Harbor Freight tumbler?

[robpete]

do any of you use one? I thought about giving one a try.

[bangerjim]

I use the 5# vibrator with great success. And don't forget the 20% coupons around everywhere.

bangerjim

[Duckiller]

I have the big one . Works good when you have to cleans lots of brass.

[bullet maker 57]

I also use the bigger one. It cleans more brass faster. The only complaint I have is the noise. It makes a very loud rumble. Otherwise I am satisfied.

[BucketBack]

I just turn up the music when I run the big Harbor Freight tumbler, which will be right after I decap 200 or so 223/556 cases

[robpete]

I should have clarified. I'm interested in the drum tumbler....for use with stainless media. Sorry.

[jcwit]

Why not take a closer look at the Berry tumbler sold by Berry themselves and also Cabela's, Graf's, and others. Its made right here in the U.S.A except for the motor which there is no supplier here for it. Support our own economy.

Course if you would rather support the Red Chinese?????????????????????????????????????

The Berry tumbler is close to the same price point.

[jcwit]

I should have clarified. I'm interested in the drum tumbler....for use with stainless media. Sorry.

Then that's a different deal altogether. No U.S. made in the same price range. I tried one years ago I got at a garage sale for $2.00, worked OK. I also would think they would work for wet tumbling using SS pins.

[L Erie Caster]

I should have clarified. I'm interested in the drum tumbler....for use with stainless media. Sorry.


I looked at one and thought it was the cheapest made thing I have ever seen. I couldn’t bring myself to pay $50 for it. If it works for others great, but I can’t see such a piece of junk on my bench.

[MrWolf]

I have the dual 3 lb one. I use walnut, not ss but it has been running almost 24 hrs straight for at least the last 4 weeks. Only reason I got it was to clean up my pink brass after the citric bath - does what I need it to do.

[jcwit]

I looked at one and thought it was the cheapest made thing I have ever seen. I couldn’t bring myself to pay $50 for it. If it works for others great, but I can’t see such a piece of junk on my bench.

Say what? Harbor Freight sells the single drum for $39.95.

[Lively Boy]

I have a single and the double drum versions. The single drum works great for ss tumbling but the new drums for the double turns my brass black. I use the same mix in all but the new drums keep messing with my brass..

[Silverboolit]

I have a double drum and I like it for SS pins. I haven't had the problem with discolored brass in mine, but it is a few years old. The only weak link is the drive belt. I just use 3 7/8" O rings from the hardware store. They are a lot cheaper than the replacement belts from HF.

[robpete]

I have a double drum and I like it for SS pins.

How much media and brass can you fit in each drum?

[John Boy]

I used the double barrel rotary for about 5 years with extra belts from eBay. It got hosed in Super Storm Sandy. I now use the Lortone double 6# barrel. It's a great product

[Silverboolit]

I get 50 9mm, 40 .45acp, aabout 40 .223. The rest that I do are small batches, but they all come out great.

[rbstern]

I've been using the single drum model to wet tumble brass for about 9 years. It's cleaned 10's of thousands of pieces of brass for me. The machine probably has somewhere between 1000 and 1500 running hours on it. Still on the original belt, too. Best $22 (after coupon) I ever spent on reloading gear.

Cleaning formula: I fill it three quarters full of whatever brass I am tumbling. Fill with cold water just enough to cover brass. Add 2 teaspoons of bottled lemon juice, and 2 drops of Dawn (or similar) dish detergerent. Tumbling for one to two hours will have the brass nicely and clean for use. Tumbling overnight will have the brass come out looking near-factory shiney. Rinse the brass, lay out to dry for a day or two.

[Whiterabbit]

does that get the primer pockets clean? how about the insides?

Think I could get a dozen 338 lapua cases into one drum? Cause otherwise I am with L Erie Caster.

[rbstern]

does that get the primer pockets clean? how about the insides?

Insides come out clean. Empty primer pockets come out clean. I rarely deprime pistol brass before wet tumbling.


Think I could get a dozen 338 lapua cases into one drum? Cause otherwise I am with L Erie Caster.

I haven't cleaned any rifle brass in a while, but in the past I routinely cleaned 308 Win, 7.5x55, 303 Brit, and 30-30. I've probaly run some 30-06 in there as well. I don't know the length of the 338 cases, but I can't imagine a dozen cases being a problem.

[Whiterabbit]

and no stainless pins, that's really impressive.

[rbstern]

and no stainless pins, that's really impressive.

Never felt the need. I remember doing a bit of research on whether or not to use some media other than the mild acid/soap wash of the lemon juice and dish detergent, but after I saw the initial results, I never thought about it again.

I'll try to post some before/after photos. I've got a batch of 38 special brass that needs a tumble.

[rbstern]

Here's the result of about three hours of tumbling for some 38 special.

Before:

76335

Ready to tumble:

76336

Finished:

76338

The tumbler in action:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSQxtbnq2MA

[Freightman]

I use mine to ball mill black powder I fill the drum 1/2 way with .457 lead balls and 8.5 oz of ingredient run it for24 hrs at a time and never a problem and the lead balls are heavy

[prsman23]

For what it's worth I just picked up the two drum model for $42 after tax. It was on sale for 49.99 from 89.99 then a 20% off coupon.

[w0fms]

Yup.. I just picked one up too $42 after tax as well with a coupon.. but decided to also get some SS pins off of e-bay. I'll be curious to see if this is better than soaking in citric acid and the "normal" vib tumbling. This is my preferred way currently. My only concern is that the dry-vib seems to be necessary after the soak if the brass will sit for more than a few weeks ... just doing citric acid seems to have the cases dull down fast (with in a week or two). I wonder if a distilled water rinse/tumble for an hour after pin tumbling in citric acid/dawn would work. I guess I'll find out after I get the pins.

[DxieLandMan]

I have one and have not used it for brass yet. I use mine mainly to clean coins.

[jcwit]

I have one and have not used it for brass yet. I use mine mainly to clean coins.

Wondering what you use for media when cleaning coins?

[w0fms]

Hmm.. did 250 380 ACP cases in the dual drum HF tumbler last night with the SS pins. WORKS AWESOME. Used Dawn and a little Ball canning Citric Acid.

Got up in the middle of the night, drained them off, rinsed them again, drained them again.. looked exactly like everyone's photos. Really sexy shiny. Primer pockets clean for the first time ever for me.

Decided that since when I tried to soak in Citric Acid before that (w/o tumbling) after a couple of weeks the cases tarnished up that I'd put them in the oven at 250°F for an hour. Left a couple of cases out for reference.

Went back to sleep and about 1h15m later took them out of the oven. They were tarnished just like sitting for a couple of weeks. The reference ones are still "purdy."

So the oven method of drying is probably out... sigh... The cases still are obviously very clean and unless I want to be anal are perfectly fine. Maybe I should just be happy and use this method. But the brass out of the wet is so nice.

One thing I've thought of is rolling in a towel, blowing out the insides with air, then rinsing the cases in denatured alcohol (or acetone, or lacquer thinner)... if it captured the water and the evaporated quickly, maybe that'll work.

Anyone have a decent drying method? I suppose I should rinse with distilled water as well...

[MrWolf]

I have a food dehydrator that I use to dry my brass. Couple of hours depending if pistol, longer for rifle at about 100 degrees or so works for me. Nice part it is quiet and I can leave it on for extended periods if need be without worrying.

[RobsTV]

I have a food dehydrator that I use to dry my brass. Couple of hours depending if pistol, longer for rifle at about 100 degrees or so works for me. Nice part it is quiet and I can leave it on for extended periods if need be without worrying.

Thanks!
Looks like my dehydrator will soon be multi-tasking.

[Bayou52]

Anyone have a decent drying method?

I've been wet tumbling using SS media for about a year. Here's the best drying tip I've used, and it may help others as well.

I use a manual rotary media separator. Once the SS media is separated, and the water is removed from the separator, keep the wet casings in the rotary basket. Then throw a nice sized dry kitchen towel into the basket. Then spin the casings with the dry towel in the basket a bunch of times. The dry towel will absorb 90+ % of all the water/moisture that was in those casings.

Then, I simply dump the barely damp casings onto an open plastic tray. They will be dry as a bone within an hour - no ovens, no dryers, no blowers - ever.

Hope this is helpful -

Bayou52

[joec]

I have a food dehydrator that I use to dry my brass. Couple of hours depending if pistol, longer for rifle at about 100 degrees or so works for me. Nice part it is quiet and I can leave it on for extended periods if need be without worrying.

I simply put them in the oven on low for about 30 minutes on a baking pan. If your oven can go anywhere below 210 deg F you won't hurt the brass at all.

[MrWolf]

I would not use the the dehydrator for food after the brass - saying just in case.

[w0fms]

I did a little research. I shoot in spurts (no pun intended) because of my busy work schedule. So often I'll not use brass or reloads for several weeks and sometimes months. I suspect that my straight Citric Acid cleaned TOO well and the tarnish at the 250*F oven looking exactly like the pre-tumbler experiments I did meant that it was normal tarnish.

(And to anneal brass, you need to hit over 450°F for several minutes, so my 250°F was luckily OK)

So.. i bought some Lemi-Shine. It's mostly Citric Acid but I also think there is a salt and some citrus oil in it. It seems to coat the case better to prevent "spotting". For $3.36 at Wally for 12 oz I'm not going to experiment further with other cleaners.

Retumbled for about 45 minutes. Then I did what one source on the internet suggested. I went to Petco and got some "Lizard Litter" (finely crushed English Walnut Shells) and some "NuFinish" (which I actually use on my cars, I like the stuff). I dumped the old (apparently) corn cob Lyman media and put this in and saturated the Walnut for about the same 45 minutes the retumble took. Then I took out the shiny cases.. dried on a bath towel (and yes it takes out at least 90% of the water) and threw the cases into the dry tumbler with the Walnut/NuFinish.

I let it go an hour.

76991

There is a nice smooth finish to this, it actually polished the brass up more. And of course it's dry.

It's rather amazing that I could literally 100% of the time determine the head stamp by the color of the brass. They are that clean and shiny. I also now understand how they manufacture the brass.

So yeah, two tumblers.. but I had the vib one already. But I can do 250 9mm's or 380's in four hours start to finish this way.

I debated about finding the old food dehydrator.. but this works well enough. I think the light coating of polymer car wax will be a boon. It makes the case slightly slippery too...

As.. yes.. in the background is my first pass at powder coated boolits... fun stuff...

[RobsTV]

O.K., I am now a convert.

Been using HF Ultra Sonic cleaner (same as Lyman Turbo 2500), and have had great results, except for having to babysit it every 8 minutes. I like spotless and shiny, so this took five 8 minute cycles to complete. Two heated cycles with formula listed below, drained, rinsed, then 3 final cycles with same formula except no vinegar. 40 minutes per batch.

Did the math, and figured the HF tumbler would need to clean brass in 2.5 hours to equal ultra sonic quantity in that time. But since I bought the double tumbler for $40 after coupon, it should do twice as much in same 2.5 hours. (this was using each tub with 1lb brass, 1lb SS media, 1lb water, and if SS media was skipped, double the brass count again).

It did the job. Tested one tub with 1# of 140 pieces 32 H&R magnum, 1# SS media, and water. Dash of Barkeepers Friend, couple drops of dawn, and splash of vinegar, (trying to duplicate the mixture I use with US, except added SS media). Other tub added 2# of brass consisting of 380acp and 9mm, no SS media and same formula above. After 1 hour I drained mixture, rinsed, then repeated mixture without vinegar. Since I did not have to get up and do something every 8 minutes, I let it go for another 2 hours, 3 hours total. The tub with SS media was perfect, including spotless primer pockets. The tub with no SS media was also spotless inside and out, except for a little residual in primer pockets. I am picky and I would have no problem using them like this. Will need to switch to lemishine and skip vinegar, since the brass while clean, was not as shiny as shown by others, and had a slightly dull clean to it. This was new once fired brass tested.

It will be nice to set it and forget it. In the dehydrator now.

EDIT: Dehydrator had these dried in less than 20 minutes. It is a Magic Chef brand with forced air. Counted all brass and total was 140 pieces of 32 H&R Magnum in tub with SS media, and in other tub without SS media had 200 pieces of 380acp and 60 pieces of 9mm.

[joec]

I have the double model and use Dawn, Lemi shine and water with stainless pins. It works great and as for noise it is quieter than my Frankford Arsenal shaker type. As for the belts, when you first get it open it up and lube the shafts and make sure the pulleys are lined up properly. I've been using it for a year or so now and never broken one and got some extra belts that came with it. I also lube the shafts with a few drops of oil after using it a couple of times. I've been very happy with it since I bought it.

[Bayou52]

I let it go for another 2 hours, 3 hours total.

In my experience using SS wet tumbling for about a year now, I find that 4 hours rotary wet tumbling per batch is the absolute "sweet spot" for impeccably clean casings on the outside, inside, primer pockets and flash holes. No vestiges of tarnish or build-up remain hereinafter 4 hours of rotary wet tumbling.

Bayou52

[Model29-2]

In my experience using SS wet tumbling for about a year now, I find that 4 hours rotary wet tumbling per batch is the absolute "sweet spot" for impeccably clean casings on the outside, inside, primer pockets and flash holes. No vestiges of tarnish or build-up remain hereinafter 4 hours of rotary wet tumbling.

Bayou52

I have the HF 2 drum tumbler and recently did some really nasty 30-30 brass. They had been loaded at least 5 times and were ugly dirty. I had to do a 3 hour session, rinse and repeat for 3-4 hours before they came out OK. I probably could have done it in one pass, but I had 1 lb of media, and 50 brass per drum. I think 25 per drum would get them cleaner faster.

I use a kitchen strainer to drain off the black water thoroughly, and then dump them on a big fluffy towel and roll them around. That gets the 90% of the water and the rest can air dry. You don't want them to sit around wet with the acid water on them as it will spot them and ruin the looks of your flashy cases.

[Bayou52]

For my 4 hour tumbles, I use 5 pounds of SS pins, 2 pounds of brass and a gallon of water. Seems to consistently work with spectacular results.

Bayou52

[webcruzzer]

I have the harbors and frankfords. Franks is quiter but harbors tumbles harder and cleans better.