Harry Foster shows us his home built tumbling system

Originally published 8/29/99

We assume that these pictures show Harry's tumbler without belt and chain guards for illustration purposes only. (be careful of those fingers guys) Safety and appropriate use are YOUR responsibility (liability disclaimer)

Contact Harry Foster ( His web page)

At 10:14 PM 8/12/1999 -0400, Harry wrote:

Finally...I have got my tumbler built and working well. The first tests show just how handy this device will be in the shop. It is much quicker and less messy than the vinegar I had been using. A while back I asked folks on "The Forge" for advice re tumbling and the making of one etc, and got some good responses. Some people used old clothes dryers, some cement mixers, some commercial units and some made their own.

I decided on the home made route. I was hoping to do it for resonable cost as well. The basis for the unit was two 3/4" shafts in pillow blocks with one shaft being driven by the motor and the other connected to the driven shaft by a chain and sprockets. The first obstacle was how to get the speed down from the motor without spending lots for a speed reducer. I finally had the idea to drive it off my wood lathe which is also in the shop. A 2" V belt pulley on the lathe and a 12" on the tumbler did the trick.
To get the speed down without spending lots for a speed reducer, I decided to drive it off my wood lathe.
The 2nd major obstacle was what would the drum sit on and be rotated by. I wanted whatever it was to be higher than the pillow blocks so that I could put different length barrels on the unit. I at first tried 2.5" V belt pulleys with some neoprene rubber stretched over them. This worked for a while, but when I increased the weight of material being tumbled plus the tumbling media, the neoprene could not stand the preasure and fell apart. My local bearing guy had just the answer with some bearings from an air-conditioner about the right diameter and encased with heavy rubber on the outside edge. A quick Zap with the arc welder ensured the bearnings did not turn and the units would be locked on the shaft with the supplied locking coller.

So far I'm using heavy plastic pails that one can usually get for free, with two pieces of angle iron bolted inside and bent to the shape required to give a gentle lift to what is inside. I see some advantage to these pails as one could have a few with different tumbling media for different requirments.

The whole process took longer than I thought it would to come up with something that I hope will be around for a few years, but now its done I can get on with creating more work to tumble.

signed
    The Happy Tumbler

Number one shows the whole thing from the rear, including the chain that drives the other shaft.
Number two shows the rollers the drum rides on without the drum on.
Number three shows the details relating to the chain drive of second shaft.
Number four shows the plastic drum on the rollers and the guides that keeps it in the right place.
Hope they are of use for others making such a device, no doubt there are and will be better ways of doing it, but it does the job and saves me time etc. All the best Harry Foster

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