Which Media Seperator?

[Modoc]

Good Evening All,

 

Currently, I am running a Dillon CV-500 and a Frankfort Arsenal smaller vibratory polisher for doing my brass cleaning.  My 10 year old RCBS Media Separator is starting to really die at all of the joints.  What are peoples preferences and experience with the different media separators?  I do have the old Midway gold pan unit as a fall back, but will probably be getting another rotary separator in the near future. 

[AHI]

Dillon.

Expensive but worth it. 

Edited December 20, 2021 by AHI

[oteroman]

Dillon

[Boomstick303]

Find one for a good price and go for it.  From prior research I have not seen anything that would make me buy one over the other, other than price. 

[Rustygun]

I guess I am cheap. I struggle with spending over $100 just to shake the tumbling media out of cases.
 

 I use a fine mesh wire basket that my wife used to have in the kitchen to display bananas and oranges..  Set it in a plastic tub dump in the media from the tumbler and lift the basket and shake it for 30-40 seconds.   Results in 300-400 clean pieces of brass with all the walnut media in the plastic tub ready to dump back into the tumbler.  No mess, quick, easy and cheap.  
 

maybe the term frugal sounds better.  

[GrumpyOne]

58 minutes ago, Rustygun said:

I guess I am cheap. I struggle with spending over $100 just to shake the tumbling media out of cases.
 

 I use a fine mesh wire basket that my wife used to have in the kitchen to display bananas and oranges..  Set it in a plastic tub dump in the media from the tumbler and lift the basket and shake it for 30-40 seconds.   Results in 300-400 clean pieces of brass with all the walnut media in the plastic tub ready to dump back into the tumbler.  No mess, quick, easy and cheap.  
 

maybe the term frugal sounds better.  

Lol. I use a colander that fits onto a 5 gallon bucket perfectly. Set the colander on the bucket, shake vigorously, media falls through. I've thought about hooking up a drill motor and a slightly bent shaft to do the agitation, but it only takes a minute or two to shake by hand.

[RePete]

I'm using a Cabelas separator, and have had it for 16 years.

 

I drilled 1" holes in the bottom and use a 5 gal pail to catch the media.

[Steve RA]

[Cuz]

I use the Dillon large size media separator. Bought it over 10 years ago and just like other high quality products, I long ago forgot what it cost me, but it’s been fantastic ever since I got it. No regrets. 

[Baragasam]

I tumble certain brass with SS and use gold sifting pans to separate. Similar to the mesh basket idea mentioned above. I too find it hard to justify that much media to separate brass when I only tumble small quantities with media and I don't use media to tumble larger quantities. I use a cement mixer for larger volume. 

[Ryan67]

Another vote for the large Dillon. May be expensive but it works and is big enough for large batches. 

[Farmer]

On 12/20/2021 at 2:41 AM, Rustygun said:

I guess I am cheap. I struggle with spending over $100 just to shake the tumbling media out of cases.
 

 I use a fine mesh wire basket that my wife used to have in the kitchen to display bananas and oranges..  Set it in a plastic tub dump in the media from the tumbler and lift the basket and shake it for 30-40 seconds.   Results in 300-400 clean pieces of brass with all the walnut media in the plastic tub ready to dump back into the tumbler.  No mess, quick, easy and cheap.  
 

maybe the term frugal sounds better.  

Deep fat fryer basket for me! 

[Modoc]

I want to thank everyone for their input. @Steve RA, that is the separator that is reaching the end of its service life.  My dad has said that I can use/have his Dillon CM-500 unit since he is not processing that much brass any more. Maybe I’ll abscond with his CV-500 too (trade for the Frankfort Arsenal). 

[MJC082581]

FA separator works well but the Dillon is much better due to its larger size. The Dillon is also a more solid design 

[RangerTrace]

I started out with the small Dillon cleaner and media separator, but upgraded to the larger ones after I got my 1050/bullet feeder.  If you are loading high volume, it's definitely worth it...to me.

[Speedwagon]

Bought it at a Doller Store. Scoop the casings out of my Franklin vibratory tumble, give a few shakes and good to go!

[427Cobra]

I use a Cabelas separator, I cut the bottom off so the media goes right back into the bucket, if it breaks I will replace it with another. 

[ssudenga]

I use a Frankfort arsenal media separator, and while it does a fine job, I do wish it was larger and would have sprung for something larger if I had done better research. 

Edited January 19, 2022 by ssudenga