Home Made Tumbler Plans with Pulley Size and Drum explained.

[hunter64]

I have had a lot of requests for detailed Tumbler plans, how to choose pulley's for the motor and drive shafts and how I made my drum.

I have combined all three posts that I have done recently into one source for easier reference.

Finished Product:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/1964bigfoot/IMG_0355.jpg
I used a treadmill motor with dc motor controller and variable speed pot. You can also use any ac motor that will fit with the correct pulleys. I explain how to choose the correct pulley's bellow.

Plans:
I used 1 1/4" Steel Tubing for the frame because that is what I had on hand. You can use larger Tubing if you want, just adjust the dimensions accordingly.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/1964bigfoot/IMG_0349.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/1964bigfoot/Frame.jpg

I used 1/2" size Pillow Bearing Blocks that had a 1/2" mounting holes. I have seen some with 3/8" mounting holes but these were on sale so they will do.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/1964bigfoot/Topviewofshafts.jpg

The important part is that when you mount the pillow bearings the center to center measurement of the 1/2" shafts are 5" apart. In my case I drilled the first 1/2" bolt hole 2" from the end and then measured the distance of the holes in the bearing blocks to ensure when they were mounted I got the 5" that I needed. In most cases the center to center holes on the bearing blocks are 3 3/4" but check yours first to see if there is a difference. You can see that the mounted blocks are almost touching. The little piece of brass with the roller wheel between the shafts is to prevent the tumbler drum from hitting the end and keeping it on the shafts. My friend that has a lathe is making me up a bearing mounting post for a more permanent installation.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/1964bigfoot/IMG_0378.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/1964bigfoot/Sideviewofbearings.jpg
For the feet I used a 3/8" x 1 1/2" long threaded Chair Leg. I drilled a hole in the frame and put the nut on from the inside and then just tack welded it. I put a rubber cup over it to keep the tumbler from moving but weight alone I am sure it wouldn't go anywhere anyways. I tack welded the 1/2" pillow bearing mounting bolts for easier installation.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/1964bigfoot/IMG_0387.jpg

How to choose the Pulley's for the motor and drive shaft.

To calculate the size of the pulleys needed with a certain speed of the motor we can use this simple formula.

Motor RPM x Motor Pulley Diameter = Driven Pulley Diameter x Driven RPM

After we are done figuring, this only gives us the speed of the driven shaft on the tumbler
Since we want the speed of the driven shaft on the tumbler we can re write the formula as:

Motor RPM x Motor Pulley Diameter
---------------------------------------------- = Driven Rpm (Speed of the driven shaft)
Driven Pulley Diameter


Then you use the speed of the driven shaft on the tumbler to figure out what the speed of your Tumbler’s Drum is going to be. I combined both formulas into one to make it easier to figure out the speed of the drum. I made up some letter designations to make it easier to follow the formula and here they are:

Motor Rpm= M
Motor Pulley Diameter= MP
Driven Pulley Diameter = DP
Diameter of Driven Shaft = DS
Diameter of Tumbler Drum = TD
Driven RPM of the Drum = DR


M x MP x DS
------------------- = DR or the speed of drum on the tumbler.
TD x DP


Lets try one .

You found a motor at the dump that has a sticker on it that says it turns at 1725 RPM.
You go to Lowes and find a pulley that fits the motor and it has a diameter of 2”.
You buy some bearings for the shaft to run on and they are ½ “ size for your ½” shafts.
You buy a 6” pulley for the driven shaft for the tumbler drum to run on.
You make a 6” tumbler drum out of a empty plastic jar.
How quick will your tumbler drum be turning at?

With our handy dandy formula we can plug in some numbers and find out.

1725rpm x 2” x ½”shaft
--------------------------- = 47.9 RPM or about 48 RPM the tumbler drum will be going.
6” drum x 6”pulley


The Thumlers regular speed is 30 rpm and the high speed is 40 rpm. We don’t want anything quicker than 60 rpm because the brass and contents will just stick to the outside wall due to centripetal force. So in this case we guessed correctly for the size of drum we want and the pulley needed to obtain that speed.



So let’s say we find some 5/8” bearings on sale and our drum size is 8” instead of the 6” we had before.
Using the same motor and pulley sizes what would be our drum speed?

1725 x 2” x 5/8”
------------------- = 44.9 RPM So 45 RPM is right in the ballpark .
8” x 6”

You can always buy an adjustable pulley for the motor that varies so you can fine tune the speed of the drum but figuring out what size of drum you want to make and the smallest size of the motor pulley, you can mix and match the size of the shaft and pulley on that shaft so you don’t have to spend extra money experimenting on what you want.


If you know the size of your Drum that you want to make and the size of the motor pulley then with algebra we can manipulate the formula to come up with the size of the pulley on the driven shaft.

M x MP x DS
---------------------= DP (The size of the pulley needed to put on the driven shaft)
DR x TD

Let’s try one out.

You have a 7” drum, a 1725 rpm motor with a 3” pulley on it and you have some 7/8” bearings and 7/8” shaft to use for your tumbler. What size of pulley do I need to put on the 7/8” shaft to give me 60 RPM for the Drum?

1725 RPM x 3” x 7/8”
-------------------- = 10.8” (You would need about a 11” pulley)
60 RPM x 7”

It would be hard to find an 11” pulley so your better bet would be to drop the 3” pulley on the motor to a 2” pulley which running it thru the formula again would give you about a 7” pulley which is more realistic.


You have the driven shaft pulley diameter of 7” on a 5/8” shaft and you want to know what size of pulley I need to buy to put on the motor to give me 55 rpm for my 8” drum.

Manipulate the formula to give you this.

DR x TD x DP
------------------ = MP (Size of the pulley needed on the motor shaft)
M x DS

Let’s try it.

55RPM x 8” x 7”
-------------------- = 2.85” ( You would buy a 3” pulley and that will get you close)
1725 RPM x 5/8”

With an adjustable DC motor like on a treadmill then just buy any two pulley's that you need and you can adjust the speed of the motor to get what you want.


How much to make the Tumbler?

3” pulley 6.00
4.5” pulley 9.00
½ “ shaft for 5 ‘ 9.00
½” Pillow Bearing 13.00 each (52.00 total)
½” heater hose 4.00
Base mounts 12.00 (rubber cups I put over adjustable screw in legs)
1 1/4” Square tubing $30.00 for a 8 foot length and I had 4” left over
Motor found at scrap yard

Total $122.00


Drum
For the drum I used a piece of 10" PE pipe that I get from work that is thrown out. I cut a piece of Plexiglas that I already had and mounted it on one end with some gasket cork and RTV Silicone seal.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/1964bigfoot/IMG_0391.jpg

On the inside I mounted with brass screws some strips of plastic that I had laying around to help with mixing the brass and pins up.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/1964bigfoot/IMG_0389.jpg

On the top I glued RTV on the PE pipe then put a layer of gasket material on top of it then another layer of gasket material and then glued the Plexiglas on top of that. So I had glue/gasket/gasket/glue and Plexiglas. Drilled holes all the way around and drove long screws thru it all into the PE pipe. When it was dried I had a flat surface with gasket on the PE pipe and a flat surface on the Plexiglas. I cut out the inside of the gasket on the pipe and now I have a perfect water tight seal.
When I make another drum I will change the top Plexiglas to metal instead. I screwed one of the screws to tight and cracked the Plexiglas and had to start over as you can see in this picture.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/1964bigfoot/IMG_0396.jpg

If you need anymore info drop me a line.

[old_haidouk]

That'd sell.

[hunter64]

That'd sell.

Considering one that could sort of compared to mine sells for 650.00 . I have had 70 lbs on it and didn't even skip a beat.

The weight of the frame alone is about 25 lbs so shipping would be expensive.

I have made 6 now for friends.

I supply them with the the frame, bearings and shafts already installed so you just have to supply your own motor with pulley and one pulley for the drive shaft.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/1964bigfoot/IMG_0349.jpg


Mark the 4 holes to mount the motor and install a belt and away you go.

First one took me about 3 hours to weld and drill the 1/2" holes for the bearings. I have it down to about 1.5 hours now.

In Canada where I live, I would consider making them but shipping to the US would be far to expensive to justify it so I decided to just share the plans for those that wanted to build there own as I have had lots of requests lately since I first posted the idea a couple of weeks ago.

[iomskp]

Love your work

[W.R.Buchanan]

This is a great thread. I hope it encourages others to make their own.

Randy

[dnotarianni]

I got a couple old tumblers that are older than me but when I really need to tumble a lot of brass I use this. Fits 3000 .45 at 1 time
Dave

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-1-4-quarter-cubic-ft-compact-cement-mixer-91907.html

[Longwood]

Many of the machines of old. ran on bearing msde from oak.
Half of America was settled with wagons with oak for wheel hubs and axles.
A frame made with 2X4's and two pieces of oak for bearings would sure be a simple way for a home builder without a welder.

[hunter64]

Many of the machines of old. ran on bearing msde from oak.
Half of America was settled with wagons with oak for wheel hubs and axles.
A frame made with 2X4's and two pieces of oak for bearings would sure be a simple way for a home builder without a welder.

Yes sir, oak or cherry was popular right up until about the 80's for many mailing machines at the post office. Just keep them oiled regularly and they will also last forever.

The cement mixer is a great idea if you have the room to store it.

I am thinking of a new design already for my next one I make. I was thinking of designing it so the motor sits under the rollers instead of on the end that way it would be taller but more compact as far as the footprint would go.

[Cadillo]

Just found this thread today, and find it quite interesting as I am in the process of building my own. I don't weld, but have a table saw and am pretty fair at wood construction, as I made all my own shop benches, shelves, and drawers, so am confident that I can do this with wood. Interestingly enough I have been planning on building mine on an upright cabinet on casters, and having the motor mounted below the shafts on a lower deck. This way it will be at waist height when loading etc., but I can move it out of the way in my crowded garage/shop when not in use.

I have the 30" shafts on order, and they will be supported by three pillow block bearings each to prevent flex/sag, as they will support and drive two heavily loaded Thumlers drums end to end, with lateral movement controlled by shaft collars bearing on the drums' drive rings. The formula used to calculate final drum speed is exactly what I needed to learn to get my final RPM fine tuned from the start.

Many thanks to hunter64 for this valuable technical data!

[Cadillo]

Hunter,

Many thanks. With your help, I got mine up and running at the proper rpm. It carries two of the Thumlers drums, but loaded to about three times the brass capacity as they will carry when driven by the two Thumler machines they came off of.

I encased my 1/2" shafts in 1/2" heater hose, which brought them up to 3/4" total diameter, then using your formula, I used a 2" primary and 6" secondary pulley with my 1725 rpm 1/3 hp motor, which yielded a drum speed of 46 rpm. This machine is a LOT better than a Thumler!

Thanks for the thoughtful and informative post!!!!

PS

Forgot to mention that my secondary pulley is mounted just alongside the middle pillowblock(Three per 30" shaft) and I mounted the motor underneath in the center of the chassis. My casters should be here any day. Once I get them mounted, I'll be able to roll it around the garage/shop as needed, and then store it underneath the deck of the table saw as planned from the outset. Mounting the motor underneath is a good system.

[skyegod]

I got a couple old tumblers that are older than me but when I really need to tumble a lot of brass I use this. Fits 3000 .45 at 1 time
Dave

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-1-4-quarter-cubic-ft-compact-cement-mixer-91907.html
I was just looking at this the other day - would it work for steel pin tumbling is my question ? I have a 20% off coupon that it itching to be used

[chaoticmachinery]

Anyone using a drum without agitators?

If so how does it clean?

I have to build a new drum and just wondering if I get the same results without the agitators.

[chaoticmachinery]

I had a 6" drum I built out of PVC and after filling it with water the first time I noticed it was leaking.

Here is the fix for that:
1) Get your shop vac out
2) Duct tap the hose to the drum opening. Make sure you make it air tight as you want to create a vacuum inside the drum.
3) Turn on the vacuum. The duct tape should start sucking in on the drum. Make sure you have a good seal. If the seal is good continue on.
4) On the joints swab in some more primer. You should see it being sucked into the joint. Make sure to go around the whole joint.
5) Let it dry for a min or so.
6) Turn on the vacuum and swab the cement on the joints. You may have to keep going back to the same spot as the cement is sucked into the joint. Make sure to go around the whole joint. I kept putting cement until I had a slight build up at the joint.
7) Let it dry. I waited about 12 hours before I started using it.

CM

[a.squibload]

hunter64: good stuff, thanks for sharing plans & formula.

chaotic: good technique, gets the cement where it needs to be.

Wondering about the HF mixer with steel agitators (not like I'm gonna buy one),
suppose it would be a good idea to spray the inside with something like
automotive undercoat? Might not last with SS pins but would protect the brass.

[Gun_nut83]

Nice post, will have to build one of these! Thanks

[chaoticmachinery]

a.squibload: Jerry Miculek uses a cement mixer to do his brass. Check out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5y_dsP3dsM

[a.squibload]

Wow that's a lot of brass, and he shoots more than just 223.
Guess they don't slam around too much in the mixer.
My drying method is dump 'em on a towel on the floor
& check 'em tomorrow.

[Texandy]

I did mine a bit simpler.

I disassembled a treadmill, leaving the motor, pulley, and driven roller in place on the frame.
Then I took the roller on the far side of the frame off and moved it backwards onthe frame toward the driven roller leaving a gap for a 4" drum to ride atop both rollers.
O-rings slipped onto drum work to provide enough friction for the PVC to turn without slipping. You could also put the o-rings on the rollers.

To move the second roller back on the frame, all you need is a drill, tap, and 4 pieces of aluminum angle. And some bolts.

Much easier than building a new frame, rollers, etc.

To keep PVC drums from leaking, you really need a fernco qwik-cap. It's a rubber cap held on by a pipe clamp. The threaded caps are virtually impossible to make leak proof.

For my drum paddles, I just cut scrap pieces of PVC, doubled them up to increase their glued surface area, sanded the mating surface to match the curvature of the interior curve of the drum, then glued them in place. No possibility of leakage that way, and so far I haven't had one come free in probably 50k cases tumbled.

This way, cost is basically the price of a used treadmill, plus the cost of 4" pipe and fittings and a qwik-cap. If you're good at scrounging/begging, you should be able to get the treadmill for free.

[fastfire]

I replaced the metal paddles in my cement mixer with UHMW 12" thick x 3" wide x 12" long.
Since I did this modification the brass is shinier.

[canebreaker]

hunter64, the paddles in my cylinder were about as tall as yours. After the first tumbling I found a lot of .223 cases wouldn't fit back into the shell holder. I cut them down a lot, but don't have any brass that needs cleaning since.
I to cut a treadmill down for one cylinder, used pieces of the frame to set the idler roller close to the drive roller. I used stripes of the mat glued to the cylinder for traction.
Wished I had bolted frames across the mat to use more cylinders at once.

[oley55]

thanks Hunter64. I used your design and information as a basis for mine. a lot of changes were based on what I had or didn't have available in the way of both tools n materials.

I built this about 18 months ago and only now figured how to get my pics down to an acceptable size.

1/2hp, two speed (1140/1726) Kenmore washer motor, 2" to 7.25" pulley reduction, gets me down to 36/53 rpm's on large drum and 47/72 on the narrow drum.
1/2" diameter steel shafts with rubber hose
set screw shaft collars with fender washers attached to ensure drums don't wonder to one end or the other.
23" X 8" blue fresh water schedule 80 pvc pipe,
6" green waste water pvc pipe and assorted capes, reducers, plugs

Vanes and permanent end plugs are made with PVC trim boards from Lowes. Used heavy, medium, and regular PVC cement to attach and seal all (no screws or holes in the drum). The PVC board is much less dense than the PVC pipe, so when I ripped the vanes down to 45s the porous flat side was glued towards the PVC pipe. Being less dense they melt-formed nicely against the round pipe. Vanes were held in place with a couple small sand bags for about 10 minutes each before moving to the next vane. I am seeing a little bit of wear on the vanes, but am pretty certain I will have been pushing up daisies for many years before they quit working.

I kept one drum smooth inside (no vanes) for cleaning sizing lube off loaded rounds in dry media. I was worried about pointy loaded 556 rounds tumbling end over end and making those dreaded muffled boom, boom sounds.

edited this in: I forgot to mention that I tied the drive and dummy shafts together with matching pulleys and belt. I was concerned that the drift shaft would have less friction on the inside of the rubber hose and possibly slip. I thought having both shafts driving equally would spread the torque to both shafts and prevent any slip. I don't know if that was a legitimate concern or not.

lessons learned n stuff:

if I had it to do again I would have used 5/8" shafts versus 1/2". 1K brass, 10-15 #'s of pins, and nearly 3.7 gallons of water equals a lot of weight and a slight bowing of the shafts. Of course I'd have to go with different pulley combinations to allow for the increased circumference of the rubber hose on the 5/8" drive shafts.

my schedule 80, 8" pvc pipe was not perfectly round, either due to age or manufacture. had to make my own permanent end plugs and bought the 8" Non-Metal Hand-Tite Plug ($35+ from: http://www.pollardwater.com/pages_product/HTPLUG4.asp ) They work great. I did however trim off about 1/4" from wing-nut ends to make sure I had clearance from the pillow block bearing's grease zerks.

Remember to inset the bottom permanent plug 3/8" so that you have something to hold onto when lifting or positioning the filled drum. Did I mention it is heavy?

Cut and install vanes/ribs 1.5" below mouth of drum to allow room for the hand-tite plug. cut vanes on open end to 45 degrees so that it is a relatively snug fit against the plug and doesn't trap brass.

the small diameter drum intended for smaller batches spins too fast and was a waste of time n money. better to have made a second shorter drum with vanes for smaller batches. :) just found me a new 8'+ piece of pipe in a construction site dumpster so now I have enough to make; two each of short/tall with smooth/ribbed drums.

designing/making the washer motor mounts and wiring was a bit of a challenge. a purpose built motor would have been easier but way more than the $10 bucks I paid for it. Also 3 position switches are not cheap. I found some really cheap ones on Alibaba but they are only rated to 10 amps. Not enough for this motor. I bought two and had the contacts seized closed on one of them. so now I select the speed I want and then on/off via the wall socket plug. After over a year I am still watching for a heavy duty 3 position switch I can afford. :(

as demonstrated by my Grandson, skipping the belt guard was not an option.

hope this is a help to others............ too much trial n error stuff to include here. if you have the need I'd be happy to try and help via PM or phone.

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

129449

129450129450

129451

[CT-shooter777]

I got a couple old tumblers that are older than me but when I really need to tumble a lot of brass I use this. Fits 3000 .45 at 1 time
Dave

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-1-4-quarter-cubic-ft-compact-cement-mixer-91907.html

That's funny, I do the same, I bought mine when they where making the poly barrel ones.

[loaded303]

Thanks

[Bodine]

When I first ran across this thread I got this idea that maybe I should build a rotary tumbler. Well I did and just got it finished. It should be able to tumble 10lbs of brass with ease. Used an old band saw motor, 1/2" shafts & pillow blocks. Here is the finished project.

142408

[largecaliberman]

In bought an old cement mixer at a garage sale for 40.00 installed an old washing machine motor from a junk yard, bought a V-belt at a NAPA store and a timer at Home Depot. Works like a dream now for 8 years!!

[AW738]

Does anyone have a good source for the pillow block bearings?

[Steve Steven]

AW738,
Surplus center is always a good place to check for this kind of thing,
http://www.surpluscenter.com/shop.axd/Search?keywords=pillow+blocks&page_no=1&sort_by_options=price+asc

Steve

[Carrier]

This is the one my son made for less than $50.00. Left shafts long until we figure out if we need a bigger tumbler. Also making a smaller one for small batches.


http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p45/r404a/d13ab0bb359b83cacca5cd6ec3a304b3_zpsbdbeafhi.jpg


http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p45/r404a/433490fad9944b7a0545ab94a10ca3ff_zpsmivkls1k.jpg

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p45/r404a/afdbb24c3371ed8abd69563411214938_zpssdkhlsuz.jpg

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p45/r404a/b318173b7336a156196184f3038659dd_zpsb8xi7gp4.jpg

[oley55]

Does anyone have a good source for the pillow block bearings?

I bought mine off Amazon I think. not home right now otherwise I'd pull out my receipt.

[sunburn]

Glue and cleaner are designed to be used with the cleaner wet. You have to work faster and is the reason Plumbers tape both cans together.

[tech54K]

This is a great project. I will try this.

[fiberoptik]

Wish I could see the pictures!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NavyVet1959]

Wish I could see the pictures!


Photobucket changes strike again...

[Ianagos]

I built my own but i tried to use heater hose for the rollers and the heater hose from the parts store does not fit on my 5/8 rod well. Can anybody reccomend a hose that will fit snugly on my rollers and give grip for a pvc drum?

[NavyVet1959]

I built my own but i tried to use heater hose for the rollers and the heater hose from the parts store does not fit on my 5/8 rod well. Can anybody reccomend a hose that will fit snugly on my rollers and give grip for a pvc drum?

I currently have some 8x19x6mm bearings (https://www.ebay.com/itm/10pcs-Rubber-Sealed-Deep-Groove-Ball-Roller-Bearings-Linear-Bearings-Bushing-CE/302439866462) on order from eBay. They're headed this way on the proverbial slow boat from China, so it'll probably be a few weeks before they get here... Assuming that they actually do in fact manage to make it into my mailbox... I seem to have a problem with things either being delivered to the wrong address or possibly going home with the postal worker instead. The latest thing to disappear was a package of 20 shift registers (74HC595) -- not exactly something that you would think that a postal worker would have a use for. I don't know if these bearings will be the right size for what I hope to use them for, but if not, they're pretty cheap and I figure I can make an adapter on my mini-lathe to work around it.

[pwc]

Instead of pillow blocks, has anyone thought of using casters from Harbor Freight? Mount them upside down, spaced properly and let the 'drum' turn on them. Only slight engineering changes to the drive.

[mdhillbilly1]

I was told by a friend that they do not hold up. He advises the use of only pillow blocks only.

[mdhillbilly1]

1/2 or 3/4 inch pillow blocks are the best.

[mdhillbilly1]

1/2 or 3/4 inch pillow blocks are the best. The size depends on container size and axle size. We have seen one that was an 8 foot long unit. The unit had 3/4 inch pillow blocks. The unit ran two units connected with a second belt that interconnected the two single tubes together and ran on a 3/4 HP motor.



Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk

[mdhillbilly1]

I suggest installing the doorbell unit that are sold at Lowe's or Home Depot that have a wireless camera that can be connected to a unit to record and send a picture to you to see everyone coming to your door.
They have small wireless cameras that you can install around your home with digital recorder.

If you think postal workers or others are stealing your packages contact the postal inspectors to be alerted to spot check when packages are being delivered. We only use the priority mail flat rate packages that have a tracking number with insurance.

We are considering switching from Postal Service to USPS or FED EX



Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk

[NavyVet1959]

We are considering switching from Postal Service to USPS or FED EX


The Postal Service is the same thing as USPS... :)

[NavyVet1959]

I suggest installing the doorbell unit that are sold at Lowe's or Home Depot that have a wireless camera that can be connected to a unit to record and send a picture to you to see everyone coming to your door.
They have small wireless cameras that you can install around your home with digital recorder.


That reminds me of a recent experience I had with house wiring... :(

Back in November, my wife and took a trip for a week or so. Before leaving, we did the usual things like storing the spare keys to the house and cars in the safe and the garage door remote "someplace safe". Well, despite 2 months of searching, we were not able to find the garage door remote. There is not a hard wired switch to the garage door inside the house (there is one in the garage though). We had always just used the remote for opening the garage from the house. My wife had finally given up on the search for the remote control, so she said she would help me run the wire for a hardwired control.

I figured all I need to do was run a single wire pair from the garage to the house via the attic of the breezeway that goes between the two... Sounds pretty simple, right? Run the wire through the breezeway attic, drop it down the wall to where the light switches are already at, and install it as a small momentary contact switch.

Sounds a lot easier than it ended up being... :(

First problem was that there was a fire break where the breezeway attached to the garage... Once through it, I see that there is no way that I'm going to be crawling through that small area, so I think that maybe I can get some pieces of PVC pipe and snake it through there. Shining a light though there though shows yet another firebreak about a third of the way down there and the existing wires running underneath it, so that route doesn't look promising. Since there is a light fixture in the middle of the breezeway, I figure I might be able to remove the light and electrical box that it is attached to and put my hand in there to grab the PVC pipe that was shoved through from either end. Once I removed the light, I discover that it is not hooked to an electrical box, but rather just screwed directly into the plywood that makes up the ceiling of the breezeway and there is maybe a 3/4" hole in the plywood for the wires to run though. So much for that idea...

The power for the house starts in the garage and then all the wires get distributed from the panel there through the breezeway into the rest of the house, so there's quite a few wires going through the breezeway. Same goes for the phone wires and cable TV coax. They all seem to be stapled to the ceiling joists in the breezeway since when I tug on the wires, there is no slack. Eventually, I find an abandoned telephone wire that goes to the telephone junction box, but is not connected, and it goes though the breezeway. It also appears to have some slack in it, so I figure there's a chance that I might be able to either use it to drag a new wire through the breezeway, or, if at least one pair of the 6 conductors in the telephone wire is good, repurpose it for control of the garage door. I figured that at least one pair in that cable was bad and that is why it had been disconnected at sometime in the past. So, I pulled that end of the wire back into the garage and wired it so that the solid white w/ color stripes were connected together and the solid colors w/ white stripes were connected. It's pretty low voltage for this signal, so even a single pair from that wire would have been enough.

So, then onto the "fun" part -- climbing into the attic to trace down where that wire went. Of course, due to the slope of the roof, it was not possible to get all the way to the edge where the wires came into the attic of the house, but I eventually figured out which wire was the one I was interested it. Then a bunch of crawling around near the eave of the house following that wire to see what it went to. Eventually, I determine that it is going somewhere that is currently covered by wiring that I have added from a commercial telephone distribution type panel, so I cut the wire at a place where it will still be easy to access at a later date if so needed.

With the free end that now goes to the garage door opener, I tie it to a rod and try to drop it down to a hole that I added to the inside of one of the light switch boxes in the house. I had originally wanted to put it on one of the switches by the rear door, but due to the slope of the roof, it was not possible to get into that area. It wasn't that easy even where I ended up putting it since there was 2 ft from where I was laying to where the wires went though the wall's 2x4 top plate due to the rooms having 8 ft walls, but then 45 degree angles up to a 10 ft actual ceiling. It took a long time and was rather painful laying across those ceiling joists while trying to poke that rod down the existing hole in the top plate in the hope of hitting that hole in the switch box.

So, after 4.5 hours of this, I finally have a wire in the house at a light switch and it soldered to a momentary contract switch installed in a light switch outlet. My wife actually helped in the attic some by watching for which wire moved when I pulled on another one and the same thing in the garage. She now realizes why I procrastinate doing anything that involves getting into the attic.

Total cost? About $0.15 for the switch (which I had bought off of eBay in a 10 piece lot for an Arduino project), the two dots of solder to connect the wires, and a couple of inches of electrical tape. AND quite a few beers afterwards as I cussed the builder and his workers for leaving nails sticking out at wrong places and the roofers for having having nails so long that the perforated my head numerous times. And a couple of days of grunting from pain every time I move thanks to having to crawl around on the various 2x?s that were used as ceiling joints.

So, as much as I wouldn't want wireless cameras or other things around the house, I will admit that it can be less painful to install them in certain situations. Well, unless you don't have an electrical outlet near where you want the camera and you need to still run electrical power to it. From a security standpoint, a wired system is probably going to be better.

[mdhillbilly1]

The Postal Service is the same thing as USPS... :)It should have stated UPS and FED-EX

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[frodo]

wow
just say this thread. I posted this in another discussion it was the wrong thread



https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3c380z

I demoed a treadmill, all i had to move was 1 roller,

6'' pvc 30'' long, it holds plenty

inside the pvc are 3 copper veins that force the brass to tumble
every thing was free except the 12v to 110 transformer 15 bucks

[Srjdsmith]

I supply them with the the frame, bearings and shafts already installed so you just have to supply your own motor with pulley and one pulley for the drive shaft.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/1964bigfoot/IMG_0349.jpg


Mark the 4 holes to mount the motor and install a belt and away you go.

First one took me about 3 hours to weld and drill the 1/2" holes for the bearings. I have it down to about 1.5 hours now.

In Canada where I live, I would consider making them but shipping to the US would be far to expensive to justify it so I decided to just share the plans for those that wanted to build there own as I have had lots of requests lately since I first posted the idea a couple of weeks ago.

This is a phenomenal thread! I was recently gifted two motors, a 1/6 hp 1750 rpm and a 3/4 hp 3450 rpm. I’ll use your formula to design my own! I’m not a metal worker, so my frame is 2x4’s

But I need a suggestion. My main shaft is 1/2” what would you put on the main shaft to drive the bucket? Will latex surgical tubing create enough friction to turn the drum?

[Hahndorf1874]

G,day
Finished mine today, pinched a few ideas, had most bits needed already, had to buy pillow blocks, 16mm shaft, adjustable bung for the barrel, cleaned 50 6.5X 55 cases no pins at this stage ,warm water citric acid, wash up liquid,1 hour running cases very clean.

Cheers Mal in au.

[Hahndorf1874]

Tried to post a pic. of my completed tumbler but no luck from my IPad files!! Any thoughts as to what I am doing wrong? Cheers Mal in au.

[Hahndorf1874]

G,day,
Did another 50 plus cases today, came out very clean ,no SS pins at this stage. Word of warning!!! Don’t use warm water ,don’t ask me how I know!!! With my adjustable bung the pressure created using warm is too great, blew the bung out water water everywhere, changed to cold no problem, used 2 teaspoons of lime juice 2 of dishwasher liquid, they came out perfect.

Cheers Mal in au.

[Traffer]

Youtube has quite a few different ways of making tumblers. As long as you get some kind of bucket turning at the correct RPMs and the thing doesn't fall apart, it works.
I made one from an old windshield wiper motor and a 4 amp 12 volt dc power supply. The parts cost me $15 for the wiper motor $1 for the power supply
I used a 3 quart plastic thermo drink holder for the container $1 at used stuff store, and a strip of plastic molding that I made the interior ribs from.
The total was under $20.
I attached the outer shell of the cooler to the shaft of the motor and slide the inner part of the cooler in with a piece of metal strap around the outside to hold it in.
Seems to work well and has not come apart or broken down ...yet!

[hunter64]

This is a phenomenal thread! I was recently gifted two motors, a 1/6 hp 1750 rpm and a 3/4 hp 3450 rpm. I’ll use your formula to design my own! I’m not a metal worker, so my frame is 2x4’s

But I need a suggestion. My main shaft is 1/2” what would you put on the main shaft to drive the bucket? Will latex surgical tubing create enough friction to turn the drum?

Not sure about the surgical tubing as I would think it is too soft. I used gas line hose for a vehicle from NAPA that perfectly fit the shaft. It finally wore out and I just simply replaced it with some new hose. On the drum I installed that one sided stick on sandpaper stuff that you use in a bathtub/shower so you dont slip and fall. Works great.

[Srjdsmith]

Not sure about the surgical tubing as I would think it is too soft. I used gas line hose for a vehicle from NAPA that perfectly fit the shaft. It finally wore out and I just simply replaced it with some new hose. On the drum I installed that one sided stick on sandpaper stuff that you use in a bathtub/shower so you dont slip and fall. Works great.

Yep. Your list says “heater hose” and I had a package in my hand when I saw gas hose by the foot, so I got that. Works great, as does your formula for RPM. I either have to speed one motor up or slow the other down. For now, I’m just using the slower rate and it’s fine. It was nice to build as a design-on-the-fly with some idea of what to expect for rate. Thanks!

https://youtu.be/DpFtPCCu99c

https://youtu.be/nM7RDx10YTQ


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[Handloader109]

Well, I've been wanting to make me a tumbler for a while. saw this thread when it first was posted and have just been putting it off. Just being lazy.

I've got a little HF dual tumbler, but I hate using it. if the belts aren't broken, then I've overloaded it and it doesn't want to turn, or a small amount of pressure builds up and it starts to leak or blows off a lid, dumping all on the floor. Dang pins at least are somewhat magnetic

well, will a lot of spare time and it being warmer, I started looking for what components I had.

Saw a 1 gallon walmart stainless steel insulated container on sale at half price and thought that would be good size for me. don't need 5 gallon bucket.
First, found a dc gearmotor I had saved from the scrap heap a decade and a half ago. Found a controller and wired motor up and made sure it worked. 90 rpm, so pretty slow. Found 4 pillar block bearings I had stuffed away. Dang 7/8 shaft size, so odd. guess thats why ive never used them. found one pulley that fit motor shaft.

Then found a 10 ft piece of strut that would work for the frame. So, I needed one pulley,and a few more nuts and bolts, and some bushings and rollers. Spending was not much, couple of dollars for the nuts and bolts, $13 for the 5/8 rod for the shaft and $8 for small pulley.
No bushings to be found or rollers.

So I played with the numbers and decided on 3dprinting 4 bushings from petg to hold rod in the bearings. And 3d printed 4 rollers. 2 inch diameter to fit the rod.
Put it all together and found a few issues. First, width between rollers was too much. need drive wheels more below. So printed 2 rollers 4 inch diameter for idler side that raised container up and more over drive side. And had to take apart the bearing and wash out the grease to make idler freewheeling much easier
Back together and it works great. zero to 60rpms. Oh, I spent $5 on permatex metal epoxy and added 3 small aluminum fins inside the container to tumble the brass. scrap aluminum.
So under $30 out of pocket. and just scrap.
here's a few pictures https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200426/1f802f372bba18ac865111a5adc92727.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200426/299772d307fd189617b43e7ba071fb60.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200426/3210e643cc0d1fbee2d42ab79ba90b50.jpg

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[poorman]

Nice, How quiet is the vacuum bottle?