ToddKS Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 Why don't you put the wet media in a pillow case, tie it shut and throw it in the dryer. My fear there would be a failure in either the pillow case itself or the tie used to secure it. Either scenario would create a mess that I would not want to deal with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddKS Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 (edited) +1 on the dryer sheets. Not all dryer sheets are equal though. The store brand are not as effective as national brand. I cut up 2 sheets for every batch I clean. Also add a cap of Nu finish and dillon polish on occasion. I've never had to replace my walnut media and I've cleaned about 15k-20k worth of brass. Those sheets come out a very dark grey each time. I use the dryer sheets as well. They are very effective. I use Bounce dryer sheets personally. I also add Nu finish after each bath the media gets. Where I am really creating the filth is cleaning large volumes of 223 brass. The insides of those bottleneck cases do not come as clean as the straight wall pistol cases when I wash them initially. If I forget and leave the 223 cases running for an extended period of time (18-24 hrs) it knocks all that dirt off the inside of the cases and the media requires a bath due to excessive dust/loose dirt. If I keep the tumbling time to 12 hrs or less the dryer sheets can keep up with the mess and life is good. Edited July 14, 2014 by ToddKS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Stainless pinning really leaves the inside of bottleneck cases spotless !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Goodness gracious. I just get a new 50 lb bag of each every few years depending on how much I shoot. There are enough things to keep up with in this game and I am not taking the time to start washing cleaning media. If you are cleaning enough brass to warrant all this extra work you might want to switch to wet tumbling. Sounds like it would be much less work in the long run. FWIW walnut not only gets dirty but it also gets dull and does not clean as well. Once my walnut quits working well I throw it out and replace with new sharp walnut. Also, I think too much nufinish or other polish kills media quicker than anything else. I only use a tiny drop of nu finish about every 5th load through the tumbler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tires2burn Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 In my rotary tumbler 2 hours with SS pins, dawn, lemi-shine and water does 8 lbs of brass in any caliber & 223 is just as clean inside as the outside. Have you ever tried this method? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddKS Posted July 15, 2014 Author Share Posted July 15, 2014 For all who have mentioned wet tumbling, I agree with you. Wet tumbling is an effective process, just not one I am tooled for at this time. For better or worse I invested in a Thumler's UV-18 so corn cob is the path I will be traveling for time being. Looking back I might make a different call but for now I am going with what I have. This is more about the journey than anything else. I like experiments and gathering data. Initially I wanted to see if it would work, now I want to see how far it can go. I believe I can get to the end of this batch of brass with this batch of media. May need one more bath to get there. If I do I will consider this a win and life will return to normal for another 6 months or so until I do it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soflarick Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 (edited) Dryer sheets cut up and a good squirt of low voc mineral spirits, and run without brass. Cleans the media pretty well. Then wipe down the tub once the media is out. I found wiping the tub interior removes a lot of crud, and keeps things cleaner, longer. Edited July 15, 2014 by soflarick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddKS Posted July 15, 2014 Author Share Posted July 15, 2014 Dryer sheets cut up and a good squirt of low voc mineral spirits, and run without brass. Cleans the media pretty well. Then wipe down the tub once the media is out. I found wiping the tub interior removes a lot of crud, and keeps things cleaner, longer. I like this idea in concept. How are the fumes? Do you set the tumbler outside to mitigate the smell? How long do you let it run? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soflarick Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Low VOC, barely any smell. I don't run the tumbler nearly as long as what I've read from some. Maybe a couple hours. If the dryer sheets look dirty, I'll put in a couple more pieces and run it a little longer. Wiping down the tub with a moist towel really helps, too. I couldn't believe the amount of junk coating the tub. I add some flitz to the mix afterward. I think the longest I've tumbled was around a couple hours. I've also tried the blue shop towels instead of the dryer sheets for cleaning the media. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddKS Posted July 18, 2014 Author Share Posted July 18, 2014 I am closing the book on this experiment. I got one good run out of my media after the fourth washing and then performance fell off a cliff. I am assuming that the issue raised earlier in the thread of the edges of the media getting dull is the culprit. Media does not look dirty, but it is not polishing much at all. Went from delivering a high lustre finish to a dull finish that is not much better than what it had when I put it into the tumbler. I deference to the wet tumbling crowd I did do some google work and price investigation on that topic and will probably give it a try the next time I have a spare $300 running around if for no other reason than to compare the two processes. My only real concern at this point is the small batch sizes with the wet tumble but we will see once I get to that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Get the frankford arsenal one, less than $200.00 @ Grafs and use the Thumlers afterward for final polish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soflarick Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 I am closing the book on this experiment. I got one good run out of my media after the fourth washing and then performance fell off a cliff. I am assuming that the issue raised earlier in the thread of the edges of the media getting dull is the culprit. Media does not look dirty, but it is not polishing much at all. Went from delivering a high lustre finish to a dull finish that is not much better than what it had when I put it into the tumbler. I deference to the wet tumbling crowd I did do some google work and price investigation on that topic and will probably give it a try the next time I have a spare $300 running around if for no other reason than to compare the two processes. My only real concern at this point is the small batch sizes with the wet tumble but we will see once I get to that point. How many and type of cases has that media handled? Did you add anything after flushing it out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddKS Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 I would estimate that I cleaned 15,000 pistol brass (9mm, 40, 45) and 8,000 223 brass on this batch of media. The media was treated with Nu Finish polish after each rinse/dry cycle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slotbike Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 If you put used dryer sheets in each batch right from the beginning.....you will get much longer life from your media. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slotbike Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 BTW, I just sold both my Dillon tumblers after buying the new Frankford Arsenal Wet Tumbler. I will "never" tumble with a dry media tumbler again, NEVER! Stainless pins, water, and solution of your choice is a cleaner, safer way to clean brass. I use a food dehydrator from Harbor Freight to dry the brass. $25.00 and it works awesome. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddKS Posted July 20, 2014 Author Share Posted July 20, 2014 (edited) I do use the dry sheets every time. They definitely help. With pistol brass the dryer sheets seem to be able to keep up. It is the 223 that seems to be the problem. It seems to deliver more mess than the dryer sheets can absorb when I am running large batches. Edited July 20, 2014 by ToddKS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slotbike Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Use more in the .223. I always use at least 4 of them. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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