Princess auto blasting media-walnut

Light Infantry

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
327   0   0
Is this stuff good for using in tumblers to clean brass?


https://www.princessauto.com/en/50-lb-walnut-shell-blasting-abrasive/product/PA0008275398

The 18- to 40-grit abrasive is made entirely of crushed walnut shells, making it ideal to clean and polish surfaces without damage underlying material.
Feature(s)
Most common type of soft-abrasive for consumer and industrial use. Walnut shell abrasive is a fibrous product made from crushed walnut shells.
Application(s)
Cleans and polishes glass, fibreglass, wood, plastic, stone and soft metals.
 
Yes it good to use.
It's untreated so you can add whatever flavor of polish you want and pretty fine so it is not plugging up the flash holes like the corn cob media does.

I prefer wet tumbling though but that is a different discussion : )
 
I use it and it works well, I don’t find it dusty either. I’ve added nu finish liquid wax and a splash of varsol, cases come out very shiny. I found a big enough colander that fits on top of a 5 gal pail that lets the media sift through, so it’s simple to separate from cleaned brass.
 
I find the 50 pound bag to be too fine, and takes forever.
Buck a pound sounds good until you realize it's only marginally effective.
It's useless on heavily stained range pickup.
The Lyman Tufnut stuff cuts into the crap very well, but ain't cheap at 5 bucks a pound.
There's a coarser W12 in 3 pound lots at PA that I'll be trying next.
I'm hoping that at 4 bucks a pound, the W12 will be worth it.
 
I use it. Dusty. Prefer to run the tumbler outside with the lid off to get rid of dust.

Do you use a polish? I tried "following the instructions" and didn't use the polish with my FA tumbler kit because they said to use a separate batch of media. Once I started using polish it cut the dust right down to near nothing. That is with corn cob, mind you. Turns out the polish helps clean the brass faster anyways, they just want you to spend more money lol.
 
I use the PA walnut stuff. I dribble in a bit of car polish, so no dust. A bag will last a lifetime. Probably too simple for some folks.
 
I bought a big bag from TSC now Peavey Mart years ago and have hardly made a dent in it but I don't load more than a couple of hundred rifle and a thousand pistol in a year. It works great but then I haven't tried name brand media either.
 
I've tried it and was not that impressed. I guess the PA walnut blasting is lacking the polish component that they infuse into the Lyman commercial tumbling compound.

HOWEVER, I have two tricks that I use to get good results from my tumbling compound. First, I wash the stuff when it gets dirty. Stick it in a pillow case, add some dishwashing detergent, run lots of hot water through, agitate it and let the water run out through the weave of the pillow case. The water coming off is filthy - which is nice to see. I then dry the stuff in the sun on garbage bags, etc. Just avoid windy days when some may blow away.

My second trick is a WIP. I've tried pouring some CLR into the corn cobb material as the cases were being tumbled. Not much, like half a dozen tablespoons or "a good splash". So far, this has been done only with desperately bad cases and I've been shocked at how well it worked.

If others try this, maybe you can let us know how this works for you.
 
Back
Top Bottom