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Thread: Rotisserie motor for tumbling brass

  1. #1
    Boolit Master


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    Rotisserie motor for tumbling brass

    At one of my bargain haunts I acquired a rotisserie motor. Has anyone used one successfully to power a brass cleaner?
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  2. #2
    Boolit Master
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    I have one that came with my last gas grill. Used it once... never again. That said, it turns way slower than my brass tumbler, but yours may be different.

  3. #3
    In Remembrance
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    I'll bet it would work, but would take forever to polish the brass!
    NRA Life
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  4. #4
    Boolit Grand Master

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    It would work mounting solid might be tricky but could be done. The thing to so would be go to a larger dia drum that's shorter in length. This would keep the surface feet per minute of the drum higher with the lower rpms giving better action inside. with the square drive these use spare drums would be a simple switch on and off.

  5. #5
    Boolit Buddy
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    What about using a ceiling fan motor? mine have 3 different speeds and you can get a speed control switch to vary that.
    BD

  6. #6
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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eETZb0W6Ha0

    i use one for both brass and for bullet polishing.. you just have to put some baffles in the drum or the brass will not tumble.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    if your drum is on the order of 6 to 8 " in diameter then you want the drum to rotate at approximately 60 RPM.
    Much faster the brass won't drop from the inner top of the drum when it gets to TDC, it will
    just "stick" to the wall of the drum, like the carnival ride where you stand up and it spins and then
    the floor drops away and the "drum" angles up but you don't fall down.

    Rig pulleys and belts to get to 1 RPM.
    The pulley size/ratio math is on the web, and google is your friend
    Last edited by edp2k; 03-04-2018 at 05:02 PM.

  8. #8
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    garandsrus's Avatar
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    I am pretty sure you meant 60RPM, which is one revolution per second.

  9. #9
    In Remembrance

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    I rigged up a really crude tumbler with a motor from an ice cream maker, it's direct drive to a two quart drink jug.
    It don't do 50 pounds of brass but it makes short work of 3-4 range visits worth.

  10. #10
    Boolit Grand Master jmorris's Avatar
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    A rotisserie motor is a bit too slow, as far as RPM. I guess it would be OK if you put them on now and planned to reload them in April or May.

    1 RPM and they may be ready in October, turtles make baby turtles faster than one RPM.

  11. #11
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    I thought about using a rotisserie motor on a case collator but 1 rpm seems a bit slow even for that

  12. #12
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    yes the rotisserie is slow. i usually put them on b4 i go to bed and then they are usually clean in the morning..

  13. #13
    Boolit Master Drm50's Avatar
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    I rigged a rotisserie motor and found it to slow. Then used the motor from a record player which
    worked fine but didn't last long, I think it wasn't made to carry that kind of load. I ended up using
    rotisserie motor to make a rod winder to wrapp fishing rods.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master
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    I striped a clothes drier for my DIY tumbler & used it for 4 Years. Used it till I upgraded to a workout treadmill 6 months on it and counting.

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
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    Yeah I was thinking 1 Rev per Second and it can out 1 RPM
    Fixed it now, thanks for correcting me

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