Chicago Electric Polishing Tumbler at Harbor Freight

[italian biker]

Hi all, yesterday I picked up a Chicago Electric tumbler from Harbor Freight. And used Lyman Corncob Green for about two hours. The shells looked better, but not as nice as "factory". It was $60.00 and has a 5lb maximum. This is my first tumbler, and looking at the price of the ones made by Lyman and Hornady, seems like a much better deal if will do as good of a job. Anyone else use a tumbler not made by a reloading mfg?

 

[rcmodel]

It's a rotary rock tumbler?
I used one I made myself for many years.

If so, it has to run a long time in comparison to a vibratory case polisher.
Let it run 8 hours or so and see if that helps.

But in all likelihood, it will not do as fine a high polish as a $45 buck Midway vibrator on brass, because the cases are constantly dinging into each other as they tumble.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=587176&t=11082005


rcmodel

 

[italian biker]

It was the bowl tumbler, not the rotary rock tumbler

 

[Starter52]

I have tried the "green" media and I don't like it. It does not seem to clean nearly as quickly or well as the "brown" media.

 

[rcmodel]

Oh!

Well it should work as well as any other then.
Just let it run longer until you get shiny brass I guess.


rcmodel

 

[RustyFN]

Is it a vibratory or rock type? I bought a Chicago vibratory tumbler from HF for $31 about 1.5 years ago and it works great. I never had much luck with corn so I use walnut. No matter what type of media you use you will want to add some kind of polish. I like to use Nu Finish car polish, it's cheap and works good. I add one cap full every other batch. Add the polish and turn it on and let it run for five minutes before you add the brass. I also add a used dryer sheet cut into 10 or 12 pieces. If I don't have a dryer sheet then I use a paper towel, they work just as good. The dryer sheet will help keep your media clean. The walnut with the Nu Finish will have the brass shiny in 1.5 to 2 hours, not like new but pretty close. I heard corn takes longer than walnut so maybe you need to run it longer. Hope this helps.
Rusty

 

[rcmodel]

+1

The Lyman green corn-cob is pretty mild.

The red rouge charged nut-shell is much more aggressive.

You will have best results with any brand media using red nut-shell to start with, then progressing to the green corn-cob for a final high polish.


rcmodel

 

[italian biker]

It's the vibratory one. If you're saying Lyman green is weak, that sucks because I just bought the 6 pound jug yesterday also. Some of the shells came out Ok, cleaner, but not real bright "factory" , and some looked like they were never in the tumbler. I'm not looking for factory brightness, but I'm looking for clean so that my reloading dies don't get fouled up. I reloaded in the past, and just getting back into it. I had everything accept for a tumbler, so I bought it after reading about how it keeps the dies from getting frigged up or even ruined to beyond useful.

 

[rcmodel]

I didn't mean to say it was weak.

I meant to say it is a much finer & softer polishing media, because it is intended to put a very high polish on brass.
Not get Down & Dirty taking off corrosion and crud like the red nut stuff.


rcmodel

 

[Rustynuts]

You don't want to hear my opinion of HF and Chicago Electric tools. Heard too many horror stories. HF "can" be OK for hand tools, but I would never buy anything electric powered from them. BTW, the Chicago Electric tools are not made in Chicago, but made in China like most other things!

For about the same price I got a Lyman 1200 autoflow. Works great, quiet, and the autoflow sifts the brass automatically. What else do you need? The Lyman doesn't have a 5-gallon bucket, but I doubt I'll ever need to polish that many at once.

 

[italian biker]

it's 5lb, not gallons. That would be huge. Gander MTN had the Lyman 1200 for $99.00. Seemed really steep. I boxed up the harbor freight one, and I'm contemplating on returning due to the advice on here. But I'm also considering trying the red walnut, but I'll have 6lbs of green doing nothing for years.

 

[donttellthewife]

Get your walnut media from a feed store or pet store. I use bird cage liner crushed walnut from Petsmart 25lbs for 15-18 bucks, and Nu finish car polish. 2 to 3 hours is all you need for brass ready to proccess.

All the tumblers I own were made for reloaders, so no advice about different types.

[/IMG]

 

[hsiddall]

THe green is still good, but as rcmodel said it's finer consistency makes it better for polishing brass thats already cleaned. I sometimes use it for ammo that Ive already loaded. However with the red (rouge) media you wont have to. Good lick with a final decision.

PS
Id keep it and use it till you can afford another bigger unit. One tumbler is never enough...

 

[Rustynuts]

The 5-gal was just a joke, that the 1200 wasn't huge like some of the $100+ 220V models. MidwayUSA had them for $82, but OOS now. Cheaper than Dirt has them for $75 ($68 if you're a member). I believe that's where I got mine.

 

[jcwit]

Bought one from Harbor Freight when they first came out with them. The motor bearings burned out on the first one, replacement burned out, replacement burned out, replacement burned out. Got my money back and went to Cabela's and bought their brand for $5.00 more. Have used it 2 or 3 years so far with no problems, plus you can't beat their customer satisfaction, replacement for life.

 

[WNTFW]

My Uncle bought the Harbor Freight. He like it just fine:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93252

They also have a replacement bowl - ? ? ? may be of help to someone
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=94599

I bought the Cabelas made by Berry's

The tumblers I have seen other than for reloading were very expensive - for industrial use - looked alot like the relaoding market tumbler.

 

[FactFinder]

Hum, I guess I got lucky because Cabela's was selling re-labeled Berry Manufacturing Model 400 tumbler for $49.99.
As for the corn media, keep it as shortly you will want to buy another tumbler bowl and cover and do a swap.
That is first run the dirty brass through in the rouge impregnated tufnut (walnut) then use a media separator and put the brass in the second bowl with the corn media for a final polishing.
This will give you really clean (not factory but close) brass to run through your dies.
Oh and when running either set of media, put in a clothes dryer sheet cut into 1 inch squares. It will collect the dirt and dust from the media and make it last longer.

 

[heeeheee]

I am a rock tumbler, beginner, but not just starting out. I would like your opinion on use of vibratory or rotary tumblers - which are the best. I would like economical as well, I have tried Lortone and had the best luck with them, but durability is sometimes an issue.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Griz44]

Another help, If a dryer sheet is not available, use a paper towel but saturate it with mineral spirits. The media will give up it's dust and brass flakes and the inside of the bowl will be slick and nice like new. I bought a 50lb bag of corn cob blast media at Grainger, and a 25lb bag of walnut at Petsmart. Each averages about 50 cents a pound, sure beats the 2 dollar a pound at the sporting goods stores....

 

[Matt Dillon]

Although I like a lot of things at Harbor Freight, the tumbler just didn't work out. I went through three of them last year, before deciding to just return it. They would run for ~ 1 hour, then shut off. I assume the motor was over heating. When I contacted their tech support people, they told me they thought their supplier had worked that problem out, but I guess not. I even bought one of them at a different Harbor Freight store, thinking it must have just been a bad lot, but they all had the same defect. That's my experience with their vibratory tumbler.

 

[evan price]

Midway 1292 on eBay for $26- like new- can't beat it.

 

[SSN Vet]

just let it run another hour of two....you'll be good to go....

many doubt the merits of cleaning brass at all (unless it's range pick up from the dirt).

I tumble in the cheapo Frankiln vibating bowl with spent dryer sheets cut up into little "patches" and either walnut or corncob from agway with a cap full of Nu Finish. Brass comes out plenty shiney.

When I pick up my own rifle brass from the concrete pad at the range, I'm happy to reload it without tumbling. I wipe it down when Trimming and again upon final inspection. Good to go!

imho there's only one 'absolute' rule for tumbling.....don't use coarse corn cob with .22 cal cases of any kind. The corn cob will get stuck in the case and it will take forever to pick it out. That's a mistake you only make once.....

I just used the RCBS rotary media seperator for the first time. Easy, quick and clean.... No more lead dust worries for this kid.

 

[murph50]

I got one of those HF tumblers about 2 years ago on sale for about $30. Mine works great and has had zero problems. Electronic things at HF can be a crap shoot though. Maybe somebody screwed up --because mine works fine

 

[ranger335v]

"Anyone else use a tumbler not made by a reloading mfg?"

I don't think any reloading mfg makes a tumbler. They all get them made by others to the marketers specifications and color! From the way they look to me there must be three providers in the business.

If yours has no power switch, put a simple power cord switch on it.

Cooling is a major problem with many viberator tumblers. I drilled a series of 1/2" holes around the base of mine, on about 1 1/4" centers. It now runs cooler and the second motor has lasted a LOOONG time! If your's does burn out go to an electric supply store and get a cheap repacement motor for a bath ventalation fan and use it, they are pretty much the same things and work quite well in a tumbler. I took my bad motor and the clerk searched until he found one that had mounting holes in the same places. I don't think any reloading tumbler has a ball-bearing motor, just simple bronze bushing type bearings.

The oil in the motors will eventually dry out and keep the shaft from turning, that will burn the motor windings out pretty fast. If you ever hear a change or sense any dragging of the motor when it starts, turn it off and take it apart far enough to allow you to put a few drops of good oil on the bearings, NOT WD-40! That's some good stuff for water displacement but it gums too badly for guns or moving machinery, use Automatic Transmission Fluid instead. ATF is a good light lube and is non-gumming. (Use it as a gun oil too, it's really great stuff!)

There is much too much agonising over choosing cob or nut case cleaning media. Actually, both work and there is little difference between them. Just run the tumbler long enough and you will get good cleaning. I sometimes run mine over night! Both media types are available at low cost from larger pet supply stores. Add a little bit of auto polish to get a better shine if that's what turns you on.

You can soak dark, tarnished brass in a 50:50 mix of vinegar and water for a few hours, at least until the tarnish turns pinkish, and then tumble normally for a normal appearance.