Hey guys I'm trying to get into reloading and was wondering if there is a tumbler out there that is quite enough for an apartment?
I have heard of some using rock tumblers (rotary kind) do these work as well with corncob media or are they best left for liquid cleaning?
Any ideas or reccomendations for cleaning brass in an apartment?
THanks!

Boy what a good question. My tumbler is pretty loud, it's one of the vibratory ones. There are several of the rotary kind on the market and I know they are quieter but also more expensive. If you have a place outside your apartment such as a balconey where you could set it on a piece of plywood with a piece of rubber on both sides. Thay would quiet it down and get it off a floor where downstairs folks could hear it.

I know my vibratory tumbler cleans brass really well. I just bought it last year and before that used an electric drill with the Lee trimmer base on it and some steel wool. This worked quite well and kept the brass clean. It was more time consuming though.

My vib tumbler is an old Lyman 1200. It isn't silent but then it's not really loud either. If I put it on a pad, a folded blanket or such, several inches thick I don't think it would cause a problem unless your walls and floors are really thin.

I've got a Lyman, and I think you'd be fine, esp. if you set it atop a scrap piece of carpet which itself is on carpeting. I can't imagine they'd hear it downstairs, esp. if it's a concrete floor.

If they ask, just mutter "That d*mn dishwasher again...."

I have a Midway 1295 tumbler that I've use for quite a few years. It's not very quiet to use, but that's why it's out in the garage. Also, I would be very careful what you set the tumbler on as the motors can get very hot under the base. I had to send mine back in to Midway as they had a recall to replace the motors because they got too hot. I still gets pretty warm under there, so do beware and be safe. Good luck, Greg

Mine is a Thumler. I run it on the bench top. I can hear it here in the shop but nowhere else in the house. I would say that the beer fridge makes more noise. I can still watch tv, listen to the radio with no trouble.

I would think that putting a vibratory tumbler on a padded surface would absorb alot of the vibration(sound is vibration).
Might run quieter but, would have to run longer to do the same job.

You could throw a party when cleaning brass :D ! Big enough party and you could fill a clothes drier with brass and no one would notice :D :D .

Cheezywan

I would lay down a piece of carpet, or a rubber floor mat, then put a thin piece of plywood over that. The plywood will keep the airflow going to the tumbler ( so it won't overheat), and the rubber mat or extra carpet layer will dampen the vibrations from the tumbler.
I did that many years ago running a compressor for an airbrush in an apartment....never had any complaints.

All good responses here. Would suggest you run the tumbler during the weekends when your neighbors are most likely to be out doing chores that they can't during the workweek. Probably not a good idea to run the tumbler during the times they are watching football on tv.

Would caution that you place your tumbler on materials that do not trap dust, lint, or any other small debris as many tumblers contain a fan at their base to circulate cool air. Having foreign matter blown into the motor and bearings will only lead to future problems.

Best to check out your future tumbler for noise, preferably with media and under load before deciding to purchase.

guys what about this, take two pieced of 1/4" MDF board say 1ft square, and glue in between them a semi dense piece of foam rubber (sorta like what the memory foam pillows are made of) you would have a sandwich say 2 or 3" thick. Would the tumbler vibrate off of something like this? I've never seen a tumbler in action so I can't picture myself how it would do?

"Best" for getting the brass clean would be bolted to a slab of concrete. "Best" for being quiet would be mounted to a waterbed!

Cheezywan

I built a box.

its as big as carpet tiles (50x50 cm --> metric sorry!)

and kept the bottom of the box loose
(the box is made of MDF panels and I glued the carpet
tiles to the MDF.)
It's really quiet.
I left it turning overnight once.
Just forget to shut down.
Best
Harshok

Why not use one of the chemical brass cleaners, like Birchwood Casey? They make no noise, and they are very quick.

Why not use one of the chemical brass cleaners, like Birchwood Casey? They make no noise, and they are very quick.

They're quick to clean, but the ones I've tried tarnish the cases some and I've also had to let the cases dry at least overnight. By the time you add that drying in, you're both slower and more expensive than keeping a tumbler going. The tarnish makes me want to tumble after using them anyway, though, I will say, that isn't a bad sequence of steps to use if you're due to get the primer pockets cleaned out anyway. The acid cleaners seem to fizz a lot of the carbonates right out of them.

I liked the idea of gluing foam between two boards. You might more simply nail thick pile carpet scrap to the underside of a particle board plank. You could use flat molding or just drill half-deep blind holes with a cheap spade bit to create retainers for the tumbler's feet.

I would lay down a piece of carpet, or a rubber floor mat, then put a thin piece of plywood over that. The plywood will keep the airflow going to the tumbler ( so it won't overheat), and the rubber mat or extra carpet layer will dampen the vibrations from the tumbler.
I once had to silence a 200 HP :eek: compressor at work, so did some investigation into this kind of thing. What you need is mass and isolation. Charley's idea is good, but I'd substitute a patio block for the plywood. Thicker foam may be better than a piece of carpet.

My main question is: Do you like your neighbors? If you do, any of the newer vibe tumblers will probably be quiet enough. I use a little extra media in mine to make it quieter. I don't suggest putting in a handful of nuts & bolts with no media, turning on the tumbler and leaving for a few days. Neighbors don't forgive that type of thing too easily.

Ultrasonic cleaner with a little vinegar. More expensive than any tumbler, but really quiet compared to any tumbler. And it can be used to clean pistols, etc.

Ultrasonic cleaner with a little vinegar. More expensive than any tumbler, but really quiet compared to any tumbler. And it can be used to clean pistols, etc.

I can't subscribe to vinegar for brass. It is acid. Tends to make it "go away" faster than I like! Makes it shine though!

Ultra-sonic is cool. Proper solvent is more difficult. Oil works for pistols and revolvers, but is slow to work.

Elbow grease still works!

Cheezywan

Vinegar is part of the original NRA case cleaning formula, along with some soap and salt. It is too slow at etching to do significant damage in the five-or-so reloads lifetime of most military brass, but it does activate the surface and allow the air to tarnish the brass severely afterward. The mottled result is then a lot harder to find in the grass.

I recommend that if you want to brighten cases chemically, you go to a wine making supply place and get some citric acid crystals. Try a tablespoon in a gallon of water together with a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid to act as a wetting agent. Reaction with the carbonates in the primer pocket residue will weaken it, so you may need to ad more over time. Just look at the cases to see when it stops working. Citric acid will attack oxides on brass, but it tends to passivate the surface rather than activate it. Thus, with the right concentration, the brass won't readily tarnish afterward. I would apply sizing lube promptly anyway, just to be sure. Some people use a cup of lemon juice instead.

My first tumbler was one of the rock tumblers that I picked up at a yard sale. It worked ok with corncob. It was considerably slower than the vibrating one I now have, took about 24 hours of tumbling to clean the brass. But it did work and was quieter (probably would not bother your neighbors).

Vinegar is part of the original NRA case cleaning formula, along with some soap and salt. It is too slow at etching to do significant damage in the five-or-so reloads lifetime of most military brass, but it does activate the surface and allow the air to tarnish the brass severely afterward. The mottled result is then a lot harder to find in the grass.
All so true unless followed up with a few tumbler hours in corn media and Flitz additive. Normally do not use a liquid cleaner on my brass or brass picked up from a concrete surface however abandoned brass found in the dirt, gravel or grass is a different story. The NRA case cleaning formula is expecially good for removing the "cooked in" primer residue left in some Winchester cases. That residue is hard and almost fused with the brass.

. . . The NRA case cleaning formula is expecially good for removing the "cooked in" primer residue left in some Winchester cases. That residue is hard and almost fused with the brass.

Yes, That's the acid working on the carbonate. You can see the fizz at the primper pockets. I don't know why the Winchester primer formula packs it harder and less friable than the others? One thing the progressive loading machine makers forget to mention in their promotions is that after enough reloadings and firings, primer residue can build up and cause high primers. At that point you have to decap and clean the primer pockets before proceeding with the remainding reloading steps. This is more likely to be enocountered with long-lived brass, like .45 ACP, than with rifle cases, but one needs to remain alert to it.

I like to tumble after wet cleaning, too, but suspect a lot of poeple looking at wet methods are improvising with shaking in a milk jug until they can save up for a tumbler. Now if you are tumbling while you save up for a two-gallon ultra-sonic cleaner, you probably have your priorities wrong. You could buy another gun with that money!

I have one of the Midway ones. It isn't too loud, especially if it is on concrete which would work fine if it you were on the ground floor. I wouldn't think it would be louder than a tv.

More monotonous, though. At least, I think so? Depends on the program. Might give a couple of the soaps a run for their money.

Good to know Unclenick has a sense of humor in addition to a wealth of technical knowledge. Way to go nick! :D

I live in an apartment, and my neighbor lives in the apartment below mine. I use a Frankford Arsenal tumbler and it's not loud enough to bother the neighbor -- and I've asked. I guess it depends on how picky your neighbors are.

. . . I guess it depends on how picky your neighbors are.

May have more to do with the construction practices used in the building? Some floor construction deadens noise well, while other constructions acts like a resonating drum head. You may be in the right place at the right time.

The question of reducing the racket from a vib tumbler intriged me. Today I had to clean/polish some brass so I experimented a bit. Noticed that if I picked up my Lyman 1200 by the center rod while it was going the noise immediately abated. Seems much of the sound comes from the unit viberating on its base. So ---

I tied a bit of nylon cord to the top of the center rod and suspended the whole thing 6 inches up, in mid-air with no top on it. It was REALLY QUIET! The cleaning effect was normal and the motor really ran cool too. Try it.

. . . The cleaning effect was normal and the motor really ran cool too. Try it.

I'm really surprised the cleaning action was unattenuated. I would have assumed you would see increased lateral oscillation of the base. That, in turn, would be energy subtracted from the lateral oscillation of the tub. That said, I've noticed the cleaning action of mine is slower when it is full, so there is a margin of extra power available. Was your's filled up to capacity?

I tied a bit of nylon cord to the top of the center rod and suspended the whole thing 6 inches up, in mid-air with no top on it. It was REALLY QUIET! The cleaning effect was normal and the motor really ran cool too. Try it.
Would suggest running the tumbler with the top placed over the bowel. The media dust that is emitted from the tumbler into the air contains lead products that over time will accumulate and cause a health hazard especially to children. If you have media dust on your hands after emptying brass from the bowel, be sure to wash it off before partaking of any food.

Would suggest running the tumbler with the top placed over the bowel. . .

You're correct that is an essential for breathing safely, but I don't think he was running without the lid or his noise level would have shot back up again. I have a 1200 also, and the rubber lid retaining nut leaves plenty of thread exposed above it for attaching a suspension line. You could even put an inverted wingnut on to have more to tie on to.

You're correct that is an essential for breathing safely, but I don't think he was running without the lid or his noise level would have shot back up again. I have a 1200 also, and the rubber lid retaining nut leaves plenty of thread exposed above it for attaching a suspension line. You could even put an inverted wingnut on to have more to tie on to.

My 1200 was near full because that helps decrease the noise level and cleaning action.

The top was indeed off but only because the lift idea was an impulse that worked. It was done in an open garage with plenty of ventalation, so no kids - nor I - got exposed to any significant dust. But the caution is valuable.

I had also thought the cleaning action would be slowed due to a loss of vib. energy but, if so, it was very small. My media is corncob of a very fine grit, its the stuff log homes are "sand" blasted with for cleaning. In fact the grit is a bit finer than sand but works well and doesn't clog flash holes.

Installing the top, at least on mine, makes it louder unless I tighten the rubber cased nut down pretty snug. Next time I will have the top on just to see if there is any difference in noise or function. My bowl's top is not factory, it's a piece of 1/4" clear plexiglass I fitted so I can watch as it works and that might make a small difference too.

If I take the lid off mine, the rattling of the high frequency noise gets a lot louder. I don't have great hearing these days, but not so bad I don't notice that. I suspect the plexiglass, being harder than the polyethylene the factory lid is made from may convey noise a bit more? I would have to get in there with my sound pressure level meter to tell. If tightening the rubber nut improves your noise level significantly, that plastic lid may be hopping on and off the bowl slightly. That could leak a little dust, too. You might invert the bowl over some of that thin polyethylene packing sheet foam and cut out a ring seal from it. Glue it to the plexiglass with spray glue. See if that quiets it?

By the way, your mention of the motor running cool reminds me that puting these things on carpet blocks all the ventilation. Putting it on the backside of a bit of carpet scrap would be OK. I took the grill off the bottom of mine years ago. I can't recall why, other than it does run cooler that way. I may have noticed the normal operating heat and decided against it, though this does expose the spinning fan.