Quick Fix for Repidly Re-Tarnishing Wet Tumbled Brass
- Thread starter HeavyTread
- Start date
I suspect the brass that you came out of the oven darker coloured was not rinsed well, and what you are seeing is the residue left from baking the soap and citric acid that was still on the brass. The spots are from evaporated hard water, just like water spots from a dishwasher. To prevent the spots you need to remove the water droplets before you put the brass in the oven. Which makes another step in an already overly complicated process.
I like to keep it simple. When my brass is done tumbling, I put it in a pail and pour a tea kettle full of boiling water on it. Let it sit for a minute, slosh it around a bit. Then separate the water and drop the too-hot-to-touch brass on an old towel. Fold the towel over on the brass, rub once to get rid of the water droplets and then put the brass on a hard surface to finish drying. As soon as they cool off they are done. 5 minutes from start to finish with no spots.
The boiling water is an excellent rinse, and the residual heat dries brass fast after it is taken out of the hot water and quickly evaporates moisture. If you have a severe hard water problem, buy a 4L jug of distilled water at Walmart for $1.50 and use it for hot rinsing.
I like to keep it simple. When my brass is done tumbling, I put it in a pail and pour a tea kettle full of boiling water on it. Let it sit for a minute, slosh it around a bit. Then separate the water and drop the too-hot-to-touch brass on an old towel. Fold the towel over on the brass, rub once to get rid of the water droplets and then put the brass on a hard surface to finish drying. As soon as they cool off they are done. 5 minutes from start to finish with no spots.
The boiling water is an excellent rinse, and the residual heat dries brass fast after it is taken out of the hot water and quickly evaporates moisture. If you have a severe hard water problem, buy a 4L jug of distilled water at Walmart for $1.50 and use it for hot rinsing.
- Location
- Over the rainbow
This is an interesting idea. I have a dehydrator on the way, but I'm always looking for shortcuts. I'll try this.
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
I don't wet /tumble but when I was reloading blk powder cases, after washing I would set the cases upright on top of the heat register for a couple of furnace cycles.
Try very little lemishine.
I've noticed and have continually cut back the amount and my brass gets better and better.
I think lately it's been a 9mm case full of it, but I'm tempted to go less, or none at all. I throw my brass in 3.7l containers to tumble so it gives you an idea about volume of water (not that much).
I've noticed and have continually cut back the amount and my brass gets better and better.
I think lately it's been a 9mm case full of it, but I'm tempted to go less, or none at all. I throw my brass in 3.7l containers to tumble so it gives you an idea about volume of water (not that much).
- Location
- Over the rainbow
I think even that is too much. The recipes I've seen call for 1/2 tbsp.
EDIT: the 1/2 tbsp is for the full sizes tumbler. I add 3.5L of water to mine..
- Location
- West Quebec
Exactly what I did, don't overdo it and wash in COLD water very well, wrap the wet shells in towel right away and then in oven <200 for 20-30 minutes and I have hard water as well.
Yep! Simple, quick, cheap, and effective!
1/2 TSP of citric acid
1/2 TSP HE laundry soap
3.5 Quarts Water
After separating, rinse with HOT water, lay out on towel and tamp the outside of the cases briefly to just get the bulk of the water drops.
I have a spare bathroom just off the furnace room, if the vent is open and the door is closed it gets really warm in there, dries brass very quick and no tarnish.
We are also lucky to have soft water here.
1/2 TSP HE laundry soap
3.5 Quarts Water
After separating, rinse with HOT water, lay out on towel and tamp the outside of the cases briefly to just get the bulk of the water drops.
I have a spare bathroom just off the furnace room, if the vent is open and the door is closed it gets really warm in there, dries brass very quick and no tarnish.
We are also lucky to have soft water here.
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An interesting tidbit. Here are a few brass that I tumbled last night and dried overnight....and today put them in with other 'large primer' brass that I tumbled a couple of months ago. Can you tell which brass is freshly cleaned? Perhaps that's part of the issue being talked about, just the regular tarnishing of brass in the air?
I read on another site and for the life of me I can't remember which one but the guy was adding Armour - All Wash & Wax before tumbling. He used 3 tablespoons of Armour All and 1/4 teaspoon of Lemishine and the normal amount of soap in his big tumbler and I guess the brass will not tarnish. I haven't tried it yet but to be honest I just air dry them and they never tarnish.
An interesting tidbit. Here are a few brass that I tumbled last night and dried overnight....and today put them in with other 'large primer' brass that I tumbled a couple of months ago. Can you tell which brass is freshly cleaned? Perhaps that's part of the issue being talked about, just the regular tarnishing of brass in the air?
All brass will slowly tarnish over time, so yes, even if it is clean and shiny after being tumbled, a month later it will have lost that brilliant freshly tumbled look.
elimsprint
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Kelowna, BC
Oh, PS: this is only a 'when it happens' type thing. I dry plenty of brass in the oven at low heat and it very rarely tarnishes. I'm not entirely sure why it happens sometimes and not others. I'm not suggesting that it makes any sense to dry in the oven and then get the brass all wet again to get rid of tarnish
Do you use the same amount of lemishine in each brass load? Too much will cause a chemical reaction with the brass that looks kind of like pinkish tarnish.
Kim
That is not the brass tarnishing..it is the zinc being leeched from the brass. That is not what he is talking about here though.
Here is an example of what you are talking about.
Brass on right side in top picture shows pinkish color compared to clean brass in bottom pic
That is not the brass tarnishing..it is the zinc being leeched from the brass. That is not what he is talking about here though.
Here is an example of what you are talking about.
Brass on right side in top picture shows pinkish color compared to clean brass in bottom pic
You my friend have dirty primer pockets!!!
How could you?
Your brass is so clean and shiny, and yet you fail so miserably.
Buy one unviersal depriming die, two spare pins and say three hail Marys
Sorry, carry on. I just couln't help myself.
I should start an OCD class.
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elimsprint
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Kelowna, BC
Zinc!!!! For the life of me I couldn't remember what it was. I tried LemiShine in my ultrasonic and I obviously used too much but I got really blotchy pink, not nice and even like yours. Are those special for the wife or girlfriend?? I think pink brass would sell well to the distaff side, everything else is available in pink.That is not the brass tarnishing..it is the zinc being leeched from the brass. That is not what he is talking about here though.
Here is an example of what you are talking about.
Brass on right side in top picture shows pinkish color compared to clean brass in bottom pic
Kim
That is not the brass tarnishing..it is the zinc being leeched from the brass. That is not what he is talking about here though.
Here is an example of what you are talking about.
Brass on right side in top picture shows pinkish color compared to clean brass in bottom pic
I still think that the pink has something to do with the reflection of where I took the pic.
Sorry, none of the brass in either picture is mine. The top picture belongs to Zuke..the bottom picture was taken from another site....coincidentally I found it on the same page as Zuke's pic when I was doing a Google search for pink brass for a better comparison....but found that it was obvious enough.You my friend have dirty primer pockets!!!
How could you?
Your brass is so clean and shiny, and yet you fail so miserably.
Buy one unviersal depriming die, two spare pins and say three hail Marys
Sorry, carry on. I just couln't help myself.
I should start an OCD class.
I do use a universal die to deprime before I tumble and you will never catch me with a dirty primer pocket......I know all about ocd when it comes to clean brass.
It is the acidity that draws the zinc out. It is not enough to ruin the brass though..at least no one has ever been able to prove it. It did happen to me back when I started with SS. I retumbled the batch with just soap to remove the pinkish color and then added just a touch of Lemi-shine at the end and tumbled for another 10 minutes to get the shine. A few were more of a redish color around groove at the base, but all were restored to normal color.
Anything is possible, but in my opinion, I believe the lemishine is what caused the pinkish color. If you google you will find a lot of pics from various sites that show brass that look just like that. It does not appear to me that the color is caused by reflection, but rather the color is the brass itself and the light brings it out.
