round tumbler drum

[edsmith]

Has anyone tried a round i.d drum, one that's round inside, not hexagon ? the reason I ask is because I was looking at larger tumblers, and the maker claimed that round i.d drums cleaned faster than hexagon drums. I don't have a round drum, I do have a large peanut butter plastic jar, I think I will give it a try, if I can get my pins thawed out, my shop is unheated, I have 2 small elect. heaters in it, it takes about a 1 1/2 hour to raise the temp from 20% to 50%. no, I can not afford to install a gas heater.for some reasion I was under the impression that round drums would not work.

[220swiftfn]

A round drum would just let everything slosh around in the bottom, it wouldn't work well without an agitator......


Dan

[3006guns]

220swiftfn is correct.......it's the same reason they put paddles in cement mixers. Otherwise the mix would simply sit in the bottom while the drum turned.

You might think about putting two or three wood strips in your round drum and securing them with nuts and bolts. The strips don't have to be big or overly tall, just enough to "persuade" the brass and media to move.

[Stampede]

No it won't work without scoops.

See my picture with a 3,5 liter drum. In the drum I have placed 3 pedal like plates. This drum is placed in my rotary tumbler. By the way I don't use this drum for cleaning brass!

Peter (Stampede).

[jmorris]

I have 4 agitators in mine. Next time I have a spare empty clorine bucket I'll try it smooth to see the difference it makes.


http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o213/jmorrismetal/reloading/SST/2.jpg

[bumpo628]

I use a round drum with walnut, but it has to be one of those cardboard coffee cans. The cardboard gives the media and brass enough traction to tumble. They last for quite a long time, but the cardboard gets thinner as it wears out.

[LAH]

I sold an old tumbler that was smooth inside. It did a great job but like posted above, the inside was almost like rubber.

[45-70bpcr]

I think it depends on how much water is in the mix. I bought a used "Lortone Lapidary" tumbler from a guy at our club for like $30. It has a round tub and works great with wet ceramic. I use only a cup or so water with it though. I have read they don't work with the stainless pins and more water which makes sense.

[jsizemore]

I have a 3lb Lortone that uses a rubber drum that is round and smooth inside but the rubber gives it traction. When I built my large tumbler out of 6" PVC pipe I lined the inside with duct tape and it gives my buckshot enough traction to tumble it to a high shine like ball bearings.