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DIY Brass Tumbler
I was looking at the brass tumblers available and could not bring myself to pay what these companies want.
Any of the really good ones can run anywhere around $1000.00
I clean brass for a few friends so pretty much all the smaller rotary ones in the $250-$500 range did not have the volume capacity I wanted.Did some searching and came across alot of DIY tumblers and the 5 gallon direct drive design seemed to be the best. Here's what I made based on several designs on Youtube.
Direct drive wiper motor tumbler.
– Honda civic wiper motor – used (turns at approximate 50-60rpm) = $20.00
– 1/4″ aluminum plate, including bending = $30.00
– 2 small castor wheels with bearings = $5.00
– 2…5 gallon buckets + gamma lid = $20.00
– Misc bolts & parts = $10.00
– DC to AC power convertor = $20.00
– 5lbs of stainless steel media = $50.00Total build cost = $155.00
The orange bucket threads onto the drive shaft when powered on…the white bucket suction fits into the orange bucket and is fully removable. The white bucket as a bracket riveted inside to lift and turn the brass.
The entire system can clean about 20lbs brass + media without a sweat. The gamma lid makes everything easy to clean and provides a great seal.I'll post some results in the next coming days of a mixed load of 300wsm, 308, 30-06, 223 brass I plan on doing.
Very easy project if you have the time, and it will last forever.
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7 Replies
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Results from the first test…with 5lbs of stainless steel media…Run for 1 hr, then dumped the dirty water and run again for 1hr. Did a very good job handling this many cases, will however need to add more media if batches get bigger to ensure even cleaning especially the primer pockets. With another 5 – 10lbs of media I could easily clean 3000-3500 223rds with no issues, given the volume the first test took up in the drum.
Total Brass for first test:
400 – 223
175 – 308
225 – 30/06
200 – 300wsm -
Nice project dog!
One comment on wet tumbling (which I do after nearly every firing to clean primer pockets) use plenty of media. I use about 15 lbs of ss pins in my Frankfort arsenal tumbler and plan to buy 10 lbs more. More pins = less damage to brass and better cleaning in my opinion. I think lots of the “dulling” of case mouths are a result of cases hitting each other not the pins peening the brass. More media is the way to go. I started with a harbor freight dual drum rock tumbler (which I now use for moly coating) and I never see case damage with that small volume tumbler. I think that is because the cases don't fall far and the volume/pin ratio is low.I will follow this with interest!
-Eric -
Thanks Eric…totally agree with using more media…
I'm going to add some ceramic balls to the stainless steel media and see how that works as a combo.
Supposed to be really good combo from research and videos i've seen.First major test will be this weekend…it a bullet proof design.
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My advice is to loose the ceramic. I have no evidence to support my position. I can only look at the results of the pins and promote the less aggressive media.
All that said I want to see your results!
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No complaints after 1hr turning…this stuff is purdy!
After 1hr..pockets look great, still a little residue in some but overall very good, and the cases are just as clean on the inside. I think 2 hrs will be perfect.The oversize drum (5 gallon bucket) really cycles the cases around the media well so I'm thrilled with the results. Works better than I had hoped.
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lol…not disagreeing with ya, this was only with the steel media…I still need more media, especially with the size / capacity of the bucket drum. May ditch buying any ceramic and just buy another 5lb bag of steel pins like you suggested after seeing these results. I think the size of the drum and the rpm is the perfect balance to move the cases around without being too aggressive.
Only showing whats possible with the current setup. Even with only 5lbs of steel media the system can still clean brass really well so wet tumbling is the way to go. Way cleaner than my sonic can do on its best day.
The Sonic cleaner will be reserved for die cleaning only from now on… -
I'm so terrible at advice, so sorry
Keep things focused
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