Stainless Steel Polishing Media ?

[Bello]

Here's an 18lb wet vibrating tumbler from Harbor Freight $199.-

http://www.harborfreight.com/18-lb-vibratory-bowl-with-liquid-drain-hose-96923.html

I'm thinking you might be able to use less media and put in more brass with experimentation.

Has anybody done that?

'

well i think the thumler tumbler is 179.00 your better off with it

[Bimmer]

Somebody already mentioned the idea of using a cheap cement mixer (<$200) instead of a Thumler's rotary tumbler... Horror Freight sells a 1-1/4 cubic-foot (almost 10 gallons) model for $150.

Then you could do all the brass you own in one fell swoop (though it might take a while), and you could probably find other uses for the cement mixer (mixing cement?).

[427Cobra]

I switched to SS and glad I did, I'm using a Model B high speed, 5lb SS media, Dawn dish soap, and a 9mm case of Lemmi Shine, I dump in 250-300 40sw cases, fill with hot water 1 inch from the top and let it run 45 minutes, I use a rotary media separater to reclaim the SS pins, rinse in hot water again, I made a drying box out of a 40MM ammo can for use in the winter, in the summer the TEXAS sun drys my brass on a cookie sheet, rifle brass I go 1.5 hours and usually do 75-100 of 308\260 brass, or 200 223 brass, I don't decap pistol brass only rifle. Here's some tips, when draining the water out of the rotary media separater use a strong magnet to catch the stray SS pins, IMHO bolt gun brass needs some dry lube inside the necks for consistent seating and bullet release, I have noticed a big reducing in ES\SD from my rifles

[The_Vigilante]

I also retired my two vibratory cleaners in favor of the rotary tumbler method. I originally purchased a used Thumler off of Ebay and it turned out to be the low-speed model-still did the job-just took longer. Just recently added a new tumbler from Pottery Mills which is a step up from the Thumler and lets me get the job done in 2 hours. I have experimented with several methods and have found that filling up the drum to the top doesn't let the "mixture" tumble freely in the drum since it is too full. I found a "mixture" of 5lbs media, 5lbs water, and 5lbs brass gets the job done and lets me get more brass cleaned per job. Diamond Pacific which manufactures and sells high end rotary tumblers advises to only fill the drum 3/4 full to get the full benefit from the tumbler. I also recommend Pellets, LLC for purchase of your stainless steel media. Media is cheaper than that sold by Stainless Steel Media and service is fast. Talk to Kevin-he'll get you fixed up.

[Bill T]

Diamond Pacific which manufactures and sells high end rotary tumblers advises to only fill the drum 3/4 full to get the full benefit from the tumbler. I also recommend Pellets, LLC for purchase of your stainless steel media. Media is cheaper than that sold by Stainless Steel Media and service is fast. Talk to Kevin-he'll get you fixed up.

+100 On Kevin from Pellets LLC. He has sent me some solutions to test in place of the Dawn / Lemi-Shine mixture. I'll report with photos later on when I use them. I'm seriously considering a 65-T Model Rotary Tumbler from Diamond Pacific. They are supposed to be sending me a catalog with information and prices. They're not cheap, but they manufacture a first class professional grade unit. The problem with all of these cheap "cement mixers" is they are not designed to run for long hours on end. Most do not have quality motors, bearings, or drive units built into them. Most are built for the home owner for the occasional "twice a year" small, 20 minute mixing project, not the avid handloader who cleans tens of thousands of rounds of brass a year. Bill T.

[The_Vigilante]

Bill,

You also might check the rotary tumblers at Pottery Mills and Covington Tumblers. A little bit less $$$ than Diamond Pacific but still good tumblers. I purchased the 35P kit from Pottery Mills-very nice tumbler. The drum/barrel is made from PVC and is very heavy when loading it up with 15-lbs of steel media, water, and brass. The only drawback to this drum is that it is round instead of hexogonal (sp). I did try one batch thru it and it came out OK though. Just very difficult to manage due to the weight and size of it. I am going to stick with the Thumler drum for now using 5lb media, 5lb water, and 5lbs of brass.

[Bill T]

The 35-P Model from Pottery Mills looks like a nice tumbler. Do you get sufficient agitation with the round drum as opposed to a hex drum? Also, approx. how many .223 cases do you think you could tumble in one batch on the 35-P with Stainless Steel Media using the red 2.75 gallon drum? Bill T.

[The_Vigilante]

Bill,

It's difficult to tell how much agitation I am getting with the 2.75g drum-don't really hear anything inside the drum. I did run some .40 S&W and they came out clean and was using Kevin's preparation-both powder and liquid-there weren't many suds when I opened it up to remove the cases. I don't reload .223 although I have a large amount of empty cases I've picked up at the local ranges. I guess you could run either 10 or 15 lbs of media, 2 gallons plus/minus of water, and 10-15lbs of .223 cases. 10-15 lbs would be a lot of .223 cases I imagine. You probably know how many .223 cases make a pound. It possibly would be advisable to glue some ribs inside the container to get more agitation. Are you selling the .223 cases? Is that why you need bigger volume?

[markcic]

Has anybody tried just Lemi Shine without the stainless media?

[Bill T]

Are you selling the .223 cases? Is that why you need bigger volume?

No, I just purchased 2,500, .223 cases from Brassman Brass and after I resize, trim, and prep them, I'm going to tumble them in Stainless Steel Media. I'm just searching for the quickest, most efficient means to do it. I need to invest in a larger tumbling system. Right now I am examining all of my options. Bill T.

[Bill T]

Has anybody tried just Lemi Shine without the stainless media?

When I received my 2,500 cases I found them to be extremely dusty and dirty. I wanted to wash off some of the dirt before resizing them so I wouldn't scratch my RCBS Small Base Resizing Die. I put them into the dishwasher with Cascade and some Lemi-Shine. They really came out nice and clean compared to what they looked like when they went in. I'm sure the Lemi-Shine helped the cleaning process, but by itself it won't work miracles. Bill T.

[holdinsteady]

I've been using ceramic media which works really well on large cases but bridges up on smaller bottle neck cases. Recently went to ss wire in my thumblers 15# high speed....Stuff works great on any size case. I only fill the tumbler 1/3 full of water, capfull of Dawn and just a touch of lemon juice. 1 1/2 to 2 hours and the brass looks better than new. I forgot to mention that I decap all brass prior to cleaning. The lemon juice cuts the crud and gives the brass a squeeky clean shine inside and out including the primer pockets.

[The_Vigilante]

holdinsteady,

How many cases are you putting in the drum? 9mm, .40, or .45?

[c1a1]

Greetings All,

I'm new to this forum and after reading about the benefis of ss media and how its used, I've come up with my own version that has worked for me. I'm rather frugal and a bit of a tinkerer so this did not cost alot to set up. Basically I went to Home Depot and bought several meters of 6/7 copper multi strand grounding wire (bare) and cut the pieces with a bolt cutter mounted on a vise. It took me about 1.5 hrs. and I ended up with about 4lbs. of .60in copper wire pins. I think that the copper being softer than the brass will have no effects with scratching, wear, etc. and have the same effect as the ss pins.

I tried this out and it works exactly the same with the same results as with the ss pins and I only tumbled for 1 hour (home made tumbler) using the dish soap & lemishine mix. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

R.

Edited January 8, 2012 by c1a1

[Trident]

Read here on the risks of wet tumbling:

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=166660&hl=%20stainless%20%20steel%20%20cleaning&st=0

[Gussers]

Well, I'm no expert, but here's my experience:

1. People keep saying you can only tumble 150-200 9mm cases per batch, but I've had upwards of 500. Less water = less weight = more brass. No adverse effects so far that I can see. The motor stays as cool as it usually does and there's no apparent increase in vibration or strain on the machine. Remember water weights about 8lbs per gallon, so even eliminating 2 pints gives you and extra pound of capacity for brass.

2. I use COLD water for the tumble and the rinse. I tried using hot water for the rinse to speed the drying time, but it seems to discolor the brass. It's still extremely clean, but not as yellow and bright. What I do instead is leave it on an old towel in the sun for an hour or a trick I read was to dip it all in alcohol. This absorbs all the water then dries in a couple minutes.

3. Separating the pins is a bit of a pain. Sifting them through a sifter seems to work if I do so in to a pan of water. I've been meaning to buy a media separator as that seems best. I also just read the pins are magnetic. I tested and they do stick to a magnet, so maybe that's an option too.

4. I deprime all my brass as I add it to my various containers for cleaning then resizing later. The $12 a Lee Universal deprimer costs is money well spent. I have a single stage press dedicated to the task and it's trivial to deprime a bunch of cases at a time. No ruined resizing dies and the primer pockets and insides of the cases are as clean as the outside. I

My basic impression is this is the way to go. It's like starting with factory new brass each time you load. The insides get as clean and shiny as the outsides which makes checking the charge simple. Resizing with a carbide die seems to be no problem as all the grit and grime has been removed. Overall, I'm impressed as hell and this is the only way to go if someone asks me. The tumble time is low too. I generally set the timer for 1.5-2 hours and it's done. I've gone as little as 1 hour in a pinch and there's only the smallest hint of residue in the primer pockets.

[Steve RA]

The media seperator from Cabelas which has a top is super for seperating the brass from the pins. A number of other companies have the same one in different colors.

I've found - with a lot of trial and error - that just Dawn and water works as well as any of the more exotic mixes.

[Bill T]

I've found - with a lot of trial and error - that just Dawn and water works as well as any of the more exotic mixes.

I've got a batch of .300 Win. Mag. cases I'm going to wet tumble. I'm going to leave out the Lemi-Shine, and just go with hot water and Dawn. I'll report on the sucess of it.

[The_Vigilante]

If the stainless steel pins do most of the actual cleaning why is Lemishine necessary?

[jmtyndall]

The lemishine isn't necessary. Unless you want your brass to look like the pictures. It shines, and actually does get the brass a bit cleaner, but your brass will be pretty clean even without it.

[Steve RA]

It's a mild acid and helps cut the powder and primer residue, although as I said above, I find the Dawn by itself works as well. Also by not using the Lemishine it should cut down on the removal of zinc from the brass which was discussed past death in another posting.

[SD1]

Anyone using a cement mixer with pins?

[Steve RA]

There are several who have posted on the forum. I think I'll try the Mixal next, modify it to almost snugly hold a 2 gallon plastic tub. Put ribs on the inside of the tub. Think it would hold enough brass, pins and water to make it weigh about as much as I want to handle.

http://www.mixall.com/products/m-58-compact-mixer

[Steve RA]

Also use the big Harbor Freight tumbler with corncob and Nu-Finish for the final step.

That would be about 15 lbs of brass. 15 lbs of pins and a gallon - maybe a gallon and a half - of water and Dawn. Be about 45 lbs which would be about the max I'd want to play with. Should be able to use the large Dillon seperator with that load.

[BillD]

It's the bees knees for getting really shiny brass, if that is important to you to go through this process.

Not for me, not for pistol brass.