malty purpose tumbler

[eli polite]

the heart of the machine is a drill press motor I got for free





the motor comes in contact with the front wheel. I put grip tape on the shaft I think you can see it. The motor is adjustable and the small diameter of the motor shaft contacting the larger wheel slows the tumbler down to a good speed.







More grip tape on the rim of the bucket where it comes in contact with the wheel

 

[fdkay]

chocolate or vanilla malts?

 

[5spd]

You could also add mixer bars to the inside like a cement mixer has to help tumble. Id tilt it so it sits lower in the rear a tad. I know with the lid on it would be watertight and you could easily use SS for nice shiny brass in large quantities instead of the way to small thumbler tumbler that holds maybe 30 or so.

 

[eli polite]

It does tilt. I will use it for brass and milling my own black powder..
I just plan on having several 5 gallon buckets one for each caliber. that way I can just throw the empty's in the designated bucket and when its full throw it on the tumbler.

im also hoping I can put a lid on and mill wet.

 

[eli polite]

chocolate or vanilla malts?

Take your pick.. Sorry about that

 

[Joey Dean]

I recomend these bucket lids. I have several in different colors and designate that color to caliber. Easy when you are sorting brass to have that visual cue on what bucket to throw empties into. Totally water tight as well.

Gamma Seal Bucket Lids | 5 Gallon Bucket Screw On Lid

 

[pawprint2]

It does tilt. I will use it for brass and milling my own black powder..
I just plan on having several 5 gallon buckets one for each caliber. that way I can just throw the empty's in the designated bucket and when its full throw it on the tumbler.

im also hoping I can put a lid on and mill wet.

Milling your own black powder? Damn-are you making it from scratch? Any consideration as to isolating the motor-a little dust from black powder-hello?

 

[eli polite]

I ran it for about 3 hours today. With weight in it did some adjustments and its good to go

I may make a new one with a few minor changes

 

[eli polite]

No fear with the black powder.. a smaller sealed container inside the 5 gallon bucket also sealed. Also when I do it it will run 50 yards from anything and it will be inside of a 3 sided granite box on a concrete slab.

 

[dddoo7]

I have a similar homemade setup only I use PVC pipe and test plugs instead of 5 gal buckets. I really like the buckets though.

You will want some paddles in the buckets for stainless media. I installed some in my PVC pipe and it works great.


--Daniel

 

[eli polite]

MOST! of what I will be doing is cleaning brass.. But ! as far as the black powder go's it will be from scratch yes and it will be a very fine powder like talk powder. In this form it is actually very slow burning. I does not become fast burning until it is granulated. that's probably the safest part of the process. Until it is dried.. I will go into more detail on this when I'M ready to do it

 

[pawprint2]

^^I believe Delaware was the first or one of the first bp plants in the U.S. (even before we were the U.S.), take copious photos, as they say curious minds want to know!

 

[eli polite]

I will.. but I am cleaning brass first so it will be a little while. when Im ready for the B.P. I will probably start a new thread in here with step by step. It can be used in muzzle loaders and cannons It is corrosive but as long as you clean properly after words you should be good.

my main purpose is brass it will only be used may be twice a year to mill B.P. most likely when it is a little less dry out side. Enough raw material to make 30lbs of B.P. cost me about $100

I'm also buying molds and gathering lead to cast my own bullets. that's easy stuff.

keep an eye out in a week or so and Ill post about the B.P. process I have done it many times in the past but on a small scale a few OZ at a time with this set up I should be able to do 2lbs + at a time.

 

[brtelec]

I have a similar homemade setup only I use PVC pipe and test plugs instead of 5 gal buckets. I really like the buckets though.

You will want some paddles in the buckets for stainless media. I installed some in my PVC pipe and it works great.


--Daniel

I would love to see a picture of your PVC tube set up.

 

[dddoo7]

It is a 1 HP Baldor Motor geared down to turn the pvc about 40 RPM. It will turn a larger PVC slower. 1HP is way larger than necessary, but it is what I found at the time. The driven shaft is 3/4 aluminum with heat shrink on it for traction. There are two bearings in the back that are just idlers to keep the pvc on the other shaft. Again, bearings is what I had-- I have seen inline skate wheels and bearings used for the idler side. It is 4" pvc with two test plugs. I welded the paddles onto the carriage bolt of one of the test plugs so I didn't have to drill holes in the PVC. It is very small. I can only do about 30-308's, 90-.45acp's, or 130-.40's. It would be very easy to make this same motor turn a longer pvc pipe or even two drums-- this is just what I had. It is slow, but it works. Typical tumble time with stainless is about 4 hours.