A place here in town, La Grand Industrial Supply.
Brass tumbling time?
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Overnight, and JD single barrel.
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I thought I was getting a good deal at $35 for 40lbs
Phew! I am so glad that I dropped the dry stuff for plain hot water, a bit of lemon-shine and a drop or two of dishwashing liquid and a few steel pins! Max I go is hour and half, 90 minutes, good rinse and let 'em dry on a towel for a day or so. I still have two "tumblers", a really neat RCBS and a brand X that sit idle now. No dust, no worry about how long, and brass is clean. Harbor Freight sold me the two canister wet thing about 2 years back, and I could not be more pleased. Sometimes I don't even use any soaps...just the pins and clean water. Works pretty well, and rinse time is negligible.
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Another thing to add, I use a standard light timer set up for 4 hours. Just one of the cheapos, turn the dial when you want to start and it’ll shut off in the amount of time you set it for. Word of caution: if you go on vacation, you will tumble your brass every day for 4 hours!! Might keep the burglars away too!
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Just askin'!
Maybe I ran the stuff too long!
All the best,
I wasn't being mendacious. I was asking a question based on experience.
Maybe I ran the stuff too long!
All the best,
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4 hrs
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Just to join in, I use nuthull grit blasting medium from the local air compressor company.
I don't add polish, just some mineral spirits to knock down the dust.
Four hours is plenty for me, and convenient for my daily schedule.
I have done wet tumbling with ceramic and pins for black powder brass, but the rinsing and drying is more trouble than just dumping a vibrator into the separator.
I don't add polish, just some mineral spirits to knock down the dust.
Four hours is plenty for me, and convenient for my daily schedule.
I have done wet tumbling with ceramic and pins for black powder brass, but the rinsing and drying is more trouble than just dumping a vibrator into the separator.
I use a mix of corn cob and walnut a bit of polish and a dryer sheet cut up in thirds to help keep media clean. I usually will run for around an hour and they are clean and shiny.
I change out the media when it takes much longer to clean and shine. I bought big bags of corn cob and Lizard litter 4 or 5 yrs ago and still have a lot left, much cheaper than electricity. My thought is if it takes all night to get it clean its probably worn out.
I change out the media when it takes much longer to clean and shine. I bought big bags of corn cob and Lizard litter 4 or 5 yrs ago and still have a lot left, much cheaper than electricity. My thought is if it takes all night to get it clean its probably worn out.
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I change mine when it gets nasty and is taking longer that it should to do it's job.
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Won’t get the job done! You need a digital light timer!
Not responsible if you do.
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In case this horse isn’t dead yet...
I decided to try the Harbor Freight walnut with about two capfuls of new finish. Just for giggles I added about a cup of BBs. (I used half a 6000 BB container.)
The results are much better than I expected. Tumbling time down to about 2hrs, nice and shiny, and the inside seems much cleaner....
VR,
Harold
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
I decided to try the Harbor Freight walnut with about two capfuls of new finish. Just for giggles I added about a cup of BBs. (I used half a 6000 BB container.)
The results are much better than I expected. Tumbling time down to about 2hrs, nice and shiny, and the inside seems much cleaner....
VR,
Harold
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
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Takes a lots longer (4x?) with corn than with walnut. Walnut and a cap of Dillon rapid polish will clean a tumbler full of dirty brass in an hour or two. More than clean enough for processing. Ya don't get the mirror shine with walnut ya do with corn , but I only care about clean , not shiny.
The bbs actually moved around and not settled in the bottom? Thought about cutting up heavy steel wool to clean with the corn media. Kind of like the steel pins but dry style. Not sure I would do it with rifle rounds as it could get stuck in the cases and not be seen. Pistol cases should be fine though.
If your looking for your cases to look brand new inside & out , nothing beats a wet tumbler with Stainless Steel pins , dish detergent & water. That's coming from a guy who dry tumbled with corn & walnut media for 25+ years. You can teach an old dog new tricks. Gave my dry tumbler & media to a friend . Will never go back.
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