Hey all,
I'm new here, so outside of my introductory post, figured I'd offer up a recent solution to a problem(well, an adjustment of sorts) I had. Nothing new or revolutionary, but I'm kind of a sucker for "overbuilding ****"
Some months back, I picked up a Frankford Arsenal tumbler, aka "The FART". Truth be told, being a new person to reloading(on my own, have done it with friends in the past), I've been getting brass prepped the past few weeks in the off time during the evenings. A single stage Rockchucker is slow going for 2000-3000 9mm casings, and other mixed sizes including some rifle. But I've pretty much got to the end, and now I want to add a LEE APP for decapping duty going forward...
Anyhow, having given the vibratory tumblers a go first, I was frustrated at the dust, plus the ever present issue with the brass not being nice and shiny! Not that it matters, but I guess some OCD kinda kicked in.
So I picked up the FART from my local reloading supplier, Phillips Wholesale. Nice shop, if you're in the LA area. He had one on the shelf, so I figured why not!
Then I found a rock tumbler on the online classifieds. Industrial duty type one. C&M Topline. Double roller, HEAVY DUTY! For practically the same $200 the FART cost me, I got the rock tumbler, two barrels and a wide assortment of ceramic media from the guy selling it. See photos below.
But while the drums worked great with the ceramic media, deburring some metal parts as a test, with wet brass and stainless media, plus some Dawn and a splash of vinegar, the drums were too slick! Not enough 'churn'. Brass was definitely cleaner, but I knew I had tot modify them to get some more tumbling action.
So, I added some internal paddles, to encourage brass and media being properly agitated. Cut down from an old plastic cutting board, and secured with stainless screws through the barrel wall into the paddles, they're proving to be the perfect solution I needed!
The tumbler is physically larger than the FART by quite a bit, but I have it on the lower shelf of a cart I have here in my shop space. It's also very quiet compared to the FART when running. Not a whisper, but more of a gentle hum.
With two of the internal paddles added, brass after a 2hr cycle is gorgeous! 30-40 rotations in the Frankford media separator, with 3-4" of fresh water in the separator basin, and a tumble inside a dry towel to sponge off most of the residual water, they look terrific!
The small s/s pins are kind of a pain, not as in getting stuck, but simply because they're so small! I do the media separation with 4" or so of water inside the basin, so fresh water is rinsing out the brass. Then a final rinse with the hose prior to drying with the towel.
Now my FART sits unused, the drum still dry from never having been given a chance to prove itself, but the versatility of the larger drums(plus having two drums vs just one) inclines me to consider moving the FART to a new home.
Anyone locally looking for one, unused? I've ordered up some more s/s media as I used the stuff included with the FART package.
cheers,
Dan