Vacation Find!!!!

[Bored1]

While coming home from South Dakota I happened to stop @ an antique mall to just have a look around and let the kids out of the car for a minute and stumbled upon this!!!! Figured the frame, rods, and bearings were worth the 5$ asking price if the motor didn't work but it DOES!!!

http://s19.postimage.org/3lm7i2nr3/PTDC0078.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/3lm7i2nr3/)

http://s19.postimage.org/s3eb5yqbj/PTDC0076.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/s3eb5yqbj/)


Not sure what it was supposed to be used for originally. The motor on the side turns the one "rod" while the other just freely spins on its bearings to match. The frame appears to be made out of steel. Decided to try it tonight with a 1 gallon pickle jar full of water, it will turn it, however the jar will stop turning while the rod continues to turn? Motor seems okay with the weight though, and the turning doesn't slow with the jar full of water even if I push down on it.


Anyone know how to keep the container spinning in time with the bar/rod? Any ideas on what container to use (the frame/motor both seem to be able to take a larger container than the 1 gallon pickle jar) or how to make this work better would be greatly appreciated.

[olaf455]

I I would try some athletic tape on both the dowels and the jar.

[Reg]

Looks like old time rock tumbler. Bet it would act as a case cleaner.
If you stay with the pickle jar, you need to put some kind of a ridge inside that jar to get a tumbling action. Several places. To get it to roll and not just sit there, cut a big rubber band ( 2 or 3 actually ) out of a inner tube and place it around the jar to give that drive roller some traction. Think you are on to something but you need some refinement.

[smilie=s:

[Bret4207]

Thats a rotisserie motor. I'm betting it's a ho'made rock tumbler. Some tight fitting o rings, friction tape, carpet tape or maybe spray on bed liner would likely give it enough grip to spin the can.

[Sasquatch-1]

Take one of the rods to a sewing machine repair center and see if they have a bobbin widing tire that will fit over it. Buy 4 of them and you should be in buisness.

[dragonrider]

Try a bicycle inner tube. Cut some wide bands from it and stretch them over the rods.

[44Vaquero]

Try a coffee can or a 1 gallon paint can. Rubber bands can also be used to increase friction.

[375RUGER]

rubber bands, friction tape or o-rings
Plastic paint cans make good wet tumblers cause the lid seal tight. You just have to remove/grind the lugs off where the bail attaches. You can put a couple wide rubberbands around the paint can to help it roll.

[Bored1]

OKay, so tried this out with a small jar with rubber bands around it and it spin the can. However doesn't appear to spin fast enough. Anyone have any idea how I can speed it up any?

[fourarmed]

It will spin faster if you make the diameter of the rods bigger, and the rods will press harder against the tumbler if you move them farther apart.

[44Vaquero]

After I looked at the link Gunoil (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_FpiTzVYP8) referenced on another thread. I think unless you have a 5 gallon bucket to tumble w/SS pins this is the way to go!

[Sasquatch-1]

After I looked at the link Gunoil (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_FpiTzVYP8) referenced on another thread. I think unless you have a 5 gallon bucket to tumble w/SS pins this is the way to go!

This looked like a good idea but I think I would want some way of keeping that bowl from taking off if something went wrong. Also, I don't know if you noticed but the media in the cent of the bowl didn't move. It would also have been nice if he had shown this with a full load as a reloader would use. With what we would use it may not even move the media.

[44Vaquero]

This looked like a good idea but I think I would want some way of keeping that bowl from taking off if something went wrong. Also, I don't know if you noticed but the media in the cent of the bowl didn't move. It would also have been nice if he had shown this with a full load as a reloader would use. With what we would use it may not even move the media.

Oh Ye of little faith! :kidding:Securing the bowl is not a problem. A cone in the center of the bowl the same as regular tumbler solves the dead spot issue.

Now the question of a full load of brass is a more perplexing issue. Having used Neodymium magnets before I tend to think if sized correctly it will work. One issue that I thought of is once you have a strong enough set of magnets the shaft length will need to be increased. Otherwise their magnetic field will interfere with the motor.

Neodymium magnets are not like the magnets we played with as kids. You can actually break a bone if you get your hand between 2 of them!

Since I have several washing machine motors under the work bench I may give it a try just to see!

[Sasquatch-1]

Since I have several washing machine motors under the work bench I may give it a try just to see!

Let us know how it works out...either way.

[44Vaquero]

We shall see! STM sells a SS media in a 2lb refresher pack for $20.00, that's the cheapest I have seen so far. Is anyone aware of a more cost effective SS media supplier?

I ordered the magnets today, and will start construction of the housing over the weekend.