Tumbling Media

M

mmcintyre1220

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I currently am using corn cob media but the problem I am having is that every time it is taking longer and longer to polish how I like it. I am using some cabelas brass polish with the media. Is this normal that it will start taking longer after only around 1500 pieces of .45 acp? Currently to get it to where I like it it's taking around 4 hours. Is that normal? Also does anyone know where to get cheap corn cob media around Hamilton Ontario? I have heard guys saying that they use crushed walnut shell from the pet store but does it polish as well as corn cob media?

Any info is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
Corn cob shines better than crushed walnut, but as you noticed, corn cob seems to lose its effectiveness rather quick.

Walnut cleans faster or better than corncob. Walnut and a half capful (the bottle cap) of nufinish car polish every other load cleans and polishes well enough for me. BTW, let the nufinish mix well (run the tumbler without casings about 3 minutes). Walnut and nufinish last way longer as well, current batch has probably cleaned twenty thousand casings already.

I recently tried 50-50 mix of mineral spirit and nufinish, one capful every other load. Works better and easier to distribute the nufinish through the walnut media.
 
I found with corn cob media , take a bounce sheet (dryer fabric softener sheet) and cut in half , toss it in with your brass when you tumble next .
The bounce sheet seems to clean the media and you end up with a shine close to that of new media.
 
Brasso works aswell but then it stinks..this is the best fix..
imagesCATM0MP9.jpg
 
i use corn cob pet litter,we get it from pets unlimited.the kids use it for their hamsters and i swipe some any time i need more for the tumbler.i also mix in the nufinish car polish.i also found the dryer sheets catch a lot of dirt helping extend the life of the media.corn cob is a ##### to get out of the 222 cases.i usually tumble the brass every 2-3 reloads which make cleaning them up faster.
 
mbarcher said:
I found with corn cob media , take a bounce sheet (dryer fabric softener sheet) and cut in half , toss it in with your brass when you tumble next .
The bounce sheet seems to clean the media and you end up with a shine close to that of new media.
Click to expand...

I like this one - I wonder if used sheets will work as well...

*note* - my wife loves Bounce way too much - then just throws them away. This would a great fix for a cheap guy like me ! :dancingbanana:
 
I have a Lyman 1200 that I used with walnut and a Frankford Arsenal that I use with corn cob (thats what came in it used). I wouldnt bother mixing them. Either tumble twice with two different medias, or live with the results of one. The polish in the media works nice and so does the dryer sheet. I can't say how long exactly it takes to clean and I'm sure old dirty media takes longer but I just leave mine running when I go out or am busy with something else.


If your tumbler has a vented lid wait until you leave it running too long with old walnut media and it coats your whole room in dust (that contains lead).

The new stainless trend seems to be the cleanest brass can get, but you need more and better gear to do that.

None of these methods if I recall are shown to make your brass shoot any better though.
 
phatman said:
I like this one - I wonder if used sheets will work as well...

*note* - my wife loves Bounce way too much - then just throws them away. This would a great fix for a cheap guy like me ! :dancingbanana:
Click to expand...

I actually use the used sheets with walnut media and Mothers car polish and they work great, I get my wife to save them up for me (when I don't do the wash ;)), but I wait until about an hour or so before the tumbling is finished and then throw them in.

I usually throw in 3 or 4 full sheets with a full load of brass (around 100 - 200 cases)
 
I've used nothing but coarse crushed walnut media for going on 25 years as an old IPSC shooter however the "trick" I discovered (if you want REALLY clean and bright shiny brass) is to use TWO steps in polishing. The first using sufficient Brass to "moisten" the media - letting it "work" for probably 2 hours until the cases are all dull but clean, then running them through a second batch of "dry" walnut media without any Brasso. The first is the cleaning stage, the second is the polishing process. The second step only takes probably 30 minutes and you will be amazed at the brightness of the brass - looks like new stuff. Some say using Brasso has some kind of adverse effect on the brass but in all the years I've done it this way - haven't found any problem. And by the way although no longer shooting competively anymore (too old and hurting too much) when I was active shot over 60,000 rounds a year - .45 and 38 Super.
 
easyrider604 said:
Corn cob shines better than crushed walnut, but as you noticed, corn cob seems to lose its effectiveness rather quick.

Walnut cleans faster or better than corncob. Walnut and a half capful (the bottle cap) of nufinish car polish every other load cleans and polishes well enough for me. BTW, let the nufinish mix well (run the tumbler without casings about 3 minutes). Walnut and nufinish last way longer as well, current batch has probably cleaned twenty thousand casings already.

I recently tried 50-50 mix of mineral spirit and nufinish, one capful every other load. Works better and easier to distribute the nufinish through the walnut media.
Click to expand...

+1 for ground walnut and Nufinish polish. The brass comes out nice and clean but not super shiny. Since I am just going to load them and get them dirty again that isn't a problem for me. I will have to try the 50/50 mix one of these days.


Mobular said:
Princess Auto carries the 50lb bag of walnut shells for $30!
Click to expand...

+1. It is a lifetime supply the way I am going with it. Getting a few friends together to split the bag would be a reasonable thing to do.


phatman said:
I like this one - I wonder if used sheets will work as well...

*note* - my wife loves Bounce way too much - then just throws them away. This would a great fix for a cheap guy like me ! :dancingbanana:
Click to expand...

I use the used sheets with walnut/Nufinish and they seem to work fine. They certainly take a lot of dust out of the media and simplify clean up of the brass afterwards.


Mark
 
That is what I use the dryer sheets for, to collect the dust and dirt out of the media. My wife leaves the used ones on my bench, and I cut them into long strips about an inch wide before putting them in. They really work.

Ted
 
ShootSavage said:
I actually use the used sheets with walnut media and Mothers car polish and they work great, I get my wife to save them up for me (when I don't do the wash ;)), but I wait until about an hour or so before the tumbling is finished and then throw them in.

I usually throw in 3 or 4 full sheets with a full load of brass (around 100 - 200 cases)
Click to expand...

How much car polish do you put in the media? I'm thinking that too much could mess up the sizing die, but just the right amount would prolly help cycle the round in semi-autos...
 
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