Harbor Freight rock Tumbler vs Frankford Arsenal Lite

[dbledoc]

I am looking at both of these tumblers to start wet tumbling with stainless steel pins. I don’t do a huge volume of reloading, but want something better than vibrating tumblers to clean brass.

I know there are larger and more expensive options out there. Just was wondering how there tumblers worked for you.

 

[jrumann59]

Electrical things I would use often I would go with a known brand like Frankford. I use a lot of the HF knock off pelican cases for work and home. Any manual tools like wrenches, screwdrivers and such for around the house work no problem. Their electric stuff is hit or miss. I have burned up 4 palm sanders on little projects.

 

[welder516]

I had the shaft break on a HF tumbler , I was tumbling some steel parts not sure if it was my fault but I would not buy another. The drum just fell off.

 

[outrider58]

I've read complaints about the Frankford Lite. I think people were "improving" them because it didn't tumble the brass very well. People were adding fins inside the drum or something like that.

I toyed with the idea of wet tumbling and decided to stick with dry. I don't use the lizard litter though, it's a bit too fine and dusty(I know, dryer sheets and yada yada yada). I use the coarser walnut medium and it polishes almost as well as pins. Steel pins seem to get the brass a little too clean(on the inside of the case mouths) for my liking.

 

[85MikeTPI]

Buy once cry once

THUMLER'S TUMBLER THUMLER'S MODEL "B" 110V ROTARY TUMBLER | Brownells

Thumler’s heavy-duty Model “B” tumbler has a large-capacity drum that easily handles up to 15 lbs. of material for high-volume runs to help you clean a lot of brass fast. Used by serious reloaders, professional gunsmiths, and even industrial manuf...

www.brownells.com

 

[Ecestu]

Buy once cry once

THUMLER'S TUMBLER THUMLER'S MODEL "B" 110V ROTARY TUMBLER | Brownells

Thumler’s heavy-duty Model “B” tumbler has a large-capacity drum that easily handles up to 15 lbs. of material for high-volume runs to help you clean a lot of brass fast. Used by serious reloaders, professional gunsmiths, and even industrial manuf...

www.brownells.com

That certainly made me cry. I got one of the cheap, red ones from Harbor Freight years ago, and it just won't die. I use it for baffles that shot an abundant amount of 22lr.

 

[teratos]

Buy once cry once

THUMLER'S TUMBLER THUMLER'S MODEL "B" 110V ROTARY TUMBLER | Brownells

Thumler’s heavy-duty Model “B” tumbler has a large-capacity drum that easily handles up to 15 lbs. of material for high-volume runs to help you clean a lot of brass fast. Used by serious reloaders, professional gunsmiths, and even industrial manuf...

www.brownells.com

This. I should have gotten the big one.

 

[CanDoEZ]

Buy once cry once

THUMLER'S TUMBLER THUMLER'S MODEL "B" 110V ROTARY TUMBLER | Brownells

Thumler’s heavy-duty Model “B” tumbler has a large-capacity drum that easily handles up to 15 lbs. of material for high-volume runs to help you clean a lot of brass fast. Used by serious reloaders, professional gunsmiths, and even industrial manuf...

www.brownells.com

Mine has been in service more than 20 years only had to replace a belt

 

[guzma393]

I own its bigger cousin (the FART), and a buddy has the FART lite. Both works perfectly fine, no SS pins or SS pins. SS pins for interior case wall and flash hole cleaning. 30 minutes with hot water, a dollop of car wash wax n'shine soap, and a 45 ACP scoop of citric acid works wonders. FA also has a no questions asked warrantee if they have it in stock so that's also a plus.

I went with the bigger one because I can tumble cases that will not nest inside each other, i.e. (223, 300 blk, 350L combo) all at once. Cases also come out alot cleaner when there is ample tumble space, so i only fill up my tumbler about halfway.

 

[Dalebert]

+1 for the full size fart..but watch out for using too much citric acid; makes the cases come out rosy colored

 

[midnightSGT]

I have the HF dual tumbler. It has been great for the last 3+ years. I just Tumbled 60 pieces of 300 win mag
last week. 30 pieces in each drum. No issues.

 

[smdub]

If you are a high volume shooter or value your time, I'd suggest the Rebel 17 over the Frankford/Thumbler. Go big or go home I dont have the time to do dozens of cases at a time. Heck, we've considered the Harbor Freight cement mixer to share between buddies but no one wants to store it.

If you flip one of the rollers on the Rebel it can actually be used with the smaller Thumler 3# drums. We've done that to polish rocks for the kiddo. That takes over a month of continuous running...

 

[Neutron]

I've had the HF single tumbler for about 5 years and so far no problems. I use the walnut media for cleaning brass. I run it for 6 or 7 hours. I'm not a fanatic about shiny brass so this does " good enough" for me. I used to just wash my brass with soap and water so this is an improvement over that!

 

[ScottW]

I have been using a Lyman wet tumbler for many years now without ever an issue. It does a fantastic job. One word of caution for you. When wet tumbling with the steel pins, the very edge of your case necks tend to get slightly dinged up a bit, from the pins hitting them. I have never found this to be an issue, but I know of shooters who have moved from wet tumbling, to ultrasonic cleaning because of it. Just a tidbit of info for you.

 

[Harrys]

I am looking at both of these tumblers to start wet tumbling with stainless steel pins. I don’t do a huge volume of reloading, but want something better than vibrating tumblers to clean brass.

I know there are larger and more expensive options out there. Just was wondering how there tumblers worked for you.

I am going ultrasonis as it meets my needs and my not meet yours and have done a pros/cons list.

Dry Tumbling

Pros

Dry vibrating tumblers are cheaper than rotary ones

No need for drying

Least expensive

Cons

Creates a lot of dust

Does not clean the inside of cases as well as wet tumblers or ultrasonic cleaners

Cannot be used to clean guns and their parts

Can take 2-3 hours to clean cases



Wet Tumbling

Pros

Gives a deeper clean and gets into the insides and primer pockets

Leaves cases shiny and like new

Does not create dust

Cons

Rotary tumblers allowing wet tumbling are expensive

Drying time is required

Cannot be used to clean guns and their parts

Lids/covers can leak

Typically, 1-2 hours to complete cleaning



Ultrasonic Cleaning

Pros

Gives a deep clean outside the case insides and the primer pockets

Leaves cases like new

Does not create dust

Guns and their parts can be cleaned

Can be used to clean jewelry

Typically takes only 15 minutes to clean

Cons

Ultrasonic cleaners can be expensive like wet tumblers

Drying time is required

 

[dbledoc]

Thanks to all of you for the replies!

 

[scottyfz6]

I have never bothered with tumbling in 25 years of reloading. I throw the cases in a 5 gallon bucket, a little citris shine and dawn and slosh it around for a few mins then let it sit and do it a few more times. Then same for a rinse or two. Then in a baking pan and low temp in the oven until dry.

Cases come out clean enough for me. Never had any issues at all.

 

[trickg]

Thanks to all of you for the replies!

I might be a little late to the party, but if it was me, I'd get the FA tumbler over the HF rock tumbler. Both would get it done, but we're talking about a cost difference of about $50 - I spend more than that taking my wife out to dinner on a Friday night for a meal that's just going to be pooped out within 24 hours.

I like the look and functionality of the FA tumbler - it's specifically designed to wet tumble brass for reloading, so it's probably a better setup.

That's if I was going to get into wet tumbling. I dry tumble and don't expect to change anytime soon.

 

[guzma393]

Big FART on sale for 109 if anyone is interested Limited-time deal: Frankford Arsenal Platinum Series Rotary Tumbler with 7-Liter Capacity, Clear Viewing Lids, and Auto Shut-Off for Reloading, Cleaning and Wet Tumbling Brass Cases https://a.co/d/hBV75Ka

 

[akalma]

So my 11 years old Frankford Arsenal Quick-N-EZ tumbler started to break - the plastic inside the bowl around embedded nut started to chip out.
I went to Harbor Freight in Gaithersburg to check their tumbler. Failed to find it myself and asked a worker. And was told one intersting story.
The Montgomery County banned the sales of these tumblers because "some bad people used them to strip the serial numbers from firearms"!
Just wow!