posted By Husky79:
Just finally got mine completed and ran dry run everything is working! Now just got to find time to do a batch run. Hopefully tomorrow. It took me a month to build this.. Time is luxury to me.. will have to get some pictures up soon.
BTW big thanks to BIGGDAWG! EDIT, the cylinder is 12 inches long 6 inches diameter, so that is equilavent to about 5.8 gallons right? a 12"x 6" pvc drum is 1.5 gallons volume of a cylinder is 3.14x the radius squared. 6" pvc is 28.26 cubic inches per inch of length. there are 231 cubic inches in a gallon. 8" pvc is 50.24 cubic inches per inch of pipe |
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Originally Posted By BIGGDAWG: Originally Posted By Husky79: Just finally got mine completed and ran dry run everything is working! Now just got to find time to do a batch run. Hopefully tomorrow. It took me a month to build this.. Time is luxury to me.. will have to get some pictures up soon.BTW big thanks to BIGGDAWG! EDIT, the cylinder is 12 inches long 6 inches diameter, so that is equilavent to about 5.8 gallons right? a 12"x 6" pvc drum is 1.5 gallons volume of a cylinder is 3.14x the radius squared. 6" pvc is 28.26 cubic inches per inch of length. there are 231 cubic inches in a gallon. 8" pvc is 50.24 cubic inches per inch of pipe Your pretty handy to have around.  |
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Shooting and Reloading, one hobby feeds the other.
Shooting and Reloading, one hobby feeds the other.
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Originally Posted By dryflash3:
Originally Posted By BIGGDAWG:
Originally Posted By Husky79:
Just finally got mine completed and ran dry run everything is working! Now just got to find time to do a batch run. Hopefully tomorrow. It took me a month to build this.. Time is luxury to me.. will have to get some pictures up soon.
BTW big thanks to BIGGDAWG! EDIT, the cylinder is 12 inches long 6 inches diameter, so that is equilavent to about 5.8 gallons right? a 12"x 6" pvc drum is 1.5 gallons volume of a cylinder is 3.14x the radius squared. 6" pvc is 28.26 cubic inches per inch of length. there are 231 cubic inches in a gallon. 8" pvc is 50.24 cubic inches per inch of pipe Your pretty handy to have around. thanks trying to earn my keep around here
i didn't just throw my tumbler together. ––––- well i guess i did the first one. lol i did a lot of figuring and reverse engineering to come up with what i have now. not that i am an engineer but i am a pretty good mechanic and have learned a few things over the years. |
| Looked through most of this thread. anyone try building the frame out of wood due to lack of welder if so could i see some pics and possibly proper measurements. |
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I will start it off here is mine. First off I built mine after looking at the others that were built here. Thanks
Base ¾ plywood 26 X 19 free found in garage (Sorry I can’t weld) Sears ¾ HP rated RPM 3450 free took off sander that I was not using at this time Pulley 1in on motor, 7 ½ pulley on shaft $18.00 Grainger (because of 3450 rpm of motor) end RPM 80-85 ½ in steel rod $4.00 ea. Grainger ½ in heater hose $12.00 Pillow Bearings ½ in online $8.00 ea. Two small bearings on each end to keep tube centered found in garage Rifle Tube 20 in long, Pistol Tube 13 in long 6 in sewer Tube 10 ft. $27.00 end caps $ 7.00 each 1 ½ PVC cut in half for inside paddles $3.00 all from Lowe's Here are my mistakes, my first try was too big for me, was able to cut everything down did not have to waste anything. I also went thru 2 pulley’s because of my motor rpm, first was a 3 ½, that made it run to fast. My first tube was about 28 in long; I cut into 2 now I have a Pistol and Rifle tube. Just for info I can put 400-500 S&W .40’s in my small tube, about 350-450 30.06 cases in the large tube. I feel that the SS media is the real limiting factor on size, just because of its cost. I’m using 10 pounds in my large one and 6 pounds in my small one. I have heard that you don’t want tumble brass with the primers still in, left in wet they seem to corrode and are very hard to get them out. I would also cut the 1 1/2 PVC into thirds next time I think in half was two big . Hope this helps 
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Originally Posted By usmcscout:
Looked through most of this thread. anyone try building the frame out of wood due to lack of welder if so could i see some pics and possibly proper measurements. here is one on page 11 http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/344986_How_i_built_my_own_rotary_tumbler.html&page=11#i3343492 |
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What am I doing wrong here? Just finally got my tumbler done yesterday did a maiden run with first batch of 3 lbs .223 cases that have already been tumbled, sized, and trimmed. Still had lube on it. Threw it in with a .45 acp full of lemishine, and a little over a second worth of dawn squirt, that was way too much, and 5 lbs of media. Turned out good. Now second batch of the same lot of .223, again 3 lbs brass, 1 full .45 acp and less than 1/4 xtra in with 2 45 acp full of dawn, full cold water.
The first run alot of water leaked out, so there was about little over half tank of water there when it was done. 2nd run no water leaked. First run no film of black grime at all, 2nd run had really thick film of black grime, cases came out terrible worse than what it looked like when it went into. First batch ran for about 3 hours 2nd batch ran for exactly 2 hours. Tube is 12 inches long 6 inch PVC tube. Tumbler 
Picture of what it looks like after 2nd batch. 
On left is the 2nd batch, on right is the first batch from yesterday. 
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Originally Posted By Husky79: You need more Lemishine in the mix, or you need to run it twice. Either way you need to give the lemishine more chance to work. I had that problem a few times in the beginning, and it's just a problem that requires you to work on your recipe of water/Lemishine/soap/time and factor in how dirty/tarnished the brass is along with the quantity of the brass you decide to wash.What am I doing wrong here? Just finally got my tumbler done yesterday did a maiden run with first batch of 3 lbs .223 cases that have already been tumbled, sized, and trimmed. Still had lube on it. Threw it in with a .45 acp full of lemishine, and a little over a second worth of dawn squirt, that was way too much, and 5 lbs of media. Turned out good. Now second batch of the same lot of .223, again 3 lbs brass, 1 full .45 acp and less than 1/4 xtra in with 2 45 acp full of dawn, full cold water. The first run alot of water leaked out, so there was about little over half tank of water there when it was done. 2nd run no water leaked. First run no film of black grime at all, 2nd run had really thick film of black grime, cases came out terrible worse than what it looked like when it went into. First batch ran for about 3 hours 2nd batch ran for exactly 2 hours. Tube is 12 inches long 6 inch PVC tube. Tumbler http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r515/Walleye05/uploads/IMAG0793.jpg Picture of what it looks like after 2nd batch. http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r515/Walleye05/uploads/IMAG0798.jpg On left is the 2nd batch, on right is the first batch from yesterday. http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r515/Walleye05/uploads/IMAG0801.jpg |
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How i built my own rotary tumbler (Page 7 of 31)
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