Rotary Tumblers

[dickn52]

I love my Thumblers B. I have 2.

I have one, but I have two cans. One is for dry and the other SS wet media cleaning.

 

[cem]

I used a Thumlers, but I was never really happy with it. It started to rust through several seams after the very first use.

I have a Thumbler's B that does just fine. I did follow the often repeated suggestion to pull the rubberish drum liner and paint the inside of the metal drum before the first use. I followed up with a Frankford Arsenal that has more capacity. I use a very heavy doormat under each to decouple vibrations much like the no longer much seen mats under an impact printer- an old printer box would be a good way to quiet things down. I have used continuous duty rock tumblers with a variety of drums and walnut shell with rouge or metal polish media with home fabricated inner and outer drum rigs to separate the media. Beats hand cranking. I can run them pretty much continuously and in season I do. Given the space I would use a cement mixer from Harbour Freight for the high capacity and leave the machine running longer as the media wears. An ultrasonic or a small drum is handy for small lot processing just as almost nothing is big enough for several buckets of brass.

 

[Termite I]

I started out with a Thumbler Model B many years ago and loved the results but wanted something that would do more brass per run. I found a DIY post on AR15.com with instructions on how to build your own larger capacity tumbler. One of the forum members there, Big Dawg, lists all of the info to build your own and had so many requests from other members to build one for them that he eventually started his own website, http://www.biggdawgtumblers.net/ . His prices are very reasonable, in my opinion, considering what the materials cost and how much time it would take to make your own. I'll try to post some pictures of the tumbler I built tomorrow. I read some good reports on the Frankford Arsenal tumbler but have no personal experience with them.

I started using 0.041"diameter pins but was getting pins stuck in the flash holes on to many cases so I switched to 0.047" diameter pins which solved the pins in the flash hole problem. The 0.047" pins do get stuck sideways in 6.5 Grenndel necks and are a pain to remove. Now I use SS chips that I bought from Sleeping Giant Brass and found they reduce my tumbling time from 4 hours down to 3 with great results. You should check every case for media no matter which you use. I use Dawn and Lemishine to tumble, pour off the dirty water and use a RCBS media seperator then triple rinse the brass. The last step I soak the clean brass in a mixture of Car Wash & Wax for around 5 minutes then triple rinse and dry. Before using the wash & wax the brass would start to tarnish after a few weeks. Now I have brass that was tumbled over a year ago and it's still shiny.

 

[riflewoman]

I use a Frankfort Arsenal rotary. I don’t use pins. 90% of the internal residue is washed out of the brass anyway. The exterior comes out hpjust as shiny.

 

[rox]

Thanks for all the info! What about media separators? Any suggestions?

This works well for me: it's a cat litter sifter. I've only been using it for about 5 loads, but so far no pins have made it to the next step (Dillon media separator). The high sides help contain potential pin escapes. The strainer part is also useful for separating (& shaking-off) rinse water.

Another useful option is paint strainers for 5 gallon buckets.

When I was only running 100 at a time I mostly used to pluck the cases out of the final rinse, mouth down. Sometimes I used a rotary media separator. Never had to fill it with water though.

 

[rox]

I have a Thumbler's B that does just fine. I did follow the often repeated suggestion to pull the rubberish drum liner and paint the inside of the metal drum before the first use.

I wish I'd heard about painting it inside before my first use. I was not happy to see rust coming through the exterior paint after a single run. I'm still not happy about that!

His prices are very reasonable, in my opinion, considering what the materials cost and how much time it would take to make your own.

I looked at those tumblers for years, but shipping to my location was prohibitive. A treadmill, though, is a complete tumbler parts-kit; they can be found for peanuts, and my build required 2 cuts and 2 welds. It was really easy. I was going to shorten the handles to use it on a benchtop, but ended-up leaving it on the floor, so it folds-up and can be wheeled away.

I found rotary tumbling with pins peened the case mouth so all cases had to be inside and outside deburred. Unless the cases need trimming I no longer use it.

I've never seen any ill-effects from this. I see very similar effects from dry tumbling (or maybe it's the media-separation step afterwards). Either way, cases collide whether in water, dry media or air. I nearly always trim, but can't imagine it could cause a noticeable effect on performance (I've never seen it so severe that there was an actual burr).

 

[One Shot One Thrill]

Peening is a non issue if you own a deburring tool.

What tool are you using? Once rolled all tools I've used just push the roll further into case neck. You can confirm this by using pin gauges. You can chase it to the shoulder junction and not get it all out. Only way to remove it is trim for length.

 

[ricco1949]

What tool are you using? Once rolled all tools I've used just push the roll further into case neck. You can confirm this by using pin gauges. You can chase it to the shoulder junction and not get it all out. Only way to remove it is trim for length.

Giraud trimmer ...... once the case holder is set, its stays set forever. It removes the peening without further shortening of the case.

 

[F Class John]

Bingo ^

 

[ngb1787]

Giraud trimmer ...... once the case holder is set, its stays set forever. It removes the peening without further shortening of the case.

I actually locktite my giraud case holder and locking nut together once set so it becomes much easier to change out for different calibers

 

[divingin]

Media seperators will allow pins to stay in the case. You have to let them fall out of the case while underwater, so its a slow manual process. I have the blue frankford arsenal and it works very well for a seperator though if you want to try that route

The Frankford Arsenal separator is a 5 gal bucket with cutouts for the handle of a separator basket. Fill the bucket with water, [place the basket in, and dump your tumbled brass and pins in. Close it up, and the basket is about 2/3 or so submerged. Spin it about 20 times (slowly to keep from flinging pins all over) and the cases will be pin-free (aside from a few that may get jammed corsswise on .308 brass.) It's a lot faster than manually dumping each case (which is what I used to do.)

 

[F Class John]

I actually locktite my giraud case holder and locking nut together once set so it becomes much easier to change out for different calibers

That’s a good idea. I just use locking die rings but they still slip ever so slightly over time.

 

[rkittine]

I use Thumblers for anything that I do not consider to be precision reloaded. Otherwise I use ultra sonic. I spend too much time on my brass prep to have them banged around in a rotating environment with a lot of other brass.

 

[EMoore]

Tons of good info, thank y'all!

 

[MVRK28]

As my HF setup became too small I recently ordered the Frankford Arsenal light version, runs about 300 .223 cases at a time. I also picked up the FA media separator and I went with a different SS media to try to keep it from sticking in my 6.5 CM necks.

 

[One Shot One Thrill]

Giraud trimmer ...... once the case holder is set, its stays set forever. It removes the peening without further shortening of the case.

Have you check them with gauge pins?

 

[ricco1949]

Have you check them with gauge pins?

No.....but I have used a bent sharpened paper clip to test for the peened ridge before and after using the Giraud.....similar to checking for incipient head cracks. The ridge goes away.

It seems you'd have to cut the rear of the case off and insert the gauge pin from the rear to have a good feel test of any resistance using gauge pins without adding some additional before and after cleaning steps.

 

[One Shot One Thrill]

No.....but I have used a bent sharpened paper clip to test for the peened ridge before and after using the Giraud.....similar to checking for incipient head cracks. The ridge goes away.

It seems you'd have to cut the rear of the case off and insert the gauge pin from the rear to have a good feel test of any resistance using gauge pins without adding some additional before and after cleaning steps.

No they will insert fine when correct size is used. You can feel any issue at all then.

 

[Rick300]

As my HF setup became too small I recently ordered the Frankford Arsenal light version, runs about 300 .223 cases at a time. I also picked up the FA media separator and I went with a different SS media to try to keep it from sticking in my 6.5 CM necks.

I ordered those and had to quit using them. They really roughed up the brass. I did tumble them for a while before using.

 

[Gappmast]

I found rotary tumbling with pins peened the case mouth so all cases had to be inside and outside deburred. Unless the cases need trimming I no longer use it.

I had the same problem the first few times I used mine then the problem went away. I think with use the end of the pins round off a bit. I would suggest filling with water and running with no cases for 10 or 15 hours then try it again.

My pins small .035" diameter .250" long