? about Thumler's Tumbler

[josephbw]

I received my tumbler yesterday and so far I've run 2 loads of brass through it, but I'm having a couple of issues. The first issue was that the large pulley was bent and makes the motor shake and wobble. I tried to straighten it, but it wouldn't yield to hand pressure.

What method do you guys use to separate the SS pins from the brass? I've been reaching into the barrel and pulling out the brass, and manually separating pins and brass, but that's a time consuming pain in the butt. :banghead:

One thing I hadn't seen anyone talk about when they extolled the virtues of this machine, was the surface tension adhering the pins to the rubber liner of the drum. If I could defeat this issue it would make things a lot easier.

BTW, it cleans the brass thoroughly, and makes it look like new.

 

[willymc]

When I'm done tumbling I drain the dirty soapy water out through a small wire mesh strainer. I fill the drum with fresh water and let it overflow until the water is clear. Leaving the drum 1/2 full of water, I pull out the brass and tap it on the inside of the drum to remove the pins. I pour the pins and water into the small mesh strainer. Add water to the drum and drain again. Repeat. The last few pins can be removed with a magnet inside a ziploc bag.

 

[Win1892]

I use the Berrys style media separator with water running constantly. This runs the brass under water, washing the pins out of the cases. The brass stays in the rotary basket and the pins drop into the bucket.

Dump out the water and put the pins back in the tumbler.

 

[FROGO207]

I would contact where you purchased the tumbler or the factory and see if they will ship you a replacement part to stop the movement. They should make it right.
I do pretty much what willymc does with my brass but add an extra rinse cycle to the brass with HOT water after removing it and then spin it in my media separator afterwards to remove as much water as possible before drying.

 

[Canuck-IL]

I rinse in the drum a few times while carefully pouring most of the dirty water out - flat fridge magnets around the drain catch the odd pin that escapes.

I then dump the pins and brass into a spinner separator that's sitting in one of those tall, cheap plastic storage bins - spinning in there catches the pins that bounce out of the separator's bucket...pick those up with a fridge magnet.

I dump the brass into a bucket and rinse 2-3 times with really hot water while agitating it with my hand, drain and toss the brass onto a drying screen - there're usually 2-3 pins in the bottom of the rinse bucket. Also, always check for jammed pins in the flash hole -usually a least 2-3 cases with a pair of pins stuck in there.

/Bryan

 

[silicosys4]

I put a bucket in the sink with a colander over the bucket. I slowly drain the tumbler into the colander, brass...media...and all, making sure it doesn't fall in too hard and make the media bounce around and out of the colander...

Then I rinse the brass, working it with my hands, "tumbling" it in the colander, with the colander still over the bucket. This causes the media to fall out of the cases and through the colander, into the water filled bucket. I turn off the water and keep turning the brass over in the colander by hand, so the water runs out of the cases and any residual steel pins fall through as well. I shake the colander over the bucket a few times, and then spread the cases on a towel to dry. By the time they are on the towel, I've yet to find a steel pin still in a case. It only takes about 5 minutes, much quicker than shaking each case by hand.

 

[Fired]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-6SOiWE8Hc

Fyi, I've seen this done with just dish soap with same results. Lemi shine not needed.

 

[FROGO207]

Yes dish soap alone works BUT Lemmi Shine is LOTS faster. I also tried using the Dawn (degreases best) to lube sized cases and that works well for me now.

 

[noylj]

I wouldn't see pins sticking to the drum as a problem, unless I was using the tumbler for something else. Once the drum dries out, the pins will fall on their own.