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Educate me on rotary tumbling with steel pins please
- Thread starter themayor
- Start date
I do ss pin in a cement mixer lots of brass at once
I don't do it for less than 1000 cases at once. Small batches I still use the vibrator and corn Cobb or walnut too much trouble for small batches
I don't do it for less than 1000 cases at once. Small batches I still use the vibrator and corn Cobb or walnut too much trouble for small batches
I traded into my set up. Got it from Clarke123. I have 2 drums, one holds about 500 223 cases and the other holds about 1k of 223 cases. Haven't done any pistol cases yet.
I love it. Only thing I would suggest is get a great big magnet to run thru your brass first to pull out any possible steel cases. And don't use too much citric acid.
I love it. Only thing I would suggest is get a great big magnet to run thru your brass first to pull out any possible steel cases. And don't use too much citric acid.
They are made from pvc pipe. I think 1 is a 4" and one is an 8". It runs on a 1/3hp motor.
If you are the least bit handy you could build one yourself. Material cost to buy the stuff needed isn't worth it to build just one. I'll take some pics when I get home.
If you are the least bit handy you could build one yourself. Material cost to buy the stuff needed isn't worth it to build just one. I'll take some pics when I get home.
http://biggdawgtumblers.net/ that is basically what I have but not as refined I guess you could say
Besides the large size, any other reason this won't work?
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-1-4-quarter-cubic-ft-compact-cement-mixer-91907.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-1-4-quarter-cubic-ft-compact-cement-mixer-91907.html
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Having done extensive research prior to building my own I have a few opinions on the subject.
I subsequently traded the unit to b.a.customkydex because I had processed all of the brass that
I needed for the next 3 years (or more!) and I'm getting ready to move into a new house soon.
The tub / bottle that you use to tumble in needs to be some material that will not be attacked
by the necessary Citric Acid solution that is used along with a very small amount of the least-foaming
detergent that you can find (I used clothes washing detergent with an "He" rating). If your tub / bottle
is crafted of standard steel, the citric acid will "eat" into it ... so the need to rinse after each use.
You will want SS pins that are magnetic. "Google" the Stainless Steel Pins - There is an outfit that manufactures them for almost everyone (Midway).
For a minimum order of something like 20# you can buy them direct for far less than 1/2 the retail price !!!!
If you get the SS Pins anywhere else, they may ens up costing you as much as everything else put together!
If I were to do it all over again, I would take one of two different routes:
1) Buy a small concrete mixer that had a sturdy plastic drum (this would be the least expensive / fastest way).
2) Bolt together (rather than weld) a frame based on an inexpensive Harbor Freight
Hand Truck / using electrical Bus Bar Stock from Home Depot. Electric motors
and bearing blocks can be had from e-bay and pulleys from ZORO.
And "YES" a Magnet is necessary (one with a handle and "release" feature),
and "Yes" it isn't worth doing less than 500 pieces at a time.
This is because it is still a chore separating the pins from the brass ... a chore that isn't worth
the effort for small batches.
Because I have multi-thousand pieces already processed, I now use a
Ultra-Sonic cleaner to clean the small batches of brass that I pick up at the range.
While not as pretty / clean as the SS Tumbler, they can then be placed in my vibratory
tumbler with corn / walnut media for a final "polish" if I want to, but I usually forego
this step.
I subsequently traded the unit to b.a.customkydex because I had processed all of the brass that
I needed for the next 3 years (or more!) and I'm getting ready to move into a new house soon.
The tub / bottle that you use to tumble in needs to be some material that will not be attacked
by the necessary Citric Acid solution that is used along with a very small amount of the least-foaming
detergent that you can find (I used clothes washing detergent with an "He" rating). If your tub / bottle
is crafted of standard steel, the citric acid will "eat" into it ... so the need to rinse after each use.
You will want SS pins that are magnetic. "Google" the Stainless Steel Pins - There is an outfit that manufactures them for almost everyone (Midway).
For a minimum order of something like 20# you can buy them direct for far less than 1/2 the retail price !!!!
If you get the SS Pins anywhere else, they may ens up costing you as much as everything else put together!
If I were to do it all over again, I would take one of two different routes:
1) Buy a small concrete mixer that had a sturdy plastic drum (this would be the least expensive / fastest way).
2) Bolt together (rather than weld) a frame based on an inexpensive Harbor Freight
Hand Truck / using electrical Bus Bar Stock from Home Depot. Electric motors
and bearing blocks can be had from e-bay and pulleys from ZORO.
And "YES" a Magnet is necessary (one with a handle and "release" feature),
and "Yes" it isn't worth doing less than 500 pieces at a time.
This is because it is still a chore separating the pins from the brass ... a chore that isn't worth
the effort for small batches.
Because I have multi-thousand pieces already processed, I now use a
Ultra-Sonic cleaner to clean the small batches of brass that I pick up at the range.
While not as pretty / clean as the SS Tumbler, they can then be placed in my vibratory
tumbler with corn / walnut media for a final "polish" if I want to, but I usually forego
this step.
Does work but very low quality. Motor will only run about 20min before over heats
It is ment to run short batches of concrete not run for long duration thats how they saved cost of a better motor
