Ho-made Drum For Tumbler

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Jaybm
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Ho-made Drum For Tumbler

Post by Jaybm »

For the single drum Harbor Freight Tumbler.

Parts needed ... 4" dia PVC, pressure plug and inside cap, 3/8 16 jam nut.
Purple Primer and PVC Cement.
Image
The length may vary slightly but for my tumbler I needed 4 3/4 inch to rotate freely.
That's the assembled length ! A belt sander would have really made squaring and
achieving the proper length a lot easier. I only had an orbital sander and it took some
time and effort. The rubber bands gave some friction on the drive rod, I think O-rings
might even be better and I'll get some next trip to Lowe's.

Image

Dry run before gluing. I had put an over sized washer under the jam nut but that didn't
work out so it was removed.

Image

Old and New, the old is now a back-up. It's all glued now and ready for the leak test. It is
a relative easy project for a wintry day.

Jim
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Re: Ho-made Drum For Tumbler

Post by btoran »

Jim - that looks familiar. i would post my picture next to yours, but don't want you to get drum envy. :)

i was thinking about another possibility for the lack of traction issue.....what about that magical rubberized spray stuff? coating the outside of the pvc tube with it could be better than the bands/rings solution for traction and may not break over time (like the bands will). it would probably look a lot more professional as well and we could sell them on ebay and retire from our day jobs. well, one can dream.
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Re: Ho-made Drum For Tumbler

Post by Jaybm »

Got some o-rings and they work but not as well as I had hoped.

"magical rubberized spray stuff" think it would cover some purple
primer runs ? You try it and let us know how it works.

Drum passed the leak test, I think I'll re-clean some brass just to
see how it does with the ss pins / brass tumbling around.

Jim
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Re: Ho-made Drum For Tumbler

Post by btoran »

i'm sure it would cover the purple stuff. haven't tried it yet but will when i pick up a can. you are supposed to be able to take it off if you want to. i know several ice hockey goalies who use it on their masks and tried to convince me to use it on mine. mask is too expensive to play around with, so i've never tried it, but a pvc tube should be a perfect test subject. will cut another tube from the leftover i have and give it a spray this weekend.
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Re: Ho-made Drum For Tumbler

Post by btoran »

here's another thought after staring at the hf rubber drum on the left and yours on the right...... would the test plug fit the hf drum?
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Re: Ho-made Drum For Tumbler

Post by kaycee »

I'm curious as to why you built your own drum? Did you have problems with the HF drums?
Kevin
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Re: Ho-made Drum For Tumbler

Post by Jaybm »

kaycee ...

The only "problem" was primarily prying that darn seal out of the drum.
Granted ... the more times you do it with a good stiff all purpose putty
knife the easier it gets.

Image

Making your own is a creative kind of thing and something to do on a wintry day.

I'm tumbling some brass right now for the ultimate test of mine.

Bruce ... What's the name of that spray stuff ? I'll check the fit of the plug later.

Jim
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Re: Ho-made Drum For Tumbler

Post by btoran »

kevin - i bought the hf double tumbler, which has 2 of the same sized drums as the single unit. that meant twice the aggravation each time because of dealing with 2 stubborn lids. i also figured that over time the putty knife approach (which only opens the outer lid), and then pliers pulling up on the threaded part (which then opens the inner lid) was sure to cause a spectacular failure. for mine, i made a pvc tube very similar to jim's, but longer (to fit the double tumbler), and i glued a straight piece of pvc inside as an actuator. another thread on here has the dimensions for anyone needing the larger tube. the trick is that the pvc is very slippery and the drum needs some added friction or it doesn't spin well on the tumbler.

jim - the magical stuff is called plasti-dip. in the old days, it only came in a can and you could dip tools into it to form a rubber coating, like to make a pair of pliers easier on the hands or to coat the handle of a screwdriver with non-slip rubber. today it comes in tons of colors and in spray cans too. people use it on all kinds of stuff and for all kinds of purposes, like changing the color of something while adding padding and waterproofing and then changing it up when you want because it can be pealed off (like goalie masks and even cars). i imagine a rifle stock coated with the stuff would come out something like the chiappa alaskan (rubber over wood), and might not be a bad idea for shooting in harsh environments. that's only a guess, though, as i haven't tried it.
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Re: Ho-made Drum For Tumbler

Post by Jaybm »

Bruce, guess what, the "gripper" plug fits the original drum perfectly.
With the plug in place the drum fits the tumbler and rotates just fine.

So in hind sight which is always 20/20, dealing with the stubborn seal
and lid can be solved with just the plug. I think the cost was less than
$5 and no labor.

However the ultimate test of the PVC drum was a success and the brass
was shiny clean, primer pocket, inside and outside. Photobucket is being
stubborn this morning so no pics.

aha, I remember that plasti-dip now that you mentioned it !

Live and learn ... Jim

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Go figure !!!
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Re: Ho-made Drum For Tumbler

Post by btoran »

Jim - Great to see the drum worked! I didn't even think about using the test plug on the hf drum until you posted the side-by-side pics. on mine, i needed a single drum, so the pvc drum was needed. i'm going to experiment with plasti-dip this weekend.

btw, i did find an excellent use for one of my original hf drums... it's the perfect size and weight to transport and store a loaded lee safety primer and powder measure for moving between reloading bench and gun safe. the weight of the drum means it won't tip over on the bench or in the safe. that means i have an extra drum i'm not using. if it makes your cleaning easier by having a second one around, shoot me a pm with your address and i'll send it out.
Bruce

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Lee Classic Turret Press

Don't eat anything bigger than your head!
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