jmorris Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 The results using stainless steel media always impressed me; however, being accustom to the large batches my big Dillon tumbler can turn out the idea of only being able to 2 lbs of brass (only 230 rounds of 9mm) at a time just wouldn’t be worth it. The Thumler’s tumbler despite costing almost $200 is only good for 15 lbs . Once you add 8 lbs (a gallon) of water and 5 lbs of SS media that only leaves 2 lbs of brass. You can also get a 40 lb tumbler as well but at almost $700...well if I wanted to burn money I would just buy new brass. I started out ebaying parts, a 1/3hp 40 rpm gear motor ran $30, 1” pillow block bearings (1500lb load rating) for $8 and a Lovejoy coupling for another $10. I then made a frame out of ¾” to mount the motor and bearing box. Cut a disk out of 3/8” steel and mounted a 100 lb (12.2 gallon) bucket used to hold chlorine onto the disk using 10-32 bolts. I slid another bucket into the first one and cut slots into the outer bucket so the inner bucket would inner lock with it. I then cut 4 ribs 1 5/8” tall out of ½” thick plastic and bolted them in to the inner bucket, using 10-32 counter sink bolts, every 90 degrees to agitate the brass and media. The media is pretty expensive at $25 for five pounds so I only bought 10 pounds for initial testing, so if it didn’t work I wouldn’t be out of too much money. So I started out with only a gallon Ziploc bag of .223 and a few hand full’s of 458socom for the trial run. The mix was 2 gallons of water, 2 table spoons of Dawn dish washing soap, ½ teaspoon of Lemishine detergent. Even at over twice the capacity of the Thumler’s B model there is still a lot of room for more. I ran the mix for 1 hour and separated the media/brass using my Dillon separator, rinsed the brass with clean water and dumped it onto a screen I built for drying dip lubed bullets. It was kind of cool today so I set a heated fan up to help dry them out. In about 15 min they were all dry. It’s not much to look at but once I get a few more bags of media I figure it will tumble around 4500-5000 9mm cases at a time and I will have under $180 invested including the 20 lbs of media. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevolverJockey Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 I love homemade contraptions but I have to ask. What is it about super shiny brass that makes it worth the effort to make a SS tumbler on large scale? I have OCD and 6 hours in Lyman activated walnut in a Dillon 2001 has been good enough for me. Is their a functional advantage or just like super shiny brass. The tumbler looks great by the way. I have often though if a harbor freight cement mixer would be a good candidate for such thing - never considered a bucket. Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Vigilante Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Nice job. I am a SS convert and will never go back. Yes, it is more expensive. No, it probably doesn't help me shoot better or straighter. But I just like the idea of super clean shiny brass. Check out this thread for more on stainless steel tumbling: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=130815&st=0&p=1473773&hl=stainless%20steel%20media&fromsearch=1entry1473773. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outsydlooknin75 Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 I love homemade contraptions but I have to ask. What is it about super shiny brass that makes it worth the effort to make a SS tumbler on large scale? I have OCD and 6 hours in Lyman activated walnut in a Dillon 2001 has been good enough for me. Is their a functional advantage or just like super shiny brass. The tumbler looks great by the way. I have often though if a harbor freight cement mixer would be a good candidate for such thing - never considered a bucket. Lee Part of the draw is that with rifle brass the primer pockets are clean and doesn't add an extra step for precision loads. Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoobb Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 So what is the benefit over ultrasonic cleaning, my cases come out perfectly clean in 16 minutes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted December 3, 2011 Author Share Posted December 3, 2011 The benefit for me is that it does a better job faster and will do even larger batches with more media (3-4X what the dillon will hold). It took an hour to clean a gallon of .223 better than my big Dillon would have done in 4 hours. Ultrasonic is fast but the tiny batches throw that out the window. Make one that will do a few thousand at a time (that is affordable) and I would be interested Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babaganoosh Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 So what is the benefit over ultrasonic cleaning, my cases come out perfectly clean in 16 minutes Ive done ultrasonic. Now I do SS tumbling. The ultrasonic is nowhere near as clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latech15 Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 I couldn't get what I was looking for out of dry tumbling. I couldn't tell who've bucket had been cleaned and which hadn't. Probably an issue with my worn out media but I don't have worn out stainless. I dry my brass in a toaster oven after I tumble so I can process brass faster than some using wet media. I actually think it is faster too since I can tumble more brass at a time with the wet tumbler. About 1000 9mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoobb Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 I gotcha, batch size never crossed my mind for some reason. Yeah I have to do relatively small batches at a time probably 2-300 cases at a time for best results. That is a cool setup, I wish I had 5 gallon buckets full of brass to clean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biggdawg Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 looking really good. i built my own for the same reasons wanted more capacity and i got tired of the dust from the dry method. also got tired of the media all over my press and case feeder. congrats and good job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdawgbeav Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 I love homemade contraptions but I have to ask. What is it about super shiny brass that makes it worth the effort to make a SS tumbler on large scale? I have OCD and 6 hours in Lyman activated walnut in a Dillon 2001 has been good enough for me. Is their a functional advantage or just like super shiny brass. The tumbler looks great by the way. I have often though if a harbor freight cement mixer would be a good candidate for such thing - never considered a bucket. Lee Sorry for the revival of the old thread, but I found this when doing a Google search. Part of the appeal of wet tumbling is that all that crap in the water isn't floating around the air of your home... I would love to ditch the dry tumble, but I just can't afford a wet tumbler and media right now. And biggdawg... love that you built your own and now are making a business out of it. If you offer discounts I'm all ears! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodys556 Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 I fought with my brass and how to clean the primer pockets. Primarily with the military 5.56 brass. Swaging dirty primer pockets just seamed stupid. So I decide to use SS media and it is amazing. a PITA but well worth the effort. I rinse about a dozen times and then cook the brass in a cookie sheet at 170* f for about an hour or so to evaporate all of the moisture. I showed a buddy of mine who has been reloading for YEARS the results and he thought I was lying to him and said I purchased new brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L3324temp Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 If I ever switch from dry to wet it will only be from the health concerns of dealing with the dust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babaganoosh Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 For the people who have septic tanks. You will be dumping lead contaminated water into your ground. It could become an issue. I'm no specialist in this area of concern but it's possible that it could contaminate your property. If someone ever does a soil sample when you go to sell your house you might be responsible for the cleanup. I could be wrong but its something to think about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted May 23, 2013 Author Share Posted May 23, 2013 (edited) Well crap, no pun intended, now I can't shoot on my property at all. I bet every shot shell I fire has more lead in it then five buckets of rinse water for wet tumbling... Edit, that's a bit too smart a$$. However, if anyone has a "new" aerobic septic system vs, the old school lateral line system they would just dump it in the ground. I wouldn't dump it in the kids sandbox though. If it would kill weeds better than Sahara, Round up, Weed master, or even 2-4-D, I would save it for the fence rows but they know lead at that level is just an Element. Edited May 23, 2013 by jmorris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aric Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Is it worth while to de-prime pistol brass before tumbling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 I deprime everything before tumbling, if you are trying for clean brass, leaving the primer pockets dirty seems sort of silly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted January 1, 2014 Author Share Posted January 1, 2014 I generally do not deprime before, don't want to take the extra time and money for another tool head and decapping die. I would never run dirty brass in a size/decapping die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dex Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 My son and I shoot open with a lot of super going down range. Dry tumble was a major pain in the arse, I went the SS wet method a couple years ago and have never looked back. I do make the extra effort to resize and deprime before cleaning but the results are well worth the effort. Shop around and buy yourself a Kushlan Lady Bug cement mixer, rated for 160lbs. Throw in 10 lbs or more media and use your favorite cleaning solution. Mine is Dawn dish soap with a table spoon of Lemishine, and if I really want to make a batch look like new, I'll add in a half cup of ammonia, I know, I know, ammonia degrades brass, but to date have not had any issues with pistol pressures. The brass looks like new and I still get 6 to 8 reloads before the case splits or the primer pocket gets loose. I let the brass tumble for about 90 minutes, rinse it off in my dry media separator with a constant supply of clean water, just let the hose run in the media bucket, shake out the excess water and spread it all out on a towel. Let dry over night and load the next day. If your in a real hurry, spread out on a cookie sheet, don't forget to line with foil, saves the nag session later, and throw in the oven at about 175 till dry, another option, best to wait till the woman of the manor is gone, is to throw them in an old pillow case, tie off securely and let em rattle around in the dryer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDA Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 (snipped)... Throw in 10 lbs or more media and use your favorite cleaning solution. Mine is Dawn dish soap with a table spoon of Lemishine, and if I really want to make a batch look like new, I'll add in a half cup of ammonia, I know, I know, ammonia degrades brass, but to date have not had any issues with pistol pressures...(snipped) Well, I guess all those concerned about the infinitesimally small amount of ammonia in Brasso can stop worrying... :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksshooter223 Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Is it easier to separate the stainless pins as apposed to corncob? I can never get corncob completely out of all my cases it seems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Yes, but unless you have a closed seperator you need to rotate it pretty slowly or you'll have pins everywhere. I use the XL size pins but a lot of people like the original smaller ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted January 11, 2014 Author Share Posted January 11, 2014 I do make the extra effort to resize and deprime before cleaning I never run dirty brass into a size die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfrits Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Nice home made tumbling rig. I've used dry, ultrasonic, and now SS wet and the pins are hands down the best method. Using a Thumbler now but considering building my own for the added volume. I deprime and resize prior to tumbling with no issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Here are some I did today: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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