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Tumblers

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Maj Dad

Maj Dad

Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
1,675
Location
Carolina Low Country
I am getting tired of having to buy a new vibratory tumbler every 2-3 years. Midway x 3, Dillon now trending downward, and the new CV750 is $130 or so. Some years back somebody came up with a rotating tumbler that was a plastic bucket (the ubiquitous white bucket, I think) and was simply lying sideways at about a 45 deg angle on a couple of turning rollers (like old wringer washer rollers). The top could be open or closed, and the media wet or dry, and it held a LOT of brass. Not being a vibrating motor, it lasted much longer, and could be easily swapped out. Anyone recall this, or even better, have plans? I know what it looks like & could make one through trial & error, but I stopped re-inventing wheels when I retired from the AF... ;)
 
Probably the RCBS Sidewinder. Thumber also makes them, but the barrel is pretty small. My Thumber has been going strong for 10+ years.
 
I have a really small Lortone Tumbler I used for years, and it is still going. I got it used & it must be at least 40 years old. THAT is a motor. I'm looking for a big boy that can be fabricated at home/shop. I have read of folks making them in years past and was curious if anyone is currently using one or knows how they were put together. $514 for an RCBS Sidewinder is a little excessive!
 
The little experience I have had with the rotary type tumblers is they are SLOW to clean the brass, but a hell of a lot less noisey. I have stuck with the vibratory type myself and been lucky in not having any die on me. I had a Vibra Prime as my first and had an issue with the motor stating to lock up on me after many yaers of use. I took it apart and it was an alignment issue with one of the motor bearings that was easy to fix. I'm running a couple of the large Dillon units now and they work reqaaly well and hold a LOT of brass, but I have heard of guys having them die on them too, so they aren't immune to failure.
 
THIS holds a ton of brass and probably would last a while too. Met one reloader that used one to tumble hundreds of .50BMG brass at a time.

Justin
 
The used Lyman 1200 I traded for lasted over 20 years. When it finally died I bought a Berrys and another Lyman. I have had to fix the Berrys. The front bearing was a poor fit in the housing and started wearing the housing badly. I think I caught it in time so that it should last some time now. It is a good design with ball bearings and not sleeve bearings.

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I've seen a couple of guys here and on other forums that made their own with a 5 gallon bucket and small motor. I don't know of anyone that makes one commercially.
 
The only thing is with Harbor Freight, just about everything they sell is made in China. I have had nothing but bad experiences with Chinese goods to the point where I refuse to buy any.
 
Been tumbling cases in a Lyman Turbo 1200 for the last 22 years. Every once in a great while I have to tighten a few screws, but that's all...
 
My Dillon is at least 25 years old if not more.

Only thing I have had to do to it is replace the in-line switch I stepped on and broke in a million pieces last fall.

Maybe they made them better back then?

rc
 
I got my CV-500 3 or 4 years ago after the 3rd Midway motor died. I don't use it daily, sometimes not even monthly, so it doesn't get rode hard. Maybe I should use it daily. Stuff that runs constantly seems to do better than intermittent use, but I just get aggravated, not that the motors crap out, but that they will not sell you a replacement motor, and I haven't been able to find the exact part number looking for replacements. That's my impetus for looking for something remarkably similar to the one Justin & rc linked at Harbor Freight. And for the money, it's about the same price; actually less than the CV-1200 at $180. I would be willing to bet the cement mixer would crap out too, since I am sure it's not designed for heavy use. I may just wing this one, at least until the 500 dies (it's wheezing now). :cuss:
 
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I purchased a 60 rpm 1/10 hp gearhead motor from a local industrial parts warehouse for about $50. This with some leftover plywood and about $25 worth of chair casters from True Value (and 5 gallon buckets) and a couple of nights, I built a real nice range brass sorter. Just cut the right size slots in the sides of the bucket with a variable width table saw blade. It was sorting major classes of calibers of about 100 lbs per week after work. When the range brass source dried up and having well over 20 gallons of each of the 5-6 calibers I was shooting (and I was splitting this stuff with my contact at the range), I dumped the slotted buckets and used an intact bucket to polish the stuff. I still used the 22 slotted bucket to separate the tumbling media from the brass. Now I don't need to pickup my brass but I still do and just throw it back into new buckets. Last year I sold the old tumbler for $200 to a guy to polish rocks.

I built it like you stated where the bucket would sit at an angle (approx 15 degrees from horizontal for the sorter) with tops on the buckets where the brass would keep mostly on the buckets sides where the slots were cut. I'd start with about 4 gals of fresh stuff and seive progressively larger pieces by switching buckets to larger slot sizes. I then cut the legs on my contraption to get around 40 degrees to allow the brass to tumble without having to put a top on the bucket. For either of the tasks, I think the machine would easily outlast my lifetime.

I always felt that I'd have time to maybe melt down the few hundreds of lbs of 22 brass and the aluminum stuff to possibly mold my own brass and aluminum chess pieces, but not yet.
 
"The only thing is with Harbor Freight, just about everything they sell is made in China. I have had nothing but bad experiences with Chinese goods to the point where I refuse to buy any."

That's kinda hard to do today. Do you have a computer, printer, modem, cell phone or cordless phone, TV, any new hand or electric or pneumatic tools, a digital scale/powder dumpster, a newer RCBS press/dies, etc.? Check the "Made in..." tag, you may be disappointed.

Tumblers all use inexpensive electric exhaust fan motors for baths and stove hoods. When the bearing dry they seize the shafts but a few drops of oil fixes that. If they stay on without turning for too long they will burn the windings but the whole motor can be replaced for maybe $15. Viberation can work mounting and frame screws loose or break electrical connections, both are quite easy to fix. I often wonder how many vib tumblers are tossed for new ones when they are so easily repaired.

My original Lyman 1200 is almost 30 years old now. Don't think it's unique, I've reconnected broken wires two or three times, oiled it several times, replaced the motor once and it's still going! If it stops again tomorrow, I'll have it repaired day after tomorrow.
 
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Do a SEARCH. There was a guy who built a lay-down version with a bucket on here maybe 6-7 months ago. He had photos and all the details.
 
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Thanks Qajaq59. I searched last night and didn't get that one. Found pixs of two others, but nothing that helped in making one.

Justin
 
As I recall from talking to him he was driving one of the rollers with the motor and the other one was running free just to hold the cans. But it looks like he had some old rollers from a platent printing press. Or maybe a wringer washing machine? But you'd need rollers that had bearings for that to work.
If you want to try one....
I simply took as large a diameter PVC pipe I could find, plus 2 caps. Then I drilled the center of the caps and put a 3/8 bolt sticking out. The bolts run in a notched piece of flat stock at each side and the driving belt goes around the pipe and the motor shaft. I didn't even bother using a pulley. You can cut the pipe for whatever length you want and glue one cap on. Longer pipe, more cases obviously. Any old slower motor willl work to drive it. I never did buy a regular one because that dumb thing has been working for 20 years or more.
 
Dillon's No BS Comes Through Again

In the depths of despair, listening to my Dillon CV-500 tumbler's rpms wax and wane continuously, I called Dillon and lamented that, though only 3-4 years old and used intermittently, it was having agonal respirations. The ever-helpful, polite and knowledgeable guy on the other end talked about options, to include returning it & them installing the new motor (for the new CV-750/CV-1200, ball bearings and bullet proof) for $99.95. I said how about you send me the motor and I install it? He put me on hold for 60-90 seconds, came back & said we'll do a price override & send it to you for $39.95 plus shipping. I repressed the urge to give him an electronic kiss and gave him the CC # instead. I hope this one will do better for longer...

I have never regretted buying anything from Dillon. Everything they sell is quality, and their warranty is lifetime (except electric motors, and I know & accept that). Otherwise, you have a problem, they fix it. I am reinforced and once again solidly a member of the Blue Team... :cool:

Thanks Mike!

(Still planning on that 5 gal bucket tumbler, though; it's a challenge now)
 
My thumler's Tumbler is over 25 years old - had one motor burn up in the first year - replaced for free under warranty - no issues since

maybe you're overloading your tumbler??
 
Not overloaded - it's hard to overload a vibratory tumbler - just bad luck. My Lortone tumbler, acquired second hand in a yard sale 30 years ago, is still running. I wonder if the off-set vibrating sends motors to the early grave? The weights are attached directly to the motor shaft, and it would seem to me that damage would be done to the bearings by that constant thrusting. But whatever, I understand that motors burn out, regardless of where they are used, and I am just happy that Dillon is making it possible for me to repair/replace the motor without having to buy a whole new tumbler. Midway didn't, and though I am a big fan and customer of many years (and will continue to be), I will deal with Dillon when they have what I am looking for. Caveat emptor, and all that... :D
 
MJ congrats on the Dillon help. Shoot, if the $39 motor was always an option big blue would be my next tumbler! But your the first I've heard of them allowing this option. Thus cannot make an assumption that big for my case. :(

Justin
 
I wonder if the off-set vibrating sends motors to the early grave? The weights are attached directly to the motor shaft, and it would seem to me that damage would be done to the bearings by that constant thrusting.
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I'd say that would be a safe assumption.
 
"..getting tired of having to buy a new vibratory tumbler every 2-3 years. "

Maj, Why/how do they fail so often? I ask because it's been really easy to keep my 25+ year old Lyman 1200 running, and a few others I've repaired too. They tend to fail, for me anyway, due to 1) broken wires on the motor or power plug, 2) motor shaft seizing due to dried oil and 3) burned motor windings due to not discovering the shaft was seized until after it's overheated and burned out.

1) splice or replace broken wiring.
2) oil the bearings with a light, non-guming oil (NOT WD-40!)
3) those motors are the same ones used in bath/kitchen exhaust fans, new for about $12

Avoiding Chinese made things is harder to do than some may realize. Bought any computer, modem, printer, TV, radiio, cell phone, camera, electric power tools, hand tools, home decorations, table ware, fishing gear or lures, hunting gear or gadgets, reloading tools (RCBS) or digital scales, etc., in the last few years? Check the "made in..." label!
 
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