I have been thinking about trying this for many months.... Well, this past Friday a work buddy and I hit the local Harbor Freight store. I was not planning to buy a concrete mixer, but they were half price at $100 for a 1.25cy electric mixer.
I came home with this...........
The picture compares my old Thumblers Tumbler 15# barrel to the mixer.
Edited to correct... The mixer size is not 1.25cy (cubic yards), it is 1.25cf (cubic feet).
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Some results of my first tries..............
About 700 pieces of 308 brass - BEFORE
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Mixed brass (45 Colt, 44 Mag, 44 Spl & 45 ACP) after 2 hours....
This is almost a half of 5gal bucket of brass. I had quite a bit more room in the mixer, but ran out of media.....
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And finally..............
My large Dillon media separator fits perfect under the mixer. The half 5gal bucket of brass took 3 dumps into the separator......
I am guessing most of you don't load large quanities of ammo at a time, but I sometimes do. Plus, I satisified my thought of using a concrete mixer to tumble brass. And I am pleasently surprized at the results...... :)
Yes, the mixer is noisey. I just set it up in the driveway to entertain the neighbors.... :D
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A friend of mine has been using one of these for several years. You may want to place a fan in a location to help cool the motor. That seems to be one problem he encountered. You might consider using the ground walnut bird bedding for your tumbling media. It is reasonably priced at the local WalMart, etc. If you can find the very small grit size, you might also try using the ground corn cob used for snake bedding. Plus whatever metal polish you care to use as a media treatment.
Duane Mellenbruch Topeka, KS
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Lots of capacity, easy to load and empty and you can also use it to mix concrete! What's not to like? Sincerely. Bruce.
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Holy Smokes!
Just when I thought I was bad with 4 tumblers... I had never thought I using a cement mixer. To get that much brass to tumble you would have to shoot for weeks!
Harbor Freight has some fine ground walnut media that I have been using for quite some time now, about 25 bucks for 25 pounds. The grit is small enough it doesnt get stuck in primer pockets or flash holes. Add a little Dillon brass polish and it really cuts the tumbling time down and the cases are bright and shiny.
I dont think it is a good thing to try and reload dirty brass, I believe it causes premature wear on your dies and neck sizing bushings.
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I don't know if it causes increased wear on components, but I just like the look of nice clean shiny brass. I am sure I shoot better with nice looking rounds!!! However I doubt I'll ever reach the cement mixer level of brass tumbling! Sincerely. Bruce.
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Gee, I wonder how many .32s it would hold...
It takes me quite a while to accumulate enough to fill up my Dillon V2001 now...
:dude:
73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia
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Thanks for the nice comments guys....... :D
To address some of your comments...
Yes, the motor does get warm (HOT) after running for 2 hours. But on the “plus side", the load of media & brass is about 1/3 the load of a concrete batch (50# vs 150+#). I think I will cut some vent holes in the motor housing. The mixer is designed to be sprayed down with water for cleaning, but that is not necessary as a brass tumbler.
Most of the media I am using is Bird Litter (aka: crushed walnut) from PetSmart. It has been many years since I bought the bag, but it was about $15 for a 25# bag.
I started with the Dillon Brass Polish, but after quickly using almost a whole $9 bottle, I switched to $3 Brasso.
I think the 1.25cf mixer could handle about 3/4 of a 5gal bucket of brass with no problem. Yes, some pieces of media were thrown from the mixer during tumbling, but very little.
And YES.... I too like SHINY BRASS to load..........................
Now....... To dig around my “stash” and find some more DIRTY BRASS....... :D
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Leadhead, I'd just take the motor housing off. My mixer has no housing with motor and gears exposed, or just leave the very top for rain protection.
I use my cement mixer to polish up metal. When some of my traps get extremely crusty, I throw them in with a 5 gal bucket of sand and a little rust buster and kerosene. Only needs to run 20 mins or so. Now that really makes a racket here in the middle of the city! :shock: My neighbors just don't know what to think of me! .> ................Dan
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I have heard that Brasso contains ammonia. Ammonia is the active ingredient in copper solvents used to remove copper fouling. If so Brasso might not be good for cleaning brass.
Lifetime NRA since 1956, NRA Benefactor, USN Member, CBA Member
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thinking about it, next time i tumble, maybe i will throw in some floor dry in addition to my worn-out walnut hulls ...should add some diatoms ...
anybody tried this ...??
using dirt to clean brass .... seemed like a good idea at the time...
cheep ken
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Dan,
Glad to see your name again. Hope all is well with you and yours.
Ric Bowman
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wimilkman
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Tom Acheson
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pat i.
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Aaron
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BRatigan
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MarkinEllensburg
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Ed Harris
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porthos
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