Tumbler motor

[William Yanda]

Leaving a thrift store recently I was carrying a Farberware Rotisserie motor. I think it may power a homebuilt tumbler.

[Winger Ed.]

Good find.
Worst case is it might be a different RPM, but that's workable.
Put the right pully/wheel on it, or just let it run over night if its slow.

[georgerkahn]

Leaving a thrift store recently I was carrying a Farberware Rotisserie motor. I think it may power a homebuilt tumbler.

Wishing you lots of luck, I'll be curious if you can make it work. I have a rotisserie motor which came with bar-b-que -- never used it -- and it is listed (I just checked) at 2.2 rpm. Two and one-fifth rotations per minute sure seems slow for a tumbler to me. Added, the weight of, say, even fifty brass cases + water + some stainless steel pins -- gosh, for a little 14watt motor, that's a lot of weight to be turning. But, the things McGiver can make work? :) :) :) Anyhoos, again, best wishes!

[Winger Ed.]

But, the things McGiver can make work? :) :)

With a paper clip, some soap, chewing gum, and a can of green beans---- you can make anything.

[reloader X]

isnt there a gear reduction on those ? maybe do away with the reduction....but id just buy a factory one.

[Sasquatch-1]

That's a real slow motor for a tumbler. I thought of using one when I was attempting copper plating and never got around to building the rig. A good windshield wiper motor works great for tumblers. You will need a power supply with a decent amp rating.

[country gent]

Even with the slow rpm a bigger dia drum thats narrower will increase the surface feet per minute of the drum improving the efficiency. IE instead of a 4" drum 8" long try a 12" drum 4" wideboth will be the same rpm but the 12" dia drum will have a much higher surface feet per minute than the 4" dia.

[William Yanda]

Even with the slow rpm a bigger dia drum thats narrower will increase the surface feet per minute of the drum improving the efficiency. IE instead of a 4" drum 8" long try a 12" drum 4" wideboth will be the same rpm but the 12" dia drum will have a much higher surface feet per minute than the 4" dia.

I like the way you think.

[country gent]

Its surface feet per minute that does the work. When turning and 100 sfpm is optimum a 1" piece turns much faster rpms than a 12" piece does to maintain the same 100 sfpm. RUen them both at 400 rpm and the 1" piece wont cut as good and feeds will be lower the 12" piece at 400 rpm will burn the tip off the tool

[farmbif]

if you look under the hood of most tumblers its really not all that complicated. a little electric motor, many use shade pole type, with a counter weight attached to the shaft. thumblers tumblers, the big Dillion, ect they are pretty much all the same. I made a pretty good size one out of an old paint shaking machine and the bottom 1/4 of a plastic barrel.
you probably want a 3600 rpm motor and some springs to isolate the part that shakes from the base without taking away shaking action.
but a tumbler that rotates a drum is also a pretty easy set up with a gear or pulley reduction to turn a shaft that makes the drum turn.
in electric motors no matter the hp. two motors of the same hp an 1800 rpm motor will have twice the torque of a 3600 rpm motor.
rpm is proportional to torque I think is the expression.

[elmacgyver0]

Build it, you will learn a lot, but you will get frustrated.

[WRideout]

Many years ago I made a tumbler from a bbq rotisserie and a coffee can. The motor was positioned upright just as it would be in normal use. A piece of allthread ran through the can into the socket that the skewer would have fit. It actually worked ok for bit but soon overloaded the motor and killed it. The conclusion that I came to was that it can turn a large piece of meat if it is balanced. It cannot turn a coffee can full of brass and ground corncobs if it has to be somewhat off-balance to make the load tumble.

It may have worked if the can were held more in an upright position, but I will never know.

Wayne

[jsizemore]

Most tumblers use continuous duty motors, at least the ones worth owning.