Wet tumbling.

[Nathan80]

I’m looking to buy a wet tumbler, they are all around the same money give or Take a few pound. Lyman,Rcbs,Hornady,Frankford arsenal is what I was looking at, is one better than the others?

 

[Stooby]

I purchased a Chinese one off Tbay and it works a treat, without the big money

 

[75]

Likewise, eBay chinese rock tumbler thingy. Paid about £60 but that’s a few years back. Works fine.

 

[mealiejimmy]

I had one of the Chinese ones from E bay and it fell to bits and the motor burned out within a couple of months
I now have the small Frankford Arsenal tumbler and have no problems with it

Cheers

Bruce

 

[nCognitos]

I bought Chinese one and it was great, with the application of a little silicone sealer, so I bought the Frankford mini tumbler, that was useless unless I put 100 cases in and I process in batches of 50, so that went back.

Here's a link to a UK site where you can buy it, make sure to get the 5kg one, VEVOR 5kg Rotary Tumbler Jewelry Polisher Finisher Machine Polishing With Bead 220V | VEVOR UK

You also need about 1lb or 500g of 1mm x 8mm stainless steel tumbling pins

 

[finnbear270]

Frankford.

 

[Sandyb]

Certainly not cheap, but buy once, as I did (albeit 10 years ago) a Thumbler Tumbler polisher. I dread to think how much they cost now. All powdercoated metal casing, thick rubber liner. Top quality.

 

[Howa]

I have the small Frankford one.
It could do with something built in to the inner casing to cause the cases to bounce around more, but apart from that it's fine.

 

[Len the dog]

I also bought the Vevor off fleabay, absolutely brilliant. Quite a few of the reviews mention the drive band snapping but the design has since been changed to a direct drive.
They come in two sizes, I bought the smaller one and it easily accommodated 100 22-250 cases, my guess is it would have taken at least another 50.

 

[Reidzer]

I bought one direct from vevor. Cheaper than ebay! No complaints so far.
Just trying to figure out best solution to use. But good results so far.

 

[stevenedwards]

I bought a little used Lyman from the classifieds here and it has given good service for 5 years

 

[Len the dog]

I bought one direct from vevor. Cheaper than ebay! No complaints so far.
Just trying to figure out best solution to use. But good results so far.

I found warm water and a dishwasher tab worked very well.

 

[angusb1]

I bought one direct from vevor. Cheaper than ebay! No complaints so far.
Just trying to figure out best solution to use. But good results so far.

Same one from vevor. I have a small ultrasonic bath as well that I originally bought for cleaning bike chains but it works well for cases too. I use the same solution of 1tsp citric acid, drop of washing up liquid and drop of dishwasher rinse aid in both. Lots of discussion of the merits of various solutions here: Ultrasonic clean before or after sizing?.

 

[mealiejimmy]

I bought one direct from vevor. Cheaper than ebay! No complaints so far.
Just trying to figure out best solution to use. But good results so far.

Hot water, a few drops of washing up liquid and about half a teaspoonful of citric acid crystals
After a few hours tumbling, they come out shinier than new brass

Cheers

Bruce

 

[nCognitos]

Hot water, a few drops of washing up liquid and about half a teaspoonful of citric acid crystals
After a few hours tumbling, they come out shinier than new brass

Agreed, I was using too much citric to start with and that etched the brass.

I found the trick was less citric and more detergent. I've used washing up liquid, laundry detergent and dishwasher tabs, all work. I've settled on1/2 teaspoon of citric, a stiff squirt of washing-up liquid and a 2 hour tumble for the shiniest brass but I do fill the drum with hot water to start.

 

[Bavarianbrit]

Rinse in fresh tap water afterwards to remove all the etching effect of the citric acid.

 

[nCognitos]

Rinse in fresh tap water afterwards to remove all the etching effect of the citric acid.

I save the water that comes out of my air conditioner and rinse in that, it helped but the cases just were not shiny enough, cutting back on the citric, (I was using a tablespoon!) fixed the problem.

 

[mealiejimmy]

Agreed, I was using too much citric to start with and that etched the brass.

I found the trick was less citric and more detergent. I've used washing up liquid, laundry detergent and dishwasher tabs, all work. I've settled on1/2 teaspoon of citric, a stiff squirt of washing-up liquid and a 2 hour tumble for the shiniest brass but I do fill the drum with hot water to start.

Agreed
Too much citric or tool long tumbling can make the brass look more copper coloured than brass coloured - a sure sign that the liquid is too acidic and is eating the zinc out of the alloy

Cheers

Bruce

 

[scooby doo]

Have a look at CED tumble

 

[wytonpjs]

Frankford Arsenal 100%

Just make sure you do the top up tightly - just saying.......