I have been tumbling with walnut shells and corn cob for 30 years now. My 10 year old Dillon large tumbler just died on me. The replacement motor is over $100... which doesn't seem worth it. I am contemplating my options.
Buy a new tumbler... I am thinking of the large 18 lb capacity HF wet/dry vibratory tumbler. The specs says it is 18" tall... and only 10" diameter... which really doesn't sound that big. My Dillon must be around 20" in diameter.
Give up on dry tumbling and look at going for a wet option. I have a good ultrasonic cleaner that I use for other things which does a good enough job for me on cases. My hesitation with any sort of wet case cleaning is all the extra work. I read you have to deprime the brass BEFORE you clean so the primers don't corrode while the brass is in storage waiting to be used. Then the brass has to be dried. So pretty much double the work of dumping out of the dry tumbler into the separator and then start loading.
My only real complaint about dry tumbling is the dust. I just take my Dillon separator outside and let the breeze take care of the dust.
The Dillion large tumbler is just about the perfect size. I can do loads of brass but the tumbler is just small enough that I can man handle it easily. Anything bigger for a tumbler any I would want the bowl to separate from the motor so it would be easier to handle.
If I replace the motor on the Dillon I would want to add a timer... something it should have had in the first place. I was thinking of something like this:
or this:
I still have my old Midway small tumbler... but it takes longer to tumble a batch and I can only tumble about 1/3 the number of cases at one time.
Buy a new tumbler... I am thinking of the large 18 lb capacity HF wet/dry vibratory tumbler. The specs says it is 18" tall... and only 10" diameter... which really doesn't sound that big. My Dillon must be around 20" in diameter.
Give up on dry tumbling and look at going for a wet option. I have a good ultrasonic cleaner that I use for other things which does a good enough job for me on cases. My hesitation with any sort of wet case cleaning is all the extra work. I read you have to deprime the brass BEFORE you clean so the primers don't corrode while the brass is in storage waiting to be used. Then the brass has to be dried. So pretty much double the work of dumping out of the dry tumbler into the separator and then start loading.
My only real complaint about dry tumbling is the dust. I just take my Dillon separator outside and let the breeze take care of the dust.
The Dillion large tumbler is just about the perfect size. I can do loads of brass but the tumbler is just small enough that I can man handle it easily. Anything bigger for a tumbler any I would want the bowl to separate from the motor so it would be easier to handle.
If I replace the motor on the Dillon I would want to add a timer... something it should have had in the first place. I was thinking of something like this:
or this:
I still have my old Midway small tumbler... but it takes longer to tumble a batch and I can only tumble about 1/3 the number of cases at one time.
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