Wet Tumbler Agitation Revealed

[mmorris]

I made a modified drum for a 6 pound harbor freight rock tumbler out of 4" PVC pipe. It's nothing special, but I made the end cap of clear plastic so I could see the agitation. I thought you might be interested so I posted a slow-motion video.

No talking, no music, no personality just the facts-
two minutes and 26 seconds.

http://youtu.be/8PsEKti04aI

 

[Walkalong]

Very cool.

 

[mmorris]

Thanks, Walkalong.

I had the idea to put a clear plastic cover on the end to see if my first guess for agitator placement was any good. Seems OK to me so I just quit after my first run

 

[FROGO207]

Crap now I am dizzy. No one realizes that there is a LOT of motion going on inside one of those. Thanks for taking the time to post the video.

 

[Stripesdude]

The FA one has clear ends and you can see a similar thing.

 

[mmorris]

Ah, but I didn't build that one out of parts I already had around the shop

 

[Capybara]

This is so cool, thanks for posting. I always wondered what the agitation looked like, now I know.

 

[satexas]

That was awesome! Thanks for the post!

 

[Conservidave]

the slow motion footage was awesome....!

 

[Bula]

To the OP, now you have to post pics of all that shiny brass!

 

[mmorris]

Here you go.
I only ran these for about 30 min. I'll get them dirty again and see what an hour will do

 

[Jesse Heywood]

Cool. Reminds me of the old front-loader washers at the laundromat.

Now you need to do a rapid quench on the pins so they turn martensitic. Then you can use a magnet to separate the pins from the brass.

 

[GaryL]

I really wanted to avoid going down the path of wet tumbling. I think I can still resist....

 

[OilyPablo]

Gee thanks. Now I need to buy a piece of clear plastic to fashion a new cover for my Rebel.

Wet tumbling is all I like. Having too much shiny brass cannot be a sign of anything unhealthy!

 

[mdi]

Great dialog! I like youtube videos that way. Thanks. I have a similar home made drum but I only run it dry...

 

[Axis II]

you need to do a how to build vid now WITH TALKING! LOL.

 

[Dudedog]

Vid

About how many 9mm cases will fit in one batch in the HF tumbler?

 

[mmorris]

Dudedog,
This unit is new to me, so I don't know about the Harbor Freight drums that are shipped with the unit.
I also don't know much about the capacity of my modified drum, but I loaded 180 45 ACP cases for the video test run. That was not a full load, it was just all I had around that needed cleaning.

My PVC drum weighs 0.6 lb. less than the two original drums, so I'm going to use 6.5 lbs. as the maximum drum charge weight.

My idea of a drumload is:
1.0-1.5 lbs. Stainless Steel Pins
3.5-4.0 lbs. Brass
1.5 lbs. Water - (24 fluid oz.)
(to equal 6.5 lbs. total load)

It's an "idea" until I field test it

I thought I was out of dirty brass, until I remembered the 1000 9mm "once fired" I got from Midway in December 2012. I need to change the case feeder to 9mm to deprime, but I'll get back to you on how it handles 4 lbs of brass (about 500 9mm).
I've run out of lots of things, but I never thought I'd be short on dirty brass

Here's a picture of 500 9mm I dumped into the PVC drum. Looks ok volume-wise if the tumbler can turn it. It is about 2/3 full.
Mike

 

[mmorris]

OK Dudedog, I got the range brass processed and here's some info.

I just ran a batch of 9 mm that was:
-3.0 lbs. of brass (about 375 pieces)
-1 lb. SS Pins
-2 lbs water (aprox. 32 fl.oz.)

To that I added:
-ArmorAll Ultra Shine Wash & Wax - 1/8 teaspoon (LEE 0.7 cc dipper)
-Citric acid - 1/4 teaspoon (LEE 1.3 cc dipper)

I think it might work with 3.5 or even 4 lbs. of brass, but no more.

I ran it 1 hour, and there were still soap suds left.

They came out OK for such a small amount of soap. I might try 1.0 cc next time.

I've discovered another reason to review processes... the slow mo shows a missed primer

In case you want a cheaper alternative to Lemishine, bulk citric acid is about $15 - $18 on amazon.

 

[mmorris]

For anyone curious about the load capacity of the HF tumbler, I made a short (16 seconds) video of the agitation action with exactly 3 lbs of 9mm brass (that's about 375 cases).

I will increase the next load to 4 lbs and see if the movement is impaired.

 

[Dudedog]

I appreciate you taking the time to post the info for all of us.
Thinking about trying wet tumbling but really don't want to spend $300 to get started, but by the same token I don't want to do 50 cases at a time.

 

[mmorris]

... I don't want to do 50 cases at a time.

Dudedog, me too.

I know empirically this rig can clean 375-475 9mm cases. I haven't tested the capacity with 38 Spl or 45 ACP, but I don't shoot so much that I see much limitation for me for the foreseeable future.

I have a hard time justifying the more expensive setups. It's not that I can't afford it, I just know it is not necessary.
I have loaded cases I just wiped off the outside & did nothing for the primer pocket. I don't enjoy that, however.

I was a professional mechanic for 40 years, and I always viewed dirt as the enemy of machined parts.
At 67 and set in my attitudes, I guess I always will. So in the end I do this because shiny cases make me smile inside

P.S.
Maybe you didn't see this thread I started:
Harbor Freight Tumbler PVC Drum 9mm Load Test report
I thought this thread got bumped into oblivion since it didn't show up in the list.
This takes you to the end of that thread (don't know why the end)
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=10237740#post10237740

 

[Handloader109]

Jesse my pins are able to be picked up by a magnet.....

 

[Handloader109]

I avoid the labor in depriming before cleaning. It cleans the outside of the case the same, inside is not perfect, but a lot less time spent. And my press is cleaner without all the burnt powder. Just saying.....

 

[OilyPablo]

I deprime first on my standalone universal depriming press. Pretty easy, stainless steel trash can underneath, music or ball game or radical talk on the radio, surgical gloves and GO. Press is FILTHY when done.

I did 516 rounds of 10mm yesterday and the (Rebel) tumbler could have held more. Two tablespoons of AA W&W, 1/2 teaspoon Lemishine, hot water. 3 hours.

In the separator. Bam.

It all fit in my repurposed food dehydrator. Spotless.