Making a big rotary tumbler

[BigSlick]

I have a spare drum from the ones I bought to store ingots in.

Instead of sell it or trash it, I've decided to make a rotary tumbler, a big rotary tumbler.

Any ideas where to come up with a ~30 rpm motor or gear reduction motor without spending a small fortune ?

I have a couple of saddle bearings and can pick up a couple of pieces of shaft stock, but don't have a line on a motor.

I know a couple of you have made rotarys. What else do I need other than maybe a potentiometer to vary the speed and a couple of wings inside to keep the brass and walnut moving ?

Kinda the same operation as a Thumlers is what I have in mind. Not sure if I will attempt to run wet ceramic with it, but doing a bucket or two of brass at once does seem appealing, plus I already have the drum.

Here's the drum :

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/BigSlick10MM/Barrels-1.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/BigSlick10MM/Barrels-2.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b349/BigSlick10MM/Barrels-3.jpg
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Extreme Q Temperature Range (http://vaporizer.org)

[Mk42gunner]

I have never made a tumbler, so here goes.

How about runnig a flat belt around the drum, driven by a small pulley on a 1750 rpm motor? I have seen serpentine belts cut and spliced to the correst length used for the generator and water pump on antique tractors.

I also thnk you will need at least one paddle in the drum; think cement mixer.

Robert

[wills]

Something like this only larger, using evaporative air conditioner motor and pullies?
http://www.unitednuclear.com/mill1.jpg
http://www.unitednuclear.com/ballmill.htm

[Johnch]

I made a tumbler years ago out of a copying machine motor
It only ran like 40 or 50 RPM
But not sure if big enough to power what you are planing on doing

I put baffles inside to stir the media
Bolted them thru , from the outside

Johnch

[monadnock#5]

I think you can get what you're looking for using a 1750 rpm, 1/2 hp motor. To get the speed reduction you need requires the use of belts and pulleys. If you PM me your e-mail addy, I will send you a scanned copy of directions for making a rig which is very similar to what you're after.

Ken

[GSM]

You might try a used refrigerator compressor motor.

One thing to think about though, the larger the tumbler, the harder it is to unload because of the weight. UNLESS.....

If you come up with an Archimedes screw type internal baffle and a reversible motor - think concrete mix truck. Rotates one way to mix, reverse direction to unload. Hmmm. If you had a large motor (230V), reversing the legs would change rotation....

[scrapcan]

Do a search for Surplus Center in Lincoln, NE. They have all kinds of surplus electric motors, hydraulic parts, etc... They may have what you want for a price that will work.

I think the website is
http://www.surpluscenter.com/

TenX remanufactured ammunition at one time was in Cheyenne, WY. They used a plastic tube cement mixer with both solid media and liquid media. Pretty easy to put a paddle in the drum to move the brass.

I want to come shoot at your house when you get a batch cleaned and loaded from this monster.

[KCSO]

Tis is what we did years ago to process bulk brass..
We went to the army navy store and bought about 50 canvas sand bags for about 20 cents each. We then bought an old dryer with no element for hauling it away. You put 500 brass and media in each bag and put 6 bags in the dryer for 1 hour. Brass comes out like new, loaded rounds and corn cob media do final polish and grease removal. This set up lasted us 4 years and cleaned about 30,000 rounds of brass every six months.

[Mohillbilly]

I had a buddy owned a sport'n goods store and sold once shot military brass. That was dirty stuff but a cement mixer from a discount store ,some saw dust and sand and we would let it run 4-5 hours and dump it out threw hardwear cloth to seperat it.Once he forgot it was run'n and it ran all night, shore made a mess outa what was left......

[buck1]

I used a industrial vent fan motor(salvage yard), slowed it down with a few belts and pullys ( I guessed at the sizes). It works fine.....Buck

[Nobade]

There was an article a few years ago in Precision Shooting about doing this using parts from an old clothes dryer. The motor, pullets, belts, etc. were salvaged from one that wouldn't heat any more. Might be a good source, at least around here I see folks giving them away all the time.