Anyone else using ss ball bearings instead of ss pins in their wet tumble?
- Thread starter Ghillbert
- Start date
I will try it first and see....thanks
because corn cob doesn't come close to cleaning as well as the wet tumbled with stainless pins,it will take the crapiest brass you can find and make it look nearly new,do you really NEED it that clean,?probably not,but it sure is nice to bring back crappy stuff to almost new,specially with the harder to find brass,I still use corn cob. Why do people use stainless bits? Just cuz it costs more?
- Location
- WMU248 near Edmonton
well that was an interesting read...
I may have to look into wet tumbling, I've always just did try vibratory usually a 24+ hour process then size and another clean to get rid of the sizing wax. I don't really care about perfectly shiny brass, just clean.
I may have to look into wet tumbling, I've always just did try vibratory usually a 24+ hour process then size and another clean to get rid of the sizing wax. I don't really care about perfectly shiny brass, just clean.
I was the same for over thirty years but then seen what wet tumbling can do and never looked back. It can be as simple or complicated as you decide to make it!! Having both options isnt a bad thing either.
Well, that didn't work.
As stated, I got 10,000 of the 1.5 mm balls. By volume, not even 1/8 of the amount of pins I had.
Anyway, threw them in with only 35 303Brit brass. (Usually do 60 - 80) Regular amount of water, Tide laundry soap and citric acid. Tumbled 3.5 hours.
Brass are very dull, not shiny at all. Primer pockets and interiors are still completely black, no evidence of any cleaning.
So: I guess to be fair I should pick up another $300.00 of balls, to get a substantial amount in there, and try again. Not sure, but will post if I do.....
As stated, I got 10,000 of the 1.5 mm balls. By volume, not even 1/8 of the amount of pins I had.
Anyway, threw them in with only 35 303Brit brass. (Usually do 60 - 80) Regular amount of water, Tide laundry soap and citric acid. Tumbled 3.5 hours.
Brass are very dull, not shiny at all. Primer pockets and interiors are still completely black, no evidence of any cleaning.
So: I guess to be fair I should pick up another $300.00 of balls, to get a substantial amount in there, and try again. Not sure, but will post if I do.....
Well, what attracted me was the fact that I fight with pins sticking all the time. Maybe it's something in my water, but I do everything I can and still end up with a pin in my AMP annealer once in a while. Hate that.
This is an hour of tumbling , pockets clean.
I reinvented the wheel because I got a flat….pins stuck in cases etc. cost was 60$ vs 30-90$ depending on how many pins you want.
By all means stick with pins if they are working for you I was just showing another way. If it isn’t broken don’t fix it…for me it was broken so I fixed it.
The balls got them as clean as the pins in an hour so not sure how the pins are way better?
Just wanted to discuss different options on a discussion forum.
Licensed to kill
CGN Regular
- Location
- Peace Country Alberta
Well, the first wheel was likely made from solid wood. I would not want to drive on solid wood cartwheels. Don’t have to “reinvent” something to improve it and the only way to improve something is to try something else. Personally, I am pleased that someone decide that there must be a better way than corn cob dry tumbling. Btw, in my limited experience with wet tumbling, the use of citric acid (lemishine) can make the brass dull if you use too much or tumble too long. IIRC, the citric acid can pull the zinc out of the brass leaving a copper tint to the brass.
Thats odd,one thing to try is after 1/2 hour dump dirty water and start with fresh, are you using really hot water? I find that sometimes changing the water works if they are really bad, or switch to some dish soap for a bit of grease cutting if needed for a difficult batch. That would make me frustrated as well, maybe tumbling to long? I stick to an hour , if its a dirty batch like you said I dump and try again for 1/2 hour seems to work, I always use really hot water as well.
Licensed to kill
CGN Regular
- Location
- Peace Country Alberta
When I clean brass thst were loaded with black, I tumble with plain water for 1/2 hour, dump the water and returnee with dawn and sometimes a pinch of lemishine. If im do if a large batch of smokeless cases I sometimes dump the water half way through.
Ya it’s odd sometimes it seems they get dirtier and feel greasy and other times no issues whatsoever and I am not sure of the cause of that greasyness on the odd batch as all my brass prep is the same, I use redding imperial sizing die wax and washes off fine, it’s happened twice now vs countless times not happening. I will start to do a spot check at 1/2 hour for awhile see if it keeps happening or what.
