Cheap tumbler options? For a newb

May not be as low cost as a vibratory corn cob tumbler but these Frankfort Arsenal Stainless Steel Tumbler kits are a great deal and come with everything you need in the box.

http://selectshootingsupplies.com/products/platinum-series-rotary-tumbler-7l

They hold upto 1000 .223 brass, are direct drive so no belts to stretch or break and it has a built in timer so you can set it on your way out and forget it.
 
I think you have two choices:

Go deep and buy a stainless steel media setup, or

buy a used dry media tumbler from someone who has done just that.

if you were on the right end of the country, I'd give you my old Midway tumbler for free.
 
Fusilier said:
I think you have two choices:

Go deep and buy a stainless steel media setup, or

buy a used dry media tumbler from someone who has done just that.

if you were on the right end of the country, I'd give you my old Midway tumbler for free.
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You may not be 100% correct, stainless is not that expensive if you don't buy into retail hype.
If you do your research, it can be done at a reasonable cost and far exceeding benefits.
 
Cheap Tumbler

Here's the link to the Frankford thingy on Amazon, with free shipping. I'm not high volume by any means and one has served me well for a few years:

h ttp://www.amazon.ca/Frankford-Arsenal-Quick-n-Ez-Case-Tumbler/dp/B001MYGLJC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403710757&sr=8-1&keywords=frankford+tumbler
 
Papaclaude said:
Odds are, if you power it with a drill, you'll burn it out. At least that was my experience with similar experiments. If you can find a motor and gear reducer. Otherwise, you could try using a pad sander. I've had this one for years and works like a charm:


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Building this after work today. Great idea.
 
Emmer said:
You may not be 100% correct, stainless is not that expensive if you don't buy into retail hype.
If you do your research, it can be done at a reasonable cost and far exceeding benefits.
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True. It is a touch more expensive than a dry tumbler though.

I haven't dry tumbled anything in over 2 and a half years. I'm still looking for someone to give my dry tumbler too - somewhere around Halifax as it would be a ##### to ship.
 
Emmer said:
Primary Advantage for the cleaner case;
1) Longer Die life.
2) Easier to see flaws.

Secondary Advantage using pins;
1) Cleaner hands.
2) less lead dust in the air while cleaning.3) Media lasts forever, no reoccurring costs.
4) You can hear yourself think while next to the machine.
5) They look dam nice!

I'm sure there is more, but the above is enough for me.
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These two specifically are why I will be changing to SS in the near future. Dry media does a good job but the amount of dust they generate concerns me. I NEVER use mine inside my house, garage only. And when I got to seperate media & brass I'm wearing a facemask.

And the one major benifit IMO is the cleaning of the primer pocket. Anything that can shave a bit of time off brass prep is aces in my book.
 
he-Old-Fashioned-Ice-Cream-Maker.jpg

i use an ice-cream maker turned on the side, half filled with corncob media.
30min is good, but 2hours and you have mirror looking gold.
its very very loud, put it in your batroom with the door closed or in your garage, whatever.
am just giving you idea here.

you can find an old one for 2-5$.
 
What do you call budget priced? None of 'em are terribly expensive. A Lyman machine runs about $80 at Cabela's. You can bring one back from the States, with no fuss, if you get that way. No border issues with reloading equipment.
Buying one is certainly not as much fun as building one. Knew a guy, long ago, who made one of a lidded plastic pail and an electric motor. It rotated slowly and worked just fine. Media comes from a pet supply shop in the form of small pet bedding. That'd be crushed walnut shells. Costs a whole bunch less than buying the same thing with Lyman's name on the bag.
 
Trinimon said:
That's what I'm using now. They always put out a 20% off coupon every couple weeks.
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How do you sign up from Canada it will not let me put in postal code or province? Also the dual tumbler is on for $54.99, that seems pretty good!? Have you had it long/working well??
Thanks and cheers, Bob
 
bobdbldr said:
How do you sign up from Canada it will not let me put in postal code or province? Also the dual tumbler is on for $54.99, that seems pretty good!? Have you had it long/working well??
Thanks and cheers, Bob
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For Canucks, you have to call in to order it as the online store only works for 'Mericans. If you live near the border, you can pick it up at the local Harbor Freight outlet. Use coupon code 26139947 to get it for $43.99. That should help with shipping rates. :)

It comes with 5 spare belts. Eventually the belts begin to wear down and you might find your drums slipping. When that happens, loosen the two from screws and slide it over to add just a bit more tension. You don't need to have the tension set too tightly or you just end up breaking belts.

It is a great buy for those who don't process a lot of brass. Then again, you only need to tumble for an hour for clean brass and 2-3 hours if you want that factory fresh look.
 
Emmer said:
Primary Advantage for the cleaner case;
1) Longer Die life.
2) Easier to see flaws.

Secondary Advantage using pins;
1) Cleaner hands.
2) less lead dust in the air while cleaning.
3) Media lasts forever, no reoccurring costs.
4) You can hear yourself think while next to the machine.
5) They look dam nice!

I'm sure there is more, but the above is enough for me.
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1. Guys who reload 100k rnds a year of old age before their dies are worn out. I can't imagine caring if they last longer than I do.
2. So far I haven't missed a flaw and find they stick out like a sore thumb with conventional tumbling. Fine dust sticking in cracks and the like make them really obvious.

1. Meh. Nothing 30 seconds with soap and water can't fix.
2. Been tumbling in the same room for 3 years and no difference in the dust compared to any other room.
3. I spend maybe $40 on media a year. A low enough cost for me to consider insignificant.
4. The noise does get annoying...
5. From the outside there is no difference from well tumbled brass from a regular tumbler. Inside is cleaner but that hardly matters.

Maybe I'm not a high enough volume shooter to see any benefit. I shoot (and tumble) maybe 5000-7500 cases a year; I'm no 100,000 round/year shooter.
I will admit it does clean up primer pockets for you where as I have to clean them individually but for the extra cost to get setup and the extra step of drying the brass I don't see it being worth it. If it trimmed the brass to length for me I would buy one in a heartbeat ;)
 
I've got this : Frankford Arsenal Master Tumbler Kit.

Got it on AMAZON and it works flawlessly. I use ''crushed nuts lizard bed'' that can be bought in pet store for 10$ for 5qt and NU FINISH so my brass are all shiny. I use tuff nuts from LYEMAN for very dirty/corroded brass
 
I really don't understand why the guys that use vibrating cleaning feel the need to attack stainless tumbler people.
To each their own.
If that is what you are comfortable with, so be it.
 
turbo_bird said:
Frankfort arsenal on amazon.ca is pretty cheap. I spent the better part of a day screwing around trying to rig up a vibrating tumbler, I also used an old serpentine belt from my truck to run a 5 gallon bucket using my drill press for power, and the cheap Frankfort arsenal one I bought does a way better job, in less time. I did pick up a 12 vdc gear reduction motor from princess auto for $10 to try building a tumbler with, but haven't bothered yet. I might still use it to build a rotary with a bucket some day.
Kristian
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Exactly the same thing here. After messing around with various shaker & tumbler I just got a cheap Frankford arsenal one from amazon.ca.
For $50 & free shipping it works great for a cheap starter unit.
 
$80 bucks for a media tumbler. If you can't spring for that the rest of reloading will be unobtainium. This isn't a poor man's game. $80.00 isn't even the buy in.
 
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