Newby on the block... well, to casting anyways.

[avator]

The Prince of repurpose strikes again....
We had bought a small 1.5 gallon shop vac for the RV. We kept it when we sold the RV. There were 3 or 4 other old not working shop vacs around here when we took over the place. They went to the dump but something told me to stash the hoses. There were also a couple large plastic funnels down in the barn like the kind you see in a shop for draining oil.
The shop vac sits on a shelf with the outlet hose aimed at the window fan. Several feet of intake hose stretches over the rafters and plugs into the large funnel and makes a hood over the LEE pot.
Turn on the window fan, the shop vac and the fumes and whatnot exits the Red Shed. I only feel the need to use it when I flux.

[avator]

It will also be useful when I melt down that nasty wheel weight lead into muffins.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Any flash, hairs or mold marks come off and it polishes the pellets up. You can also lightly lube if you choose.
No media... just the pellets.

Something I've heard about and I'm gonna try it.

Hummm sounds rough on them without some kind of media... even sawdust for good measure.
Lead bouncing on lead would lead to bent lead. (awkward language).
Interested how it turns out.

[avator]

Any flash, hairs or mold marks come off and it polishes the pellets up. You can also lightly lube if you choose.
No media... just the pellets.

Something I've heard about and I'm gonna try it.

Hummm sounds rough on them without some kind of media... even sawdust for good measure.
Lead bouncing on lead would lead to bent lead. (awkward language).
Interested how it turns out.

From my source of info they come out nice and shiny and slick. I think sawdust would buffer them and defeat the purpose. As for lead bouncing... we're not talking about those big old hunks of lead that you cast.. these ones weigh 20 and 27 gr respectively to .22 and .25.
For the $30 cost of the rock tumbler, I'll give it a shot and report... if all fails they'll just go back into the pot.

[EdinGa]

Any flash, hairs or mold marks come off and it polishes the pellets up. You can also lightly lube if you choose.
No media... just the pellets.

Something I've heard about and I'm gonna try it.

Hummm sounds rough on them without some kind of media... even sawdust for good measure.
Lead bouncing on lead would lead to bent lead. (awkward language).
Interested how it turns out.

From my source of info they come out nice and shiny and slick. I think sawdust would buffer them and defeat the purpose. As for lead bouncing... we're not talking about those big old hunks of lead that you cast.. these ones weigh 20 and 27 gr respectively to .22 and .25.
For the $30 cost of the rock tumbler, I'll give it a shot and report... if all fails they'll just go back into the pot.

I powder coat my cast pellets using the shake-n-bake method and I never have any damage. There's some pretty vigorous shaking involved too. I'd venture to say it's a good bit more violent than a tumbler.

[avator]

Any flash, hairs or mold marks come off and it polishes the pellets up. You can also lightly lube if you choose.
No media... just the pellets.

Something I've heard about and I'm gonna try it.

Hummm sounds rough on them without some kind of media... even sawdust for good measure.
Lead bouncing on lead would lead to bent lead. (awkward language).
Interested how it turns out.

From my source of info they come out nice and shiny and slick. I think sawdust would buffer them and defeat the purpose. As for lead bouncing... we're not talking about those big old hunks of lead that you cast.. these ones weigh 20 and 27 gr respectively to .22 and .25.
For the $30 cost of the rock tumbler, I'll give it a shot and report... if all fails they'll just go back into the pot.

I powder coat my cast pellets using the shake-n-bake method and I never have any damage. There's some pretty vigorous shaking involved too. I'd venture to say it's a good bit more violent than a tumbler.

Agreed.. I think the term "tumbler" makes it sound more violent than what it is. Actually they kinda roll around and rub each other. But like I said.. if it don't work then I'm not out much. I'll find a use for it. Maybe I'll tumble some rocks... 

[avator]

The Prince of repurpose strikes again....
We had bought a small 1.5 gallon shop vac for the RV. We kept it when we sold the RV. There were 3 or 4 other old not working shop vacs around here when we took over the place. They went to the dump but something told me to stash the hoses. There were also a couple large plastic funnels down in the barn like the kind you see in a shop for draining oil.
The shop vac sits on a shelf with the outlet hose aimed at the window fan. Several feet of intake hose stretches over the rafters and plugs into the large funnel and makes a hood over the LEE pot.
Turn on the window fan, the shop vac and the fumes and whatnot exits the Red Shed. I only feel the need to use it when I flux.

Came up with a plan to tidy this up. Right now the vac hose is kinda draped over the rafters. Betty Lou, the dogs and I took a walk down to the barn and I spotted a length of 3" pvc pipe. I dragged it back to the Red Shed and cut several 3" sections. Tomorrow after the store run I plan to screw those 3" lengths to the wall around the top and run the hose through them. I'll get some pics once done and cleaned up.

[Insanity]

Who knew polyvinyl chloride would be used for for so much more than plumbing.

[Spacebus]

The rigid pipe will also help with the pressure drop from a super long flex hose.

[avator]

Not quite the idea. The pvc will just be cut into 3" hoops and fastened to the wall. They will just be support hoops to run the vac hose through. You'll get the idea once I post pics. I won't lose much vacuum because I'm only running about an 8' run and were just drawing vapors. I will also remove the filter in the vac to reduce airflow restriction. I'm not trying to filter anything. I'm just directing fumes/gases from fluxing out of the building and away from my face.

[avator]

Waiting for Betty Lou to motivate for the grocery run, I knew I had time to finish this up...   
So I went to the Red Shed and installed the anti stink device.. 
On thing to note.. the vac is 2.5 gallons not 1.5. Works like a charm.
I love it when a plan.... well, you know. 
Pics as promised...

[Insanity]

Very nice.

[cosmic]

Sweet !! You should have it running any time you have the pot running... Lead vapor !!!

[brewbear]

Nice work on the "fume hood". There are two basic types of tumblers, the rotating drum type and the vibrating (ultra sound the newest) ones. The rotating drum should be fine for our purpose here since the motion is not very forceful. I use one on my jump rings for jewelry/chain maille, usually with a bit of water and Dawn dishwashing liquid.

[avator]

I just ordered a cheap Walmart one to try it out. Less than $30. Heck, I'll try just about anything once.

If it works out, I have ideas to make one of my own. You guessed it, repurposed stuff.

[avator]

Trial and error....
FedEx arrived with the Walmart 'bottom of the barrel' rock tumbler.
I opened the box and set aside all the rock polishing ingredients. It did come with a bunch of stuff for a kid to have a great Christmas day... none of which I will be using.
So I poured the equivalent of maybe 2 tins of pellets that I had cast, dropped the barrel onto the base and pressed play... nothing but a red light. So I hit the timer setting for 1 day and pressed play again... nothing. Ok, time to read the instructions...
Oh, there it is... you have to put the cover on to activate the safety stop... got it.
Next, the motor spun but the barrel didn't turn.    WTH?
Upon further inspection... looks like the 7 year old Chinese kid that assemble this one at the factory put the belt on inside out. The teeth on the belt need to run in the teeth on the gear. 
Fixed that and hit play again... run, grind, run grind. Again.. WTH?  May be not enough weight? So I tried the heavier .25 cal pellets... same thing.
Ok... that bag of rock they sent along with the media are pretty heavy... I'm  not mixing pellets to add more weight...
I know, just add water. Same, same.
Two things here...
I could push my finger on one side of the barrel and make it run... but, I'm not standing there with my finger on this thing for 45 minutes or so. Heck I might as well build a hand crank tumbler.
I found a small brass washer and shimmed out the side of the guide.... BADA BING !!  We're tumbling now !
FYI... water and lead dust makes lead mud and coats your pellets with it...      no bueno.
They look like they were powder coated.
So now I'm gonna let everything dry out and try again later or tomorrow.

[Firewalker]

Add a couple drops of Dawn to the water then rinse the pellet water into a bucket, let the lead settle, scrape it off and dry it on the sun, throw it on top of a COLD melting pot and reuse.

[avator]

That may work but... I think I want to stay away from the water all together.
I think I might try a few drops of lube.
And BTW... I figured it out.. I didn't have too little weight, I had too much.
Instead of the equivalent of 2 tins, I reduced it to one and it runs like a top now.
Whoda thunk lead was heavier than stone? 

Look, it's a kid's toy.. it only built to last Christmas day. 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Maxx-Explore-Rock-Tumbler-Kit-Durable-Gem-Polisher-Children-Teens-Adults-Seniors-8/460026892?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=101066808&gclsrc=aw.ds&&adid=22222222227013003455&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=634561567865&wl4=pla-1882113904760&wl5=9012797&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=457950874&wl11=online&wl12=460026892&veh=sem

And lookie there, they jacked the price up from the $19.99 I paid.

[avator]

Here was my order....

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Maxx-Explore-Rock-Tumbler-Kit-Durable-Gem-Polisher-Children-Teens-Adults-Seniors-8/460026892

[avator]

I finished up tumbling the pellets I had cast and they all came out silky slick and clean. But, they also came out the color of gun metal. I think that was from them running in that water and the residue left in the tumbler. I'm going to wash the tumbler in Dawn and let it air dry. Then I will cast a fresh batch and run them.
Betty Lou's highly modded Maximus (no power mods) really likes the 217 20 FN. I haven't tried them in other guns since the tumbler.
The only gun I had out at the time for the 250 30 FN was the Hatsan stryker 1K vortex. Sadly, it does not shoot them well.
This presents me with a delema...
I know the Avenger loves them.
The Sentrys like the 24.7 Hatsan and the Benjamin 24.8 as does the 1KV. The goal is to stop buying production pellets. If I cannot find a 24gr mold, these 3 guns may need to go away. This may be where the serious culling begins. If it comes down to it, they will go towards funding another Avenger.