new to me cement mixer

A few weeks ago my tumbler finely died after years of faithful service. I was putting off buying a new one because now that im a vendor sponsor I have been going through large amounts of brass and my little lyman would never have been able to keep up.

Yesterday my wife had me pick her up after work so she could go with me to pick up my surprise birthday gift, a large cement mixer of all things. So now for the questions.

I ran it today with some scrap metal in it to clean out what little concrete that was in and was wondering what people have used or would use to coat the inside. I was thinking bedliner paint or even a heavy duty epoxy?

if im thinking what you are thinking, then im thinking you will have a whole bunch of dented brass.

Didn't Jerry Miculek use a cement mixer for cleaning brass?
I think bedliner would be easier on the brass. Second choice would be one of those concrete floor epoxy kits.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5y_dsP3dsM



Knew I had seen it.

just run it as is....i do....my cement mixer is a cobalt with a heavy nylon drum tho.

i'd think that secondary paint will come off with the abraiding of the media on it and you'll be sorting media from paint flecks.

but thats my opinion.

bedliner, and ALOT more media than your used to!

I cleaned over 7,000 lbs of brass in a 9 month period in a steel drum mixer. Toss in a 50 lb sack of corn cob from Drill spot, some nu-finish, and about a cup of mineral spirits. Your brass will be fine. I wouldn't waste my time or money on coating the inside.

My current mixer is a Kobalt w/ a poly drum. But I used to use a steel mixer. Just run it as is. Depending on the media you use you could end up removing any coating over time. Go to Harbor Freight and buy four boxes of fine walnut media and have at it.

ditto-- we did thousands of nasty range brass pick ups like this back in the day, works great,,,advise above is key, lots of media...pull out any blades- seal up any holes well, bedliner stuff OK, will help it not be SO DANG LOUD!!!!

Good score

I left my blades in as I could find no case damage that I could directly relate to the blades being there. I need to clarify the amount of mineral spirits. That is 1 cup at the initial media fill. Toss in media, add nufinish, and 1 cup of mineral spirits. Let run together with no brass for about 30 minutes to evenly incorporate. I changed media every 1,000 lbs of brass through the machine. 2 full 5 gallon buckets of 308 brass per batch. I did exactly one hour, but the brass I was putting in had already been through a stainless tumbler so the media spin was just for adding a polish and case protectant.

When I ran pure dirty brass through the media, I had to change the media every 500 lbs or so.

Maybe the bedliner on the outside would help quiet things down. Or better yet I believe Lizard Skin makes some sound deadening coating you could roll on the outside.

Thanks for the replies. I wasnt sure if running with the steel drum would be an issue or not

Also I do intended to run stainless pins in this tumbler. And im working another large enough to turn a 5 gallon bucket with my corncob media with nufinish mix