Ok…washed shell holders with brass…what’s this finish?

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RonR

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Ok…washed shell holders with brass…what’s this finish?

First time I have ever washed shell holders with a batch of new brass that was just processed for neck turning and case trimming. (Neck turning using imperial sizing wax as a lubricant.)

Why did I do it? Don’t know, read a few times that u.s. cleaning is good for cleaning parts not thinking anything, I just added the holders during a brass cleaning cycle.

28a82nm.jpg


k19lqs.jpg


Shown on the left is brass from the same batch, no appearance change, the brass on the right were the most interesting. Red"ish" coating. Again about 10 cases or so. Shell holder on the far right has never been used. The two on the left are black/brown in color.

Ultrasonic cleaning with recipe of about 1 ½ litres of tap water, 1 teaspoon lemi-shine, 1 teaspoon liquid dish soap. Cleaning 100 cases in a Lyman cleaner with heat. Tap water was cold to start and heated by the heater of the unit. Cycle time was approximately 10 minutes.

I am no chemist but the appearance looks like anodizing although I know that’s not the case but some sort of galvanic reaction. What is shown here is just the brass that was adjacent to the shell holders, around 10 in total.. It’s not consistent throughout the batch. The finish on the shell holders feels hard and certainly doesn’t rub off with your hands. Using the shell holders in the press and priming tool indicates that the finish is slowly wearing off.

Pardon my ignorance being a sophomore reloader but what’s happened here?

Secondly, will this finish cause issues with dies, rifle chambers, or sticking bullets in the necks? ( I know removing oxides from cases after annealing is good practice for die maintenance. Eagle Eye’s cold soldering phenomenon is causing a bit of a pucker factor with some occurrences on this end. I use motor mica as a neck lubricant during seating fyi.)

Any insight/experiences welcomed.

Ron
 
Lemishine can give a definite "golden" color to your brass.
Do not go over the usual concentration. It's there to avoid hard water marks.

I always put one or two drops of Kodak Photoflo or any dishwasing detergent in the last rinse water before tumbling it near dry in a media separator. This gets rid of the last stainless pins too.

Now that I clean my brass with a wet tumbler and stainless pins, I finish drying my brass by dunking it in a gallon of methanol then spreading them on a big beach towel.
Methanol captures water and the small water concentration left on the brass dries quickly.









PP.
 
PerversPépère said:
Lemishine can give a definite "golden" color to your brass.
Do not go over the usual concentration. It's there to avoid hard water marks.

Methanol captures water and the small water concentration left on the brass dries quickly.

PP.
Click to expand...

Methanol...never thought of that. I'll use that in a pinch if needed. (I bake in the oven at 170 f for half an hour like Kryogen.)

I think the usual concentration of lemishine and detergent was probably too aggressive. It was new brass and the cleaning was aimed to remove the sizing wax. I'll be better prepared for that next time.

Thanks for sharing

Regards
Ron
 
Last edited:
cartwheel said:
The acid of lemishine pulls out some copper from the brass and it gets plated on the outside. Use less acid or less time. Shouldn't harm anything.
Click to expand...

That was the information I was looking for. Thanks for weighing in Cartwheel and response Redruns

So the color/coating on the shell holders is explained...any ideas on what's on the brass?

(Not that I want to create the effect again but the brass looks interesting. I want to see after a few firings if the coating is somewhat permanent.)

Regards Cartwheel

Ron
 
Read up on electroplating. Also read up on how to make a battery. (Two dissimilar metals in a solution.) You have drawn some of the zinc out of the brass and deposited it on the steel. Darkens the steel and the brass looks coppery because it is.
 
Turkinator said:
Probably some dielectric reaction between the brass and the steel due to the acidity of the lemishine.
Click to expand...
Just re-read what I posted here and what I meant to say was a *galvanic reaction*. I get them mixed up because in the pipetrades a fitting designed to couple steel pipes to copper/brass pipes is called a "dielectric union".
 
Greg S said:
Read up on electroplating. Also read up on how to make a battery. (Two dissimilar metals in a solution.) You have drawn some of the zinc out of the brass and deposited it on the steel. Darkens the steel and the brass looks coppery because it is.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the direction Greg. (I am thinking of high school science. I must have paid attention at some points. :rolleyes:) The loss of zinc from the brass leaving the copper "look" on the cases is the explanation I needed. The zinc on the steel holders making them darker also computes.

Thanks for taking the time to explain.

Best Regards
Ron
 
Turkinator said:
Just re-read what I posted here and what I meant to say was a *galvanic reaction*. I get them mixed up because in the pipetrades a fitting designed to couple steel pipes to copper/brass pipes is called a "dielectric union".
Click to expand...

No problem, I took it to mean galvanic anyways. (my understanding of dielectric would be to insulate against reaction.) Thanks for taking the time/consideration to clarify.

Ron
 
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