this sounds a bit more do-able, what was turning the drum, just fricton from the rubber belt? how was te drum mounted?
Homemade Case Tumbler Plans?
- Thread starter cdncowboy
- Start date
this sounds a bit more do-able, what was turning the drum, just fricton from the rubber belt? how was te drum mounted?
No pulleys, just friction.
drum was a PVC pipe with end caps. end caps were centre drilled, brass rod stuck through the middle and sticking out both sides. Brass rod was just loose enough so that drum turned freely on it.
Base was made of plywood. Motor mounted on one end, drum on the other. Two add'l pieces of plywood attached to sides of base (base ends up being u shaped). holes drilled through plywood side plates and brass rod ran through - so that drum is suspended between the side plates.
Drum has no adjustment, so motor side needs to be mounted to allow for belt tensioning. slots in base, or in motor mount.
Hope that makes sense.
- Location
- Port Perry/Toronto
I couldn't resist 
I don't know if a fan motor is going to have enough torque to start it going.
The pulley system will require quite a bit of power just to overcome the friction/energy of the belts.
You might consider keeping the rollers to a large diameter shaft rather than wheels. That way you won't have to gear down the shaft rpm as much.
That tank is going to be noisy. How about spraying the inside with a smooth coating of bedliner? It will also give it some "friction" to move the media around rather than just sliding.
As for a lid, are you going to use it wet or dry? If dry, just make up a wooden or plastic disk, with a big wingnut in the centre. The bolt could be fastened to a bar, larger than the diameter of the hole, which will catch the inside of the tank and you can tighten the lid against.
For direction of your drive shaft, make sure the rotation of the shaft "pushes" the tank downward. This will tend to push the tank against the shaft/wheels, putting more force against the wheels. Going the other direction, the wheels will tend to "lift" the tank away from the drive wheels, resulting in less pressure against the drive wheels. (Sort of like the way drum brakes work, where the direction of the front shoe "forces" the shoe more against the drum)
Last edited:
My Lyman pro tumbler crapped out after about 8 uses and the store I bought it said so sorry deal with Lyman. Contacted them and they said sure send it down on my $ and we will fix it and send it back on my $. Figured it wasn't worth it. Today went to princess auto and found a nice little motor that bolted right in(kind of). was a little under powered to turn the big unbalance weight so I made it a little smaller and it works. $10
While I was there I noticed a nice little 110v fan but didn't grab it because wasn't sure it this was going to work. Going to head back and pick up the fan and mount it under to keep cool.
While I was there I noticed a nice little 110v fan but didn't grab it because wasn't sure it this was going to work. Going to head back and pick up the fan and mount it under to keep cool.
