So my berry rumbler kicked the bucket right at the end of my shop job on Corvette.  I'm getting ready to start the next machine so I need a new tumbler.

I liked the Berry tumbler but would have prefrered something larger that I could fit the bigger pieces in.  I want to get:

http://www.dillonprecision.com.....bratory_Case_Cleaner

But I don't think I want to pay what I assume is going to be the arm and leg they require for shipping + getting nailed for taxes at the border.  So I'm looking for suggestions on where I can find one, I guess I should check out my local gun shops and see what they have avaliable.

I found one here:

http://www.caswellcanada.ca/

But they wasnt $600 for their tumbler so I think I'll pass on that one.

Anyone care to toss any ideas my way?

Is your Berry tumbler fixable?  They're famous for it and the typical fix is easy.  

Berry tumblers come with a lifetime warranty, do they not?

Hey, Adam.

If you buy new...try a gunshop locally OR in the TO ( LeBaron's would be a good place to start ) area.

They usually sell them, I think I paid $60 for mine, they use them  for cleaning brass bullet shells. They also sell the media as well. My manufacturer is LYMAN and the Model is Pro 1200 although they make plenty of others. I'm really happy with the one I have and it's quite a few years old. Still working great.

Quoted from pinsRfun

Is your Berry tumbler fixable?  They're famous for it and the typical fix is easy.  

Most time people say the wire just falls off, but the motor is dead.  It tires to start but can't, I could tell it was dieing near the end, it was having a tough time to keep running.  

Quoted from Cooke

Berry tumblers come with a lifetime warranty, do they not?

Not really sure, I don't think so.

Thanks for the thought Dan, I'm going to look at one of my local gun shops.  

I bought some great media at a semi-local gun shop.  Has some sort of red jeweller's rouge in it.

I've got lots of media and I find it works well for me, so don't plan on chaing that soon.

Also found a place by me at Woodbine and Hwy7 that sells tumblers going to check it out after work.  

Nice!

Depending on what you get, you might even be able to use your tumbler bowl from your old set-up, on the new one. It's always nice to have a spare.

I'm going for the Lyman 2500 Pro, it is a 2 Gallon bowl wich is double the size of berry, so that should be good.  

where did you find it.... at Lebarons.

Yep Lebarons.  

Quoted from Vengeance

Yep Lebarons.  

And at the paltry sum of?????

Inquiring minds want to know man!

D

$135 CAD.  

see here:

http://www.lebaron.ca/pdf_files_fall08/hunting/lyman_kit.pdf

Let us know how you like it vs. the Berry.  I've already replaced the motor in my Berry once so far ($15), but I'm sure I'll need another tumbler sooner than later.

D

I'd  go the route of fixing the motor but I want the added capacity.  I want to be able to fit some of the larger weldments and things in the tumbler which I couldn't do with the berry.  

Where did you get the spare motor?  Mabye I'll fix it and buy the new one and have 2 tumblers   

I know it is a little off topic but rice is a great cheap media to use in tumblers and vibrating bowls.

Went to the store, they were outta stock :/

Didn't know about the rice, but I like crushed walnut shells.  The stuff is actually pretty cheap, buy it any local pet store, it's used as pet bedding.  I buy big huge bags for about $12.  

Quoted from Vengeance

I'd  go the route of fixing the motor but I want the added capacity.  I want to be able to fit some of the larger weldments and things in the tumbler which I couldn't do with the berry.  

Where did you get the spare motor?  Mabye I'll fix it and buy the new one and have 2 tumblers   

I actually contacted Berry direct for a replacement motor.  They were great to deal with, and they shipped it quick, which was good because I was in the middle of shopping a game!

I've been thinking about picking up a bigger tumbler for the same reasons as you, so I'm interested to know what you think about the new one you bought.

D

So I am going to ask a dumb question.  Do you use the tumbler to clean certain parts?  I hear that people use tumblers to make mirror finish pinballs.  What kind of media do you use for mirror finish pinball?  How long does it take?

For larger pieces consider a bead blaster cabinet.  A bit messy at times (and a bit of an investment) but with a little tweaking, works up a charm!

Foudn this:

http://www.barrelblaster.com/BarrelBlaster1.htm

$300 USD for that, god knows what shipping would cost.  I don't have allot of rooom and that thing takes up a good footprint.  I think I'll stick with the tumbler

As for what I use tumblers to clean, I use it for anything that will fit in it.  Lane guides, posts, screws, any piece of metal that will fit in.  Also yes it does give a nice mirror finish to pinballs.  How long, I usually give stuff 24 hours in the tumbler.

Not a bad price for a BB.  Wonder what the guys that know how to use one think of this.  I'd need a bigger compressor than my "pancake" one too:

Quoted Text

12 cfm of air at 80 psi

It says it ships inexpensively - so ship to the border (UPS store, etc) and pick it up there.  

But yeah - footprints a challenge.  Have a buddy that does offroading with cars - maybe he needs a BB  

Sp just bought the Lyman 2500 Pro, Le Baron finnaly had it in stock.

I've got some metal at home that could use polishing so I'll set it up tonight and will know by Saturday morning if it works well or not.

First impressions tho.  Is quieter then the berry, which is interesting since it is much larger.

Second, The autoflow system looks cool!  No more fumbling threw media with a kitty litter pan and magnet, the slots for the media to flow out of look small enough that even the smallest of screws won't fit so that is good.  

It's nice and big, still won't be able to fit the really large lane guide but I think a few more weldments and well as just being able to do more will be nice.

Looking forward to giving this thing a try.

Don't waste your money.

The tumbler is terrible, I think it all revolves around the auto flow system that makes it so bad.  

When I got it home I was a little worried that the holes in the borrom of the bucket for the auto flow system might cause some problems and I was right.  Items got stuck which then didn't help them with the cleaning at all.  That plus I found that the flitz media addative I added all end up in the bottom pan of the auto flow system so it didn't get circulated as well had it been a solid base.

Mabye this unit would work better without the auto flow system, I'm going to take it back and see if I can get one without the autoflow system.

Well still up mess creek on this one and I need a tumbler.

I'd be happy to buy another Berry at this point for Pinrestore has stoped selling them and I checked the Berry website and they won't sell Internatonaly without a $500 minimum order.  

Tried to contact Dillon Precision about shipping costs for their tumbler and they never got back to me.

So anyone have any suggestions on where I can get a new tumbler???

This is the one I got a couple of months ago:
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas.....yncharset=ISO-8859-1

I think with shipping and exchange it came to about $85. It's made by Berry and comes with a lifetime warranty (I think - would have to check that). Works great.

Have you tried Cabela's?

http://www.cabelas.com/link-12/product/0012554212869a.shtml

They have a Canadian branch in Winnipeg... shipping might be decent...  http://www.cabelas.ca/

Quoted from cooke

This is the one I got a couple of months ago:
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas.....yncharset=ISO-8859-1

I think with shipping and exchange it came to about $85. It's made by Berry and comes with a lifetime warranty. Works great.

... Great Stern minds think alike...

Well I just talked to the guy at Pinrestore, asked him why he stopped carrying Berry tumblers, he said it was because they changed the motor to some cheap POS one.  He said he had a ton of returns when it came to the unit as the motor doesn't work well when it came to steel.  Worked fine for brass but I guess It couldn't handle the pinball parts.  He is still looking for a sutible replacment.  

If the tumblers you are suggesting are made by Berry I may have to pass as I don't want to have to buy a new one every year as I tumble quite a bit of pinball metal.  

Quoted from cooke

This is the one I got a couple of months ago:

I think with shipping and exchange it came to about $85. It's made by Berry and comes with a lifetime warranty (I think - would have to check that). Works great.

Don't be fooled by the lifetime warranty as if they find you have been tumbling anything other then brass it voids the warranty.  

I'm not sure how they could figure that out. It's not like I'd tell them.

*shrugs* I've read of problems people on RGP have had with getting the Lifetime warranty validated with Berry.  Mabye based on the way the motor burns out they are able to tell that it was used for something other then brass. who knows.  

Other side of the coin is last thing I'd want to be dealing with is being right in the middle of a shop job and having it break down, then having to go threw the hassle of getting it replaced.  Rather just spend a little more for a quality unit and not have to worry about that.  

But then again I guess beggers can't be choosers as I don't have any other options.

I sent another email to Dillon Precision about shipping costs hopefully they get back to me.

Man I can't friggin win!!

So I decide to go ahead with the Cabella's tumbler as the Dillon isn't getting great reviews.

So go to place the order, item is on backorder, they won't let me place an order unless I order 2 tumblers!  Jebus who knew it would be this F#@*#@# hard to get a F#@*#@# tumbler, f***.  

Anybody want to split shipping with me on a second tumbler?

Quoted from Vengeance

Man I can't friggin win!!

So I decide to go ahead with the Cabella's tumbler as the Dillon isn't getting great reviews.

So go to place the order, item is on backorder, they won't let me place an order unless I order 2 tumblers!  Jebus who knew it would be this F#@*#@# hard to get a F#@*#@# tumbler, f***.  

Anybody want to split shipping with me on a second tumbler?

And if you get both before March 1st, I can bring the second tumbler to MTL for free on March 1st if anyone wants it.

Just out of curiosity... have you looked into getting a better motor for your old Berry? I still have mine from 2004 and it still runs good. My barrel tumbler is from 1977 and it is also still running good. Mind you, I rebuilt it...

I would but I read this on the Berry website so didn't bother trying to contact them:

*Do you sell internationally?
We do not sell to retail consumers outside the US. We have a program allowing international sales to wholesale accounts with a $500 minimum order.

No idea where else to get a Berry motor.  

I was going to place an order for the Cabela's tumbler today also.  If you order two, I'll take the second one.

If the tumbler naturally migrates to Kingston or Mississauga, all the better - but I'm in no rush to get it (I don't have much use for a tumbler while at school).  If re-shipping is prohibitive, I can come pick it up at some point.

Let me know if you want me to PayPal you the money for good faith.

Quoted from Andrew

I was going to place an order for the Cabela's tumbler today also.  If you order two, I'll take the second one.

If the tumbler naturally migrates to Kingston or Mississauga, all the better - but I'm in no rush to get it (I don't have much use for a tumbler while at school).  If re-shipping is prohibitive, I can come pick it up at some point.

Let me know if you want me to PayPal you the money for good faith.

PM sent

Ok, so thankfully this is figured out thanks to Andrew.

The links Corey and Ian posted were the the Americian site, in order to be able to order fromt he US you had to have a minimum of 2 tumblers on the order.

From the Canadian site you can order just 1.  So thanks to the people that offered if you still want to do joint shipping on a tumbler fromt he Canadian site I'm fine with that.  

FYI:

I just called a local Gun Shop... The Frankford Arsanault "Quick & Easy Tumber" model is on for $56.95.

I called Shooters Choice in Waterloo (866) 257-7270.  I'm sure they could ship it....

First off when searching for one of these they are called a "Vibratory Tumbler" or "Case Tumbler". Small tumblers come in two types this type and a rotary tumbler.

I just picked up one of these from Gator Mountain in the U.S. for $80. Not the size of the mammoth unit you got from Lebaron's Vengeance but big enough for what I have found a need for. Anything bigger goes into my buddies bead cabinet and usually is something zinc plated that I have second thoughts about stripping the finish off of.



Lebaron's is a dealer of this exact unit so they probably just need to order it in. Nice thing is anyone I spoke to and read of that uses it says it has been fast and bullet proof over years of operation. It is surprisingly quiet as well.

Looking at Cabela's although cheaper the shipping costs sucked as it would on any unit. Probably the best "shipped" deal around though.

http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0012554212869a.shtml

Cabela's also carries this same RCBS unit.

http://www.cabelas.com/link-12/product/0002953210556a.shtml#customer-product-reviews

They also carry this Hornaby unit that looks almost identical to the one I bought other than color and markings.



There is this one that seems to be always on Ebay dirt cheap but it looked from the pics like a POS and shipping made it not worthwhile. DISCLAIMER I could be dead wrong on the appearance and looks could be deceiving.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors.....5fAutomotiveQ5fTools



I also found this same unit sold as the "Chicago Electric Tools" Vibratory Tumbler and could be bought from Harbor Freight. End of the day I assume 99% of these units in the sub $200 market are manufactured offshore and probably are the same unit sold under various names with slight variations.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=93252

Yes you can get fancy with media but for clean and polish gun guys are using Hartz 100% corn cob kitty litter with some Brasso or Nu-Finish mixed in to polish and cut down the dust. They are also using a walnut media that is used for bird cage lining. Both I am being told are sold at Walmart for a fraction of the cost of other media and work equally well, but I have yet to check.

End of the day I would say it might be worth asking LeBaron's to bring in the unit that you want and wait. Shipping seems to be the overriding factor on bringing in a lower cost unit. Unless you have a company that absorbs your shipping cost then I would go with the local supplier and kick in the extra you would have paid for shipping into getting a slightly better unit. Shipping I was looking at was around $35 to get it here plus border B.S.