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Thread: Homemade Tumbler Question

  1. #41
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by No Blue View Post
    Why do all you guys use pillow block bearings? At the speeds and loads of a tumbler, greased oak is all you need. It's like none of you have a clue as to what will work.

    Like the 17,000rpm motor; obvious misprint. I have a die grinder that runs near that speed, but that's what you need to have a 1/2" grinder wheel do some work. Not a dishwasher.

    Post up some pics of stuff you made...

  2. #42
    Boolit Master

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    Many newer washing machines use a high speed 3 phase motor. The high speed is used to spin dry the clothes so they do not have to spend as much time in the dryer. The three phase is so the speed can be varied electronically. Maytag Neptune was one of the first in the US.

  3. #43
    Boolit Buddy danomano's Avatar
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    This is what I did for wet tumbling.. pulleys, both sides are linked with pulleys too so they both turn are home made from wood aside from the one on the motor. very little money in to this. maybe 20 bucks.
    Click image for larger version. 

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  4. #44
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I have made several tumblers over the years. I have used steel frames, wood frames and reworked originals. One used a 5 gal bucket and its lid. What the friend wanted, I wanted to run a small threaded rod and bolt a cover on. Added some rails in the bucket to help with agitation also. Made a couple drive wheels for around the bucket so lid and rails weren't an issue. Another used a wooden drum 12" dia X12 long. barrel was 3/4" thick pine sealed with an epoxy coating. Octagonal in shape and each end offset 1" in the drive wheel. It rocked and spun really worked well. It was a wood frame and bronze bushing glued into the wood frame. Last was an old dryer for a trap and skeet club. Lined the drum with thin sheet metal and rubber coated it. Used the original motor and change pulley to slow it down. This one was used by members to clean large batches of shotgun hulls. The drum was fixed so just used a 2" flat belt around it for the driven pulley. Theres a lot of ways to build a tumbler or agitating case polisher. I have thought about a rocker type that rolls 1/2-3/4 turn back and forth for even more agitation

  5. #45
    Boolit Mold
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    what do you all use as the rubber grips to help it grip while rotating?

  6. #46
    Boolit Mold
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    Quote Originally Posted by SlowBurn View Post
    I went the with a free treadmill; came with power switch and speed control.
    another-cheap-wet-tumbler





    what are those yellow grips and where did you find them???

  7. #47
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Ive used rubber hose. Just get it the same size as the rods and press it over with a little rubber cement for lube to help it slide. Ive cut down leather belting for the drum wheels also. or rubber tubing in a groove around the out side of the wheels

  8. #48
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    Quote Originally Posted by TWC941 View Post
    what do you all use as the rubber grips to help it grip while rotating?
    Stair tread tape. Its pricey but I had some laying around.

  9. #49
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    Just out of curiosity ...how much do you guys have tied up in the bearings, shafts and assorted hardware? I'm going to guess $20 per each pillow block bearing assembly for something that's not dirt cheap. Say $20-25 for shafts? Something to keep alignment....$20

    Looks like the cost saving way of doing it is pretty close to the direct drive motor cost.

  10. #50
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    I would google "gear/pulley ratios" (small motor pullet to a large pulley on a jack shaft, and again a small pulley on the other end of the jack shaft to a larger pulley on the drum. Some info; http://www.blocklayer.com/pulley-belteng.aspx
    Last edited by mdi; 03-04-2017 at 12:23 PM.
    My Anchor is holding fast!

  11. #51
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kenstone View Post

    Post up some pics of stuff you made...
    I'd post a picture of the 5100 square foot home I built; but I don't want any of you peeps knowing where I live!

    Just search for a picture of a Conestoga wagon; those and all other horse drawn wagons used a greased oak bearing for the wheels. That would last the 1500 mile trip to California with no problems.

    Lots more of a load in the wagon than 10 pounds of pins and brass....

    Using a ball bearing for that is massive overkill. Save your money.

    To the poster about high speed washing machines; maybe in a commercial laundry, like a big hotel, motel, or uniform cleaning, will they have 3 phase motors. You have to be in a non-residential area to have access to 3 phase power, so the Neptune was not a 3 phase motor for use in your home.

    I called up the local electric company about 3 phase for my Bridgeport; no way would they install a new transformer for that.

    The new machines do spin faster, but the quick and easy way to do that is with gearing in the transmission.
    Last edited by No Blue; 03-03-2017 at 02:26 PM.

  12. #52
    Boolit Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by No Blue View Post
    To the poster about high speed washing machines; maybe in a commercial laundry, like a big hotel, motel, or uniform cleaning, will they have 3 phase motors. You have to be in a non-residential area to have access to 3 phase power, so the Neptune was not a 3 phase motor for use in your home.
    The Neptune and other washers that use 3 phase motors have a VFD built in that take 120V single phase and electronically converts it to 3 phase. The VFD controls the motor speed by varying the frequency of the 3 phase power created. I worked in the Emerson factory that made the Neptune motors about 7 1/2 years, they ARE 3 phase motors.

  13. #53
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by No Blue View Post
    I'd post a picture of the 5100 square foot home I built; but I don't want any of you peeps knowing where I live!

    Just search for a picture of a Conestoga wagon; those and all other horse drawn wagons used a greased oak bearing for the wheels. That would last the 1500 mile trip to California with no problems.

    Lots more of a load in the wagon than 10 pounds of pins and brass....

    Using a ball bearing for that is massive overkill. Save your money.

    To the poster about high speed washing machines; maybe in a commercial laundry, like a big hotel, motel, or uniform cleaning, will they have 3 phase motors. You have to be in a non-residential area to have access to 3 phase power, so the Neptune was not a 3 phase motor for use in your home.

    I called up the local electric company about 3 phase for my Bridgeport; no way would they install a new transformer for that.

    The new machines do spin faster, but the quick and easy way to do that is with gearing in the transmission.
    Wow just as predicted you got nothing...
    Just keep digging that hole, all you need to run that Bridgeport is a phase converter, and I'd believe the washing machine guy before you, as he has lived it...
    Last edited by Kenstone; 03-03-2017 at 04:10 PM.

  14. #54
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    You guys can use all the wood you want. Me, I will because of my background continue to build things correctly and over kill. If I really wanted to go backward I'd make the whole darn thing out of wood.

  15. #55
    Boolit Bub
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    Quote Originally Posted by TWC941 View Post
    what are those yellow grips and where did you find them???
    If you're referring to the two 3/4" plywood rings I cut with a jig saw, they aren't very grippy. I thought I would have to stretch a rubber band around them to prevent slipping, but so far there's been no problem.

  16. #56
    Boolit Mold
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    Quote Originally Posted by ulav8r View Post
    The Neptune and other washers that use 3 phase motors have a VFD built in that take 120V single phase and electronically converts it to 3 phase. The VFD controls the motor speed by varying the frequency of the 3 phase power created. I worked in the Emerson factory that made the Neptune motors about 7 1/2 years, they ARE 3 phase motors.
    I have been in the HVAC industry for a long time. ulav8r is correct at least in regards to the drives (I'll take his word on the washing machine implementation as well). 120V single phase to 3 phase vfd's have been around for a long time.

    The vfd or variable frequency drive does just that it varies the output frequency and voltage to control the speed of the motor. The ac line voltage is converted by the drive to DC pulse width modulation and then converted back to the ac output to feed the motor. Of note is that the motors should be inverter duty rated.

    Who is going to be the first one to implement a vfd on their tumbler?

  17. #57
    Boolit Master
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    You can indeed get an electronic converter to provide three phase power, but I doubt whether it is worthwhile unless you get a good deal in a three-phase workshop machine. I am sure rotary converters lose the lower running cost of a three-phase supply, and I don't know if electronic ones do.

    With a worm gear you could even run it from a home-made windmill. Some people (not me) use tumblers to mill gunpowder, and I can imagine gaining peace of mind from running it far from a power socket, or with the drum floated in water to earth static.

  18. #58
    Boolit Grand Master jmorris's Avatar
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    I built a few of these tumblers using 3 phase gear motors and VFD's. If you have a use for ones this big you are not a reloader, rather a manufacturer.



    Each drum is good for 15 gallons of brass at a time and you'll need an overhead crane to load and unload them.

  19. #59
    Boolit Grand Master jmorris's Avatar
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    I called up the local electric company about 3 phase for my Bridgeport; no way would they install a new transformer for that.
    There are at least 4 ways around that, that I have and use. VFD's as discussed are pretty cheap, give you the ability to run 230 v 3 ph motors at various speeds, change directions and can run them from 120 v single phase power.

    One of these would do it.

    https://www.automationdirect.com/adc...-z-Hz_Control)

    A static phase converter is a fancy name for a box of capacitors that allow one to run a 3 ph motor from single phase. This one would do the job.

    https://www.zoro.com/phase-a-matic-p...w&gclsrc=aw.ds

    A rotary phase converter is basically a static phase converter that is running a larger 3 ph motor already and that inertia will give you better start/reverse on your mill than a static alone.

    Like these.

    http://www.phase-a-matic.com/RotaryDescription.htm

    I use all three for different reasons and picked up a backup generator off of CL for just over a $1k with almost no hours on it that will deliver 100 amps at 240v 3 ph, to run the really big stuff.

  20. #60
    Boolit Mold
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    Quote Originally Posted by jmorris View Post
    There are at least 4 ways around that, that I have and use. VFD's as discussed are pretty cheap, give you the ability to run 230 v 3 ph motors at various speeds, change directions and can run them from 120 v single phase power.

    One of these would do it.

    https://www.automationdirect.com/adc...-z-Hz_Control)

    A static phase converter is a fancy name for a box of capacitors that allow one to run a 3 ph motor from single phase. This one would do the job.

    https://www.zoro.com/phase-a-matic-p...w&gclsrc=aw.ds

    A rotary phase converter is basically a static phase converter that is running a larger 3 ph motor already and that inertia will give you better start/reverse on your mill than a static alone.

    Like these.

    http://www.phase-a-matic.com/RotaryDescription.htm

    I use all three for different reasons and picked up a backup generator off of CL for just over a $1k with almost no hours on it that will deliver 100 amps at 240v 3 ph, to run the really big stuff.
    J Morris you indeed have built everything! I was being facetious when asking who would be the first. *Wiping the egg off of my face*

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