Harbor Freight Tumblers

[Anthony]

I didn't know HF sells brass tumblers. Has anyone used this one before?

[gottarollwithit]

Oh yes, i know all about this little f'cker. You can get it in a larger bowl size if you desire.

After about 15 hrs or run time, mine started to vibrate apart. The bowl would literally start spinning and wobbling off center. It got to a point that the tumbler would "walk" and unplug itself either by walking away or spinning the cord around itself. I considered returning it b/c it was definitely within the return period, but it was pretty crusty with wax, lead, carbon, and other crap. After cleaning it up, i disassembled it and red loctite'd everything that holds the bowl on. It's designed such that rubber bushings under tension w/ bolt/nut hold the bowl on tightly. Obviously it's not designed for long term use in mind. That was a half hr of my time that i could have spend doing better things...
If you're patient you can wait for a 15-20% off coupon from HF and save a few bucks. Red loctite will be in your near future though. After a buncha red locktite it's a functional tumbler, but had i known about this i would have simply purchased a higher quality tumbler from the start. You get what you pay for, but then again how are brand name tumblers designed differently???
Do they have better motors?

[19114me]

My experience with just about anything from Harbor Freight....great stuff it you aren't planning on using it for more than a few times or for a long period of time.

Buy a decent one for a little more $$ and fuhghedabowdit.

[YSR50SPEED]

I use their small cement mixer for a tumbler. Works great and haven't had a problem with it yet. I agree with 19114me...if you want a small tumbler like that, spend a little more money.

[mecam]

I didn't know HF sells brass tumblers. Has anyone used this one before?

I have over 4000 .223 cases tumbled and still ticking. Actually out lasted my RCBS tumbler. Bought mine for $29 when it was on sale.

[Seesm]

They just do it all cheap... as one poster said red loc tite and your good to go... even the good one are made overseas I bet (most if not all) but maybe to proper quality control specs on the higher end ones... But the pay for that and hence the higher price...

[bohoki]

i too had a problem with mine dissassembling it self


coming back in an hour to see the bowl spinning

i fixed it by putting another nut to jam the origional nut against to lock it down so far it works also the top started spinning so i put a lock washer under the lid's thumb nut

[ZombieKiller]

I have used mine for a few thousand cases and it works great......tighten that wing nut down though....

[BKTJ]

I bought one and it quit after 2 weeks. They replaced it and the new one fell apart after 2 months. I have a 10 year old Thumbers tumbler that just wont quit, however I do alot of shooting and loading. For the guy who loads and shoots alot less the HF vibrator may last years. You pay for what you get.

TJ

[dreyna14]

I have used mine for a few thousand cases and it works great......tighten that wing nut down though....

That is why they typically come with rubberized screws. For the HF model, just pick up some neoprene washers and put them between the wing nut and the steel washer. It won't move after that.

[gottarollwithit]

Oh yea, constant torquing down of the wing nut that holds the lid in place eventually leads to the stripping out of the threads. Yea... ask me how i know. It takes a while to accomplish this though.

[Anthony]

I went ahead and bought. The constructions is like any other tumbler. In fact, it actually resembles an RCBS tumbler. It looks like the issues that some of you had experienced had been addressed. There are rubber washers under where the nuts are to avoid loosening the nut/wingnut when the tumbler is in operation. Let's see how long will the motor last.

[SDJim]

My HF tumbler is going on 4 years now. I remember it was on sale for $29.99 with a 20% off any item coupon. Some times (especially after the Navy Matches) it runs 18 hours a day for a week, normally it averages 8-10 hours a month.
After it started self-disassembling itself, I spent $5 and 2 hours of my time to replace all of the "cheap Chinese" fasteners with "less cheap Chinese fasteners." Haven't had a problem since.
As it does seem to run a little warm, I built a platform out of two pieces of 2X4" to open the bottom up for more air flow.
As always, YMMV

[AK4me]

I might have to try one of these before I spend alot of money on a name brand one.

[Hot Brass]

HF = cheep cheep cheep, junk.