homemade tumbler

fogducker

fogducker

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i know most say tumblers are cheap to buy..
but im as cheap as they come..
so im making up a homemade tumbler..:)
i have a few ideas in my head,i can hear the voices telling what to do:eek:..

the voices told me to cut a base 16x18 out of 1/4 inch thick steel plate..
i,ll also be using a 20 lb bbq tank for the tumbler..
tomorrow i,ll make up some kind of roller system to turn the tank..
then i,ll have to come up with a plan for a motor and some way of sealing the media and the brass in the tank..

any tips of wisdom and long shots are most welcome here..
 
I saw a guy that used a car tire that he had rolling on two small shafts powered by a motor he pulled out of a dryer at the dump. Ugly, but it worked for him.
 
Its simpler to make a vibratory tumbler. It simply has a small motor with an unbalance weight on the shaft that makes it vibrate. Attach that to the bottom of the tank and put the affair on springs so its free to vibrate and shake.
 
Grizzlypeg said:
Its simpler to make a vibratory tumbler. It simply has a small motor with an unbalance weight on the shaft that makes it vibrate. Attach that to the bottom of the tank and put the affair on springs so its free to vibrate and shake.
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this is interesting also..would you have some kind of pic so i can see how its made up?..
mayby ill make up one of each design,to see what works best..
as i do believe if i look around ,i could scrounge up a few bbq tanks to experiment with..
 
built one , out of a real small electric motor driven gearbox piece of 3/16 x 4in. flat bar bent 90 degrees one large tobacco can plastic , two pieces of 3/4 aluminium angle bolted inside can 2 hose clamps .rubber hose arber for smallgrinding disc. 2 small rollers piece 3/4 plywood for a base . works as well as the large one i bought . malcolm.
 
malcolm said:
built one , out of a real small electric motor driven gearbox piece of 3/16 x 4in. flat bar bent 90 degrees one large tobacco can plastic , two pieces of 3/4 aluminium angle bolted inside can 2 hose clamps .rubber hose arber for smallgrinding disc. 2 small rollers piece 3/4 plywood for a base . works as well as the large one i bought . malcolm.
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can you post a pic of it?if not can you email it?
 
I made one years ago, with an old fan with one blade cut off for a motor/vibrator. I attached a plastic Dishwasher detergent tub to the center of the fan housing. It worked quite well, after I added a plastic cone to the center of the tub to get better circulation of the media.
It did overheat after a few hours use though, and you couldn't leave it alone for long because of that. Vibrated all over the floor too, had to block it in.
 
Very simple. Made a box out of 3/4" plywood from an old cupboard I found at the dump. Cut a piece of wood the same dimensions for the top. Bought 4 springs from home depot for $4.50 and bought a 110v motor from Princess Auto for $6.00 and a pulley for $1.50. Mounted the motor to the bottom of the wood, put the pulley on the drive shaft and used a bolt instead of a set screw to hold the pulley on. On the end of the bolt a put some nuts for weight, tipped it back over and after hooking up the power to an on/off switch and securing it away from the spinning motor/bolt assembly I secured it to the 4 springs and took it for a drive. On top I first started with a gallon ice creme pale and filled it 1/2 way with lizard litter and plugged it in. There was a slight shimmy but I needed more vibration. Took the top off the springs and added a couple of more bigger nuts to the end of the bolt. Plugged it in and much better but still not enough. Repeated with a bigger nut and plugged it in and perfect, nice vibration. That was in 1998 and all that I have done to it since is change the ice creme pail to a salad bowl style of plastic container. I have literally left this thing on for days on end polishing brass. The only thing that might have gone up in price was the motor but if you get a free one then no problem. So for less than 15 bucks I have a tumbler that has outlasted my brothers Lyman and his Dillon tumblers and I use mine at least 2 as much.

 
Any chance you can post some more pictures of this setup or PM me the pictures. This sound like a good setup but I am still a little confused about how it all goes together
 
as of now.........
im the offical owner of a brass tumbler made out of a bbq tank and a few pieces i scrounged up at work:dancingbanana:..
cost to me was $0.00:dancingbanana:..
i,ll post a few pics once my camera charges up..
its not all finished yet,ive yet to cut a access hole in the tank..but i filled the tank with water and let it run for a few hours..just to see if it will work..
it worked like a charm:D
now i have to ask myself:rolleyes:..WTF am i going to do with a tumbler this size:runaway:
 
heres a few pics to give all an idea of how it will look..right now it looks a little rough on the edges...i still have to fine tune it up a bit yet..when its done to my satisfaction..
i,ll dismantle it all and blast and paint it so it looks a little better..
as always im open to any helpful tips or hints on how i can improve on it..
thanks for all that gave there input here on this..

click on pick to enlarge..i,ll add a few more pics in a few min






 
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Looks interesting. I'm wondering how that would work with one of the red nylon coffee containers instead of the propane tank.. I see the coffee container as a plus for size and the nylon will not mark up your brass.
Matter of fact the container could be hooked direct to a variable speed drive.
What we should have is a contest to see who can come up with the best polisher for the dollars invested.
Bill
 
I was thinking of making one like that but using one of those concrete mixing drums you can buy at LeeValley

has internal baffles to help mix

Fogducker you may want to weld in a few to mix your media or it might just slide around

Oh and how fast is that going to be turning ?
 
fogducker said:
heres a few pics to give all an idea of how it will look..right now it looks a little rough on the edges...i still have to fine tune it up a bit yet..when its done to my satisfaction..
i,ll dismantle it all and blast and paint it so it looks a little better..
as always im open to any helpful tips or hints on how i can improve on it..
thanks for all that gave there input here on this..

click on pick to enlarge..i,ll add a few more pics in a few min






Click to expand...
same idea as mine, except mine has some type of keg about 16 inches tall. was give to me
 
tbooker said:
What are the rollers off of? And where do I find a set?
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the rollers are 5/8 round bar,i machined the ends just a bit to hold the bearings in place,then i found a length of 1 3/4 Dia rubber..i cut off 4 pieces at 1 1/4 long then drilled a hole in the middle of the pieces to make up the rubber you can see on the rollers.......
 
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