dcmdon Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Hi all, I generally don't clean my brass wet, but did a match this weekend where it was raining out and I was the only reloader on our squad. So I ended up with 30# of wet, sandy, gritty brass. I got it home washed all the brass with some dishwashing liquid and hot water. It came out nice. But now its wet. I really don't want to hassle with laying it out and turning it repeatedly. So i was wondering if putting it on several cookie sheets in my oven at 225 degrees with the convection fan would anneal the brass. I don't think it will, but just wanted to be sure. I'm 99% sure I'm worrying about nothing, but thought I'd float it here just to get some opinions. Nothing is high pressure, its all handgun. Mostly 9mm, .40, and .45. Thanks, Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoshidaex Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Should be fine but drying used brass in something you cook your food in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 If you knock most of the water off you can tumble it with no media. It gets pretty hot in a tumbler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcmdon Posted August 20, 2012 Author Share Posted August 20, 2012 (edited) If you knock most of the water off you can tumble it with no media. It gets pretty hot in a tumbler. Sarge, Thanks. Great idea. yes, all the water was pretty well knocked off/out of the brass. I actually tumbled it in my separator to get all the water out of the brass. Re the question about putting it where I put my food. The brass was washed with soap and hot water, agitated in a sealed bucket for several minutes, then rinsed and agitated several times. I'm comfortable that it doesn't contain anything that would be a problem in my oven. Or at least anything that was on it was securely attached to the brass. The brass actually looks clean, like there isn't even much reason to tumble it in media. I'm going to give the empty tumbler a try. I've got a Lymann with a perforated lid that might work great. Edited August 20, 2012 by dcmdon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Re the question about putting it where I put my food. The brass was washed with soap and hot water, agitated in a sealed bucket for several minutes, then rinsed and agitated several times. I'm comfortable that it doesn't contain anything that would be a problem in my oven. Or at least anything that was on it was securely attached to the brass. The brass actually looks clean, like there isn't even much reason to tumble it in media. While I am not the one that mentioned contamination I will bet there is plenty of lead trace and other nastiness on that brass to be of concern. No matter how clean it may look it is never going to be free of contamination once fired. How contaminated? Who knows. But I don't think I care to find out by coating the inside of my oven with lead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 (edited) Re the question about putting it where I put my food. The brass was washed with soap and hot water, agitated in a sealed bucket for several minutes, then rinsed and agitated several times. I'm comfortable that it doesn't contain anything that would be a problem in my oven I'm with the others, if you think its ok why not just put your brass in a pantyhose bag and throw it in your dish washer. It will dry after the wash and be spot free if you use Cascade...Better yet if you have plenty of brass just set aside and use it when you need it, likely it will be dry by then. Edited August 21, 2012 by jmorris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin c Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 ...The brass was washed with soap and hot water, agitated in a sealed bucket for several minutes, then rinsed and agitated several times. I'm comfortable that it doesn't contain anything that would be a problem in my oven. Or at least anything that was on it was securely attached to the brass... Lead is unhealthy stuff to ingest. Back when I'd occasionally used wet preps for tarnish removal, it wouldn't matter how many times I'd rinse the brass, when it dried (usually out of doors on an old towel), there was always some white residue left in the case after the water evaporated, which means to me that there was still stuff in the cases that even plain water was dissolving. If you use your oven, maybe it'd be worth putting the brass on something that won't be used with food afterwards, like a sheet of aluminum foil over the cookie sheet, or a disposable aluminum pie plate. That, or try the media free tumbler (hella lotta noise, though, I'd bet). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retarmyaviator Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 I regularly use a sonic cleaner, to dry the brass I put the pieces in a stainless steel pan and lay it out in the sun. Normally takes about an hour or so to completely dry the brass. Pan is only used for this purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcmdon Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 Thanks for all the words of caution. I ended up tumbling it in a lyman I have with a perforated top. I left it for a couple of hours and came back to dry brass. I added media, a drop of car wax and its running now. I'm generally very leadophobic, so thanks again for the reminder. I've had several friends with elevated blood lead levels and I try to do everything I can to protect myself. No sense in throwing another potential route of ingestion into the mix. The oven seemed like a good idea at the time but clearly wasn't. Thats why I paused before I acted and floated the idea here. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sudden Death Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 I use a wet tumbler with stainless steel media, when it comes out I rinse it in a strainer, shake off excess water, dump out on a towel in the garage. in a day or so, its ready to, I dont understand what the big rush is to dry it ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcmdon Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 death, last year, I had some wet range pickups and it seemed like it took forever to get it all dry. I laid it out on my porch, then of course some of it was oriented mouth up, so even when it was dry, a good shaking got more water out. It was just a major pain in the butt. My new place, I have don't have a deck. Just a patio that isn't really clean enough to go spreading shell casings on. So I wanted a way to dry it inside. Either way. The tumbler sans media worked great. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latech15 Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 I bought a toaster over specifically for kydex and brass drying. I don't use it any more. Now I just tumble them around in a towel and leave them there for a day or so then stand them up in ammo boxes and let them dry. I try and stay ahead on my brass prep. I have at least a few thousand that are clean and ready at all times so if it takes a while to dry them it isn't a big deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdm74 Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Wow, I just dump dirty wet brass out on a carpet. Then tumble it in a few days. Shoots fine for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 (edited) So i was wondering if putting it on several cookie sheets in my oven at 225 degrees with the convection fan would anneal the brass. Annealing requires temperatures much higher than a conventional oven can produce. Something on the order of 700+ degrees. Devices for annealing the necks of rifle cartridges use propane torches. Edited August 22, 2012 by Graham Smith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcmdon Posted August 22, 2012 Author Share Posted August 22, 2012 Thanks grahm. When I was younger I worked for an A&P (aviation) mechanic we used to anneal the copper drain gasket washers in a cast iron pan cranked up to 11 on an electric stove. It worked great, but the stuff got VERY hot. I wasn't sure at what point that began to happen to brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Easiest way, for the drying part, is to dump in an old bath towel and shake for a minute or so and then tumble in corncob. It'll be dry and fairly shiny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PROBIKE101 Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 once thrue a carbide sizer die and it will be shiny.........cleaned or not lol.i notice my cases are shiny after they go through the machine more so then after they are tumbled.could just be me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Annealing requires temperatures much higher than a conventional oven can produce. Something on the order of 700+ degrees. Devices for annealing the necks of rifle cartridges use propane torches. Effective annealing can be done at lower temps, the molten lead method uses temps under 700 F. Changes in brass begin under 500 degrees. Annealing is done by time and temp. The reason the automated machines use torches is because the very high heat can anneal in a few seconds and there is little time for the heat to migrate to the case head (as you don't want to anneal that part). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksshooter223 Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 Yes just spread the brass out on a dry surface and give it a few day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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