3:25 am
May 30, 2010
4:36 am
NWBA Member
August 8, 2010
I bought the big vibrating tumbler from HF. When it got here I broke the first male commandment and read the book.
The book says not recommended for hard or sharp objects. Huh?
Returned it and bought the small HF cement mixer. Gonna start a load in the morning with clean pea gravel and will report back with results.
Dave
No one really listens to anyone else, and if you try it for a while you'll see why.
- Mignon McLaughlin
4:41 am
NWBA Member
June 8, 2010
D_Evans;8156 wrote: Gonna start a load in the morning with clean pea gravel and will report back with results.
Should work... I've been making names out of used rusty horseshoes and I throw them into a cement mixer with a couple bags of sand and tumble a couple hours... Takes all the rust off. Still the dirt in the nail groove stays.
2:26 pm
NWBA Member
April 19, 2010
3:03 pm
NWBA Member
November 8, 2010
3:56 pm
May 13, 2010
How many HP is the HF cement mixer? I need to make a tumbler at some point although I may be going to an auction that has 3 tumblers. I want to make one about 48" long by about 18" dia. I make tongs about 36"-40" long that I would like to tumble. I have a 1/2HP motor that I have that is mounted on a frame with 2 jackshafts on it that I plan on using. My only worry is that the motor is not big enough.
4:09 pm
May 13, 2010
4:10 pm
NWBA Member
November 8, 2010
1/2 hp is plenty if you gear it right. shoot for high 20's or low 30's rpm if you make your own.
Some guys use PVC pipe for the shell, this one is two 100lb propane tanks. Line it with conveyor belt, fasten a couple of angles in there to help the media slosh around and wait 30-40 minutes. All good. I have two five-gallon buckets of punchings in there which must be close to 400lbs of media. And it still only takes a 1/2hp to run it...
Like you Ken, I tore my index finger on a wire wheel accident and it propelled me to make the tumbler. you won't regret the time it took you to make it~
My shop neighbor liked it so much he made a 10' long one driven with a 5HP motor
They only remember you when you SCREW UP~!!!
4:23 pm
May 13, 2010
4:46 pm
NWBA Member
November 8, 2010
Bedliner urethane IS incredibly tough and would probably hold up. The cushioning servers two purposes: noise abatement and traction to help churn the media. You could do without either as long as you have some fins in there to agitate it all- their still noisy as hell either way. Add a shop-vac on the end of it and you get the dB's really singing.
I turn the vac on towards the end of the cycle. Sooner if stuff is really crusty
They only remember you when you SCREW UP~!!!
4:55 pm
March 22, 2010
One thing that I have found... The faster it turns and the smaller the diameter the quicker it does the parts, but also the harder it is on delicate stuff... Mine is a old air tank, about 2' in diameter and 4' long and it only turns about 20 rpm... it takes longer than many I have seen but does a real nice job without wrecking the parts.. Another good trick is to make a small box with finer media to throw inside the big tumbler for itty parts...
about 5 years ago I need to tumble some parts so I threw this thing together in a day thinking when I had more time Id fix it or build one right... but its worked ever since so I guess until it quits Its what I'll use..
Mine is a 1/2 hp gear motor with a 10;1 gear box and then another 10:1 reduction in sprockets or there about... I use a shop vac to pull the dust from the get go, I find it keeps the media from getting cruddy if you keep the dust out at all stages..
Whatever you are, be a good one.
Abraham Lincoln
5:24 pm
June 16, 2010
1:40 am
NWBA Member
August 8, 2010
Fired off the HF concrete mixer this morning, a handfull of parts and a 5 gallon bucket full of pea gravel
The parts were clean and very smooth after 2 hours.
They do NOT look like the parts that are tumbled with steel scraps.
I am only after rust and sharp edge removal so this does the trick as is.
I ran it right outside the shop door and noise was less than my compressor.
From all I have read about tumblers the best way to quiet them down in with felt rubber cemented around the OUTSIDE.
I will pick up some steel slugs and give that a try just cuz you guys all got me curious.
Dave
No one really listens to anyone else, and if you try it for a while you'll see why.
- Mignon McLaughlin
4:09 am
April 12, 2010
1:44 am
April 21, 2010
3:44 am
February 6, 2011
Thought I would throw my hat into the ring with all of you tumbler-fabbing bastards! The portion on the bottom is a rubber-isolated vibratory bed to vibrate the parts away from the sand:cold:. Holds 800 pounds of shit, plus 100lbs of sand. Made all of it, including rolling/coning the drum on the plate roll, it's 1/8", approx 50" long, 24" diameter. Probably run about 40 ton or so through it thus far.
1:35 am
May 30, 2010
10:25 am
March 22, 2010
yep thats fancy alright, how fast does it spin? do you like how the sand finishes parts? Ive never seen what a sand tumbled part looks like I guess...
Whatever you are, be a good one.
Abraham Lincoln
1:57 pm
January 18, 2011
This is a commercial unit I snagged awhile back, It needed a new shaft, bearings,and some tlc,it works well............
It came from ''Samsonite Luggage'' when they went overseas.............
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."
— Dr. Seuss
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