A Question About Tumbling I Have Not Seen Addressed Before...

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hdwhit

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I use a rotary tumbler built from parts salvaged from a Texas Instruments dot matrix printer. Having no prior experience with rotary tumblers, I just threw 50 or 100 brass cases into the large glass jar I was using as a tumbling drum, filled it about half-way with media, put the lid on it and set it to work. Because it was noisy, I would usually start tumbling before I went to bed and then stop it the next morning. The results were always quite satisfactory, so I never had any reason to question whether what I was going was "right".

But then, a post on another thread started me wondering if I should have stopped to take the time to evaluate what I've been doing. My questions are:
  1. How full should the drum be? Half-way? Completely full? Is there a preferred ratio for brass to media?
  2. Should the drum have internal baffles to help stir up the brass and media?
  3. Is there an optimal tumbling speed? If so, what is it?

Thanks.
 
Look at what manufacturers are doing.
I have a fart not shure of rpm never measured will try tonight.
It has flat sides in middle of drum.
It uses 5 lb stainless media I fill almost full of water and amount of cases doesn't seem to matter on finished product.
I Run 3 hours on timer.
 
A GLASS jar tumbler? Sounds very Rube Goldberg to me.:)

In a vibrating tumbler 3/4 full with media is about right I believe but with yours I do not know.

bcdf2a259f903b21036ecd838a77dc29--stem-projects-science-projects.jpg
 
Rule3 wrote:
A GLASS jar tumbler? Sounds very Rube Goldberg to me
Click to expand...

It took the glass jar to evoke images of Rube Goldberg, but the whole idea of building a case tumbler out of a 1980's vintage dot matrix printer didn't?

Besides, what's wrong with a glass jar?

A glass jar is easily sealed, transparent and durable. The brass did not break or nick it. It's only down-sides were:
  1. Weight. The printer drive mechanism could only turn a load of about five pounds and the glass jar was about a pound of that. Since I tumbled my brass in the same batches as I reload, usually 50 or 100, that generally wasn't a problem, but it did limit my ability to do larger quantities.
  2. Noise. The brass striking the surface of the glass jar generated more noise than a plastic container. This was not a big deal as the tumbler lives in the garage and was generally run at night so noise wasn't a big problem, but it was not pleasant to be in the room with it when it was running.
 
Englishmn wrote:
Look at what manufacturers are doing.
Click to expand...

So-called "competitive research" is kind of hard to do since the on-line documentation of these products is rather skimpy. See, for example, the RCBS Sidewinder's documentation: http://rcbs.com/RCBS/media/RCBSMedi...sh (EN)/SidewinderCaseTumblerInstructions.pdf (which does not mention rotational speed and for the amount of dry media says experience will be the guide). As far as doing a physical inspection of the unit, everywhere I've been that was selling them had them in a sealed box and there was no display model to inspect.
 
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I do not believe there is a ratio of media to cases. The basic rule of thumb is Fill 3/4 drum with cases . media enough to cover. Remember cases take a lot of Room. shake the drum to let the media fill the insides of cases. then fill the drum to Cover. . Cases and media need room to move in the drum. do not fill to top.
Tumbler overnight
 
hdwhit said:
So-called "competitive research" is kind of hard to do since the on-line documentation of these products is rather skimpy. See, for example, the RCBS Sidewinder's documentation: http://rcbs.com/RCBS/media/RCBSMedia/PDFs/Instructions/English (EN)/SidewinderCaseTumblerInstructions.pdf (which does not mention rotational speed and for the amount of dry media says experience will be the guide). As far as doing a physical inspection of the unit, everywhere I've been that was selling them had them in a sealed box and there was no display model to inspect.
Click to expand...
The question Of the RCBS Sidewinder . The RCBS tumbler is in a Unique style of Rotary tumblers. It is Called In the Rock Tumbling Circles as " Oblique". The angled drum . keeps the material close to the bottom and used a small amount os media. keeping the cases @ the bottom. The media Gently rolls On top Of the cases giving it a faster polish time. some Oblique tumble have a 3 way action, Rotate, Bounces, shakes. These are Silk Machines, Barannica, and Vikings. Enclosed a Photo of My 50LB silk machine slik40 - 1.jpg
 
hdwhit said:
It took the glass jar to evoke images of Rube Goldberg, but the whole idea of building a case tumbler out of a 1980's vintage dot matrix printer didn't?

Besides, what's wrong with a glass jar?

A glass jar is easily sealed, transparent and durable. The brass did not break or nick it. It's only down-sides were:
  1. Weight. The printer drive mechanism could only turn a load of about five pounds and the glass jar was about a pound of that. Since I tumbled my brass in the same batches as I reload, usually 50 or 100, that generally wasn't a problem, but it did limit my ability to do larger quantities.
  2. Noise. The brass striking the surface of the glass jar generated more noise than a plastic container. This was not a big deal as the tumbler lives in the garage and was generally run at night so noise wasn't a big problem, but it was not pleasant to be in the room with it when it was running.
Click to expand...

No, the Rube was the whole concept/design.:)

Glass just seems not "right" ,very limited capacity and noisy as you say, probably a reason most are plastic or metal.

How about a paint can or a 12 lb drywall mud plastic container if you want a small version.

https://www.amazon.com/10102-Wallboard-Joint-Compound-12-Pound/dp/B001003W8Q
 
I always liked those who implemented a harbor freight cement mixer. Large quantities are no problem!

Russellc
 
I have a similar contraption that I built and I found this to work for me as well:

salpal48 said:
I do not believe there is a ratio of media to cases. The basic rule of thumb is Fill 3/4 drum with cases . media enough to cover. Remember cases take a lot of Room. shake the drum to let the media fill the insides of cases. then fill the drum to Cover. . Cases and media need room to move in the drum. do not fill to top.
Tumbler overnight
Click to expand...

I use different size plastic containers for different size loads so the rpm varies with the size of the "drum". Probably around 40 rpm on the mid-sized drum. Also, I have not tried the wet/stainless pins procedure. Just walnut shells so far. No paddles in the drum either, but I thought about it and the wet procedure.
 
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Rule3 wrote:
Glass just seems not "right" ,very limited capacity...
Click to expand...

I now use plastic coffee cans (either nominal 1 pound or nominal 2.5 pound) which are approximately one and three quart capacities, respectively. Straight sided glass jars, like those used for pickles, are readily available in capacities of a gallon. The biggest problem I experienced with glass was that it is heavy and the drive mechanism taken from the printer was not designed for moving a lot of weight, so I could either spend the weight it could turn on container or media+brass and that drove the selection of the coffee can. Also, the coffee can has hand grips molded into the side which create baffles on the inside to ensure the agitation of the media.
 
I've spent the last few days in an area where even Verizon couldn't hear me, so I wanted to thank everyone who reported on the rotational speed of their tumbler. It was very helpful.
 
With a glass jar ("drum") the media/brass will prolly just slide to the bottom side of the drum with out mixing or tumbling, way too slick/smooth ID. The drum needs to have some friction or "agitators" to give the media/brass a tumbling motion...
 
[QU"mdi, post: 10628792, member: 58464"]I wouldn't use agitators so large, mebbe 1/2 or 1/4 the size of those...[/QUOTE]

I don't think so, the idea is to scoop as much as possible and take it to the top and dump it down the center.
 
"...what's wrong with a glass jar..." They break. Plastic coffee cans do not. Neither do the fairly large plastic pails I've see rolling cases around.
All the answers to your questions are the same. It depends. On the weight, mostly, but also the size of the plastic bin. Shouldn't need any baffles(called an agitator in a washing machine.) Don't think you'll get much in the way of RPM's with a printer, even if it's a BNIB bubble jet. That's what matters. Don't think it'd need to be high anyway. Experiment.
"...My fart turns 90 RPM..." Mine have velocity, but no RPM. snicker.
 
Col. Harrumph wrote:
I can think of better things to do with a glass tumbler.... ;)
Click to expand...

Well, the Waterford and Rosenthal glass tumblers have a rather good blended Scotch in them, so the brass polishing duties fell to the Best Maid pickle jars.
 
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