The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

No rust in mine, wet tumbling is usually used in lapidary.

When I bought mine direct from Thumler it was sold as a wet tumbler then.

I have a another Thumler which I have had for even longer (it was bought second hand) with a rubber drum that is designed for dry tumbling, that is my go to dry tumbler and it is in use almost every day so they used to sell the two types.

Thumler even supplied me with spare drive belts at not cost when the one on my dry tumbler had stretched.

Did you speak direct with Thumler?

If it is no longer made for wet tumbling applications then whoever packaged it as such is selling it under false pretences.

rox wrote:I have the Thumler Model B. It is designed for rock tumbling, which is a dry process.

[/quote]

Rock tumbling is almost always a wet process Rox. Any tumbler designed for rock tumbling should be ideal (if it has the capacity required) for wet tumbling brass. Rock tumblers run for days at a time, non-stop compared with about an hour for brass tumbling.


I picked up an old rock tumbler at a bootfair for pennies, set of vacuum cleaner belts and it was good to go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcyAkj-LzA8

1066 wrote:Rock tumbling is almost always a wet process Rox. Any tumbler designed for rock tumbling should be ideal (if it has the capacity required) for wet tumbling brass. Rock tumblers run for days at a time, non-stop compared with about an hour for brass tumbling.

I see, thanks. So it's a bad design rather than incorrect application. I'd have thought that bare mild steel in proximity to water would be an obvious issue.
Regardless; some people have corrosion problems with Thumlers (in my case from day 1), while FARTs and Rebels seem to have designed the problem away.

..

The design has worked fine on mine for over two decades, I suspect that it is the fault of modern manufacturing practices where no-one applies quality control to their products any more.

Accountants have a lot to answer for.

I actually made a wet tumbler from a plastic bucket, an old windscreen wiper motor, four rollers, a bit of ply and some screw connectors that I picked up from B&Q.

The most expensive thing was the power source at £18 from evil bay and of course, the stainless steel pins at around £30. So for around £50, I have my own tumbler which works an absolute treat.

There are plenty such designs on utube which you can use as a basis for your own and it only takes an hour or so to knock one up. It may not look as good as some of the designs presently for sale but it is fully functional and does a magnificent job on the brass. Along with the pins I use a squirt of fairy liquid, a couple of spoonsful of citric acid granules and a dishwasher tablet. Cover with warm water up to the level of the brass and tumble for an hour and a half. Sorted!

Regards ... LL

I do like my brass to be nice and shiny so will the wet stainless pin route tick the box?

Definitely.

One of these:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5kg-Rotary-T ... :rk:2:pf:0

plus some s/steel pins from Spud........had mine for a year now, and it works a treat. Last rinse in rainwater, then blow dry with hot air gun. Will do 150+ 308 size at a time.

Pete

Pete wrote:One of these:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5kg-Rotary-T ... :rk:2:pf:0

plus some s/steel pins from Spud........had mine for a year now, and it works a treat. Last rinse in rainwater, then blow dry with hot air gun. Will do 150+ 308 size at a time.

Pete

Hi Pete
How noisy is this when it’s going and how long do you put them in for?

Cheers

Keithkilvo1 wrote:

Pete wrote:One of these:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5kg-Rotary-T ... :rk:2:pf:0

plus some s/steel pins from Spud........had mine for a year now, and it works a treat. Last rinse in rainwater, then blow dry with hot air gun. Will do 150+ 308 size at a time.

Pete

Hi Pete
How noisy is this when it’s going and how long do you put them in for?

Cheers

I have one of these too, def reccomend, although it is noisy. not so much the motor, just the filled plastic drum. stick a load of brass in a bucket with some water and shake, thats the sort of noise level. not something you want to do at 3am, but you can set it off and go watch tv without having the neighbours banging on the wall.
as for duration, I mainly run pistol brass in mine - 9mm, 45acp, 32H&N, 38S&W, 357, 44spl, 455. around 30mins and its clean.
I find it takes longer to drain, seperate pins, check brass and stick in the dryer (dehumidifier) then refill, than it does to actually run the cycle.
oh and these units have a rotate function, so they run 30 secs in one direction, then stop, and then run in the opposite for 30 secs.
there are a few different drum lengths, and motor specs. Make sure it is at least a 5kg / 60 watt model