homemade tumbler

fogducker said:
...... if you need some plastic for a drum,member dumbdawg(my brother),gave me about a 10 ft piece of 12 inch diameter plastic pipe.its got about a 3/8 thick wall,so it should work out great
i will be using this pipe instead of the bbq tank,as it will be better for the brass to tumble against plastic walls
Click to expand...
he probably gave it to you so you can make a long-term storage tube
just in case things go wrong after the next election ;)
but not to make fish tanks or beer coolers or whatever you are making.


fogducker said:
...all i have to do is put some kind of agitator on the inside wall..
Click to expand...
But if you still want to make a tumbler,
to tumble the brass more eficiently,
you need to glue some fins on the inside,
like a laundry dryer, but the fins should be very shallow.



fogducker said:
im working on trying to dig up a few pipe caps to close the ends..so if any one has an idea were to get 12 inch plastic pipe caps,it would help out alot..
Click to expand...
Home Depot has caps for the pipe they are selling (up to 6" I think).
I don't use 12" pipe, since the 6" is enough even for guns with pistol grip,
(but you have to take the optics off
so you can fit the gun in the 6" tube) ;)
 
Last edited:
was at Princess Auto the other day and they had some little gear head motors on sale :D only 3.2 RPM :eek: may need to gear that up a little. I think I may have what I need now to turn one of those LeeValley 'odd job' cement mixers into a brass tumbler :D
 
But if you still want to make a tumbler,
to tumble the brass more eficiently,
you need to glue some fins on the inside,
like a laundry dryer, but the fins should be very shallow.
Click to expand...


im thinking of running about 4 pieces of 3/4 diameter stainless rod spaced apart on the inside of the wall..
or do you think 3/4 would be to high?
 
Try to stay away from having metal inside the drum foggy. They'll beat the brass necks up. I'll be talking to a plumbing/construction expert buddy of mine in the next week or two. I'll ask him about 12" caps. Is it ABS or PVC pipe you have??? I managed to latch onto 2 fairly heavy plastic barrels with screw on lids from a customer of mine. As far as internal fins go, I'm in the same boat you're in.....just have to think of something plastic/rubber....whatever...and of course, cheap or free. Give me a bit to think about that.
 
Is it ABS or PVC pipe you have???
Click to expand...

not sure,im kind of dumb when it comes to plastic pipes:eek:..they all look alike to me..
but its the green one if that means anything:confused:..
seeing you mentioned about the steel inside the drum is not that good of an idea...:bangHead:

i was planning gluing on one pipe cap then using the the long bolts(the gyrating bolts) to hold on the other pipe cap..as this one will be the access end..

um,let me think:cool:...
i know,i,ll stick with my plan and just insert a heavy rubber hose over the bars..
ok im back on track:rockOn:
 
fogducker said:
im thinking of running about 4 pieces of 3/4 diameter stainless rod spaced apart on the inside of the wall..
or do you think 3/4 would be to high?
Click to expand...

Yes, 3/4" pipe used as fins is an excellent idea, even 1/2" is ok.
The idea is to keep the brass moving, but gentle.
Not stainless. Try pvc/plastic.
4 of them would be ok. I would try more then 4, let's say 6 or 8.

One day you will get bored to let the brass rubb itself,
and you will want to try to add a media, like in the vibrating machines.
Possibilities are infinite.
If I was into this, I would use plastic pellets,
like the ones used in the injection molding industry,
especially HDPE (high density polyethylene).
 
Last edited:
I used a wooden broom handle that is about 3/4". Put 3 pieces in the tube (8" PVC, 12" long) and it seems to work fine. Cheap too. Also, I cut the end caps out of MDF wood with a router and use a length of threaded rod covered by a plastic tube down the centre to hold the cap on. The other end is secured in the tube by screws from the outside.
 
1948 said:
I used a wooden broom handle that is about 3/4". Put 3 pieces in the tube (8" PVC, 12" long) and it seems to work fine. Cheap too. Also, I cut the end caps out of MDF wood with a router and use a length of threaded rod covered by a plastic tube down the centre to hold the cap on. The other end is secured in the tube by screws from the outside.
Click to expand...

perfect:rockOn:.........this will be my plan "B" if i can not secure some pipe caps......
just to let all know..im still on budget with making this up,cost of as of today is still.........$00.00 :D
 
update...............:wave:

today i finally got around to making a mounting bracket for the motor,and made a box to enclose the circuit board and added a few switches to it..
added a fuse block,an off and on switch,then added a potential switch ,so i could control the speeds to turn the 12 inch diameter pipe from about 2 rpm up to a speed i would take a guess at about 100 rpm..
i put a real heavey pipe on it to give it a test run..
i used a 12 inch pipe about 13 inches long with a wall thickness of 1 inch thick,i let the unit run about 6 hours with a set up of about 25 rpm..

it ran like a top,with no over heating of the motor ..
still cant get a hold of any 12 inch pipe caps:(..so tomorrow im off to plan "B" to close the ends of the pipe..
will also dismantle it all again this weekend,wirebrush it and paint it up a bit ..
i,ll post a few more picks when its painted
 
fogducker said:
not sure,im kind of dumb when it comes to plastic pipes:eek:..they all look alike to me..
but its the green one if that means anything:confused:..
seeing you mentioned about the steel inside the drum is not that good of an idea...:bangHead:

i was planning gluing on one pipe cap then using the the long bolts(the gyrating bolts) to hold on the other pipe cap..as this one will be the access end..

um,let me think:cool:...
i know,i,ll stick with my plan and just insert a heavy rubber hose over the bars..
ok im back on track:rockOn:
Click to expand...

The pipe is PVC sewer pipe, SDR-35, very common. HOWEVER, you will definitely want to sit down when you get the price of pipe caps for this pipe. :eek::eek::eek: These caps come as both glue on and gasketed with the gasketed being more common.

Lets put it this way, you could buy a huge, top of the line commercial tumbler, AND a couple thousand pieces of rifle brass for the price of 2 caps, and still have money left over. (I don't know the exact price but I remember being shocked when looking at price lists a number of years ago for 10" and 12" fittings compared to 8".) Caps are very uncommon and rarely used in sewer construction, especially 12" PVC.

EDIT: 4" and 6" caps are common and cheap.
 
Last edited:
047-SR100.jpg



$34.99
 
Your best bet for end caps might be to get a couple pieces of plywood. Cut two circular pieces for each end, one at the inside diameter, one the outside diameter of the tube.

Glue the smaller plywood circle onto the larger circle, and voila, end cap. Use a threaded rod through the centre of both caps, and wingnuts to hold the them together on the ends of the pipe.

You could also use pieces of thick plastic or whatever else you have lying around.
 
I saw these for another project, they are available for different size dia. pipe.

http://ww w.prime-line.net/mechanical_plugs.html

Hope that helps, please post your finished project.

John
 
John Y Cannuck said:
I don't think he's got enough cases to fill the big sucker he's building Gatehouse.
I use a Lyman myself, but this Fogducker special tumbler (FST) will be quite a machine when done.
Click to expand...

i,ll neaver fill this sucker with the measly about 1,000 pieces of brass that i own...but i made this up just for a fun project..

i,ll be donating it to a good cause when im finished with it;)

for the drum.im going to machine each end about half the thickness of the pipe,and go about 5/16 deep ,then use a few pieces of 12 ga plate cut to fit inside of the machined out area,then silicone these in place
i will then use four 3/8 diameter threaded rods (covered with rubber in the drum)to go the length of pipe then use a few bolts to hold all togeather..


now the sad part:(..i just broke the bank to make a hatch up..i went to the good will to see what i could find to use..

after spending $0.99 cents:eek:
i,ll be using two 9 inch pie plates..one i will cut the bottom out and rivet it to one end of the drum..the second pie plate will act as a removable cover for the one riveted to the drum...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom