My Homemade $0 Cost, 15 Minutes to Build Tumbler w/ Built in Timer! (Maybe.....)

[Ziptar]

Updated 5/1/2011: Say Hello to the Ronco™ Showtime™ Rotisserie Tumbler Version 2.0!!! Go to post #25

So I'm down in the basement today, straightening up and getting ready for car projects, cleaning the work bench off to try out new reloading equipment. The Mrs. Also decided this weekend it was time to swap out the Winter Clothes for Summer and sort out anything my girls had outgrown and donate it.

As I'm going about my business, I started pickup in order move out of the way (for the umpteenth time) the Ronco™ Showtime™ Rotisserie & BBQ that another family member gave to us 3 years ago after they used it once and that we never used..... ever. So I say to the wife, "I thought we were getting rid of this boat anchor." To which she confirmed positive.

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Tumbler_Experiment_01.jpg

As I picked it up to move it (for the last time) to the "Donate" pile, I saw a motor driven spit and a timer and suddenly like a bolt of lightning the word TUMBLER popped in my head.

In an instant I had it on the workbench and had the spit out and began rooting around for stuff to try a tumbler experiment.

With in minutes I grabbed an empty plastic coffee tub, my can of Lemishine, an old bottle of Turtle Wax Finish 2001 Polish with a couple ounces still in it, 100 deprimed 45 Colt cases that I cleaned with Lemishine week before last that had tarnished because I hadn't Polished it (I haven't bought a tumbler yet), and a 1lb bag of brown rice.

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Tumbler_Experiment_05.jpg

For a brief moment I thought about running out to the pet store for a bag of corn cob or walnut bedding but, damn the torpedoes, inspiration was upon me!

I grabbed the cordless drill and zip, zip 2 holes in the plastic coffee tub, and zip, zip two more in the lid and slid the plastic tub on spit.

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Tumbler_Experiment_02.jpg

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Tumbler_Experiment_03.jpg

Tossed in the rice, a cap of Finish 2001, and 1/4 teaspoon of Lemishine granules. I put the lid on and gave a vigorous shake.

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Tumbler_Experiment_06.jpg

Then I dumped in the brass.

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Tumbler_Experiment_07.jpg

Put the lid on and hung the spit in the Ronco™ Showtime™ Rotisserie & BBQ.

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Tumbler_Experiment_04.jpg

I set the switch to "No Heat Rotation" and the Timer to 2 hours....

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Tumbler_Experiment_08.jpg


Now I wait...

From flash of the idea to commencing tumbling the brass it took all of 15 minutes, including snapping pictures with my phone as I went. It might end in total failure but, it might not. What have I got to loose. I kept a few cases out of a before and after comparison.

It actually took me longer to put the pictures up on the intarwebz and write this post than it took to put the whole thing together.

So, in what could be the very first "Cast Boolits Real Time Web Tumbler Experiment", it's down in the basement doing this..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU2-ZCtNC38

BTW: Closing the glass door cuts down on the noise quite a bit.

[DABULLMAN]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!genius!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DABULLMAN]

i was just out shopping for a brass tumbler not no more. DID IT WORK?

[flashhole]

You should bring the rotisserie cooker back into the kitchen they are fantastic for chicken, roasts, and there is no better way to cook prime rib. We are on our 3rd one and when it dies we will get another.

[Jack Stanley]

How 'bout dat ? .... chicken roaster by day ...... brass cleaner by night . Talk about versitle tools huh? ;-)

:kidding:Jack

[Roundnoser]

You are "the man"!!! Ha ha ha that was fantastic!

[Ziptar]

Ok,

The results, it was though to get really good pictures in the basement after sundown, but the difference is noticeable.

Here are the 5 un-tumbled next to 5 tumbled.
http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Tumbled_Brass_sm.jpg

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/tumbled_cases_02.jpg

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Tumbled_Cases_sm.jpg

Click here for a bigger picture. (http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Tumbled_Brass_lg.jpg)

A couple things learned.

rice isn't a very good tumbling media. It did OK but the polish wasn't overall consistent, many cases were a bit blotchy. I had to pick grains out of 20 or so primer pockets and flash holes.
A cap full of the Finish 2001 was a little to much, it was a bit wet. So I cut up a few small squares of a cotton rag and throught them in and tumbled it for another 30 minutes or so.


Overall though, I think as a proof of concept it worked well enough to merit another go with some corn cob or walnut media.

While I was waiting for the half hour tumble with the rag squares to finish I noticed something else about the Ronco™ Showtime™ Rotisserie & BBQ.

It comes with a steel warming / steam tray with a plastic cover that is made to sit up top and use the heat from the oven to steam and keep stuff warm.

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/warmer_tray.jpg

Once again I got another idea.... I could disconnect the middle leg of the switch and stick a couple new labels on it and.....

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/new_label.jpg

Its instantly transformed into the the Ronco™ Multifunction™ Reloading Machine. :grin:

[mustanggt]

Looks like it has alot of promise. Keep us posted. Might want to disconect the heating part of the switch just in case Murphy messes with it.

[gofasttodd]

i use a all natural cat liter that wal mart sells it is corn cob and then i take polishing compound and thin it down with mineral spirits mix in and then add dryer sheets cut in 1/2 inch squares this works excelent granted this is in a vibe not a tumble but works great

[Isaac]

That's outstanding! Amazing what we can do with a little "junk".

This is the time of the year I check out folk's front lawns for freebe's. Many are doing their spring cleaning. You never know what you might find that works on the range or in the loading area.

Good job!

Isaac

[mroliver77]

Good job! I made one recently using a 5 gallon bucket and an ice cream machine motor. It worked great! For about three hours that is. It fried the rotor. :( Back to the drawing board.
Try the lizard litter from a pet store. It is ground walnut small enough to pass through the flash holes. It works wonders for me! Others have stated that they get corn cob ground this fine but I cannot find any locally.
Jay

[Southern Son]

That is just plain smart. Very impressive.

[Armorer]

That is absolutely awesome! My wife currently has one of those machines stashed in the closet. Brand spanking new, (and about 8 years old) and never been out of the box. I wonder if she would donate it for the cause.:)

Armorer

[bumpo628]

Good job! I made one recently using a 5 gallon bucket and an ice cream machine motor. It worked great! For about three hours that is. It fried the rotor. :( Back to the drawing board.
Try the lizard litter from a pet store. It is ground walnut small enough to pass through the flash holes. It works wonders for me! Others have stated that they get corn cob ground this fine but I cannot find any locally.
Jay

If you want fine grain corn cob, Drillspot.com has two sizes.
Free 3 Business Day Shipping with either one.

$25.88 - Corn Cob Blast Media, 40 Lbs
Nominal Dia. Max. 0.0551"
Nominal Dia. Min. 0.0236"
http://www.drillspot.com/products/499763/econoline_526020g-40_40_lbs_blast_media

$27.20 - Corn Cob Blast Media, 40 Lbs
Nominal Dia. Max. 0.0393"
Nominal Dia. Min. 0.0167"
http://www.drillspot.com/products/521055/econoline_526040g-40_40_lbs_blast_media

[Ziptar]

After Dinner I'm going to run another test.

Picked up some proper tumbling media and a new bottle of Nu-Finish. The consistency of the stuff in the old bottle of Finish 2001 is a bit like cottage cheese.

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/New_stuff%20_to_tumble.jpg

I'm thinking 75% walnut, 25% Corn Cob and 3/4's of a cap of Nu-Finish should do nicely.

[RobS]

Great idea on making your tumbler and as to your polish, cut it about half and half with the high grade rubbing alcohol (91%) found at any drug store or Wal-Mart/K-Mart etc. It won't glob up (thins it), mixes better in the media, and with the alcohol it dries by the end of the tumbling cycle.

[buck1]

DO NOT TRUST THE LID ON THAT COFFIE CAN. dont ask me how I know...Buck

[hoosierlogger]

Set it and forget it. LOL good idea

[Ziptar]

DO NOT TRUST THE LID ON THAT COFFIE CAN. dont ask me how I know...Buck

Actually, There is a little walnut leaking out past the "Maxwell House Flavor Lock Seal" currently. Its still going though.

Luckily the Ronco™ Showtime™ Rotisserie & BBQ has a large oven drip pan "for easy clean up". :)

I think I may have found an even better larger capacity drum. I just have to wait for my kids to finish eating the cheese balls (http://utz.affinigent.net/store/p-484-barrel-of-cheese-balls.aspx) that are in it (more cheese balls kids? :p).

http://utz.affinigent.net/store/images/PRODUCT/medium/484.jpg


Set it and forget it. LOL good idea


Actually if I forget it and am within ear shot the timer goes "Ding!" when its done. :p

[Cowboy T]

There was an email going around a year or so ago about "Redneck hacks". This definitely qualifies. :D

Nice work! And I wish I'd been that clever.

("more cheese balls, kids?" LOL!!)

[Ziptar]

I can't get any decent pictures with my camera since it dark so i'll take some in the morning but all I can say is.....

Wow! They are some good looking cases..


After 2.5 hours tumbling this much walnut had breeched the "Flavor Lock Seal".

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/walnut_spillage.jpg

This thing might be a keeper.

[Ziptar]

I was finally able to get some decent pictures of the brass after tumbling it in the walnut, corn cob, and Nu-Finish.

Yesterday I ran 100 once fired nickel plated cases through it for 2 hours. You can also so another downside to using rice. The insides of allot to the cases have little starch blobs stuck to them. Think i should try to clean that out or just shoot'em?

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Tumbled_Brass_and_Nickel_Cases.jpg

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Brass_after_2nd_tuble_with_real_media.jpg

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Tumbled_Nickel._Cases.jpg

[Longwood]

I would remove it. If you cook it on, it could be a big job to clean off.

[nanuk]

anybody ever consider silica blasting media or something like that???

or fine jackpine sand?

[Ziptar]

Say Hello to the Ronco™ Showtime™ Rotisserie Tumbler Version 2.0!!!

New and Improved Utz Cheese Ball Barrel; Special High Capacity Edition! Now with Duct Tape! :grin:

The Kids finished their cheese balls and the barrel they came in was in with the recycling so, I recycled it. :p

After washing the barrel out I brought it down stairs for a test fit. The barrel fit perfect, almost like it was made for it.

So I set to work.

The first thing I did was take apart the Ronco™ Showtime™ Rotisserie & BBQ and remove the heating element and heat shield. That was the most time consuming part of the whole project thus far, about 35 minutes.

I drilled the holes for the spit but, based on the first experiment I wanted to make sure it didn't leak any media. I also wanted to see if I could make it so the holes in the barrel weren't taking all the load on the spit. The bigger problem to solve was the barrel, since it was round the media would just lay there. I had to figure a way to get it to tumble.

Once I again, I rooted around through the assorted stuff I keep squirreled away and a short time later came up with:


Some 5/8" heater hose.
Faucet washers
a piece of latex upholstery foam
an 8.5" x 11" sheet of black neoprene craft foam
a ~4' piece of clear plastic corner protector for walls (like this (http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=24371))
a partial roll of foam double stick tape
Gorilla Glue
a roll of duct tape


I cut a couple of circles out of the neoprene sheet and put one on the base. Cut a couple of pieces of heater hose to the right length and shape to fit the curve on the bottom of the barrel. Slid one neoprene circle, heater hose stubs, and faucet washers onto the spit. The clear plastic corner protector got cut into lengths.

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Tumbler_Version_2_01.jpg

A little double stick foam tape later and I had my solution to the tumbling problem.

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Tumbler_Version_2_02.jpg

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Tumbler_Version_2_03.jpg

For the lid I reused the coffee can lid from the first version with the other neoprene circle glued to it. The upholstery foam got folded 4 times and placed between the coffee can lid and the cheese ball barrel lid leaving a decent gap between the two.

Partly because it fit the need but mostly because I hadn't used any yet, the lids and foam were duct taped together.

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Tumbler_Version_2_04.jpg

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Tumbler_Version_2_05.jpg

Put the new fat lid on and the other big metal gear and SHAZAM!!!

I had a new "High Capacity" and hopefully no leak tumbling drum.

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Tumbler_Version_2_06.jpg

Now when the spit and the drum get slid into the oven the big metal gears squish down on the neoprene foam to add some grip and take load off the holes drilled in the drum. The top gear also puts some tension on the new fat lid to keep it from coming loose and hopefully leaking.

I dumped the media from the first experiment that was in the coffee can into the barrel for now. The brass that had the starch blobs inside them got cleaned earlier this week. I soaked them in hot water for a couple hours and cleaned them out with a .38/.357 bore brush that came with one of my gun cleaning kits. They were dull after the soak so they needed another polish.

I looked for some dryer sheets but, my wife doesn't use any. I found some Swiffer™ Sheets, they pick up dust right? So I cut up a bunch of squares and tossed them in.

Here it is in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWEUQHX0PLA

The cheese ball barrel drum could easy take twice whats in it now. I don't know if the motor would be happy about it but, I may add more media and a couple hundred for cases next time to see.

I was down cleaning up the work bench and it had been running for a half hour or so before dinner and thus far it hadn't leaked any walnut.

I cleared a space under my work bench and gave it a permanent home.

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/Tumbler_Version_2_07.jpg

I don't know how long it'll last, 3 tumbles or 1,000. For the money and time invested I figure its gravy either way. :wink:

I set it to tumble for two hours, its done by now I'm sure. I'm going to go down and check out the results.

[milprileb]

No one said it yet so I will.

Let us know how the tumble lubed chicken tastes.

[Ziptar]

No one said it yet so I will.

Let us know how the tumble lubed chicken tastes.


Like Chicken, of course!
Actually, now that its had a heating element-ectomy, it won't be cooking anything.

I forgot to post the results last night. Best yet!

Made some real pretty brass this time. :-P

http://www.ziptar.com/reloading/Tumbler_Experiment/First_Tumble_Version_2_brass.jpg

Apparently those Swiffer™ Sheets can suck up allot of dust! This time around there was much less dust clinging to the brass after I separated it from the media.

The Fat Lid worked great too! Not a speck media in the drip pan what so ever after 2 hours.

[smokemjoe]

Isnt this is what you call hoarding, None of use do that on here.

[dragonrider]

I would never have thought of this. Well done Zip.

[mold maker]

I made my first vib/tumbler out of a rubber maid bowel attached to a vibrator out of a recliner. It all hung from 3 springs in a 5gal bucket. Rattled like a freight train, but it worked.
Rube Goldberg aint got nothing on me.

[MT Gianni]

That is absolutely awesome! My wife currently has one of those machines stashed in the closet. Brand spanking new, (and about 8 years old) and never been out of the box. I wonder if she would donate it for the cause.:)

Armorer

Don't ask, don't tell and leave the empty box where it is.

[Shooter6br]

"Set it and forget it"Ron Popeal

[Shooter6br]

i have a Joe frazer it is smaller but was going to throw out. i like to recycle. ( Mainly cause i am cheap)

[Pinsnscrews]

Hmmm...excuse to hit up the next Goodwill 50% off day

[GrantA]

I assume it gets hot enough (without removing the heating element of course) to serve double duty as a powdercoat / alumahyde curing oven too. Multipurpose!