Heavyopp Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 By the time you get the water in them I imagine it's a good workout to just empty them. How much water do you add to the brass and pins ??? The big drums are definitely a lot to handle -- This is an 8 " drum with 18 pounds of .223 and 20.5 pounds of stainless pins Thats full up with water ready to roll -- machine handles it no problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 21lbs of brass, 25lbs of media and 4 gallons of water @ 8lbs per gallon is 79lbs without the weight of the container. That is, unless my 3rd grade math is way off. Sounds like the big dog one is worth it. How big is the container on the big dog ??? Picture, maybe ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cundiff5535 Posted August 4, 2014 Author Share Posted August 4, 2014 I'd think it would be slow/clumsy to unload, unless there is a larger port I can't see in the photo. By the time you get the water in them I imagine it's a good workout to just empty them. How much water do you add to the brass and pins ??? I fill them up. I would say its less than 5 gallons total. I generally fill a 5 gallon bucket almost full and I still have a little left after its filled. Im guessing they weigh about 55-60lbs fully loaded. Its not that bad, but yea, thats the worst part, but I only do it once or maybe twice a day depending on what I am doing. I'd think it would be slow/clumsy to unload, unless there is a larger port I can't see in the photo. Yup a tiny hole like that would be a HUGE pain in the ass to empty. To the OP if you really have 5 gallon buckets to do, you could build a frame like was pictured which is very similar to the frames that Big Dawg makes, but size it for a 5 gallon bucket. Build your 5 gallon bucket with some "wings" in it to agitate the mix out of pvc cut into 1/4's. You can buy lids that snap on, but have a separate screw together top. I looked at building a few different things before spending the money on the Big Dawg. 50lbs of pins is a 300-400 bucks shipped, the bearings and steel rod for the barrels to ride on were like another 100, motor another 150-200 for the nice fan cooled motor, steel was another 100, PVC for the tubes, caps, etc... were like another 50-75, pulleys were 25 or so. Then all the time to build it and paint it. In the end the 1100 for the Big Dawg was WELL worth it IMO to just get it and start running it. I went to his shop to pick it up and shot the shit with him for a bit, he knows his stuff and gave me lots of tips and techniques for getting great results. I have the big Dillon media separator and I can just squeeze(if I am careful) the full 1500 pieces of 5.56 into it, but it takes a while to spin all the pins out. I do about half the barrel at a time and it seems to go much faster. I have 2 5 gallon buckets, 1 gets all the brass for rinsing, the other gets the dirty water and pins for rinsing. Then I head to the bathtub in the basement bathroom and rinse. It takes almost an hour to empty, rinse, and put everything away and have brass on towels drying with a full load. I am not sure if you saw my link... there is a picture of my actual container on a treadmill... all I really need is the stand and Motor. Ill call BigDawg up to see if he can construct something for me:)! Im sure it will be very close to what he already is doing. If you missed my container here it is... its a beast but not terrible to handle! Its heavy all filled up: http://vid1078.photobucket.com/albums/w481/cundiff5535/IMG_2052_zps9b5d8adf.mp4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdinga Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 I have read a lot about stainless pins...lots of legendary results. Also reading about some guys using ceramic beads instead of stainless pins because they weigh less and work just as well. Has anyone here tired ceramic beads instead of stainless pins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 My shooting partner and I tried some when we first tried the "wet" cleaning process. We didn't think they worked well at all, but, there are probably a lot of different models of them out there. Got some pins from Kevin and didn't like them - too small - so had some bigger ones done and really like them - they are now what they call the XL model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razorfish Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 I am not sure if you saw my link... there is a picture of my actual container on a treadmill... all I really need is the stand and Motor. Ill call BigDawg up to see if he can construct something for me:)! Im sure it will be very close to what he already is doing. If you missed my container here it is... its a beast but not terrible to handle! Its heavy all filled up: http://vid1078.photobucket.com/albums/w481/cundiff5535/IMG_2052_zps9b5d8adf.mp4 Ingenious... On a side note, I tried running my last load of brass on a treadmill yesterday. The good news is that it worked great. The bad news is that I'm having to look for new gym now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heavyopp Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 (edited) I am not sure if you saw my link... there is a picture of my actual container on a treadmill... all I really need is the stand and Motor. Ill call BigDawg up to see if he can construct something for me:)! Im sure it will be very close to what he already is doing. If you missed my container here it is... its a beast but not terrible to handle! Its heavy all filled up: http://vid1078.photobucket.com/albums/w481/cundiff5535/IMG_2052_zps9b5d8adf.mp4 I'm wondering if that drum will chew up the rubber on the rollers -- It's a very small contact area with a huge weight potential -- The PVC pipe drums spread that weight out over a much larger surface on the roller -- Just a thought... Sorry about the multi quote --- Can't seem to get rid of it Edited August 4, 2014 by Heavyopp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjacobs Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 (edited) 21lbs of brass, 25lbs of media and 4 gallons of water @ 8lbs per gallon is 79lbs without the weight of the container. That is, unless my 3rd grade math is way off. Sounds like the big dog one is worth it. How big is the container on the big dog ??? Picture, maybe ??? He has pictures on his website, I dont have any and wont be home until the 11th. It dont fit 4 gallons of water with all the pins and brass, I would say 2.5 at the max when filled with pins and 1500 pieces of brass. I dont think you would fit 4 gallons of water into it without any brass or pins. You could EASILY set the drum into the 5 gallon bucket. So 66lbs plus the weight of the drum(maybe 10-15 pounds, somewhere in there, never measured). So I guess maybe 80lbs total at the max. Like I said, I have 2 drums and a 5 gallon bucket(not even full) fills them all the way up. They arent "easy" to move around, thats for sure, but they arent hard either and mine sits on the bottom shelf of one of my reloading benches so not the easiest access. Edited August 4, 2014 by rjacobs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmanktm Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 With your barrel design all of that weight will be riding on two small areas and it will cut through the heater hose that Big Dog uses on the rollers. I have a large drum that weighs about 50 lbs. and it shredded the rubber right off of the shafts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenr Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Here are some leads, for truck tire and large bucket tumblers mostly for rocks but can work for casing. http://www.miim.com/thebside/tumbler/ http://mbyers.net/scienceclub/b1a1rocktumbler.html this one replaced the largest thumlers tumbler. http://www.scribd.com/doc/26632626/A-Fifty-Pound-Truck-Tire-Rock-Tumbler-Specifications-and-Experiences the math behind the sizes. etc. http://www.acc.umu.se/~widmark/lwtrumle.html Plus you can always page thru the photos for tire rock tumblers on google should be enough to give you ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 (edited) The "tire" tumbler is a neat idea, but, think it would be difficult to make one waterproof. Some of the rock tumbler with tires vids say they are using water, but not much and don't think that would work well with pins and brass. If the tire were big enough it might work but would have to be pretty big. The ones using a 5 gal bucket end up being like the MixAll paint stirrer, but less expensive if you have the equipment to build it, or access to the equipment. Edited August 4, 2014 by Steve RA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjacobs Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 With your barrel design all of that weight will be riding on two small areas and it will cut through the heater hose that Big Dog uses on the rollers. I have a large drum that weighs about 50 lbs. and it shredded the rubber right off of the shafts. Whose barrel design? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 (edited) Here is one I built using a 100lb chlorine bucket (12.2 gallon). http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=141007&hl=%2Btumbler#entry2080581 There is one bucket that stays in the machine and others just nest inside it to be spun. Edited August 5, 2014 by jmorris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmanktm Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 With your barrel design all of that weight will be riding on two small areas and it will cut through the heater hose that Big Dog uses on the rollers. I have a large drum that weighs about 50 lbs. and it shredded the rubber right off of the shafts. Whose barrel design? http://www.candmtopline.com/tumblers.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cundiff5535 Posted August 5, 2014 Author Share Posted August 5, 2014 Sorry I have not been near a computer to read through this but, what a thread!! Thanks for all the info... Ill get pics up on this as soon as I can get out to the shop to do so.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmanktm Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 With your barrel design all of that weight will be riding on two small areas and it will cut through the heater hose that Big Dog uses on the rollers. I have a large drum that weighs about 50 lbs. and it shredded the rubber right off of the shafts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sschultz Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 I got around that problem on mine by using clear vynal tubeing on my shafts. Its not as gripie as the radiator hose but the drums run on it smother and they last more than twice as long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmanktm Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 I got around that problem on mine by using clear vynal tubeing on my shafts. Its not as gripie as the radiator hose but the drums run on it smother and they last more than twice as long.I will give e vinyl a try..thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 I finished putting this one together today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heavyopp Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 (edited) I finished putting this one together today. Nice -- anything in those drums as agitators? Edited August 7, 2014 by Heavyopp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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