Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Cement Mixer brass tumbler

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Cement Mixer brass tumbler

    Tomorrow I think I'm going to pick up a Harbor Freight cement mixer to tumble brass. I'm getting a little sick of using 3 vibratory tumblers constantly. My only concern is how loud this thing is gonna be. Anyone ever used one?

    My other option is to weld up my own which is belt driven to be quieter.
    Last edited by CJ; 10-22-2011, 11:58 PM.
    "When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic." -Benjamin Franklin
    "A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury." -Alexander Fraser Tytler

  • #2
    Before you know it dude, we WILL be running three-phase power to your house.
    ZOMBIE REAGAN FOR PRESIDENT 2016!!! heh

    Comment


    • #3
      How come I can picture you with a gas powered trailer mounted cement mixer in the driveway shoveling brass into the hopper?
      Fuck you. We're going to Costco.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by kbscobravert View Post
        How come I can picture you with a gas powered trailer mounted cement mixer in the driveway shoveling brass into the hopper?
        Diesel genset, all the way. He'll probably scrounge it on Craigslist for $37 and have a Taurus with a blown head gasket thrown in after offering an order of wings and a six-pack.
        ZOMBIE REAGAN FOR PRESIDENT 2016!!! heh

        Comment


        • #5
          we had one at the shop couple things

          1) don't put in the mixing fins they ding the crap out of the brass

          2) if you can sandblast the inside of the drum and take all the paint off will keep it from flaking off onto the brass and be a little less messy

          3) you will need a lot of media and a lot of brass polish


          we were tumbling 1500 rds of 308 at a time without the fins it was loud but put it outside and it's not so bad

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by bulldog896 View Post
            we had one at the shop couple things

            1) don't put in the mixing fins they ding the crap out of the brass

            2) if you can sandblast the inside of the drum and take all the paint off will keep it from flaking off onto the brass and be a little less messy

            3) you will need a lot of media and a lot of brass polish


            we were tumbling 1500 rds of 308 at a time without the fins it was loud but put it outside and it's not so bad
            Ah great, thanks Steve that's good advice. I bet it dusts up a storm too without a cap on it.
            "When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic." -Benjamin Franklin
            "A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury." -Alexander Fraser Tytler

            Comment


            • #7
              I don't think obsessed even begins to cover your issue with reloading lol

              Comment


              • #8

                Go big or stay home!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by JP135 View Post

                  Go big or stay home!
                  hahahah just pull up to the range in that thing filled with walnut

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by 5.0_CJ View Post
                    Ah great, thanks Steve that's good advice. I bet it dusts up a storm too without a cap on it.
                    thats an understatement tho we found that if you use a full box of media with a full bottle of polish it's not too bad

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by 5.0_CJ View Post
                      Ah great, thanks Steve that's good advice. I bet it dusts up a storm too without a cap on it.
                      Take a piece of plastic and piece of nylon strapping and make a lid
                      first class white trash

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by forbes View Post
                        Take a piece of plastic and piece of nylon strapping and make a lid
                        I think I might just switch to a wet media. I've sent an e-mail off to an industrial supplier of stainless needle bearings. I asked them what they would charge me for 30lbs of needle bearings.
                        "When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic." -Benjamin Franklin
                        "A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury." -Alexander Fraser Tytler

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Or, possibly ceramic media. I also want to tumble gun parts.
                          Last edited by CJ; 10-23-2011, 06:13 PM.
                          "When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic." -Benjamin Franklin
                          "A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury." -Alexander Fraser Tytler

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            I went and visited the cement mixer 2 times at harbor freight giving it a good look and trying to decide if it's what I'm looking for. At the last minute to switched over and bought the giant 18lb vibratory tumbler for a number of reasons. Vibratory tumblers are a lot faster at cleaning brass, no doubt about it. I already have a couple Thumler's Tumblers and they are slow as hell, and quite a pain in the ass to keep running. I didn't want to deal with a really loud cement mixer (and boy they are loud) and I didn't want to deal with the paint problem Steve mentioned.

                            So, I went against my own recommendation and bought another HF tumbler. My last 5lb one didn't even last a year, the sleeve bearings crapped out, and I ended up screwing the bowl to the stage. However, it appears this tumbler is much better made (it better be for the $199.99 msrp) and I've read about 10 reviews saying it's good for daily use for years. It was on special sale for $149.99 and with 20% off coupon good until the EOM I got it for just $119.99. I bought a 2 year warranty and plan on beating the living shit out of it in those 2 years.

                            The best part is it's a wet tumbler. I think I'm going to give the stainless steel media a shot with this big ass tumbler and see how it does. I've read a lot of info, and everyone says not to use a vibratory tumbler. However, I can tell they are all just repeating what they've heard, I can't find anyone that's ever tried it, so I'm pretty sure they are full of shit. I will report back how it does. If the stainless steel media doesn't work out for me, I will switch to wet ceramic.

                            Right now I've got my 100lbs of walnut media and brass churning. It does about 2,000 9mm cases at a time, or 1,500 .45 ACP. I can mirror finish brass in about 4 hours. Much quicker than before.
                            Last edited by CJ; 10-30-2011, 01:20 PM.
                            "When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic." -Benjamin Franklin
                            "A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury." -Alexander Fraser Tytler

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              If this fails and you go back to rigging something unconventional up, consider an industrial concrete vibrator as your motor. Just a thought. I've seen where they wrecked 1" plywood forms from overuse in a pour.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X