Tumbler died and I need replacement ideas

[Love Life]

delete

[zuke]

SS media

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[GRUMPA]

They say 4hrs but I never let mine go longer than 3hrs, and they do look just like brand new when done.
The thing I like the most is if your careful and don't lose any pins it lasts forever. Well maybe not the motor but you get the point.

[fryboy]

measure your shaft , if it's 1/4" alot of fart fan motors can be made to work but the larger shafts ( such as my old 1292 cost more than a new tumbler )

[GRUMPA]

Yeah they are from that stand point, but you should only need to do it once. That's the only machine for cleaning brass I'll ever use, well I do have an old midway vibratory unit that's on reserve for nickel plated brass. You don't put those in there just the brass cases, electrolysis starts to play games with a person.

[sparky45]

Make your own. Look on www.brianenos.com and go to the Forums. under General Reloading you will see a thread " My Homemade Tumbler" or something like that. Easy to build and works like a charm.

[bydand]

Dillon

[GRUMPA]

Love Life read this it may help your decision.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=114916

It's a long post so take your time.

[GRUMPA]

No problem, that's what this site is all about.

[Arnie]

Keep an eye on a web site called www.surpluscenter.com they have real good deals on electric motors at times . Arnie

[2ndAmendmentNut]

I was given the cheapest tumbler MidwayUSA sells for Christmas 5~6 years ago (Blue one might actually be an FA like yours was) it broke in the first month, Midway sent me a new one and that one has lasted just fine so far and does just as good a job as my friends Lyman and RCBS ones, if mine ever dies I would replace it with the same one from Midway.

[Ickisrulz]

Usually no need to clean brass more than 2-3 hours.

I'd go with a Thumler's vibe unit (the heavy duty one...they make two types) if I were getting a new one. The heavy one is made for rocks and should last forever. I like things that last even if they are more expensive. Plus no need to ship back when a cheap one breaks. Thumler's come in various sizes. Make sure you get the size you need. Not too large of one.

I'd not do the SS media unless I had a lot of free time. The results are amazing though. Just too involved for me.

Check with Midway, they may replace your motor for free.

[GRUMPA]

That's my back up tumbler and I bought that back in 91, if there was away to ship it to you I would as I have another tumbler on back up.

[kitsap]

Here is another tumbler that will work with the SS media.

http://www.rcbs.com/downloads/instructions/SidewinderCaseTumblerInstructions.pdf

It is only money, you can't take it with you........

[imashooter2]

I would sooner slam my di... hand in a drawer than use wet tumbling. Yeah, it gets them clean, but what a PITA. Brass cleaning for me is about fast and easy. That means a vibratory tumbler and walnut.

[gandydancer]

can one use the SS pins in a reguler vibratory machine???

[GRUMPA]

Click on that link I posted for Love Life and you'll find out I think it's post #3-4.

[zuke]

SS pin's are too heavy for a vibratory cleaner to use properly.
Yes it was pricy,but I just collected all my Loonies and Toonies and had enough in about 4-5 month's.
That way it doesn't come out of any budget's.
The pin's will last forever,as should the tumbler.I picked up a Thumbler's Tumbler model "B".
There's 43 page's on it over on Sniper's hide.

[TGM]

I have had a Lyman 1200 since the mid eightes and it is still working fine.

TGM

[max range]

I tumbled brass for more years than I want to enumerate. Wallnut, corn cob, lizard litter, etc. I had three tumblers. A blue one, an orange one and a Frankfort Arsenal one. I got a Thumblers and the pins and cannot believe I did not go this route years ago. I do not miss the dust, the buzzing noise, and it seemed like I was constantly having to buy something: More media or more brass polish. I do not miss picking the kernals out of the flash hole.

The ONLY down side to pin polishing is you have to dry the cases. I just put them in a tray in the oven at 150* for a short time, or put them in the sun.

You cannot believe how black the water comes out and how clean the brass is. As Zuke's photo's show, the the inside of the case and the primer pocket are as clean as the outside.
Its like using virgin, unprimed brass each time.

[dromia]

I have four tumblers at present. Two Thumlers rotary, one wet and one dry. An RCBS Sidewinder rotary with two drums one wet and one dry and a Lortone rotary for dry.

I use the Thumlers and the Sidewinder wet for BP cases with ceramic media, I've tried the SS pins but altough they clean as good as the ceramic and maybe a tad quicker I prefer the ceramic as i find it easier to separate than the pins.

For smokless cases I use the Thumler dry rotary with walnut media and the Lortone with corn cob if I want really shiny.

For me life is too short for wet tumbling unless I have to and it is the only really effective way for BP cases.

Smokeless cases and walnut media is fine for me with a touch of car polish.

I like the rotaries as they last for ever, I've had one of the Thumlers for over 20 years of regular use and all I've had to do is replace the belt three or four years ago.

I did use a Lyman vibratory as well for a while and it worked good but I passed it on as it was really surplus to my needs, the new owner has been using it hard for a few years now and it is still going strong.

For me there is just something "wrong" about something rotating off centre to make it vibrate, seems like an design waiting to break.

No scientific evidence to back this up and good vibratotry cleaners do work well but it just feels an odd mechanism to me.

If I was to buy vibratory then it would be Thumlers or a Lyman.

[zuke]

"The ONLY down side to pin polishing is you have to dry the cases. I just put them in a tray in the oven at 150* for a short time, or put them in the sun."

Go to Walmart in the pharmacy section and buy some 99% rubbing alcohol.
Pour that into a container then take a handful at a time of your tumbled brass and put them into the alcohol.
When you have it all in there swish them around a bit then remove the brass and put them on a towel.
Pour the alcohol back into it's bottle and put the bottle away.
Your brass should be almost dry at this point.Put them in the sun or use a hair dryer/heat gun to dry them off.

[Ickisrulz]

I tumbled brass for more years than I want to enumerate. Wallnut, corn cob, lizard litter, etc. I had three tumblers. A blue one, an orange one and a Frankfort Arsenal one. I got a Thumblers and the pins and cannot believe I did not go this route years ago. I do not miss the dust, the buzzing noise, and it seemed like I was constantly having to buy something: More media or more brass polish. I do not miss picking the kernals out of the flash hole.

The ONLY down side to pin polishing is you have to dry the cases. I just put them in a tray in the oven at 150* for a short time, or put them in the sun.


Don't you constantly have to buy the citric acid?

If you use media small enough it will not clog in the primer hole either.

[para45lda]

Just get a mesh lingerie bag from your wife and throw them in the washing machine with a couple of old towels.

I'm sure she wont mind. Then toss everything in the dryer while you take her out to dinner. :kidding:

Wes

[Boolseye]

Brass cleaning for me is about fast and easy. That means a vibratory tumbler and walnut.
+1. I like the Cabela's kit.

[Ickisrulz]

Of course stainless steel tumbling could open up a whole new type of business: counterfeit new brass.:bigsmyl2:

[Tom-ADC]

My thumbler tumbler is over thirty years old, I just replaced the rollers and drive belt, wouldn't own anything else.

[Boolseye]

My thumbler tumbler is over thirty years old, I just replaced the rollers and drive belt, wouldn't own anything else.
Yeah, those things are clearly the Rolls Royce of tumblers.

[Reload3006]

if your really hard up put them in a 5 gallon bucket with your choice of media and put them in the trunk of your car .. drive back and forth to work for a week Bingo polished brass.

[afish4570]

I would sooner slam my di... hand in a drawer than use wet tumbling. Yeah, it gets them clean, but what a PITA. Brass cleaning for me is about fast and easy. That means a vibratory tumbler and walnut.

You might want to check on the guarentee. But with pet store walnut and car polish they go a decent and a large qty. compared to the Midway 1292 that I started with. I wash my brass in a 5 gal can with a dash of soap (Dawn, Joy, Ajax etc) Stir with firring strip (3 ft. piece of 1"X2" board) and rinse with garden hose in warm weather.I let them dry in plastic storage bins in sun on deck in summer . Winter...These I place in gal. plastic jugs (dumpster diving behind restaurants is my source for these). These are placed on top of gas boiler to dry in several days.....Just alittle how to............afish4570[smilie=s:[smilie=s:

[imashooter2]

You might want to check on the guarentee. But with pet store walnut and car polish they go a decent and a large qty. compared to the Midway 1292 that I started with. I wash my brass in a 5 gal can with a dash of soap (Dawn, Joy, Ajax etc) Stir with firring strip (3 ft. piece of 1"X2" board) and rinse with garden hose in warm weather.I let them dry in plastic storage bins in sun on deck in summer . Winter...These I place in gal. plastic jugs (dumpster diving behind restaurants is my source for these). These are placed on top of gas boiler to dry in several days.....Just alittle how to............afish4570[smilie=s:[smilie=s:


I'm afraid I can't follow what you're trying to say... Are you are trying to make a case for wet tumbling being faster or easier than vibratory tumbling?

[jcwit]

Just get a mesh lingerie bag from your wife and throw them in the washing machine with a couple of old towels.

I'm sure she wont mind. Then toss everything in the dryer while you take her out to dinner.

I sincerely hope this was meant in jest, or are you truly suggesting other members containment their familt with lead residue?

Not a very good idea.

[afish4570]

I'm afraid I can't follow what you're trying to say... Are you are trying to make a case for wet tumbling being faster or easier than vibratory tumbling?

Some of my friends skip the preparation and put dirty brass into their Dillon 2000 machines with Walnut. I try to tell them if you spend a little time with the cleaning of your brass you will be happier with the time well spent..... A waste of time they say. Results are adequate. I don't advocate spending alot of effort to make each case look like a brand new cartridge. My idea is to get something that is clean enough to be reloaded without wrecking the case or dies, and look acceptable. What is acceptable to me , might not to you. The basis of my thoughts is to produce good shooting ammo, not pretty ammo and less of it. afish4570:smile::smile:

[dromia]

Some of my friends skip the preparation and put dirty brass into their Dillon 2000 machines with Walnut. I try to tell them if you spend a little time with the cleaning of your brass you will be happier with the time well spent..... A waste of time they say. Results are adequate. I don't advocate spending alot of effort to make each case look like a brand new cartridge. My idea is to get something that is clean enough to be reloaded without wrecking the case or dies, and look acceptable. What is acceptable to me , might not to you. The basis of my thoughts is to produce good shooting ammo, not pretty ammo and less of it. afish4570:smile::smile:

Are you doing this before tumbling?

If so what do feel the benefits are besides marginally "cleaner" brass and/or perhaps less tumbler time?

[imashooter2]

Wet cleaning before vibratory tumbling makes even less sense to me than wet tumbling. You get all the downsides of wet tumbling and then still have to put them in the vibrator. Crazy talk. :veryconfu

[sparky45]

Usually no need to clean brass more than 2-3 hours.

I'd go with a Thumler's vibe unit (the heavy duty one...they make two types) if I were getting a new one. The heavy one is made for rocks and should last forever. I like things that last even if they are more expensive. Plus no need to ship back when a cheap one breaks. Thumler's come in various sizes. Make sure you get the size you need. Not too large of one.

I'd not do the SS media unless I had a lot of free time. The results are amazing though. Just too involved for me.

Check with Midway, they may replace your motor for free.

It's a personal thing and really not "too involved". I suspect those that use a vib. cleaner have it running the same time they are doing another reloading function; that's what I do with my SS Media setup. I tumble the brass while casting, priming other brass, cleaning my work bench, or out leaf bagging. The only other part of the procedure that requires my time is to rinse the brass and lay them out to dry. If I was concerned about that function taking up to much time I probably wouldn't be reloading in the first place. You see, I retired last July and am constantly looking for additional "things" to fill my "free" time. So, I don't think the process is "complicated" or too time consuming for ME. Also, there is something satisfying about looking, touching, and loading bright shiny cleaner than new brass.
If one is in a hurry loading ammunition remember " haste makes waste" or with reloading, a squip or worse. This is just my opinion, and I like the process.

[Rokkit Syinss]

If I had to start with a new tumbler I'd go wet rotary with SS pins or ceramic beads. The cost of water, dish liquid and LemiShine is still less than dry media. I'll take rinse and dry time (rinse is the only part that actually counts as time spent) over picking media out of flash holes then still having to clean primer pockets. You probably have more lead exposure with a dry tumbler than you do at your lead pot, it is certainly a more covert exposure from the dust and how far that spreads.

[Sonnypie]

I'm a total convert to SS Tumbeling. ALL of my brass goes through.
First I decap it, then tumble it.
After that, I'm only working with absolutely clean brass in my dies and presses.

Most recently I discovered something really nice about the Forester press. No more worries about flash hole pin hide-outs like before.
When doing my neck sizing, the decapping pin naturally pokes the flash hole clean and those few cases that ship pins around have them dropped into the primer collection jar.

Cleaner brass makes imperfections easier to find. Even the tiniest hairline cracks stand out.
Some trash I tossed in during a break in run:
http://home.earthlink.net/~pie/Sonny's/P9190189.JPG

A friend of mine who swedges makes 45's from 40 S&W cases. I happened to have about 90- .40S&W my helpers had picked up. When I gave them to him, he thought that were brand new brass.
"Nope, just cleaned with Stainless Steel Tumbeling Media." I told him.
He's currently shopping for his own set-up. But wants to go bigger. :roll: I told him about folks using cement mixers for tumblers.
He's looking in the equipment section of the Truck Trader. I think he misunderstood me.... :confused:
Another "Convert".... [smilie=1: :-D

One hour can really sparkle 77 year old bullets as well....

http://home.earthlink.net/~pie/Sonny's/P9070029.JPG http://home.earthlink.net/~pie/Sonny's/P9130032.JPG

And ya know what...
I bet the Neigh Sayers cackled the same thing about when folks began using cob and walnut media... :groner:

[afish4570]

Are you doing this before tumbling?

If so what do feel the benefits are besides marginally "cleaner" brass and/or perhaps less tumbler time?

I feel the walnut media lasts longer and less grit in media will cut back on possiblity of scratching cases, dies, getting onto fingers then onto bullets scratching barrel. Next time you are finished polishing. Take polished cases and dump onto an old towel. Note the fine traces of media on towel after you roll around and try to remove any traces of media......if this contains alittle sand....guess what???afish4570[smilie=6:[smilie=6:

[dromia]

I feel the walnut media lasts longer and less grit in media will cut back on possiblity of scratching cases, dies, getting onto fingers then onto bullets scratching barrel. Next time you are finished polishing. Take polished cases and dump onto an old towel. Note the fine traces of media on towel after you roll around and try to remove any traces of media......if this contains alittle sand....guess what???afish4570[smilie=6:[smilie=6:

Thanks for the reply, I can see some sense it that step now that you've explained the conditions in which your brass lands and how dirty/contaminated it is before cleaning.

Me I shoot B/A and single shot rifle so my brass never touches the ground and all I'm cleaning for is powder and primer residue.

As always its horses for courses and a process proportionate to the scale of the task.

[Sonnypie]

I shoot about 2,000 38 special and close to 1,000 357 magnums per month. I don't deprime my brass before cleaning as this would take up a large amount of time. Can you use the SS media with the brass that still has used primers in it?

Yes,
but it is better to decap them so the media can clean the pockets and even the flash holes.
If you decide to go with SS Tumbling, you might want to get a larger tumbler (https://shop.rcbs.com/WebConnect/MainServlet?storeId=webconnect&catalogId=webconnect&langId=en_US&action=ProductDisplay&screenlabel=index&productId=3165&route=C11J035) for the volume.
(I have no idea how well made the RCBS is, nor if it has a thick rubber liner like the Thumbler's Tumbler has. But then, The Thumbler's doesn't cost $546.95 :shock:)
You might want to consider a cement mixer.... :confused:

[imashooter2]

I shoot about 2,000 38 special and close to 1,000 357 magnums per month. I don't deprime my brass before cleaning as this would take up a large amount of time. Can you use the SS media with the brass that still has used primers in it?

Water will want to stay in the primer pocket since it can only evaporate through the flash hole. I would think you'd have to use heat to ensure that the pockets were dry.

[sparky45]

I shoot about 2,000 38 special and close to 1,000 357 magnums per month. I don't deprime my brass before cleaning as this would take up a large amount of time. Can you use the SS media with the brass that still has used primers in it?

Sure, it just won't clean the primer pocket.

[hhranch]

Second the recommendation of a Thumler's Tumbler Model B. I have used mine for over 30 years, replaced a number of drive belts and the rollers once. If you check a good hardware store, sometimes you can find vacuum cleaner belts that will fit. They don't last quite as long, but cost a lot less.

[jwmprock]

Stainless media is THE way to go. Beats all the others, hands down.