What case tumbler to get?

[dogtired]

I'm curious, has anyone ever tried the FA wet tumbler w/o water? Say a media like crushed walnuts or corn cob, and maybe some polish with the pins, but dry?

But why? Really the wet wash is the way to go. Drying is really not a huge issue. You may not be able to clean and load the same day.

[Tom S.]

Why is easy: pins wouldn't cling to the inside of shell cases, so separating would be easier/faster, plus no rinse process or drying process.

[RDA]

I spend a similar amount of time separating my dry media from brass when using my vibratory tumbler as I do separating my stainless pins from my brass when using my rotary tumbler. For both I use one of those rotary case and media separators.

[Tom S.]

Mine is nothing similar. Walnut shells, two or three spins in the Dillon separator and I'm done. Wet tumbling, it's more like 2 to 3 minutes.

[dogtired]

I will claim "your results may vary".

I do a 2x rinse in a mesh basket in a pan, and really there are no pins to separate.

Edited October 22, 2015 by dogtired

[Tom S.]

Still doesn't answer my question though.

[dogtired]

Regarding using corn cob in the wet system? I still have my vibratory tumbler.

[Absocold]

In an industrial setting where speed matters, product to be deburred and polished goes into a wet system for initial cleaning and rough polishing then into a dry system for heated drying and final polishing then another rinse and dry to remove polishing agents.

You can use either wet or dry for a one-step process in our application.

Wet is faster and gives better results, dry is easier. This is a gross over-simplification, but if you're only going to do one step it's an accurate statement.

[Absocold]

I'm curious, has anyone ever tried the FA wet tumbler w/o water? Say a media like crushed walnuts or corn cob, and maybe some polish with the pins, but dry?

You can use a rotary dry but it takes longer than a vibratory to get the same result.

[Tom S.]

Thanks. Time for me isn't an issue. I just wondered if it work or if it be too hard on the brass.

[Absocold]

The brass cases are much heavier than the pins used in a rotary. If anything's going to work harden the brass it would be the brass banging against itself.

If you're going to run a rotary dry, I wouldn't use pins at all. Use walnut or corncob to act as the cushion that water provides. Maybe a combo of pins and softer media.

But at that point I'd have to ask, why bother? If you mostly want to run dry, get a vibratory.