Tumbler

[Craig M. Arnold]

I bought a tumbler that is designed to tumble rocks and such at Harbor Freight today. It was on sale at a price I just couldn't pass up. I was thinking of trying it for some 45acp brass. Anyone ever use this type of tumbler for brass? Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[MNgoldenbear]

Nope, but I know they're sold. IIRC, they may take a little longer than a vibratory tumbler to get the same level of shine, but should be just fine.

 

[birddog]

Before I bought my Lyman virbratory case cleaner, I tried my kids' small rock tumbler and it worked great, but wouldn't hold many cases.

 

[Craig M. Arnold]

Thanks for the replies gentlemen. I think I'll give the rock tumbler a try.

Best regards.

 

[db_tanker]

I had one and it lasted for about 8 months...mind you now...I ran it almost 24 hours a day for that period...so I got my moneys worth out of it.


Did you get the one with the two drums?


D

 

[Craig M. Arnold]

No, just one drum. It was a very cheap one. I just thought that it might be something different from my vibrating tumbler, so I thought that I'd try it out.

Best regards.

 

[djl4570]

I have both Thumlers tumbler and a Thumlers case vibrator. The Tumbler is quiet but takes a lot longer to polish the grunge off spent cases. It does do a very nice job of removing case sizing lube though. The case vibrator cleans and polishes spent cases to a jewellry like finish with an overnight run but the unit is noisy.

 

[Werewolf]

The case vibrator cleans and polishes spent cases to a jewellry like finish with an overnight run but the unit is noisy.

And that's why mine is in the garage...

Aside: I used to just run the vibrator with pecan shell for 3 or 4 hours. Got lazy and forgot once and let it run overnight (about 16 hours). Darned if the brass didn't come out shinier than any uniform brass I ever polished while in the Corps at Texas A&M (and that's freaking shiny). AND the primer flash holes and pockets were clean as a whistle too!

 

[danhei]

We made a cheap tumbler out of an old windshield wiper motor and a large coffee can. Works well. Runs pretty hot on 12 V but I run off 6 V. Get some decent media for it. I tried kitty litter which was innefective and smelled bad (perfume) before getting some walnut + rouge media. I usually run the brass about 1/2 hour and it gets pretty clean.

 

[GunDog44]

I just throw mine in the trunk of the car With the crazy drivers around here, by the time I get to work and back, the brass is nice and clean
(The pecan shells are a mess, so I would'nt recommend this method)