Cleaning Brass. Ultrasonic or Tumbler.

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Bruiseleee

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What do you folks use to clean your brass? I've read some people use an ultrasonic cleaner and see in the catalogs the tumblers with the media.

Are there any advantages to one over the other? I don't reload high volumes so size doesn't make too much of a difference.

thanks for help. :)
 
Tumblers are usually less expensive and you can buy new media in a pet supply shop. Noisy though.
Ultrasonic cleaners require water. Adds a step when you have to dry the brass. Mind you, 20 minutes on a cookie sheet in the oven set on 'warm' will dry 'em nicely.
"...size doesn't..." Get a large one anyway.
 
ceramic media?

I have just been trying to decide whether to go ultrasonic or ceramic tubling media! thanks for starting the thread. Hopefully you boyz out there that have these systems in place will pipe up and give us some insight.

Looks like ceramic media is relatively easy to get (out of the US anyway) .. Ultrasonic table top models can be had for $50 to $2000 US, I guess it depends on how much brass you clean at once and how much $$ you have!

I believe that using ceramic media is a relatively new concept for brass tumbling, but has been used in the lapidary industry for years. You still need to dry the brass after the fact .. the same as ultra sonic.

Pipe up Prosper! .. I know you have ultrasonic .. what is your opinion?

:D
 
For a small qty reloader I would consider going ultrasonic; not as messy/dusty, quicker, quieter, and you don't have to deal with media stuck in the primer pocket & case. Ebay has some good deals on ultrasonic cleaners but you'd need something larger than the small jewellery size cleaners. There is a very good article about ultrasonic case cleaning at www.6mmbr.com/ultrasonic.html
 
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Curious on this too. I used to own a Thumbler tumbler a few years ago, and am now in the market for a case cleaner too. Which ones on eBay are suitable?
 
I use a Branson$$ ultrasonic cleaner. It works great for the really dirty range and military brass. I fill it partially with water then have two glass jars that fit inside the unit. I use water and a bit of stinky CLR in the jars. I can cap the jars and pour the heat to the cleaning process without stinking out the whole house. I give the brass a rinse with tap water when I am done and set the brass out to dry.

I also converted a small Harbor Freight cement mixer into my tumbler. The 50 cal brass fits into this tumbler in decent quantities. I lined the mixer with baler belting and use corn cob media inside. I also have a Hornady M3 which works great, just smaller quantities and a bit slower.

I will just add that the sonic cleaning does not polish the brass at all but does a great job of cleaning out the dirt and carbon. I will often polish my brass in the tumbler after an ultrasonic cleaning.
 
I use both. The tumbler makes brass mirror-shiny. The ultrasonic cleaner merely removes dirt and fouling. It is much more effective at cleaning the inside of the brass, and the primer pockets.

Even the biggest ultrasonic cleaners can only do small amounts of brass at a time. The more you add, the less effective the cleaner is.

For the most part, I only use the ultrasonic cleaner and don;t bother with the polish
 
prosper said:
I use both. The tumbler makes brass mirror-shiny. The ultrasonic cleaner merely removes dirt and fouling. It is much more effective at cleaning the inside of the brass, and the primer pockets.

Even the biggest ultrasonic cleaners can only do small amounts of brass at a time. The more you add, the less effective the cleaner is.

For the most part, I only use the ultrasonic cleaner and don;t bother with the polish
Click to expand...

Which ultrasonic model do you use? Been looking at the ones on eBay and it seems to be the same as the unit that The Source sells.
 
I went and bought the one from the Source yesterday. It'll fit about 50 .45 ACP brass in the tub.

With plain water it removes 85-100% of the goop inside the case. Dunno if that's good or not as I don't have anything to compare it to. I'll probably try the vinegar solution in the article next.
 
Clean Brass

444- I bought a Thumblers tumbler 20 years ago. I have used it so much I thought it would give up - but it never has. I fill with one third brass and add luke warm water up to the 2/3rds mark. I add 2 tablespoons of AMAZE which is a laundry product that contains soap and a tiny bit of bleach. Set for two and a half hours and rinse completely. Works awsome.
For black powder brass I use more Amaze and hotter water and 3 hours in the tumbler.
Carry on!
 
444shooter said:
Which ultrasonic model do you use? Been looking at the ones on eBay and it seems to be the same as the unit that The Source sells.
Click to expand...

I've got a few. I have one of The Source ones - it's fine, but you can only do 20 308 sized brass MAXIMUM to get acceptable results.

I also have an industrial one gallon model which has about 4 times that capacity.

Hot water alone works well, hot water and soap even better, and the birchwood casey brass cleaner is best but will stain brass if you use too much. 50% vinegar works well for shining up dull brass.
 
They are on sale right now until Feb. 25th at the Source .. $39.99
Just picked one up. Prosper .. Do i need the glass beakers as described online or not? If so, where does one acquire them? What about cycle times for a small batch of .308 cases??

:D
 
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I read that. It is an inconvenience .. But i can live with it for $40!! Looks like the cycle times on the 6br website are quite long .. 43 minutes by the time you clean, rinse and finish with distilled.

Bruise .. did you buy a beaker for the inside?
 
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Not yet. I figure I'll get one when I start using chemicals. Not sure where I'd start looking for one though.

Hot water and soap seem to be fine for getting the "goop" out of the cases. I'm not a stickler for shiny casings, so it's not a big deal right now. Maybe one of those science supply stores will have them.
 
No breaker for me.

Mine has cycle times of 90,180, 280 and 480 seconds. Guess I must have an older model. I usually do a 480 second cycle, sometimes two
 
prosper said:
No breaker for me.

Mine has cycle times of 90,180, 280 and 480 seconds. Guess I must have an older model. I usually do a 480 second cycle, sometimes two
Click to expand...



Do you align them in any way or just chuck' em in there? Do you just dump out the vinegar/soap solution and add distilled to do the rinse? I LIKE shiny brass for some unknown reason .. I will just tumble them as usual after that.

:D
 
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