Mass brass drying process needed

[postalpainmaker]

Hey guys. I stainless steel tumble tons of brass. I currently am working on 6000lbs of 5.56 brass I acquired. I need a efficient way to dry the brass. I've been using 6 food dehydrators with so-so results.

Is there a better way?

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[MeatPuppet]

Used pizza oven from a closed pizza joint.

It has an adjustable temp control and conveyor belt feed.

Wet goes in... dry comes out.

[postalpainmaker]

Used pizza oven from a closed pizza joint.

It has an adjustable temp control and conveyor belt feed.

Wet goes in... dry comes out.

That's brilliant!


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[safeactionjackson]

Another option would be a commercial food warmer, more or less a larger version of the food dehydrator. Might be able to pick one up used.


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[postalpainmaker]

Another option would be a commercial food warmer, more or less a larger version of the food dehydrator. Might be able to pick one up used.


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Another good option.


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[3gunDQ]

I hit it with an electric leaf blower really good then put a fan on it..... should be good to go in 12-15 hours 

[lefty o]

when i made brass for a living, we washed, and dried brass in a large baird drum (big cement mixer). for drying it essentially had a big vent with forced hot air. turn the heat on and let it spin till dry. if the #6000 of brass is a one time thing, id just work my w ay thru it slowly instead of making an investment in big machinery. 

[anachronism]

Are you decapping the brass before tumbling? I'm working through 55 gal. of 5.56 processing myself, and have found that it's a lot easier to remove the water if the primers out. I generally spin the brass after draining it, kind of like a washing machine does on the spin cycle, to get most of the water out, then I tumble the brass in walnut to absorb the remaining water and dry the brass. I'm not having issues with media clumping when I do it this way.

I've been kind of curious about adapting a 110V apartment size clothes dryer for drying brass too. My mind works in strange ways at times. Screwing a thin rubber mat to the inside of the drum should protect the case mouths.

[postalpainmaker]

I am ultra sonic cleaning with out decapping then dry in dehydrators. Then size , decap, swage and trim the stainless steel tumble and then dry.


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[NatureBoy]

how about a used clothes dryer with brass put into a heavy duty laundry bag

[Paul Winters]

Oven at about 220 degrees.  Been doing it for years.  Drain the excess water and leave in for about 30 minutes then air cool and you are done.  Excess water might need more time. I use muffin trays for rifle brass with the base up.  I find the temperature doesn't affect brass and extra time  souldn't hurt.

 

Paul : -)#

[postalpainmaker]

I'm looking at 1000watt dehydrators


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[Rob5r]

I built a dryer.  It only takes 5-10 minutes to dry about half my load of brass.  My home made wet tumbler does @ 2500 9mm cases at a time.  I roll the wet brass on a dry towel, then in to my dryer.  I used a 5 gal bucket.  Punched a @ 6" x 6" hole in the side, near the bottom and put a small forced air heater, like the one's people put under their desk at work. Then I bolted wire mesh inside the bucket, right above the heater.    I stir the brass every couple of minutes, using a plastic windshield scraper I had laying around.  That knocks any loose water around and heats all the brass evenly.  And if you have any stray SS pins/chips, they fall to the bottom of the bucket.  By the time I get me tumbler reloaded and running, the brass is dry.  

 

 As everyone else says, decapping first will make them dry sooner.  I use a universal decapping die for that.  You might be able to figure out a better heat source, but the small forced air heater has worked well for me.  Sometimes I put a lid on it, but you have to be careful not to over heat the heater.  Mine has a safety device so it doesn't overheat.  Trip that and your heater will be down for a while.

 

I think the key here is forced, heated air and stirring the brass.  Also the stirring helps to prevent the heater from overheating.

[postalpainmaker]

Ya I think I might have to custom build a force air drier. I would like to have something that keeps them moving as well.


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[postalpainmaker]

I looked into drying with heated corn cob. Big money unit but looked good.


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[ffgats]

try search Frankford arsenal, saw a couple months ago about a "Dryer"

[anachronism]

Perhaps you can find a small apartment sized 110v clothes dryer at a good price.

[JFoley001]

Another vote for a used kitchen oven. 220-230F for 30-60 min and you are done. Primer in, out, doesn't matter.

[polizei1]

For a "small" investment, I would look into using a Harbor Freight cement mixer and a forced air heater (usually propane but you can find electric as well). I use a HF mixer to clean the brass and then just lay them out in the sun for a few hours, but the forced air would keep them moving and would dry them faster. Plus, when they're dry, just dump them out! Just be sure to keep the heat off the mixer motor. 

Edited March 11, 2017 by polizei1

[rustybayonet]

 

[postalpainmaker]

Bought 3 of these 1000 watt dehydrators. Work good but at least 4hrs as they only go to 175deg. I need a higher temp option for a lot of brass processing.


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[Kaldor]

On 2/12/2017 at 11:15 AM, Rob5r said:

I built a dryer.  It only takes 5-10 minutes to dry about half my load of brass.  My home made wet tumbler does @ 2500 9mm cases at a time.  I roll the wet brass on a dry towel, then in to my dryer.  I used a 5 gal bucket.  Punched a @ 6" x 6" hole in the side, near the bottom and put a small forced air heater, like the one's people put under their desk at work. Then I bolted wire mesh inside the bucket, right above the heater.    I stir the brass every couple of minutes, using a plastic windshield scraper I had laying around.  That knocks any loose water around and heats all the brass evenly.  And if you have any stray SS pins/chips, they fall to the bottom of the bucket.  By the time I get me tumbler reloaded and running, the brass is dry.  

 

 As everyone else says, decapping first will make them dry sooner.  I use a universal decapping die for that.  You might be able to figure out a better heat source, but the small forced air heater has worked well for me.  Sometimes I put a lid on it, but you have to be careful not to over heat the heater.  Mine has a safety device so it doesn't overheat.  Trip that and your heater will be down for a while.

 

I think the key here is forced, heated air and stirring the brass.  Also the stirring helps to prevent the heater from overheating.

 

Thats brilliant.  Ive been kicking around building something like that.  Any pics you can share?

[frankge]

I use a laundry bag and set it on top of my AC unit. The bag is pretty thick but dries really quick in my Florida heat...

[GregJ]

On 12/11/2016 at 10:00 PM, postalpainmaker said:

I am ultra sonic cleaning with out decapping then dry in dehydrators. Then size , decap, swage and trim the stainless steel tumble and then dry.


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I wet tumbled mine without decapping, then dried as you are.  Had a helluva time with primers being pulled back.  Turned out the primer was gluing itself in.    Another reason to decap before wet tumbling.  I decided to switch back to media tumbling, problem solved.

[nbot]

If you're doing some serious volume... 

 

Check these guys out.

 

http://sgcbrass.com/product-category/media/

 

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auo98kDegLA&t=62s

 

They make a patented Stainless Media Separator / Dryer.  I have a smaller unit and it works fast.  

 

Brief breakdown.. (Separates stainless, rinses, and drys)  All steps make using stainless media so much faster and better.