I am looking into getting a tumbler, or maybe building one if it is feasible. Does anyone know of any on sale somewhere that's a good deal? Or I might be interested in making one. I did a search on here but couldn't find any detailed builds. I was looking at princess auto for electric motors, but im not sure how big of one you need, from the ones I have seen people build it looks like they all have pretty big electric motors from table saws or something. Is there any websites that have a detailed build plan for a tumbler? I would like to keep cost to a minimum. Any advice is appreciated, thanks.
Tumbler Advice
- Thread starter mattf87
- Start date
Winchester30-30
Regular
- Location
- Fraserwood, MB
i just built mine, having the know how and such and 90 percent of the materials, im into it for about 40 bucks, im going with stainless steel media, much nicer job then the vibrating tumblers ive been told
Has anyone used this tumbler before?
http://www.grouseriver.com/Frankford_Arsenal_Quick_n_EZ_Tumbler_p/hun-001275.htm
Looks like a pretty good price compared to some of the other brand name ones.
http://www.grouseriver.com/Frankford_Arsenal_Quick_n_EZ_Tumbler_p/hun-001275.htm
Looks like a pretty good price compared to some of the other brand name ones.
I just went out and picked up a Lyman 1200 as that's all they had locally and most of the other ones cost more + shipping it in as well. I went to my local pet store and grabbed a bag of walnut pet litter, 25lbs for 20$ which is a great deal since my LGS wanted 25$ for 6lbs 
I just threw in 125 308 rounds and got it going so I will see how it works. I seen at the gun store they had I believe it was Lyman little drill thing for deburring, Home Depot has the exact same thing except Ryobi on sale for 14.99 haha. Its awesome how you can find other things not gun related for much cheaper to do the same job.
I just threw in 125 308 rounds and got it going so I will see how it works. I seen at the gun store they had I believe it was Lyman little drill thing for deburring, Home Depot has the exact same thing except Ryobi on sale for 14.99 haha. Its awesome how you can find other things not gun related for much cheaper to do the same job.
I had the Lyman 1200 which is a vibratory tumbler as is the frankford model you referred to.
My problem with those tumblers is that they are loud, they are dusty, and they do not clean the primer pockets very well...not to mention that the cob bits always get stuck in the flash holes. Some guys use the walnut media, but I have never used it, so cannot comment on it.
I sold my lyman and switched to a wet tumbler with stainless stell pins. Since it is a wet tumbler, there is no dust and depending on tumbler very little noise or at least a lot less noise than a vibratory tumbler. Also the primer pockets are cleaned out very well. I will admit that pins do on occasion get stuck in the flash holes, but I find a lot less then with the corn cob media.
As for the tumblers themselves, many just buy the Thumler's Tumbler model "B" (Very quiet as it has a rubber lined drum)
Others like myself build their own tumbler. I took a used treadmill that I found online being given away. Removed all the electronic and cut the frame down to shorten it.
Here is a pic of mine
Anything can be used for the tumbler drum and I am still experimenting.
My problem with those tumblers is that they are loud, they are dusty, and they do not clean the primer pockets very well...not to mention that the cob bits always get stuck in the flash holes. Some guys use the walnut media, but I have never used it, so cannot comment on it.
I sold my lyman and switched to a wet tumbler with stainless stell pins. Since it is a wet tumbler, there is no dust and depending on tumbler very little noise or at least a lot less noise than a vibratory tumbler. Also the primer pockets are cleaned out very well. I will admit that pins do on occasion get stuck in the flash holes, but I find a lot less then with the corn cob media.
As for the tumblers themselves, many just buy the Thumler's Tumbler model "B" (Very quiet as it has a rubber lined drum)
Others like myself build their own tumbler. I took a used treadmill that I found online being given away. Removed all the electronic and cut the frame down to shorten it.
Here is a pic of mine
Anything can be used for the tumbler drum and I am still experimenting.
i've got an RCBS (1991 production date) my dad gave me that still works great (testament to RCBS build quality i guess). I looked at buying the frankford before i was gifted my RCBS, seemed pretty well built for the price, and coming with the media separator is a plus. I do use the quick and ez walnut media and it works pretty good, just tried a batch with the brass polish they sell and i'm happy with it. my brass is shiny and now lemony fresh lol.
I just went out and picked up a Lyman 1200 as that's all they had locally and most of the other ones cost more + shipping it in as well. I went to my local pet store and grabbed a bag of walnut pet litter, 25lbs for 20$ which is a great deal since my LGS wanted 25$ for 6lbs
I use the lee tools for deburring. Got an old cordless drill that had dead batteries. Took the drill apart and connected wires to it. Connected the wires to the 12v output of an old computer PSU. Great little bench spinner. Got the torque I need without being so high speed I'll mess myself up if I slip.
I got the Lyman 1200 with walnut media, it is fairly small. I ran a batch for just over an hour and it cleaned it up pretty good. I put a little bit of car wax in with it and I heard dryer sheets help polish and keep dust down so I'm Gunna try that as well.
Armored Metal
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- The People's Republik of Kébekistan
I also own a Lyman 1200. I am new to reloading and I have only cleaned about 1000 .45ACP cases and 200 .223's and am fully satisfied with my purchase. I have been using the green Lyman media that came with the tumbler which does get stuck in the .223's flasholes, but it hasn't bothered me so far.
My first "run" was dusty but then I remembered the Bounce sheet trick which realy eliminates the dust.
My first "run" was dusty but then I remembered the Bounce sheet trick which realy eliminates the dust.
Do you prefer to clean your primer pockets in a separate step? If so, why?
Some primer pockets I don't bother cleaning. It's not really necessary in some calibers. The ones that I do, yeah, I'd rather clean them out myself. Got this nice RCBS brush tool that does a good job.
I find that tumbling isn't aggressive enough to clean the pockets out properly, so that, added to the fact that media will get stuck in the holes, means you'd have to do it manually anyway.
There are others that might have more advanced tumbling methods that are more effective, but I use my tumbler for a very rudimentary purpose.
I don't have any polishing additive and am just using the common corn cob stuff. I just use mine to clean off loose fouling and debris to ready them for loading again. I'm not fussy on having shiny cases.
Heck, I didn't even tumble for the longest time. I would just manually brush fouling off the neck. But as time went on, I started to shoot more often, and started to shoot larger batches per range session, it became to much work, and then I got a tumbler.
To be honest, I've only been tumbling since X-Mas, and I'm still using the same media I got with it. Perhaps I should change it out soon.
I find that tumbling isn't aggressive enough to clean the pockets out properly, so that, added to the fact that media will get stuck in the holes, means you'd have to do it manually anyway.
There are others that might have more advanced tumbling methods that are more effective, but I use my tumbler for a very rudimentary purpose.
I don't have any polishing additive and am just using the common corn cob stuff. I just use mine to clean off loose fouling and debris to ready them for loading again. I'm not fussy on having shiny cases.
Heck, I didn't even tumble for the longest time. I would just manually brush fouling off the neck. But as time went on, I started to shoot more often, and started to shoot larger batches per range session, it became to much work, and then I got a tumbler.
To be honest, I've only been tumbling since X-Mas, and I'm still using the same media I got with it. Perhaps I should change it out soon.
