Advice on Wet Tumblers/Ultrasonic for brass cleaning

Potshot21

Potshot21

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
54   0   0
Location
Moose Country, Ontario
Well, I'm finally fed up with dusty media and crap and am far enough down the rabbit hole of reloading that I might as well upgrade.

I don't know much about products available, or which system works better. The ultrasonic seems cool because it doubles as a parts washer if need be, but I'm skeptical it can take off as much gunk and grime as stainless pins mechanical action can.

Bonus points for something on the quieter side too!

Thanks for any input!
 
Wet stainless steel media tumbling is far more effective than ultrasonic.

The Frankford Arsenal Platinum Tumbler is excellent.
 
I Have a tumbler's Tumbler. The big Model
I've cleaned thousands of cases.
I only put them in for 1 hour.
They come out like gold.
Take care
 
Wet tumble is, by far, the best I've come across. Cleans the dirtiest brass to like new condition. It's relatively quiet as well.

Ultrasonic does not clean as well as wet tumbling.
 
I just replaced my Thumblers tumbler with a Frankford Arsenal . I'm happy with it, only downside comparing the two is the F/A is quite a bit louder. I think it has to do with the rubber style drum on the Thumblers. First time I used the F/A it was very apparent, could be the unfinished concrete walls in my basement making it a bit louder too?
 
I'm not familiar with the drum shape of the Thumbler's tumbler,but the FA drum has a hex shape so the brass really tumbles making it a bit noisier,I run mine less than 1 hr and the brass is like new.
 
Frankford seems reasonably priced as well!

Do any of you also use the case dryer machines they market? Or is it simple enough to just spread them out and let em air dry?

Also, did the tumbler come with stainless media? Or did you have to buy it separately?
 
My FA tumbler came with ss pins,although I'm using the pins I bought before to start experimenting with a small rock tumbler I had already.
To dry the brass I just spread them out on a large cookie sheet,let them dry overnight.
Another nice feature with the FA tumbler is that the drum has openings on both ends and it comes with solid,clear,end caps and with grilled ones as well,makes it really easy to separate the pins and rinse the brass at the same time,all done over a laundry tub.
 
The FA unit is pretty slick. It'll do everything you need in the kit. Just grab some lemi-shine and dish soap and you'll be golden. I have been using mine for 6 years now. I can't believe it's still going but it is.
 
Thumbler's Model B has thick rubber lining. Love mine. Quite as a nuclear sub as far as brass hitting the drum. Motor and belt are loudest parts.
 
I have the Hornady 2L ultrasonic cleaner.

It works well on small batches of rifle brass using Lemishine and Dawn dish soap in hot water.

30 minutes per batch does the trick.

Also works well on jewelry, etc.

I don't recommend the Hornady brass cleaning solution. Overpriced and it didn't do a good job compared to Lemishine and Dawn.
 
I bought a Lyman Cyclone on Amazon (price briefly dropped and I snagged it). It doesn’t do nearly the amount of brass advertised but I usually do 800 9mm at a time with all the media it came with, two 9mm cases full of Lemi Shine, two squirts of dish soap, and set it for 3 hours and even the dirtiest crappiest looking range brass comes out looking like new. To dry I lay it out on a towel in my gun room where I have my dehumidifier running but when it gets too cold to run it I think I’ll probably get a dehydrator.
 
Potshot21 said:
Do any of you also use the case dryer machines they market? Or is it simple enough to just spread them out and let em air dry?

Also, did the tumbler come with stainless media? Or did you have to buy it separately?
Click to expand...

I use an old oven(not used to cook anymore)to dry mine out. Very low heat is all you need.

My unit came with the stainless steel media.
 
So how does the FA "lite" --the smaller one compare to the bigger platinum model by FA? I was reading some reviews on the smaller one and people aren't impressed with it.
 
Thanks to everyone who chimed in with advice. I ended up getting the FA Tumbler as suggested. Picked up the one with the bigger drum.

Everything I needed was in the box, I already have one of their media separators, but if you were going to buy one of these tumblers I think I'd recommend it. Looks like it'll make cleanup alot simpler.

Only issue I had was I overfilled the drum on the first go round. The wheels can't grip the drum enough to keep it turning. I'll have to play around and get used to how much brass I can load in this thing.

Happy with the size of the unit overall.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom