Vibrate vs Tumble

[abunaitoo]

If you had a vibrater and tumbler that held the same amount of media.
Put in the same number of shells that are about the same dirtyness(?).
Ran them for the same amount of time.
Which would come out cleaner???

[cajun shooter]

The people who own the tumblers will say it's the best and the same goes for the vibrator owners. I have and use both for different jobs. My thumblers mdl B is used with ceramic for cleaning my BP cases and I have three vibrators that are used for cleaning purchased and found brass. They both can be left on until the brass is cleaned so I never have timed either style. If you only shoot smokeless then the vibrator type will serve your needs very well.

[jcwit]

Own both and use both, frankley I lean towards the vibrator. I think it gets my brass shiny quicker, but thats just my opinion. The vibrator is quieter tho.

[mike in co]

yep...them roatary tumblers are slow......the side winder has a 12 HOUR TIMER on it...that should be a clue.
my vibrators run for ONE hour at a time with a full load and are bright and shinny when they come out.

the commercial industry uses vibrators for a varity of tasks from polishing to deburring......and thiers are BIG and often wet.

mike in co

[ANeat]

My rotary tumbler is faster than my vibratory, but I have paddles on the inside that gives a little more aggressive "tumble"

[mike in co]

My rotary tumbler is faster than my vibratory, but I have paddles on the inside that gives a little more aggressive "tumble"


I WOULD SUGGEST THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOUR VIBRATOR OR ITS OPERATOR.

they do work best when a full load is present, small loads do take time.......again i do thousands every month.....typically 1000 pcs at a time in each machine.

mike in co

[ANeat]

Well like I said my rotary has paddles on the inside that gets a pretty aggressive tumble going, not like most rotary tumblers that have either a round or geometric shape that imparts a pretty mild action.

I usually tumble 20 or 30 pounds at a time

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h165/aneat/tumbler.jpg

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h165/aneat/tumbler2.jpg

[mike in co]

Well like I said my rotary has paddles on the inside that gets a pretty aggressive tumble going, not like most rotary tumblers that have either a round or geometric shape that imparts a pretty mild action.

I usually tumble 20 or 30 pounds at a time

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h165/aneat/tumbler.jpg

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h165/aneat/tumbler2.jpg


very impressive setup.

what speed is the rotary run at........most are VERY slow.

but if you put 300 9mm in both...i still say the vibrator will be done first.....

assuming it is loaded correctly ..at least half full of corn cob.......

but then again i do not recognized the yellow tub vibratory...maybe is is no good....

put a pillow block bearing under the far end of the bucket and me thiks it would world longer.



mike in co

[dromia]

I've had both and never really noticed a difference in cleaning speed, in saying that I'm usually tumbling once fired pretty clean brass.

If I've got really dirty brass than it has to be a tumbler as I would clean them wet with ceramic media. Loads faster and better cleaning than vibrating very dirty brass.

I only use my vibratory tumbler now if I have a back log of brass to clean when my three tumblers are full and I need the extra capacity.

I also find that the footprint and height of the tumblers uses my available space better.

[Buckshot]

..............The vibratory should be faster as the cases are subject to the vibrating action almost 100% of the time. In a rotary the cases are carried up the side of the tumbler while basically stationary within the media until gravity causes them to slide back down to the bottom. So the active part in a rotary would be above 50% but how much I have no clue. BUT, to be most effective, the vibratory type needs to have a decent load in them as this increases the media load against the case walls.

For heavy objects like stones, the rotary is most efficient. A vibratory unit can't provide the 'lift' to cause them to slip and slide over each other in the abrasive mix.

.............Buckshot

[evan price]

I will say this:

I have a Midway 1292 tumbler and a Berry's. To my eyes they both have the same motor on them.

The Berry's tumbler holds more brass and less media, and really does a good job of swirling the brass around. There's a lot more motion, probably due to the design of the wide, flat bowl. It can't hold as much media, so it gets dirty faster. For brass that is just dirty and needs a good general cleaning, the Berry's is the best.
For brass that is really brown and nasty, or dirty inside, the Midway tumbler is better. It holds more media so the media stays cleaner longer, but it holds a bit less brass. It has a more vibrating action, and the brass doesn't move around as much but it shivers a lot more than the Berry's does and that cleans the inside of the brass better.

Both of them are about equally noisy, the Berry's is a deeper rumble whereas the Midway is a higher pitched buzz.

I usually use the Berry's for general cleaning with walnut, and the Midway for polishing with corncob. If I have a lot of brass to get done to sell I load both with about a 3-pound butter tub of brass and then add walnut until it starts to spill over the side of the Berry's or covers the center wingnut in the Midway, then let them run while I'm at work or in bed. I've run both of them nonstop for weeks on end, only pausing to change the load.

I had some trouble with the Midway when I was using it with a very wet mix of walnut and mineral spirits to clean a very large batch of brass that had been left outside in a range bucket that gradually filled with water. Too much mineral spirits for too long softened the plastic and the lid warped. Eventually I wore through the bowl at the top of the inner column, and the dust got down into the motor and seized it. After cleaning and lubing with turbine oil and a new bowl it is good as new... The second bowl and the cooling fan was destroyed when my dog knocked it on the floor. After finding some parts it's good as new again.
Berry's offers a lifetime warranty as long as you use it dry.

[ANeat]

very impressive setup.

what speed is the rotary run at........most are VERY slow.

but if you put 300 9mm in both...i still say the vibrator will be done first.....

assuming it is loaded correctly ..at least half full of corn cob.......

but then again i do not recognized the yellow tub vibratory...maybe is is no good....

put a pillow block bearing under the far end of the bucket and me thiks it would world longer.



mike in co

It runs about 30 rpm and is an old auger motor off a machining center. Ive been using it about 5 years now
The motor/gearbox was actually made to have a lot more weight than that hanging off of it. We usually have to replace them because the keyway gets wore out.

But yes doing 300 9mm would be a waste of time.

[stephen perry]

What does shiny have to do with cleaning cases. I know a neo-crazy guy that will accept nothing less than cases that look like gold so he tumbles away. Being a BR shooter all that trouble he goes through to fire form cases is gone. While his cases being shiny he has removed the sharp edge that most prefer on a properly fire fomed PPC case shoulder.

I vibrate my PPC cases or any case for that matter for 15 minutes no juice. All I want is clean. Dull is fine.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR :brokenima

[jonk]

Ah, but ultrasonic followed by vibrating will be CLEANEST!

I rarely bother. I clean just enough to get case lube and range dirt off. I don't care if my brass is shiny or charred black.

[mike in co]

It runs about 30 rpm and is an old auger motor off a machining center. Ive been using it about 5 years now
The motor/gearbox was actually made to have a lot more weight than that hanging off of it. We usually have to replace them because the keyway gets wore out.

But yes doing 300 9mm would be a waste of time.

i was trying to compare a given load to a given load. the original question is the same size, vibrate or tumble, which is quickest >

what is the run time for your 5 gal rotary ?

thanks
mike in co

[Just Duke]

I'm opting for a plastic drum cement mixer from Harbor Freight and selling this goofy dillon that's been gone more than home.
Call me sometime it sounds like it's trying to tear it's self apart. Ask Jon_K.
Ask Jack Stanley about cement mixers.

[RP]

I haved used a cement mixer to clean a pile of brass at one time but you need alot of brass to make it worth while. And i have several Vibrating tumblers two are the same brand two others as different brands. The I did have a frankford with the large bowl I did not care for it to picky on brass amounts and media amounts. The two I have that are the same brand one moves the brass around real well the other dont almost half the action going on inside of the bowl. So my two cents is all work and some better than others its a matter of choice.

[Recluse]

Hands down, the vibratory machine will clean the brass faster. But it's also noisier and often times (not always, but often times) will not last as long as a rotary tumbler.

I've had a Thumler's Tumbler AR-12 for over 22 years that has run at least twelve hours a day almost every single day since I've had it. I've replaced a number of belts and one lid, and that's it. No other problems whatsoever.

On the other hand, I've gone through more vibratory tumblers than Elizabeth Taylor has gone through husbands and facelifts.

:coffee:

[Dale53]

I have the large Dillon vibratory tumbler. It will clean 1000 pistol cases at one time. It has an extremely heavy and rugged bowl. After twenty years or more, I had to replace the bolt that holds the lid on - Dillon sent me a new one, free.

I have been a competitive shooter for over fifty years. I shot big bore for several years, so I have experience cleaning in BULK with both rifle and pistol.

I had a Thumbler Model B and the Dillon is MUCH faster. I typically run the Dillon one-two hours on a timer with a full load of brass. They come out looking like new.

In my experience (have several friends who also have Dillon tumblers) the Dillon is "Industrial Grade" while the other tumblers are "Consumer Grade". Just pick one up then the other and you'll see what I mean.

I shot BPCR Silhouette for fifteen years. I used my Dillon during that time with excellent results. At the range, I would de-cap the cases and drop them in a milk jug with water and a couple of squirts of Dawn dishwashing soap and by the time I got home they were mostly cleaned of black powder. I would rinse them carefully, dump them into a colander, shake the excess water off then dump them into the Dillon while still a bit wet. I would tumble a couple of hours.

The Dillon was noisy when I got it. I determined the noise came from the lid vibrating against the bowl. I put one strip of self sticking foam weatherstrip on the lid where it bears against the bowl. Nearly all of the noise is gone and the original strip is still on there after 20 years.

The Dillon is a bit pricy (but not when you figure the capacity) and has a rather large footprint. Those are the only negatives I have found.

FWIW
Dale53

[stiles]

Good vibratory tumblers are faster cause of the force involved, media to part. From memory here is how it breaks down in g-forces:

barrel tumblers, 1g

vibratory tumblers, 4g

centrifugal disk, 9g

centrifugal barrel, 9g

[Topper]

My first case cleaner was a tumbler.
The vibrator cleans brash much faster.
On a side note, an old timer,6 years older than me;-), told me about using car wash soap to clean brass.
Tried it on once fired 45-70 brass and it cleaned them right up.
Dried them in the oven at low temp and they were ready for sizing.