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More questions....tumbler/tumbling

codenamepaulcodenamepaul Member Posts: 2,931 ✭
edited June 2007 in Perry Shooter Competition Shooting and Reloading Forum
I am using my tumbler overnight nearly every night to clean and polish. How long can I expect the tumbler to last like this?

I am tumbling for 1 hour with a rice and Brasso/corncob/walnut mix to clean out all the range dirt before decapping. After decapping, trim for length and clean primer pockets then into clean walnut and brasso for the night. New brass in the morning.

Seems to be working so far.

Now to find some 50BMG loads with something other than H50.
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Comments

  • PearywPearyw Member Posts: 3,699
    edited November -1
    I have burned out one motor in 10 years. The biggist problem that I have is wiring to the motor breaking. I have repaired wiring on a number of occasions. I would recommend using a different polish such as Midway's. Brasso will cause brass to crack quicker. I never have to polish as long as you are doing. Normaly if I keep the polish fairly fresh, 4 hours is about as long as I polish to get a bright finish.
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  • codenamepaulcodenamepaul Member Posts: 2,931 ✭
    edited November -1
    If you let the media with the Brasso tumble for an hour or so, the ammonia that will cause the brass to crack will vaporize.

    I just put the tumbler on before I leave the shop. I'm never in there long enough to see the brass finish-perhaps I should.
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  • BHAVINBHAVIN Member Posts: 3,490 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I burned the motor out of my Midway 1292 out after about 12 years. I usually clean in rice or walnut for 1-2 hours and polish in corn for 1-2 hours. My brass usually always looks brand new. I have a buddy that uses the big model Dillon and polishes a ton of brass alot of it 50 bmg. He lets his go for 24 hours sometimes and has had his tumbler for at least 10 years. I agree on the wiring giving up before the motor in many cases.

    I have found for best results if you match the amount of media to the amount of brass you are cleaning. Meaning you add enough media so that the brass isn't knocking together but that the tumbler still cavitates well it cleans faster. For the first couple years I was tumbling brass I always just dumped in the same amount of media and cleaning was inconsistent.
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  • codenamepaulcodenamepaul Member Posts: 2,931 ✭
    edited November -1
    Don't really have much of a formula for brass/media mix, but I am probably on the low end of where I could be. I do 15 50 BMG cases at a time, 50 .223, and probably the same in .308. A bit less for 30-06.
    A good agressive tumble in the media. I was adding brass until movement slowed down, then took some out.

    I did mess for a bit trying to maximize, but it's not really a production thing for me so I just try and keep the brass from clinking around.
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  • miltmchsimiltmchsi Member Posts: 3 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I've been using a Thumblers tumbler since 1989. I load 8 pistol and 9 rifle calibers use it for cleaning, and removing case lube. I use it overnight, and during the day when at work. I've had mine going 70 out of 72 hours and never had a problem. Still going strong.
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  • veemaxveemax Member Posts: 31 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I use the cleaning media from Lyman in my midway tumbler.
    The Tumbler is now almost 13 years old, never had any problem yet.
    I clean about 100 cases .222Rem. or 60 .308Winch. cases, which are sized and decapped at one time
    Cleaning time is about 2 hours and they shine like new ones, but I refresh the media after 10-15 cleaning sessions.
    The only minus point is that in every flash-hole there is a little piece of media which I have to get out first before repriming the cases.
    Regards,
    Paul Tummers.
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  • GUNFUNCOGUNFUNCO Member Posts: 2,919 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    A lot of people seem worried about this. It is just a motor spinning with a weight on it. It seems to me that it would be an easy, constant, load on the motor and not very hard on it. There are a lot of motors around your house that run a long time and quite often- like well pump, refrig, washing machine, etc. My geothermal furnace runs almost constantly in the real cold months and I haven't had a problem yet and it has been 12 years. I put 6 ceiling fans in my house at the same time and one of them has run almost constantly for 12 years straight. No problems.

    I let mine run overnight quite often. (I have 4 tumblers right now) I have also used them back to back for several days at a time. I only ever had a problem with one motor. The motor would still run but when you turned on the switch, it wouldn't start and you had to manually give the weight on the shaft a spin like an old airplane propeller. It would then run until I shut it off again. Anyway, it was a Dillon and it was shortly after they had started making tumblers, and I called them and they had me return it and they replaced the whole tumbler for FREE.

    Just another reason to buy the good stuff. Dillon RCBS Lyman etc. They last!
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