On 2009-05-15, The Hurdy Gurdy Man wrote:
DoN. Nichols wrote:
Have you ever seen the Blue Press catalog? They offer one for
cleaning cartridge cases for $179.95 (12-1/2 quart bowl capacity), and a
smaller one for $129.95 (half that size).
I've looked at those, and as far as I can tell they're smaller. They look
like they might be better quality, but the bowls don't seem to be quite as
[ ... ]
There are some good sized ones available through Rio Grande (some are listed
as 20" with around a 6 gallon capacity), but of course they carry the Rio
Grande price tags. Truthfully, as Gunner as suggested, the best option for me
as I want one that's both large and cheap is to build my own, but I just don't
know what the hell I'm doing enough to build one without some sort of plans or
more solid background with the devices.
O.K. Basic design principles:
1) A container without sharp corners for things to pile up in.
Quick and dirty design would be to take an inner tube, inflate
it to the needed size, and cast in plaster or concrete. You
could use anything from dolly wheels up to find the right size.
2) Line the cast with fiberglass to make a shell light enough but
still the right half-doughnut shape. (Now is the time to add
mounts for the springs from (3) below and the motor.) While
you're about it -- consider taking the original inner tube and
gluing it to the inside of the shell, so your abrasive media
won't be generating fiberglass dust as it works.
3) Mount the shell on some stiff springs -- perhaps a bunch of old
valve springs from a dead engine. The number of springs will
vary with the size and the vibration speed, but I would guess
that three or four should do.
4) Mount an electric motor to the bottom of the center of the
shell, with an off-center weight mounted to the shaft. A
DC/universal motor would allow you to easily vary the speed to
optimize the vibration, for a given weight and set of springs.
You can also adjust the vibration by being able to adjust how
far off-center the weight is.
5) Oh yes -- figure some way to mount a lid over it while it
is in use, to keep the dust form the media and the workpiece
from winding up in your lungs.
So -- these are the basics of the design. Anything else is to
adapt to your own materials and junk motors, parts, and such.
These aren't rocket science, after all.
Enjoy,
DoN.
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