Home Built Wet Tumbler

[CarbonSteel]

I have two Dillon CV-2001 dry media tumblers that I have used for many years with great results, but they never quite clean the primer pockets. For my varmint rifles, I always true the primer pockets by cutting them to depth and back boring the flash holes before I load them for the first time which makes the manual clean up of the primer pockets easier, but it still take some time. I have a friend near me who bought a Frankford Arsenal wet tumbler and though it works very well, I shoot substantially more than he does and I would either burn it up or have to wait and do many small loads.

I searched around and found there are quite a few examples of home built wet tumblers that are much more heavy duty than anything you can buy and while it was somewhat expensive to do, I did not have any of the pieces lying around as some of you might so I had to buy it all--except for the base which was some scrap ¾" plywood I had leftover from building my last reloading bench. I built this for the long haul and the time savings on the extra clean-up will be my ROI.

I split the ½" PVC lengthwise and glued it inside the 6" PVC at 90° positions. The heater hose covered rollers are on 5.5" centers and the board size is 24" x 24" x 1-1/2" thick. The cylinder turns at 75 RPM and will hold two gallons of water and the one in the photo will be used for rifle brass (the cylinder is 12" long without the cap or reducer) and I will make one a little shorter for pistol brass at some point. While other examples I saw had "washing machine feet", I chose to use casters so that it would be easy to move around. They are lockable so it stays put, but it really does not move even when unlocked and running. The average time that I see is people using online is about 1 hour of tumbling and I will have to experiment to see how that works out. There are a few things I did that are not totally necessary (such as having both rollers driven instead of one drive and one coast) and having 1 cylinder would be sufficient, I just wanted options. Eliminating some of those extras will reduce the cost, but I am happy with the results despite the price.

I picked up 12.5# of GunTap stainless steel tumbling pins (.047" x .255"). I will be using ArmorAll Ultra Shine Wash & Wax for the soap (which leaves a little wax on the cases so they do not tarnish and it does not contain ammonia). I will also be using LemiShine Dish Detergent Booster (which is essentially citric acid) to clean the brass.

Here is a photo of the finished tumbler:

Here is a photo (before clean up) of the internals of the tumbling cylinder:

Here is the parts list with the prices and as many links as I could find (some of the Home Depot small fasteners did not have links online):

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aoCO_5zDwF7IGzk8ngUD3PHEz_PFs_k03kyOMPqMjlg/edit?usp=sharing

Enjoy!

 

[M56959]

Thank you for sharing this with the board! ðŸ‘

 

[MasterSolenoid]

Very nicely done.

Good Design (+) Good Material (+) Good Workmanship (=) Job Well Done

Edit: The only thing I would suggest, in any wiring job :
The wires should be attached to the board (within 4 inches) on each side of the Motor AND Timer so they can not be pulled out (causing electric shock).
You may know it will never happen, but it would be more the way an electrical engineer would design it (which I am not one).

 

[billt460]

That's an excellent, well though out design!

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted by MasterSolenoid
Very nicely done.

Good Design (+) Good Material (+) Good Workmanship (=) Job Well Done

Edit: The only thing I would suggest, in any wiring job :
The wires should be attached to the board (within 4 inches) on each side of the Motor AND Timer so they can not be pulled out (causing electric shock).
You may know it will never happen, but it would be more the way an electrical engineer would design it (which I am not one).


I had not thought about it since the clamps on the switch box and motor cover provide ample security, but I could add a wiring staple or two for back up. The system is fully grounded, of course, since there is water involved.

 

[JHZR2]

I like it!

 

[bunnspecial]

Excellent!

I've been reluctant to buy a wet tumbler. I have been doing well using ultrasonic to clean primer pockets and the inside of cases, followed by dry tumbling(walnut) to get the cases shiny. I know wet tumbling accomplishes both of those in the same step.

I might be tempted to give your design a try.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted by bunnspecial
Excellent!

I've been reluctant to buy a wet tumbler. I have been doing well using ultrasonic to clean primer pockets and the inside of cases, followed by dry tumbling(walnut) to get the cases shiny. I know wet tumbling accomplishes both of those in the same step.

I might be tempted to give your design a try.
I struggled with ultrasonic cleaning (borrowed one from a friend) because I found that if I did not tumble the brass afterwards, it was "too clean" and seating primers required more effort and I did not like the "feel" of the primers seating. It is my hope that wet tumbling will be a "one stop shop". I will report back on this thread how it works.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Managed to spare a few minutes today to deprime all of the brass from the varmint hunt we did a while back and threw it into the new tumbler and am very happy with the results. This was after 1 hour of tumbling with ArmorAll Wash and Wax and a .45ACP case full of Lemishine (I knew those .45 cases were good for something!). I also used 12.5 pounds of S/S pins and the cylinder was about 40% full of brass. Would like the primer pockets to be completely clean (i.e. no carbon at all), but I will take this result--sure beats cleaning them by hand. The best part is no dust from walnut or corncob media to contend with. I think I will be ebaying my Dillon CV-2001 tumblers!

A few photos:

 

[bdcardinal]

That's awesome!!

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted by bdcardinal
That's awesome!!
I did some fine tuning and all of the carbon is out of the primer pockets--needed more Lemishine. I added a second .45ACP cartridge full of Lemishine and that did the trick. I need to see if I have an old 45 Long Colt cartridge laying around, that would likely be the right size to measure it in a single "dose". They are now sitting in the near 100°F heat drying, it should not take too long

 

[97K15004WD]

Wow, that turned out really well !

 

[CarbonSteel]

The only thing that I have updated since building was to replace the 1 hour timer with a 6 hour timer. I typically tumble between 2 and 3 hours (depending on the brass condition and type) and having to remember to check and restart it was a pain. The parts list has been updated with the new timer. I have also been able to determine the perfect "recipe" for the Lemishine and Armorall soap quantities. The parts list is updated with that as well. Enjoy.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

That would also work and a great lubber for DIY home made bullets for Bench rest shooting.

 

[bunnspecial]

I honestly haven't done much loading in the past few years, but ran through a batch of 38 Super the other day(a friend of mine has never shot one, wants to try it, and I looked and realized I only had one box of 50 and a few assorted odds and ends). As a side note, I loaded them with BE-86, which I bought a few years ago, but only just opened the can.

In any case, I loaded range pick-up cases, and let them run 8 hours in walnut while I was at work. My last several times using the tumbler have been to clean up carburetor parts, which of course I can just pick directly out. This was my first time in a few years using my "separator", which really is just a cheap dollar store colander that fits down inside a 2 gallon bucket, and I shake/rattle/toss the colander to get all the media out(and usually end up hand dumping some). I'd forgotten just how dusty the whole process is. My allergies and ashtma have been really bothering me lately, and doing that sent me into a coughing fit-I think next time I'll tumble and separate on my back patio. Also, walnut does a good job of cleaning the cases, but it doesn't get them shiny. I quit using corn cob a long time ago, even though it gives a better shine, because I remember it being even more dusty and also not always cleaning a dirty case(I guess ideally you'd use both).

Seeing this post at the top again has inspired me again to do a DIY wet tumbler like the OP. What's not to like about it-the cases are nearly as clean as ultrasonic, and also as shiny if not shinier than corn cob without the dust. I'm sold on the results I've seen-both from the OP and others-I just need to do it.

Meanwhile, a couple of hours in walnut in a vibrating tumbler puts a really nice finish on SU carburetor dash pots-you get a clean and sort of satin finish on the aluminum, which isn't overly "blingy" but looks nicer than stock, and walnut is gentle enough that you don't have to worry about it messing up the precise fit of the steel piston and cylinder.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted by bunnspecial
I honestly haven't done much loading in the past few years, but ran through a batch of 38 Super the other day(a friend of mine has never shot one, wants to try it, and I looked and realized I only had one box of 50 and a few assorted odds and ends). As a side note, I loaded them with BE-86, which I bought a few years ago, but only just opened the can.

In any case, I loaded range pick-up cases, and let them run 8 hours in walnut while I was at work. My last several times using the tumbler have been to clean up carburetor parts, which of course I can just pick directly out. This was my first time in a few years using my "separator", which really is just a cheap dollar store colander that fits down inside a 2 gallon bucket, and I shake/rattle/toss the colander to get all the media out(and usually end up hand dumping some). I'd forgotten just how dusty the whole process is. My allergies and ashtma have been really bothering me lately, and doing that sent me into a coughing fit-I think next time I'll tumble and separate on my back patio. Also, walnut does a good job of cleaning the cases, but it doesn't get them shiny. I quit using corn cob a long time ago, even though it gives a better shine, because I remember it being even more dusty and also not always cleaning a dirty case(I guess ideally you'd use both).

Seeing this post at the top again has inspired me again to do a DIY wet tumbler like the OP. What's not to like about it-the cases are nearly as clean as ultrasonic, and also as shiny if not shinier than corn cob without the dust. I'm sold on the results I've seen-both from the OP and others-I just need to do it.

Meanwhile, a couple of hours in walnut in a vibrating tumbler puts a really nice finish on SU carburetor dash pots-you get a clean and sort of satin finish on the aluminum, which isn't overly "blingy" but looks nicer than stock, and walnut is gentle enough that you don't have to worry about it messing up the precise fit of the steel piston and cylinder.

The dust you mention is one of the major reasons I moved away from dry tumbling. I would run it in walnut, then decap, then run it in corncob with brass polish. The Dillon separators I have work like a dream to separate the media from the brass, but the dust was intolerable.

When combined with the fact the primer pockets were never truly clean and that media plugged a vast number of flash holes, I made the switch.

I use one of the Dillon separators to separate the S/S pins from the brass and all of the carbon is suspended within the water and soap. No dust, no mess, and easy cleanup. I should have done this 10 years ago.

PS...BE-86 is my main pistol powder. Great stuff!

 

[funkymonkey1111]

what are the blue things in the first pic? Just bumpers of some sort to keep the cylinder from moving back and forth along the shafts?

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted by funkymonkey1111
what are the blue things in the first pic? Just bumpers of some sort to keep the cylinder from moving back and forth along the shafts?

They are skateboard wheels (have a look at the parts list) and they keep the cylinder from "walking", but it really does not walk because the rollers are square and parallel.

 

[28oz]

Very nice!