Tumbling with walnut shells.

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EtienneNavaar

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I recently had my first crack at cleaning some brass in a vibratory tumbler. I used crushed walnut shells from Princess Auto with some metal polish added. I let them run for a while and wasn't getting much for results. Let them run overnight and still not very impressed. There is still lots of black stuff on the brass.

Did I do something wrong? Maybe not enough metal polish, or maybe walnut shells don't work all that well?

Any comments would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.
 
Before you give up on it, try one of the proprietary walnut shell polishing mixes from Lyman or one of its competitors.
 
Tumbling is like reloading. Trial and error.

Had an IPSC guy show me this.

About 100ml of New finish car polish and, 100ml of mineral spirts.
Mix these in a small dish then add to tumbler while its running.
If you add to much of this mix and media gets to wet, or not enough and is it to dry.
Takes a bit to find the right mix for that like new polished brass look.

Cheers
Sam
 
EtienneNavaar said:
I recently had my first crack at cleaning some brass in a vibratory tumbler. I used crushed walnut shells from Princess Auto with some metal polish added. I let them run for a while and wasn't getting much for results. Let them run overnight and still not very impressed. There is still lots of black stuff on the brass.

Did I do something wrong? Maybe not enough metal polish, or maybe walnut shells don't work all that well?

Any comments would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Why don't you just purchase Lyman or RCBS media, walnut and corncob . Pour half and half in your vibratory tumbler and let it go. There is no trial and error, it works wonderfully.
 
The walnut shells from Princess Auto is probably for sand blasting metal, the size of the grains should be about the same a beach sand.
 
track said:
Why don't you just purchase Lyman or RCBS media, walnut and corncob .
Click to expand...

Or...

Come.... Drink the stainless steel media Kool-Aid...

9mmbrass.jpg
 
track said:
Why don't you just purchase Lyman or RCBS media, walnut and corncob . Pour half and half in your vibratory tumbler and let it go. There is no trial and error, it works wonderfully.
Click to expand...

At $10 - $12 a pound, I will pass.

I always have Car polish and Mineral Sprits in the garage. 50lbs of Princess Auto Walnut was $30.

667 said:
Or...

Come.... Drink the stainless steel media Kool-Aid...
Click to expand...

Been trying to get some every time I am in the US but SS media is hard to find.
 
667 said:
Or...

Come.... Drink the stainless steel media Kool-Aid...

9mmbrass.jpg
Click to expand...
I use the stainless steel pins and I can attest that the photo of the polished brass is correct in every way. You will find nothing better anywhere to clean your brass with. Some of the walnut media has a red rouge polishing compound in it. I have always suspected that this material will ruin a bore when the bullet travels down the bore. This same media is impossible to remove from the inside of your brass, I know I have tried many different methods. The walnut shells with the red rouge fails to clean the inside of the case, and the primer pockets. The walnut shells also get stuck in the primer holes. None of this happens with the stainless steel pins. The primer pockets and the inside of the case is spotless like brand new every time. The only disadvantage is that you need a waterproof tumbler, like a Thumbers Tumbler and around 250 bucks. I bought one and it is well worth it. They are rock polishing machines and they are built to run for weeks on end 24/7 at a time.
 
The only disadvantage is that you need a waterproof tumbler, like a Thumbers Tumbler and around 250 bucks. Copied from eaglesnester.

Mine is 25+ years old and the tub is worn so the lid would not stay on. I drilled the lid and bottom, inserted a treaded rod, locked it in place with washers and nuts and the lid held on with a wing nut. When the bottom collapsed a circular saw blade created the support.

Yeah Yeah, time to buy another but Thumblers failed to reply . . .
 
Lyman or other media

I have a Lyman tumbler,and purchased the 6 lb. red media for about $21. To date, I've used approx 1/3 of the container, and over the past year have polished approx. 1000 rounds.

I just let it run for how ever many hours, sometime 2-3 and other times around 6 hours, comes out nice and shiny and clean. I then deprime and don't worry about the primer pockets. I use the Lyman Primer pocket cleaner ($12) along with a "large" tack bought at the dollar store (6 for $1) to clear out the primer hole. Works great.

About every 3rd clean, I cut strips of paper towel with a bit of Inox sprayed on which picks up all small particles.

Pretty straight forward with excellent results.
 
.. A cheap source of Polishing Media, is your Local Pet Shop. Crushed Walnut is sold as "Lizard Litter" . And, then add what ever magic formula takes your fancy, if you feel so inclined. Personally, I only add stuff when the Walnut Media gets really dirty. That way, I can get a bit more use out of it. ( if adding Brasso or Nu Wax etc. it is important to add it, as the tumbler is running, to avoid "Clumping", and otherwise getting lodged in the cases. ) ..... David K
 
princess auto walnut + Mr Clean , @ about 2hrs or less , if you want it cleaner go to SS & all the BS involved in that . i've only been reloading/shooting since the 60's , so i work on the KISS method .
 
I use a rock tumbler with walnut media, no cleaners. I put a piece of 3M Doodleduster fabric in with it to clean the media of fine powder. I have likely cleaned over a thousand cases without changing the media yet. Some cases take longer than others but those tumblers are made to run continuously for weeks as has been mentioned. I use a hefty paper clip to clear any flash holes, dislodge media from inside small mouth cases and also for checking for the separation ring inside suspect brass.
 
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