$10 DIY high capacity wet tumber

Homer bucket, wood scraps from the garage, thrift store ice cream maker motor, cut up thrift store roller blades.
It took maybe 3 hours to build, making it up as I went. My only concern is that the motor will burn up. But, its been running for 30 minutes and feels cool to the touch.
I'm tumbling about a gallon right now, no pins, dawn dish soap and hot water. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...6d1d6a4d88.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...85bbaadff7.jpg

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You could build several of those for what I paid for mine.

Good job.

Thanks!
Here's another pic that is a little more explanatory. You can find old rollerblades any day of the week at a thrift store. The ice cream maker might take a few visits. Its ideal though because it is hi torque, meant to run for a long time, and is the perfect rpm for the diameter of a 5 gallon bucket. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...0625cf8947.jpg

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That's 'Merica cool.

Major bonus points for sourcing and using the ice cream maker.

[facepalm]

Let's see the brass

This is after 35 minutes, no pins, just Dawn soap. The brass was seriously filthy before. Normally I would tumble for like 3 hours, with pins. I hate separating pins out, so I'll skip that for volume pistol reloading.
The ironic thing here is that I've been intending to build something like this since last Spring, and now that I have it I am pretty much out of primers. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...49999ee265.jpg

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I've tried many home-built tumblers some were crap and some outstanding, but all paled in comparison to the Frankford Arsenal tumbler that I finally broke down and bought.

I have two cement mixers that can run huge amounts of brass - which is a huge PITA to deal with - but running smaller amounts with this thing is SO much better. And the results are stellar.

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Originally Posted by rondog

I've tried many home-built tumblers some were crap and some outstanding, but all paled in comparison to the Frankford Arsenal tumbler that I finally broke down and bought.

I have two cement mixers that can run huge amounts of brass - which is a huge PITA to deal with - but running smaller amounts with this thing is SO much better. And the results are stellar.

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Yes, your fart is very special... I already have a smaller capacity rotary tumbler. I just wanted a really big one.

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Looks like a good weekend project! And seems to get the brass clean enough.


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If you are adding soap and water only, why not toss them in a mesh bag and put them in the clothes washer?

I'm thinking that death would be certain, swift and horrible.

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Originally Posted by buffalobo

I'm thinking that death would be certain, swift and horrible.

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That, and you don't want to mess with stuff that could flood your house if you get it wrong.

That's really cool. With the scarcity of ice cream makers, do you think a microwave turntable would work?

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Originally Posted by JohnnyDrama

That's really cool. With the scarcity of ice cream makers, do you think a microwave turntable would work?

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I'm pretty sure it wouldn't. That's a small motor meant for very little resistance. A better thing to try might be a car window motor. But you'd need a way to send it 12v instead of 110v. You can get an ice cream maker motor on eBay. But you'd be better off dropping in to thrift stores till you find one.

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The best motor would be a clothes dryer motor. They are 110v, but they spin at 1200 rpm. I had one I originally planned to use, but gearing it down to like 40 rpm was going to take expensive gears. But a person with access to different stuff could do it cheap.

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