SS Media and wet tumbling

desjardo

desjardo

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Did a search and didn't find what I was looking for.

I have ordered a rock tumbler and want to get away from dry tumbling other than maybe cleaning lube off pistol rounds.

Here are my questions;
  1. Where do you guys buy your ss media?
  2. What are the steps you take when tumbling?
  3. And what do you add to the water?

Thanks
 
Rooky has them he is a member here... :

This from the Tumblers tumbler site for 5 lb media adjust for what ever your tumbler is but a good start..



  1. Notice. It takes a few times to get the media broke in. The media is dirty from manufacturing process and has a few burs. Media does not work in a vibratory cleaner
  2. 1. Add 5 Lbs (2.27 kg) of SS media into the drum
  3. 2. Next fill with 1 gallon (3.78 Liters) of cold water. (One gallon)=8 Lbs/3.63 kg
  4. 3. Add your brass into the drum (2-4 Lbs of brass)
  5. 4. Add dish soap. 1 -2 Tbs (15-30 mL) of either Dawn, Ivory, or Joy dish soap
    (if there are no soap bubbles in the water after you tumble, you need more soap)
  6. 5. Add 1/4 Tsp. (1.25 mL) of Lemishine. This is the key to the shine. (Not too much)
  7. 6. Tumble 3-4 hours with the Model B High Speed Thumler’s Tumbler
  8. 7. Pour out as much water as you can without losing any brass or pins
  9. (The more you rinse the brass and pins the better your results will be next time)
  10. 8. Fill drum with water, and separate brass by hand or use an STM Media Separator with water.
  11. 9. Rinse your brass off really good with some warm water. (Not getting a good rinse can leave water spots on the brass)
  12. 10. Dump brass onto a towel and let dry. If any pins get stuck in the neck of the brass throw those pins away
  13. 11. Store Stainless Steel Media either wet or dry in drum
 
desjardo said:
Did a search and didn't find what I was looking for.

I have ordered a rock tumbler and want to get away from dry tumbling other than maybe cleaning lube off pistol rounds.

Here are my questions;
  1. Where do you guys buy your ss media?
  2. What are the steps you take when tumbling?
  3. And what do you add to the water?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I add about a tsp each of dish soap (Dawn, etc) and Lemi Shine (available at Canadina Tire). I tumble in a Thumler Model B tumbler for about 2 to 3 hours with SS media and the drum filled about 1 inch below the top with water. Brass comes out sprarkling! Rinse and repeat...
 
Some quick tips:
Decap first, the pins will clean the flash holes and primer pockets too. Then you can resize clean brass.
If you are in a rush, you can tumble for about an hour, instead of three, to get the brass clean enough to reload. Not as shiny and the inside will still be dark, but perfectly fine to reload.
I dry my brass in a toaster oven, about 45 to 60 minutes at 70C. I prewipe the brass to prevent water spots.
 
Thanks.
I was given a dual tumbler someone bought their kid for rocks from harbor freight.
hope it works.
read reviews and ppl seem to be doing more brass with it then rocks.
 
X2 for rocky
there are many different ways of tumbling you will have to figure what works for you as far as what you put in and how long it takes
you will not be disappointed with wet set up
Good luck
 
desjardo said:
Thanks.
I was given a dual tumbler someone bought their kid for rocks from harbor freight.
hope it works.
read reviews and ppl seem to be doing more brass with it then rocks.
Click to expand...

I use one of those HarborFreight dual 3lb tumblers. They work fine for low volume shooters. The nice thing with wet tumbling is that you can tumble for just an hour to get them pretty darn clean or 2hrs for factory looking cases compared to 3-4hrs in a vibratory tumbler.

Don't over fill the drums with cases or it'll have a tough time getting them clean or bog down the motor. Just fill enough cases to just over half the height of the drums (about 60pcs of 308 cases per drum) or just over 100pcs of 9mm. Add water so that it's about 1/2" from covering the cases. This should put the drums close to their 3lb capacity. Add a squirt of dishwashing liquid and a half-teaspoon of Lemishine. Tumble for an hour and you're good to go.
 
I use both ultrasonic and stainless steel tumbling. The suggestions on lemishine and dawn are good ones. I also use a 50/50 water/vinegar mix with a teaspoon of salt and squirt of dawn in the ultrasonic. The one thing I also add that is not that common is jet dry. It helps make sure that the cases dry without spots and makes putting them in the oven optional. No spots, stains or residue if you have a few days before reloading.

I agree with de-priming prior to using stainless tumbling. You will have a hard time getting the pins out if you don't. On the precision rounds I de-prime with a Harvey hand De-primer and run the brass in the ultrasonic first and then size. Then into the stainless tumbler for the final clean to get all the lube off. Priming and seating with un-lubed cases does not give me any problems.
 
desjardo said:
Thanks.
I was given a dual tumbler someone bought their kid for rocks from harbor freight.
hope it works.
read reviews and ppl seem to be doing more brass with it then rocks.
Click to expand...
That is the same tumbler I use. Works fine as long as two pounds of brass per run is enough. I use one lb pins, one lb brass, and roughly one pound of water (16 oz). Put it on a timer for one to three hours.
 
I don't believe you need much more than a pinch of Lemishine as it is only a softener and will strip the brass finish and make it dull if you use too much..
I usually use less than a TBS of soap as well, make sure to really rinse well..
 
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