tumbler

[brubincam]

bought a new lee mold,it left a heavy ring on the balls where the mold seam is.instructions said to take a sharp knife and verry carefully remove a verry small amount of the seam edge,didnt work, tried again didnt work,could see a seam mark on balls verry easy.i heard that balls can be tumbled.dont have a[url] tumbler.made[/url] a couple hundred balls put them in an empty folgers plastic coffee can with the finger grips in the can.snapped on the lid with balls only inside layed the can on its side with the handles down.hopefully to use as agitators as i roll can back and forth.kept checking balls every 5 min. after a half an hour[arm gets tired roll a little take a break roll a little ]looked at the balls cant even find the seam.so if you need to tumble a few balls you dont need to buy a tumbler... :results:

 

[bob1961]

sounds like a good idea..............bob

 

[Bob Riegl]

Hey, now that's a great idea---I use a tumbler to clean centre fire brass before re-loading---I use a corn cob and walnut nut shell media with some polishing compound I wonder what it would do to lead ball? I will have to try and report back----h-m-m-m-m-m-m. :hmm:

 

[Tom Curran]

When I see a heavy seam or flash at the edge of a ball, I know there's something holding the mold open just a tad. Any one of these things can hold a mold open: crud can build up on the mold faces,or the mold pins may not fit right, or there's a burr on a mold face.

Check the ball with a micrometer to see if it's out of round. This measure can tell you if the mold is open a bit, or side to side misalignment.

Tom

 

[AeroE]

Here are two ideas I've had for cheap, non aggressive (that means slow), tumblers -
- suspend a can full of brass and media from the clothesline while the wind is blowing. For more action, add a sail or two made from cardboard, luan ply, or about anything to get the line to bounce. Probably ought to run a piece of all thread through the can to keep the lid on.
- suspend a can from bungee cords and suspend in the bed of my pickup; one or two trips to work and back and we're good to go.

There are drawings floating around the internet for a hommade tumbler made from a 110 vac applance motor with an eccentric weight, light die springs, a 5 gallon bucket, and a large mixing bowl with lid. The only disadvantage is short life for the motor bearings, but if the motors are cheap or free, it's a small problem.

www.speedsoft.com/theashes/tumbler/tumbler.html

The next link is new to me. This looks promising for other tools, too -
http://tomaszewski.net/Kreigh/Minerals/Homemade.shtml

 

[CoyoteJoe]

You can accomplish the same by putting the can-O-balls on the floor of your vehicle and let them roll aroung while you drive. A wooden box or even cardboard works as well and is a lot less NOISY.

 

[doverdog]

Before you go to all the bother with a tumbler, Lee is quite emphatic about their molds having to be lubed properly, in order for them to be able to close all the way. Aluminum becomes "sticky" when heated to high temps, and the two sides of the blocks sometimes don't get all the way closed. Use some beeswax or a commercial bullet lube and very lightly tocuch it to the locator pins, V's and grooves. DO NOT get any in the ball cavity, as it will cause the balls to come out wrinkled until it all burns away. I learned about this lack of lubrication the hard way. I was getting balls from a double cavity mold that were actually joined by a fin. Lubing the mold, as per Lee's instructions, eliminated the problem. Repeat as necesary.

 

[CrackStock]

Tom has provided the best advice here. If there is flashing, then the mold is not closing and you need to investigate why. There should never be any flashing from a Lee or Lyman mold.

CS

 

[brubincam]

it is not flashing, it is a bad seam in the mold, the inst. said trim edge of cavities with sharp knife... did...

 

[Stumpkiller]

Everything you remove from the mould seam makes a bigger feature on the resulting cast ball?!?!? I don't recall seeing instructions recommending to scrape the mould. :hmm:

Any time I've ever had a seam it's because a piece of grit on the flat faces kept the halves from seating flush. Once you remove metal it will never go away. I rub anything off aluminum moulds with the back end of a stick match for fear of scratching the soft metal.