Homemade Case Tumbler Plans?
- Thread starter cdncowboy
- Start date
If you got a small bucket with a tight fitting lid, filled up bucket with brass and media, duct taped lid on, and threw it in your clothes dryer with some towels I bet it would work.
ok .........
im building one
..
i dont want to spend a penny on it..cause im cheap..
i,ll need a little help though..
i,ll be using an ole bbq tank for the drum,these can be found anywere..for the turning rolls,i know of a spot were a few shopping carts are dumped in a ravine..i need the wheels off of one for the rollers..
but when i go scrounging for a motor..
heres were i need help..
whats a good motor with a good torque and a slow RPM,s..im thinking washing machine..any other good ideas?
lm not to smarts on elec. motors
Sorry cdncowboy.........i just realized that i was hyjacking the hell out of your thread..can i get a mod to move this to its own thread?
again cdncowboy my apologies..
Don
im building one
..i dont want to spend a penny on it..cause im cheap
..i,ll need a little help though..
i,ll be using an ole bbq tank for the drum,these can be found anywere..for the turning rolls,i know of a spot were a few shopping carts are dumped in a ravine..i need the wheels off of one for the rollers..
but when i go scrounging for a motor..
heres were i need help..
whats a good motor with a good torque and a slow RPM,s..im thinking washing machine..any other good ideas?
lm not to smarts on elec. motors
Sorry cdncowboy.........i just realized that i was hyjacking the hell out of your thread..can i get a mod to move this to its own thread?
again cdncowboy my apologies..
Don
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Use a plastic 45 gallon drum with a removable lid, then make a LARGE roller frame like the rock rotary tumblers, probably using a few wheelbarrow tires.
Power it with one of the small diesel engines from Princess Auto.
Dump in a few 80lb bags of walnut, a quart of polish, and let'r rip for half a day.
Hmmmm, need something to strain it with. Better make up a shaker box, wooden frame, screen bottom, hanging by ropes from an overhead frame.
So ON TOPIC, use this design with a smaller plastic drum for a tabletop tumbler.
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- Location
- WMU247 near Edmonton
I like where this is going. home build industrial sized tumblers 
Doesn't even take that much.
I had a home built one that i used for years. Motor came from a humidifier, drum made of PVC pipe and caps, and a belt that ran directly from the motor shaft and round the drum. no pulleys, and the reduction from 1/4 inch shaft to 4 or 6 inch pipe was perfect. If anyone is interested i can elaborate, let me know.
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take a plastic jug with led, load it with shells and media, thou it in the trunk and drive off-road for a week.....and wuala, you have shiny brass
Don't know where you live but where I live, the road is pretty flat, it wouldn't work
Don't know where you live but where I live, the road is pretty flat, it wouldn't work
live in Alberta
roads are good, no questions...but I sad - drive off-road )) clean your brass while hunting, fishing or just 4x4ing ))Our cloths dryer has a belt that goes around the entire drum and just rides on the flat metal/enamelled surface of the drum. It is just a thin V belt. The motor is hinged and it's own weight creates the needed tension.
Use a plastic 45 gallon drum with a removable lid, then make a LARGE roller frame like the rock rotary tumblers, probably using a few wheelbarrow tires.
Power it with one of the small diesel engines from Princess Auto.
Dump in a few 80lb bags of walnut, a quart of polish, and let'r rip for half a day.
Hmmmm, need something to strain it with. Better make up a shaker box, wooden frame, screen bottom, hanging by ropes from an overhead frame.
So ON TOPIC, use this design with a smaller plastic drum for a tabletop tumbler.
do you have a pic of the view on how this one is driven?
Don't have a pic, the above pic came from eBay. But I believe the motor is mounted underneath and it only drives one of the "roller rods".
If you take a look at the left side of the picture you can see a bit of a pulley shield around the end of the front roller rod and a sliver of the motor underneath.
Now if you build a REALLY big one, you could drive both rollers, either using a v-belt system with an idler pulley that pulls the belt down between the 2 driven pulleys, so the belt grabs more of each driven pulley. Or of course you could always use a CHAIN drive.
if you are going to be building a massive tumbler. (you know, the one that is powered by the diesel engine )
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- Location
- WMU247 near Edmonton
Chain drive, I've got some old bicycle sprockets that will work
perhaps I'll have a 10 speed variable drive
perhaps I'll have a 10 speed variable drive
Don't have a pic, the above pic came from eBay. But I believe the motor is mounted underneath and it only drives one of the "roller rods".
If you take a look at the left side of the picture you can see a bit of a pulley shield around the end of the front roller rod and a sliver of the motor underneath.
Now if you build a REALLY big one, you could drive both rollers, either using a v-belt system with an idler pulley that pulls the belt down between the 2 driven pulleys, so the belt grabs more of each driven pulley. Or of course you could always use a CHAIN drive.
i,m going to make it ,with the motor driving one set of rollers..and the other side will be just idler rollers...
so far my plans are to have a 1/4 thick base,with probably about a 3x3 angle on the ends to attach the roller assemblies..
the axles will be 1/2 rods.with a bearings on the ends..
the rubber wheels will be made of hunk of solid 2 inch diameter,with which i will drill out to for a tight fit on the axles..
the motor will be of a elec motor that was taken out of welding machine to run the fan..
the drum will be a 20 lb bbq tank..
any one have any opinions on an idea to secure or a size of the opening i could use on the tank to load or unload the contents?..
blacksmithden
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Yea, that would be me. I still haven't done it since we didn't find a house we were happy with. Now we're planning on moving back to Alberta. Once we're settled, I'll be making one up. My only worry is noise. If you put 2 pairs of running shoes in a dryer, it sounds like you're being invaded by a division of American marines. I can't imagine what 20 or 30 lbs of brass would sound like. I have to find some kind of rubberized spray on coating, or completely enclose the dryer in a box lined with 6" of fiberglass insulation. For the most part, you can find people giving away old dryers just to get rid of them. An enclosure wouldn't cost that much to build. I don't really have a good excuse for building something this big, but then again, the guy with the V8 snowblower didn't either
started with a loop cut from a car tire inner tube. That was less than perfect though, and eventually found a washing machine drive belt that was perfect.
Make sure your motor does not use the fan as a means of cooling it as it is running, without the fan blowing or moving air over the motor it will overheat.
I have tryed some small furnace fan motors and most would overheat without the fan to cool them.
I have tryed some small furnace fan motors and most would overheat without the fan to cool them.
