Generation 1, 2018-present. It started out as just a harbor freight rock tumbler I inherited from my dad. I didn't use it for a few years it just sat on a shelf. Then I figured I wanted to try wet pin tumbling, but I didn't want to buy a pin tumbler. So I RTV'ed copper wires in side a 1qt jar to act as cleats as the first tests showed the cases and pins would just slide inside the jar unless it was really full. Good for 20 to 300 9mm cases, 20 to 120 of 5.56 cases. Lessons learned, use glass so you can see the condition of the cases and water. Use cleats with glass so the cases tuen over. Use brass shine for good looking cases. Use lemon shine for really dirty range brass. Use dawn to clean freshly sized still oily rifle brass. Generation 2, 2020-2021. I am going to discontinue use as I have a friend who wants to buy it next time they are in town. I have about $150 in it. He asked how much you want for it and I said 350, and he said sold! It's a 1/3hp 48Y frame 6 pole 120v motor, four pillow blocks for 5/8 shaft. The pulleys are 3 variable size and a 7 inch. One variable pulley is a 1/2 inch flat spot fan shaft pulley, since the 48y frame is a fan motor. Then two variable size 5/8 shaft pulleys. And the 7 inch fixed pulley is a tractor supply 7 inch on a 5/8 keyed shaft drive hub, just go look at the pulley isle at tractor supply and you will see what I mean. Then I slipped 5/8 heater hose over the 5/8 rods. This one does 1 gallon to 5 gallon containers. The minimum is about 250 9mm cases or about a hundred 5.56 in a 1 gallon. Right there in the picture I think there's 1,300 9mm cases about the max, in there with 5 pounds of stainless steel pins. I would like more pins, probably going to order another 10lb. I could fit about 10lb of pins with 1,200 to 1,300 9mils. Maximum is two 1 gallon jars, to rotate a 5 gallon jug really full of brass, water and pins it would need a bigger 6 pole motor or have the gear ratio increased. Improvements: rtv 1/4 or 3/16 stainless steel key stock inside the 1 gallon jugs.
Generation 3, coming late 2021 or 2022. I'll build it like the Gen 2 with some big changes. Longer drive rods than Gen 2 and this time use1/2 rods and pillow blocks with 1/2 inch heater hose for better final drive ratio. A 5/8 rod with 5/8 heater hose is about 0.9 inches in diameter, that gives me about a 6:1 final drive ratio on a 1 gallon jar. 1/2 inch rods with half inch heater hose is going to be about 0.75 inches in diameter and will give me a final drive ratio of closer to 8:1. For the motor use bigger more powerful 3/4hp 4 speed, open frame, 48 frame fan motor.
HA. I re built one of my Gran Dads old rock tumblers, it has a 2 gallon capacity hopper that turns around 30 RPM! With the rebuild, it will spin a 5 gallon bucket loaded to the max with brass, and soap and water, takes about an hour to run most brass through it and it comes out just fine! These old rockk tumblers are getting expensive, one like this can cost $400+!
Gen 2 turns the 1 gallon jar about 70rpm. Going with 1/2 in rods will be cheaper to build. The half inch fan shaft variable pulleys much cheaper than keyed 5/8 inch variable pulleys. Gen 2 spins the drive rods about 400rpm, that's way too slow for the 5 gallon jug, I will likely want the fastest setting to be for 5 gallon only. Spinning the container full of brass rapidly appears to clean them good and fast, but allowing the cases to gently turn over and slide against one another appears to polish better. Also about 1lb of pins per 100 cases appears to be ideal.
I love the idea of using the glass mason jars. I despise the original Harbor Freight tumbling containers. I have a craft-lady friend that uses the same tumbler to make sea glass out of broken beer bottles. I'll have to see what container she uses. I also thought about the potential for using large stainless steel drink bottles. These have wide necks and run up to a gallon. As long as my brass is clean I'm happy with the process, even if I can't see it. A broken bottle of soapy water and stainless steel pins would be a mess. I could put a rubber liner in the bottles to work like the original Harbor Freight containers. These things vary in size and are all over the place in local thrift stores. Marines like to drag around a gallon of water with them everywhere. I'll have to take some measurements. Anything that increases my tumbling capacity is a plus. I've seen commercial reloaders that wet and dry tumble brass and loaded cartridges in cement mixers. I don't need that kind of volume, but if somebody had one for the right price...
Generation 2 is doing at least two thousand 223 cases tonight in a 5 gallon jug. Let's see if the 1/3hp motor is up to the task. Edit: yeah the 1/3hp motor easily handles the 5 gallon jug. The 5 gallon jug eats 2,300 cases of 223 no problem. Gen 3 is going to do two 5 gallon jugs or four 1 gallon jars. Gen 2 is doing precisely what it was designed to do, this batch contract work. My fee, 500 of the tarnished cases. The yellow brass, about 1,300 were easy to clean up, they are done after one run. I would only ask 10% of those. But the brown tarnished cases, I'll have to run them several times, probably take half of those if I'm going to make them yeller and shinny again. That's why my fee will be the tarnished ones, so there's less to do and I'll get them some what clean at my leisure.
Now I'm really testing Gen 2. I loaded it up with 71 pounds of shit tonight. Just shy of 5 gallons of water and chemicals and rise recovery water left over from doing a batch of nice yellow brass, so about 40lb. About 10 pounds of pins and the rest is tarnished brass. But it could easily hold double that brass and pins.
It's a pita to get the pins and 223 cases out of a 2 inch neck. Get wide mouth containers. The Franklin arsenal 7 liter rotory cleaner jug looks pretty nice but it's $77. 7L is really about as big as I normally need to go. Do I want to spend $77?
I got a 0.083 wall 10 inch diameter length of 304 stainless pipe for free to turn into a tumbler drum.
