Home Made Tumbler Plans with Pulley Size, Stainless Steel Pins and Drum explained.
- Thread starter hunter64
- Start date
"The Thumlers regular speed is 30 rpm and the high speed is 40 rpm."
I use a thumlers model b at work and the drum speed is actually 18rpm, this is the large model with the 9'' diameter drum and I belive 15lbs capacity. I just built my own version of it ,it has the same size drum except mine is all 1/8'' steel plate as is the frame , has 3/4'' stainless steel shafts with sealed high speed bearings, a industrial 1/8hp motor, and spins the drum at 26rpm. Istill have to line the drum with ruber or truck bed liner and get some ss pins. I'll post some pics later.
Likin' the rig bobc!
Very professional looking, and I really like the bearings hung in the welded in cradles.
An idea worth copying!
Cheers
Trev
I've had a few inquiries about the drum on my tumbler, it is similar in size and style of a thumlers . the drum was the most daunting component for me as I suspect it is for others so I hope this basic how to will encourage others to get started on one of their own. all cutting was done with a band saw and a angle grinder, mig welded and basic hand tools. good luck!
I actually took very few measurements to build this, Its made up of six 4''x8''x.125'' plates, three 9''x.125'' diameter circles, and two pieces of 1''x.125 flat bar that were bent around the diameters. I started by welding the six plates together to form a hexagon just tack it untill you get a fairly even measurement across the points of the hex, then weld it up and grind smooth, next set your hex on one of your 9'' circles center it up and trace the outside of the hex on the circle then cut out the hex shape so the circle will fit over the hex then weld it on, center up the other end of the hex on one of the other circles and weld it on. next set your last circle on the open end and drill for the bolt pattern, then weld in the bolts from the back, now the hardest part is bending the 1''x1/8 strap around the circles and welding it on so it fairly concentric, I hope this helps, I wanted to make this for about 5 years now and kept worrying about measurments and geometry and stuff, so i just decided to fab it up with as few measurments as possible after all its just a spinning drum right.
I actually took very few measurements to build this, Its made up of six 4''x8''x.125'' plates, three 9''x.125'' diameter circles, and two pieces of 1''x.125 flat bar that were bent around the diameters. I started by welding the six plates together to form a hexagon just tack it untill you get a fairly even measurement across the points of the hex, then weld it up and grind smooth, next set your hex on one of your 9'' circles center it up and trace the outside of the hex on the circle then cut out the hex shape so the circle will fit over the hex then weld it on, center up the other end of the hex on one of the other circles and weld it on. next set your last circle on the open end and drill for the bolt pattern, then weld in the bolts from the back, now the hardest part is bending the 1''x1/8 strap around the circles and welding it on so it fairly concentric, I hope this helps, I wanted to make this for about 5 years now and kept worrying about measurments and geometry and stuff, so i just decided to fab it up with as few measurments as possible after all its just a spinning drum right.
Well, after seeing all these great threads, I decided to make my own. I will say that they aren't cheap to build if you want it solid but work great once you do. Mine is powered by a 1/4 horse motor with a 2" pulley connected to a 6". The end result RPM is about 55 which is fast enough as I am using an 8" drum. Im currently tumblng about 40 pounds total comprised of 308/300win brass, water, soap, and 10#'s of stainless pins. I'll post better pictures later as I got all excited once I finished it this morning and wanted to try it out. I see that everybody is using more of a lateral approach to building these tumblers but since I live in an apartment and space is a priority I decided to go verticle to minimize the footprint. Below is my first youtube video of the project. Enjoy!
Evan
Evan
I just timed a spot on the drum to get an accurate RPM. It think that the caps since they are a larger diameter have slowed my initial calculations. It is turning at 40RPM which is slow but as the addage goes, slow and steady wins the race.
Evan
Evan
I am about to build myself a tumbler, just going through the parts bin an figuring out what I have and what I need to get.
I have a real nice motor but it's only spec'd at 1/12 hp, I'm not quite sure that its enough power. Anybody know if that's enough for the backbone? I plan to rotate a fair size drum? 8-12" diameter, 12-20" long.
I have a real nice motor but it's only spec'd at 1/12 hp, I'm not quite sure that its enough power. Anybody know if that's enough for the backbone? I plan to rotate a fair size drum? 8-12" diameter, 12-20" long.
