vibratory tumbler improvement

[Ritchie]

I noticed that my new Frankford Arsenal tumbler moves the media pretty slowly. It has a small radius where the center rod goes through the bowl. I took an extra plastic funnel and threaded it down the center rod to the bottom of the bowl. Now the same charge of media and brass is running at least twice as fast a circulation. I'm running walnut media at the moment, but rice makes a decent media as long as the primers are still in place, just add a dose of polishing compound. P.S. don't eat the used rice.

 

[CMB]

Interesting but kinda hard to visualize. So the funnel acts as a venturi of sorts.... Can you post a picture?

 

[Trent]

The speed with which the tumbler moves depends on how hard you crank down on the tightening of it.

I have a few tumblers and the tension you set on the rubber grommet nut things (not sure what the heck to call them) will specifically decide the speed at which it runs. You shouldn't have to alter the tumbler at all.

I was reloading for about oh, 10, 12 years before I realized that.

 

[Trent]

Also I learned a while on that you can put your brass in, turn it on (noisy as hell), then fill the media through the slotted lid until it's full. You get more in this way. Previously I'd put the brass in after turning it on, but you can really just pile the brass in, turn it on (earplugs might be good to have handy) and then pour media in through the slots on the lid until it's full. This will fill the volume more effectively.

Of course, always have it sitting on something to collect loose media, and do in a well ventilated space. Several of the competitive shooters at my range came down with lead poisoning and had to go through heavy metals treatment (chelation) - pretty much all of the reloaders who had tumblers indoors, in fact. Those who tumbled outside or in a better ventilated open garage, didn't test as high.

Wear a mask (N95) when handlng used media, wash hands before eating / smoking, etc.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

P.S. don't eat the used rice.

 

[doubleh]

I have a really old Cabela's tumbler. It looks like it's probably a rebranded Frankford and the price also made me think that. The best modification I can think of for it is an extension cord about 400' feet long to get it out in the pasture where I don't have to listen to the thing run.

 

[Trent]

I have a really old Cabela's tumbler. It looks like it's probably a rebranded Frankford and the price also made me think that. The best modification I can think of for it is an extension cord about 400' feet long to get it out in the pasture where I don't have to listen to the thing run.

If you do the fill trick I talked about above they are pretty much silent! Once the full volume of the tumbler is full of media the things quiet down to a whisper. Trick is to secure the lid and pour media through the slots (I use corn cob because it's ubiquitous here, and dirt cheap, in farm country. I can get media for $3 for a 50lb bag from a local silo)

When I had my FFL and did the gun show thing, we made a pretty healthy profit off media from city slickers. Never did tell them we basically paid the price of the bag for it. We could spend $50 and get 1 ton of media, to resell at $20 a gallon jug or whatever.

(It's so cheap here, some guys use corn cob fired furnaces to heat their outbuildings or homes)

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

If you do the fill trick I talked about above they are pretty much silent! Once the full volume of the tumbler is full of media the things quiet down to a whisper. Trick is to secure the lid and pour media through the slots (I use corn cob because it's ubiquitous here, and dirt cheap, in farm country. I can get media for $3 for a 50lb bag from a local silo)

When I had my FFL and did the gun show thing, we made a pretty healthy profit off media from city slickers. Never did tell them we basically paid the price of the bag for it. We could spend $50 and get 1 ton of media, to resell at $20 a gallon jug or whatever.

(It's so cheap here, some guys use corn cob fired furnaces to heat their outbuildings or homes)

I must've either got lucky or tightened everything just right on accident because my Frankford tumbler - $29 blue light special from Midway - is real quiet if I remember to tighten the lid down good and doesn't dust up my store room when I run it at all. I use corn for really dirty stuff - yup, same thing they mix into pig feed, $5 for a 30 pound bag, not quite as cheap as ya'll have up in Korn Kuntry but it's plenty cheap enough for me and lasts a long time - and crushed walnut powder - the kind furniture makers use to fill cracks - for polish. I clean the corn with Hoppe's No.9 and MEK every few weeks - about after every sixth or seventh batch of brass - to keep it clean. The walnut I clean a little less often but I douse it in Brass-O or Flitz as soon as it gets cleaned.

My Frankford doesn't have the slotted lid but it works just fine without it. An hour or so for fresh from the range (pasture), and another hour or so after decapping to polish, then into a labeled box and from there to the shelf - where I immediately forget I have it.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

When I had my FFL and did the gun show thing, we made a pretty healthy profit off media from city slickers. Never did tell them we basically paid the price of the bag for it. We could spend $50 and get 1 ton of media, to resell at $20 a gallon jug or whatever.

(It's so cheap here, some guys use corn cob fired furnaces to heat their outbuildings or homes)

Down here if we burn anything, it's leaves. It don't get cold enough for a furnace.

My favorite city slicker joke is from Dave Allen: A city feller driving through Wales sees a strange cow and stops to ask the farmer about it. "Excuse me, my good fellow," says the Englishman, "but I notice some of your cows have horns," as he points at a cow with horns, "and some don't," he says pointing at a cow without horns. "Why is that?" The Welshman thinks on it for a second then says, "Well sir, it depends on the cow, you see. Some cows don't get 'orns till they're ready for breeding; some other cows get 'orns soon as they're weened. That particular cow," he says pointing at the second animal, "well, sir, that cow don't have 'orns 'cause it's a horse."

 

[Trent]

Down here if we burn anything, it's leaves. It don't get cold enough for a furnace.

Must be nice living where the air doesn't freeze your lungs.

Illinois can get hostile in the country, in the winter. We don't have it as bad as some do, but in the rural areas you still have to plan ahead.

We had an ice storm that knocked power out as a polar vortex hit this winter. Got down to some ridiculous figure of -20F or so. Ran everything off my 22kw generac for several days waiting it out.

Every year there's fatalities here. Usually from people thinking they can walk from point A to point B without protection. Other times from people abandoning vehicles during storms and freezing before they get to someplace safe. Every fall the winter kit in the vehicles gets a once over, wife, kids, they don't go anywhere without a bucket of supplies and a blanket. We live in the country, and on a nice good calm summer day it takes help 20+ minutes to get to you if you have an accident. Getting stuck in a blizzard? Might be a day before someone can get to you. (A few years back it took a couple of weeks for one accident to even get spotted, after a car ran off the road and down in to a ravine).

Couple years back we hit -24F. Heck, one year I ran an outdoor shooting event during a cold snap, was -14F actual that day. You have to be mighty careful about your breath when shooting at that temp, lest you frost up your scope and end your day early. If your optics aren't coated alcohol wipes can solve it but a lot of optics have coatings these days, and alcohol isn't the best choice to clean 'em.

There's spots it can get worse, much worse, than here in the winter, but midwest winters are no joke. Especially given the frequency of these polar vortexes nowadays, seems to be one hitting every winter.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I had 2 Frankford tumblers. The bowls would crack on them. I put a new bowl on them. And they cracked. Now im running a Lyman and a Berry's tumbler. They been holding up good.

 

[Trent]

I had 2 Frankford tumblers. The bowls would crack on them. I put a new bowl on them. And they cracked. Now im running a Lyman and a Berry's tumbler. They been holding up good.

Can't go wrong with lyman. I'm on my third set of brushes on the lyman's motor. The things run forever.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Must be nice living where the air doesn't freeze your lungs.

Illinois can get hostile in the country, in the winter. We don't have it as bad as some do, but in the rural areas you still have to plan ahead.

We had an ice storm that knocked power out as a polar vortex hit this winter. Got down to some ridiculous figure of -20F or so. Ran everything off my 22kw generac for several days waiting it out.

Every year there's fatalities here. Usually from people thinking they can walk from point A to point B without protection. Other times from people abandoning vehicles during storms and freezing before they get to someplace safe. Every fall the winter kit in the vehicles gets a once over, wife, kids, they don't go anywhere without a bucket of supplies and a blanket. We live in the country, and on a nice good calm summer day it takes help 20+ minutes to get to you if you have an accident. Getting stuck in a blizzard? Might be a day before someone can get to you. (A few years back it took a couple of weeks for one accident to even get spotted, after a car ran off the road and down in to a ravine).

Couple years back we hit -24F. Heck, one year I ran an outdoor shooting event during a cold snap, was -14F actual that day. You have to be mighty careful about your breath when shooting at that temp, lest you frost up your scope and end your day early. If your optics aren't coated alcohol wipes can solve it but a lot of optics have coatings these days, and alcohol isn't the best choice to clean 'em.

There's spots it can get worse, much worse, than here in the winter, but midwest winters are no joke. Especially given the frequency of these polar vortexes nowadays, seems to be one hitting every winter.

Heard stories about that growing up. My dad was from Champaign-Urbana. Before the war his dad was a sharecropper and furniture maker. Back then nobody did just one thing if they wanted to eat regular. I think that's why we lived down here and never went up north - he had enough snow for one lifetime. Mom spent some time in Chicago when she was young so, same thing. Probably also why dad never hunted. Living on a farm he got a belly full of slaughtering animals and didn't care too much for it. He could shoot and was pretty good but never really wanted to. I also heard all about how much hotter it gets up there than down here. We get lots of humidity and that's the real killer. Every year we have folks who go outside and forget to fill up on water, or who think beer/booze is just as hydrating as water. It isn't and they pay a hefty price for not listening better.

I never seen snow. I hear I'm not missing much.

 

[doubleh]

If you do the fill trick I talked about above they are pretty much silent! Once the full volume of the tumbler is full of media the things quiet down to a whisper. Trick is to secure the lid and pour media through the slots (I use corn cob because it's ubiquitous here, and dirt cheap, in farm country. I can get media for $3 for a 50lb bag from a local silo)

When I had my FFL and did the gun show thing, we made a pretty healthy profit off media from city slickers. Never did tell them we basically paid the price of the bag for it. We could spend $50 and get 1 ton of media, to resell at $20 a gallon jug or whatever.

(It's so cheap here, some guys use corn cob fired furnaces to heat their outbuildings or homes)

Scalper. I would use corncob too if I had a source that cheap. There is a lot of corn grown in this area but it's all cut for silage for the few dairy farms in the area. As it is I use walnut hulls from the pet store and they seem to last almost forever. I do very little tumbling anymore as I do mostly a lemon juice and dish soap shake and soak. When that quits doing a good job on the brass I run the racket maker.

 

[CMB]

Can you tell us more about cleaning the media? I often wondered about that

 

[Trent]

Scalper. I would use corncob too if I had a source that cheap. There is a lot of corn grown in this area but it's all cut for silage for the few dairy farms in the area. As it is I use walnut hulls from the pet store and they seem to last almost forever. I do very little tumbling anymore as I do mostly a lemon juice and dish soap shake and soak. When that quits doing a good job on the brass I run the racket maker.

Yeah it would cost a lot to ship a big bulky bag 1,000 miles. More than the media and bag cost, that's for sure!

Been having some health issues, moving the reloading stuff out of the basement here this weekend, in to an attached garage. Stairs are getting to be a problem. I noticed I was low on media so I shot a message to the old mill yesterday to see what prices are like today. Heard nothing back from them yet. Will follow up here when I do, see what prices are like "10 years later" lol

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I ordered a 100 lbs of corncob from Home depot. Shipping was free. I get my walnut from Harbor freight.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Can you tell us more about cleaning the media? I often wondered about that

Sure, I can tell you what I do. Tear up a paper towel, soak it in Hoppes and toss the pieces in the tumbler for a few hours. When they come out the corn's clean and the paper's dirty and all the Hoppe's is evaporated off. For walnut I do the same but with MEK since it dissolves the old wax and polish better than Hoppe's and costs less. YMMV, ask your doctor, do not use if allergic, some will disagree... they always do.

 

[illinoisburt]

I have the same blue Frankfort tumbler. It is definitely not loud, only a low hum. No cracks or issues. I put it together with hard rubber washers and used loctite instead of cranking super torque on the bowl bolts since its plastic. Seems to work just fine with walnut lizard bedding. I usually drop them in and leave over night so don't know if speed of media movement would make any difference. They come out nice and shiny already

 

[Tilos]

OK, something I did to improve Vibe tumbler action was to add to the offset weight.
I just wrapped some soldier around the stock weight and put some duct tape over it to hold it there.

Try it, worked for me,

.

 

[CMB]

Sure, I can tell you what I do. Tear up a paper towel, soak it in Hoppes and toss the pieces in the tumbler for a few hours. When they come out the corn's clean and the paper's dirty and all the Hoppe's is evaporated off. For walnut I do the same but with MEK since it dissolves the old wax and polish better than Hoppe's and costs less. YMMV, ask your doctor, do not use if allergic, some will disagree... they always do.

Thanks for the insight, I'll give this a whirl this evening. Adding squares of drier sheets definitely helps keep it clean a little longer. Im always amazed how black the drier sheets turn and figure if the dirt is there it's not on the media.

Thanks again - I owe you one

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Thanks for the insight, I'll give this a whirl this evening. Adding squares of drier sheets definitely helps keep it clean a little longer. Im always amazed how black the drier sheets turn and figure if the dirt is there it's not on the media.

Thanks again - I owe you one

I had heard about the used dryer sheets but ran into a problem: my wife doesn't use dryer sheets.
For the cost of dryer sheets I figured a little Hoppe's and paper towels might de-lead and de-carbonize the media as well and it seems to work. Then I got the idea to clean out the old wax in the polishing media (I use Imperial sizing lube) by doing the same thing but with a solvent - MEK came immediately to mind since it effervesces more slowly than either ethyl alcohol or acetone. It's Heck on your liver though so BE CAREFUL!!

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I go to the laundry matt and gather dryer sheets.