Ideas on how to reinforce lyman tumbler lid.

[BigAlofPa.]

My lid is caving in slowly. I tried to reverse it. But the wing nut works loose. Then it makes excessive noise. Wish their lids were stiff like Frankford arsenal ones.

[XDROB]

Can you use a flat washer and a lock washer?

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[Winger Ed.]

You might try putting a back up/jam nut & washer down on the shaft to trap the lid when you turn down the wing nut.

I run my turbo out in the garage and don't put the lid on it.
After I tumble a bunch of brass, I run a few torn up paper towels in it.
There's a little bit of a dust ring on the floor around it, but not much unless I forget to run the paper towels.

[BigAlofPa.]

Yes i use a flat washer and nut. The jam nut is a great idea thanks. Yeah the towels or dryer sheets help with the dust.

[Winger Ed.]

Yes i use a flat washer and nut. The jam nut is a great idea thanks. Yeah the towels or dryer sheets help with the dust.

Something else that might work along with a washer and jam nut under the lid is a fairly stiff spring under the nut on top.
It should keep enough tension to stop the noise, but not get too violent with pushing down on the lid.


On top of the lid, I'd use a big fender washer to better spread out the pressure.
Any hardware store has them and they're about 2" in dia.

[salpal48]

Cut Your loss But a Lortone. I know it's frustrating when you spend Your money and the Item is Junk. That is the current situation with today's loading equipment. Currently It is made not to last.. Unlike years ago, Loading Companies Made equipment that have Outlasted the companies who made them.
Buy once but Buy the best. Junk will always be junk, The best will always be the best. Tumblers are the same . Lortone, Thumlers, Diamond Pacific , Covington

[Kenstone]

I replaced the nut/wing nut with a Wellnut
266573
That and 2 nuts jammed with a washer on top, positioned on the shaft where the cover ends up, as something to tigten the wellnut against, so no caving the lid.
Every Hardware store has wellnuts but they may be called something else.
Wellnuts can be hand tightened and the rubber is compressed causing a resistance against loosening.
:bigsmyl2:

[farmbif]

I second the motion on these new tumblers being junk. If you look at the little pole motors they use they are not built to last. I have a thumbler I guess its the old model uv18 that is probably about 40 years old now, still going strong but my main tumbler is an old paint shaker that I converted to a tumbler with the bottom 1/4 of a 20 gallon barrel bolted on top.
there is no cover on it and it swirls the corn cob brass mix around without spilling out

[trebor44]

I replaced the nut/wing nut with a Wellnut
266573
That and 2 nuts jammed with a washer on top, positioned on the shaft where the cover ends up, as something to tigten the wellnut against, so no caving the lid.
Every Hardware store has wellnuts but they may be called something else.
Wellnuts can be hand tightened and the rubber is compressed causing a resistance against loosening.
:bigsmyl2:

I have used this style exclusively for the past 20 years and it holds tight. If you need more 'damping' you can 'reverse' the nut and compress the rubber to the lid when tightening. A nut and washer to 'limit' the lid travel is a good addition as others have suggested.

[metricmonkeywrench]

+1 on the wellnut, they are available in the drawers in the hardware section at your local big box store

[mdi]

I too use a well nut. Another idea if the nut holding the lid on vibrates loose, use a rubber washer (thick rubber washers available at good hardware stores). If you are talking about the shaft working loose, remove it, clean it good with brake clean and locktite the threads. BTDT...

https://www.mcmaster.com/well-nuts

[pworley1]

You can just drill a 1/4 inch hole in a scrape piece of plywood for a lid and throw the flimsy lid away.

[mf79]

maybe you can apply fiberglass to top to stiffen it up as much as you want then you can re drill hole if needed. if you can find a piece of thick plexiglass and cut and drill to make a new lid that may work.

[Pigboat]

I think I'm going to try the wellnut idea that has been mentioned a couple of times. Does anyone recall the thread size off the top of their head ?

[BigAlofPa.]

I put a nut and washer on the underside. I blue loctite the nut. A little story on the nut. My tire was getting low on air. And where i stopped to put air in. There was a nut laying on the ground. I picked it up. When i got home i checked to see it fits. Got lucky there. Saved me from sorting though my nut and bolt bucket. Those wellnuts look interesting.

[Winger Ed.]

I think I'm going to try the wellnut idea that has been mentioned a couple of times. Does anyone recall the thread size off the top of their head ?

Take the regular nut that fits to the hardware store.
Find a bolt that fits it.

Then it'll tell you what size to get.

[Kenstone]

I have used this style exclusively for the past 20 years and it holds tight. If you need more 'damping' you can 'reverse' the nut and compress the rubber to the lid when tightening. A nut and washer to 'limit' the lid travel is a good addition as others have suggested.
Rubber down on the lid is normal operating procedure for the well nuts.

[Kenstone]

I think I'm going to try the wellnut idea that has been mentioned a couple of times. Does anyone recall the thread size off the top of their head ?
Most are 1/4x20 but take the wingnut that fits to the hardware store to check it.

[Kenstone]

I second the motion on these new tumblers being junk. If you look at the little pole motors they use they are not built to last. I have a thumbler I guess its the old model uv18 that is probably about 40 years old now, still going strong but my main tumbler is an old paint shaker that I converted to a tumbler with the bottom 1/4 of a 20 gallon barrel bolted on top.
there is no cover on it and it swirls the corn cob brass mix around without spilling out

Yes motors are junk but all over ebay for cheap...
I have bought the cheapest exhaust fan at home depot for the motor to build a vib tumbler with.
I also added weight to the weight on the standard motor to increase the "media roll" action.
266584
It's still going so I don't know if it shortened the motor life.
:smile:

[country gent]

If you have a hole saw a 3" dia will cut a disc with the correct size hole centered epoxy this down to the lid. Even 1/8" lexan will stiffen the lid a lot. What you need to watch out for is the vibratory tumblers are some what weight sensitive to maintain the correct motion under load.

[rockshooter]

I like the plywood wood scrap lid idea. To insulate the noise I cut a chunk of discarded exercise mat a little bigger than the lid and put it between the lid and tumbler top.
Loren

[BigAlofPa.]

i cut the bottom out of a 5 gallon bucket. Attached it with permatex to dampen vibration. The nut and washer i made up started to vibrate.

[Kenstone]

For quieting it down, put it on a concrete floor and drop a cardboard box over it.
But know that noise is energy and it'll turn to heat when trapped inside that box.
jmo,
:neutral:

[1hole]

There are (usually) TWO nuts on a vib. tumbler shaft, usually 1/4"x20 tpi; the lower one retains the bowl and the upper, rubber coated nut only secures the lid.

If your lid is being distorted by its nut it's likely your bowl nut is too loose. With the lid off, tighten the bowl nut until the loud rattle stops. THEN put the lid back on and you probably won't have to tighten it down so much!

I got my new fangled, first tumbler on the market Lyman 1200 sometime in the late 1970s. It's on its third motor now because I neglected oiling the bronze bearings until they froze on the motor shaft and stalled it until it smoked. A couple of drops of ATF fluid from Walmart's automotive dept. on the bearings maybe once a year would have prevented that.

One replacement motor came from an electrical contractor's tossed out bath exhaust fan and the other from a tossed out kitchen stove exhaust hood; that's good to know because identical new small motors from an electrical supply house costs about as much as a new tumbler!

After about 30 years of use I finally made a new "clear view" bowl lid from a stray bit of 1/4" plexiglas, but the old lid (and the rest of the tumbler) is still going as good as new.

I like my old Lyman but if I had to buy a new tumbler tomorrow it would be Berry's because they use ball bearing motors with 1/4" shafts. FYI, Cabala's used to sell Berry's tumblers - and their excellent copper plated bullets and best-in-their-class impact bullet pullers too - but I haven't checked in years so look up their web site.

[brassrat]

I have an old Lyman that I saw in a gunstore. Best tumbler ever. It only had a sifting cover, so I took a plastic dish and drilled a hole. I use a wingnut but may change that now. It works fine but needs tight or it vibrates but runs very quietly when tight. Couldnt work any better