EricW Posted September 26, 2004 Share Posted September 26, 2004 It slices! It dices! It's a tree-chipper! It can cut pop cans, but remains sharp enough to smash a tomato. Sometimes you might actually decide to clean your brass with it. Right now, it's only sporting the 2 gal. bucket, but shall soon be supersized with a 5 gal. bucket. You can clean about 5-700 pieces of brass in the 2 gal version. Should get proportionally more in the 5 gal. bucket, which will be very nice when I buy 5 to 10K of brass at a time. The mechanics: It's a small, maybe 1/5 HP motor running at about 700 rpm - which is the only practical way to make it spin slow enough with one belt reduction. The giant pulley I found at a surplus electronics store. I have a second pulley to use to mount the 5 gal bucket. I'm using the weight of the motor as the belt "tensioner". It's a trick I stole from a 1930-ish power hacksaw of we inherited from my grandfather. And yes, the bungee cords are cheesy, but hey, they work. By the way, the secret to getting the brass to tumble instead of follow the bucket around in circles, is to tilt the bucket. That's why it's at an angle. Otherwise you have to really gear the sucker down. The other good part is that there's no weight pushing the lid open. Also, if you keep the brass load low, it's extremely quiet. Far more quiet than a vibe bowl. Total cost in parts: approx. $75 including steel. And no, I will never sell make and sell something like this as you could buy three Dillon tumblers for the same retail price. For somebody with a few hours and some spare parts, it's a neat-little project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessej Posted September 26, 2004 Share Posted September 26, 2004 Are you sure that's not a dirty bomb? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingerjg Posted September 26, 2004 Share Posted September 26, 2004 What we have here people is a bored welder that shoots and has Way to much time on his hands. Still though, kind of a neat project Eric. If you made it before steel prices went through the roof, it would be alot cheaper project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted September 26, 2004 Share Posted September 26, 2004 Erik, Master-Tinkerer, for sure. Cool gadget, though. Sorry, I don't have room for it or I'd order one. I'm in the throes of hauling in more computers, monitors, and that sort of crap. Space? What space??!! Many, many times, however, I've wanted a tumbler that'd hold more than 210 rds of brass...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n2299 Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 Eric, if I send you a 2 gal bucket can you do the mod and make it into the BW9000? I know shipping would probably kill me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 I'm kinda disappointed because when I saw the title I was expecting some device that would retreive the brass from the ground. Why don't you get to work on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted September 28, 2004 Author Share Posted September 28, 2004 I'm kinda disappointed because when I saw the title I was expecting some device that would retreive the brass from the ground. Why don't you get to work on that. Because it's already been invented. Southern Belle Brass sells them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn jones Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 is that thing OSHA approved? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 Hmm..... Is it too noisy for an apartment...? (As if I have any room for it!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 I need something like that. I thought about converting my old washing machine into a tumbler. But I have to figure out someway better to separate everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 Ooooo.... washing machine...! That WOULD be noisy. Perhaps a dryer would be easier to convert...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted September 28, 2004 Author Share Posted September 28, 2004 I'm kinda disappointed because when I saw the title I was expecting some device that would retreive the brass from the ground. Why don't you get to work on that. The Brass Buggy, which is just really a Golf Ball picker upper (with narrower tines). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead Buff Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Dryer, take bucket/plastic 2l coke bottles/etc, fill 3/4 or less with media and cases, roll into blanket/sleeping bag/etc, jam into dryer, set to NO HEAT and turn on for 60min. Ensure bucket/bottle/etc are at an angle......Watch for maximum weight limit of dryer. A friend does about 1500 to 2000 case per go this way.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriggerT Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Dryer, take bucket/plastic 2l coke bottles/etc, fill 3/4 or less with media and cases, roll into blanket/sleeping bag/etc, jam into dryer, set to NO HEAT and turn on for 60min. Ensure bucket/bottle/etc are at an angle......Watch for maximum weight limit of dryer.A friend does about 1500 to 2000 case per go this way.... God, if one of those things let go in the dryer my wife would friggin kill me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Sweeney Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Sounds like the kind of treatment you'd give a dryer in the dorm, not the one your wife would expect to use next week. I do know that .223 brass, rinsed clean of lube, spread on a cookie sheet, and placed in the oven on the "warm" setting, dries in twenty minutes...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead Buff Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Dryer, take bucket/plastic 2l coke bottles/etc, fill 3/4 or less with media and cases, roll into blanket/sleeping bag/etc, jam into dryer, set to NO HEAT and turn on for 60min. Ensure bucket/bottle/etc are at an angle......Watch for maximum weight limit of dryer.A friend does about 1500 to 2000 case per go this way.... God, if one of those things let go in the dryer my wife would friggin kill me. Empty cases, not loaded ammo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriggerT Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 NO KIDDING! I am saying that if one of the containers with the tumbling media in it broke open in the dryer. Think of the mess that would be. Do you REALLY think I would be SOOOOO stupid to think about putting loaded ammo in.....well, you must. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead Buff Posted September 30, 2004 Share Posted September 30, 2004 Oops...have seen some do it....no holes yet from what I hear.... Yep, that could get messy and the media will probably clog all the little holes in the dryer - can you say divorce by death..... Busy building a similar unit to the BW9000, will see if it works... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Sweeney Posted September 30, 2004 Share Posted September 30, 2004 That reminds me of a conversation I had years ago with a commercial reloader. His "small" brass tumbler, the one he used for the odd calibers he was occasionally asked to reload, was a.....cement mixer. The big ones he used were wooden drums, four feet in diameter and seven feet long, turned by the biggest electric motors I had ever seen outside of a machine shop. He had no idea who made them, or how old they were, as he'd bought the business lock, stock and barrel years before. He needed them to keep feeding his multiple Camdex machines to keep up with police contracts. After that, my Dillon presses and multiple tumbler/vibrators seemed so......small and unmanly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redmercury2 Posted September 30, 2004 Share Posted September 30, 2004 throw about 100 pieces of handgun brass in a nylon mesh bag,several bags to a load,place in dishwasher and let her rip. .... be sure to use a cycle with drying. best done when the lady is out!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted September 30, 2004 Author Share Posted September 30, 2004 was a.....cement mixer. Pat, Acutually, if I was going to build a larger tumber......I wouldn't. I'd buy a harbor freight cement mixer for the $300 or whatever they sell for. The downer would be the power bill. The larger motors really suck the amps. Don't ask me how anyone gets brass "clean" in an hour of tumbling either. I run my tumblers, vibratory and rotating, overnight and still wish my brass was cleaner. The one thing I learned about this project was the importance of collecting old (1920's - 1950's) washing machine motors. New motors all spin at 1750 rpm and up forcing another belt reduction, which adds $50 to $75 to the cost of the project. Brand new motors are EXPENSIVE. Holy Schmolie! Thank god for surplus stores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now