Thumblers Tumbler Tell me About yours

[gdbleb]

Layer some Homasote squares to fit inside the sheet steel base to get the steel up off the concrete floor. Then put an old terrycloth cloth towel under the whole thing. Makes it very quiet. Peace.

 

[BlackGrouper]

I use this one with lizard litter crushed walnut, find the right grind and none stick in the flash holes. Skewer a used dryer sheet over the center stud, capful or so of Nufinish car wax and clean for a couple hours. Blow any remaining dust off brass with a blowgun, brass shaken around in a sifter.
Very well made product.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

FA platinum; hot water ,Jungle Jake(splash or 2) cleaner, squirt of Real Lemon(bottle). Run for 1-1.5 hr. NO PINS. Rinse with hot water. Dry on a towel in the sun(summer), net bag on the floor heat vent in winter. Wife says brass looks like jewelry, pockets don't get perfectly clean. But I really only are making sure my dies never are damaged by dirty brass.

 

[Nick Caprinolo]

I recently bought this.

Amazon.com: Frankford Arsenal Platinum Series Rotary Tumbler for Cleaning and Polishing Brass for Reloading : Industrial & Scientific

Buy Frankford Arsenal Platinum Series Rotary Tumbler for Cleaning and Polishing Brass for Reloading: Tumbling Media - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[rkittine]

I still dry tumble for non-precision and handgun brass, but for my Bench Rest brass, I use a commercial ultrasonic unit to not bang up the brass.

 

[shoot4fun]

Bought my Model B used from an ad in this forum about 6 years ago. Recently I noticed a "dust" buildup on the bench but just on the belt side of the platform. Inspection showed the belt was deteriorating. I looked up Tru-Square, gave them a call and inside a week I had two new belts (one for a spare). The lady I spoke to was very friendly and knowledgeable. Belts were inexpensive and took less than a minute to change out. Yes, I immediately noticed I improvement in how the tumbler performed. I would definitely buy a Thumbler Tumbler again.
As for method, I quit using the pins 3 years ago. The brass got just as clean, less chance of one hiding inside a case (always in the back of my mind) and the biggest PITA of using this method was eliminated.

 

[MikeMcCasland]

5 lb SS pins, ~125 x .223 Rem OR 100 x .308 Win cases, hot tap water, several tablespoons of Dawn and about half a tablespoon of Lemishine (a little Lemishine goes a long way), then 30-45 min tumbling. There is no need to tumble cases for hours. In fact, the risk of damage around the case mouths is greater (peening) the longer you tumble. That is because even with 5 lb of SS pins in the drum, the cases bang into each other during the tumbling process.

After tumbling, pick out the cases, carefully shaking them case mouth down to remove any remaining pins, and rinse several times in hot water. I then briefly roll cases across a dry towel to remove excess water from the exterior so as to minimize spotting, and immediately dry them for 30-40 minutes in a food evaporator [case dryer]. Any minor specs of carbon/fouling that might remain at the bottom corner of the primer pockets can easily be removed with a uniforming tool.

Under appreciated reply of the thread. There are comments in here about guys tumbling for hours at a time; you don't want to do that, because you *will* alter your neck tension. How much depends on a number of factors.

It's been years since this happened, but I've had a wet tumbler peen case mouths so bad they wouldn't fit on a neck turning arbor until I very aggressively chamfered several thousandths off the case mouths.

I'm super warry about the use of wet tumblers as a result.

If I decide to pull the trigger on an AMP press, it would actually be one of the very first things I test, because I guarantee that it'll show up.

 

[DANNY-L]

I've had and used mine weekly for hours, no problems. I did paint the inside of the metal when I first bought it (new) it already had some rust starting. I use hot water, dawn soap and lemishhine, about 3lbs of pins and run it for about 2-3 hours depending on how brass looked starting out. Drain and rinse then brass goes in the oven at 180 for 2 hours. I am due for a new belt as I started to see black dust under it.

 

[jghoghunter]

Here are the first 75 cases I did in the Thumblers Tumbler. I used 5# of pins. Two tbsp. of Dawn and 2tbsp of lemon juice (all I had on hand) about an 1" of water over the brass. Two hrs later these are what came out. To me slightly less hassle than ultrasonic, roughly the same results + brass is "shiny".
These cases have not been sized. I removed the primers with a universal decapping die. The primer pockets are just as clean as the inside and outside. Very satisfied with the results.

 

[chkunz]

Here are the first 75 cases I did in the Thumblers Tumbler. I used 5# of pins. Two tbsp. of Dawn and 2tbsp of lemon juice (all I had on hand) about an 1" of water over the brass. Two hrs later these are what came out. To me slightly less hassle than ultrasonic, roughly the same results + brass is "shiny".
These cases have not been sized. I removed the primers with a universal decapping die. The primer pockets are just as clean as the inside and outside. Very satisfied with the results.

Now, can you simplify the process and be satisfied with the results? For example, what if you tumbled for two hours with only water with a cup of Simple Green and nothing else? What if the results were good enough? If so, what if you reduced the time from two hours?

 

[jghoghunter]

Now, can you simplify the process and be satisfied with the results? For example, what if you tumbled for two hours with only water with a cup of Simple Green and nothing else? What if the results were good enough? If so, what if you reduced the time from two hours?

The 2 hrs was a mistake today. I had customers in the shop and didn't get back to it for 2hrs. Tomorrow I'm going to try the same thing with no pins and only leave them in for an hour. See what happens. I have about 800 of these 06 cases that all look the same.

 

[6MT]

I had a Thumler’s for 5 years. Nothing wrong with it, but I bought one of these…(on the left)

It does the same great job as the Thumler‘s. You can’t go wrong with wet tumbling IMHO. I use 5 pounds of stainless steel pins, fill to about an inch below full. Add a couple of healthy squirts of Dawn and a 9mm case full of “Lemi Shine” (citric acid). An hour and a half to two hours, and basically you have new brass. Sometimes, you will get a pin or two stuck in a flash hole. Easily pushed through with a paper clip. And, I do rinse after the cases exit the tumlber. I use a drying tray to air dry, usually overnight.

 

[skeeljc]

I had a Thumler’s for 5 years. Nothing wrong with it, but I bought one of these…(on the left)

It does the same great job as the Thumler‘s. You can’t go wrong with wet tumbling IMHO. I use 5 pounds of stainless steel pins, fill to about an inch below full. Add a couple of healthy squirts of Dawn and a 9mm case full of “Lemi Shine” (citric acid). An hour and a half to two hours, and basically you have new brass. Sometimes, you will get a pin or two stuck in a flash hole. Easily pushed through with a paper clip. And, I do rinse after the cases exit the tumlber. I use a drying tray to air dry, usually overnight.

What do you like about the Extreme tumbler over the Thumler?

 

[Pawnee Bill]

I had a Thumlers for years, then I discovered Frankford Arsenal Lite tumbler. Just the size I needed and a lot easier to use.

 

[SEGARE]

What about rice for a tumbling media?

 

[jghoghunter]

Yesterday I did another 75 cases. I used the same 2 tbs of Dawn and 2 tbs. of lemon juice. I removed all but a 1.25lbs of pins and ran it for an hour. I could not tell the difference between 5lbs and 1.25lbs. The case all looked the same and the primer pockets were just as clean. Inside the case looked the same also. Tomorrow I'm going to do the same but with no pins at all and see what happens. Very happy so far!!

 

[deadidarren]

I could not find one in Australia with enough capacity so bit the bullet and made my own

 

[jghoghunter]

I could not find one in Australia with enough capacity so bit the bullet and made my own
View attachment 1271162
View attachment 1271163
View attachment 1271164

LMFAO
How many cases do you clean at a time? I'm pretty sure I don't anything like that. Pillar bearings, industrial motor, 8" or 10" PVC. Very nice!!!

 

[fscrook]

Under appreciated reply of the thread. There are comments in here about guys tumbling for hours at a time; you don't want to do that, because you *will* alter your neck tension. How much depends on a number of factors.

It's been years since this happened, but I've had a wet tumbler peen case mouths so bad they wouldn't fit on a neck turning arbor until I very aggressively chamfered several thousandths off the case mouths.

I'm super warry about the use of wet tumblers as a result.

If I decide to pull the trigger on an AMP press, it would actually be one of the very first things I test, because I guarantee that it'll show up.

ya i've experinced that too, tumbling for hours damages the brass. My model b still works, havne't changed or done anything to it since i bought it in 2010

 

[6MT]

What do you like about the Extreme tumbler over the Thumler?

Nothing really. It’s supposed to have more capacity capability because of the roller bearings used. I found the Thumler’s unit to have a better drum unit. The Extreme unit’s drum was not true and tended to wobble a bit while in motion. Also, the lid didn’t seal like the Thumler’s lid. So I had to use 2 gaskets to seal it. It seeped a lot with just one gasket. And btw, those screw threads on the lid are metric(?). Whose idea was that?
The Extreme‘s motor rotates faster. I thought it would be a problem, so I installed a variable resistor to slow it down. In hindsight, it wasn’t an issue at all.
Over all, the Extreme works as well as the Thumler’s. If I had to do it over again, I would probably have kept the Thumler’s unit and not bothered trying to massage the Extreme to get it to work as well as the Thumler’s unit.