DinoR Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 (edited) I have been tumbling with stainless steel media for about 9 months with GREAT results, I use the typical 1-2 teaspoons of liquid Dawn and 1/4 teaspoon of Lemi-Shine and Tumble for 3 hours, However tonight when pulling the brass from my tumbler the brass was very clean but not real shiny like it normally is. Was wondering if anyone else had seen this and what caused it. I am currently re-running as I type and will see how it looks in 2 hours. Edited November 18, 2013 by DinoR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1sickPuppy Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 (edited) The one of the left was very little lemi shine and the case on the right had too much... Does your look like any of these? Wet Tumbled for 2 hrs each... Got any a pics? Edited November 18, 2013 by 1sickPuppy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DinoR Posted November 18, 2013 Author Share Posted November 18, 2013 There in the tumbler right now, Will post some Pic's and my results when I pull them out. they were clean just very dull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DinoR Posted November 18, 2013 Author Share Posted November 18, 2013 I pulled some out of the tumbler, My other batches were a shiner "Yellow Tint" and there are more a darker "Goldish Tint" What are your thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPRSkip Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 I usually only tumble for about 45 minutes. They look great to me Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tul9033 Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 Run the media by itself. The media will need cleaning after so many cycles. Usually Dawn alone will do the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonman16 Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 On your initial use of SS media, RUN the media by itself to DE-BRR IT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brassaholic13 Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 Not enough shine is due to lack of soap. Use more soap. I have found the ratio of: 1 Gallon water - 1 .45ACP of Lemishine, and a 2 second blast of Dawn works best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonman16 Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 Soap AMOUNTS will VARY with the HARDNESS of your particular water source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjacobs Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 (edited) Your tumbler may have gotten contaminated with lots of carbon. Probably need to clean out your tumbler. Might need to run just the media, soap, water and simple green. If you want to go hard core run media and mineral spirits for an hour then rinse everything in hot water(will take quite a few rinses to get media mostly clean), then run hot water, media and lots of soap for another hour to get all the rest of the mineral spirits out. Ive had to do the mineral spirits route once or twice to get mine really clean. To prevent this in the future use more soap since soap is what keeps the carbon and other dirt in suspension in the water and keeps it from sticking to the tumbler drum. Edited November 19, 2013 by rjacobs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brassaholic13 Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 Soap AMOUNTS will VARY with the HARDNESS of your particular water source. Yes, but the easy way to tell if you're short on soap... If when you pop off the cap, you don't see a ton of suds, not enough soap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DinoR Posted November 19, 2013 Author Share Posted November 19, 2013 Never thought of the build up on the rubber liner, Good suggestion, Just for the heck of I am running them again, But I increased the soap and Lemi-Shine just to see how it looks. If it still has that dull "Patina" look I will clean the rubber liner, This tumbler is a very old Late 50's early 60's "Scott Murray" with the original liner's. It's built like as Sherman tank. Never had this problem until this batch of brass. Thanks For the suggestions! Dean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjacobs Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 If its that old I would go full on with the mineral spirits. Dont use the newer "green" mineral spirits, they dont work as well IMO. Home Depot has both. The "green" is in a plastic gallon jug while the non "green" is in a metal gallon can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 After you get the tumbler clean, try just running the load for 2 hours. Sometimes, if you run it too long, the brass will darken as you mention. Try various running times until you get the results you want. Also, don't ever let it sit in the tumbler after it has run the time you desire. Get it out and rinse it well, then do whatever you normally do with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighCountryStalker Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 I agree with shortening the time significantly. No more than an hour is needed (I aim for 45 minutes). Longer only increases dezincification and will give you a darker, duller finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DinoR Posted November 21, 2013 Author Share Posted November 21, 2013 (edited) Well I did another batch of 45's, they came out great. Here is my assessment. When I did the batch that came out with a dull satin mat type finish was a combination of problems. I normally do larger batches 200-250 shells.However this was a small batch of 75. Not thinking I still used 5 pounds of SS media and the 1/2 Tsp of lemi shine, plus 2 Tsp of Dawn and a smaller amount of water and tumbled it 3 hours. My belief is that 5 Lbs. of SS media and to much lemi shine, tumbled for to long on such a small batch of brass cause the problem. It's like all the ss media, "Beat the heck" out of the brass for 3 hours. Edited November 21, 2013 by DinoR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonman16 Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 I would believe you NEED THE ONE GALLON OF WATER as a cushion. No matter how you loaded it. Brass was LIMITED TO 2 POUNDS in the original recipe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjacobs Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 I never vary the amount of media in my drum, no matter how small a load I put in it. I do, as Moonman16 points to, ALWAYS fill my drum with water though. I never add "less water". Now a little less soap and lemi-shine, sure, but I never put less water in the drum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 I don't think the amount of media makes any difference (other than if you have too little) If you used less water but the same amount of additional ingredients that is what caused it. I always use the same amount of water, media, additional ingredients no matter what the amount of brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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