Good idea, but requires walking outside to the AC fan.Use the hot air coming off the A/C unit ..
With AC fan you'd be good to go in an hour.
Stainless steel media is the best!
- Thread starter Geoff B
- Start date
Go to Walmart and buy a liter bottle of 99% alcohol.about $6.95
Pour into a container and then put your brass into it.
Stir it around for a bit and then take them all out.
Pour the alcohol back into the bottle.
Brass is probably dry by the time your done that.
Pour into a container and then put your brass into it.
Stir it around for a bit and then take them all out.
Pour the alcohol back into the bottle.
Brass is probably dry by the time your done that.
I bought my Thumblers Tumbler at my local Hobby shop for $199. And ordered the pins from pelletsllc.com for $5 per pound total cost was $267 with tax. Pelletsllc supply the pins to the Utah guy they are also coming out with there own version of Lemishine meant for us reloaders
Just an FYI. Sinclairs has the tumbler with pins on sale for $199
The guy I bought my pin's off sold them to me for $55 shipped from the US.
Their magnet and non rusting.
I've heard the pin's from SSM are not magnetic and do rust.
Why magnetic you ask? a lot easier to pick up with a magnet.
Their magnet and non rusting.
I've heard the pin's from SSM are not magnetic and do rust.
Why magnetic you ask? a lot easier to pick up with a magnet.
A mesh bucket from the dollar store separates my media from brass while I rinse it. Takes 30sec. No magnets required.
I also use the dollar store rinse.
I then take my brass and put it on a towel with a rare earth magnet,grab it by the end's and use an up and down action to dry off the outside's of the case's.
The magnet get's any stray pin's I missed.
I use steel shot, not pins. These rarely get stuck, I give the mesh bucket a fair shake.
IMHO SS shot cleans just as well, and is cheaper/easier to get.
Mine came from a local sandblasting supply, these guys carry ceramic, stainless etc. Ask for 0.025" steel shot. I paid $30 for 5lb.
I haven't tried it dry. Even with fairly clean cases (picked up from blacktop right after shooting) the water comes out pretty black with dirt and powder that has been washed off the brass.
The dish soap and Lemishine need the water to mix with, and the residual water makes the pins slip off the cases when you are separating them from the pins after tumbling.
The dish soap and Lemishine need the water to mix with, and the residual water makes the pins slip off the cases when you are separating them from the pins after tumbling.
Sorry. Should have said it came from Sinclair's.
I ran the first batch with dishwasher gel and it cleaned nicely. Lacking the shine but clean none the less.
Ran second batch with just TSP and they are clean also but dull in finish.
I am hesitant on using the lemishine as I worry that the citric acid will affect the life span of the cases. I am wondering if some of the Lyman case polish would work for shining them up?
I ran the first batch with dishwasher gel and it cleaned nicely. Lacking the shine but clean none the less.
Ran second batch with just TSP and they are clean also but dull in finish.
I am hesitant on using the lemishine as I worry that the citric acid will affect the life span of the cases. I am wondering if some of the Lyman case polish would work for shining them up?
No need to. Every conceivable combination/quantity has been tried and the results posted over on sniperhide (100 page thread).
Bottom line is the Lemishine is what provides the brilliant shine to the brass. I haven't seen any deterioration on my brass that has +10 cleanings with Lemishine.
- Location
- Fort McMurray
Decided to try something different from my normal routine today just for sh!t5 and giggles ... Put a bit of soap, bit of tsp and usual amount of lemishine in at the same time ... Came out awesome. Nice and shiny 9mm to play with now
Nice and shiny 9mm to play with now
This interests me as well as I am a bit of an anal brass reloader I might just have to pick one of these setups up. O, a word of advice to you guys, watch what products you guys are mixing together. There are many chemicals that when mixed can cause you harm. For instance if you mix something with ammonia in it with something with chlorine in it you could be on your way to the hospital or at very least damage your lungs. I would advise using chemicals in seperate steps.
I might just have to pick one of these setups up. O, a word of advice to you guys, watch what products you guys are mixing together. There are many chemicals that when mixed can cause you harm. For instance if you mix something with ammonia in it with something with chlorine in it you could be on your way to the hospital or at very least damage your lungs. I would advise using chemicals in seperate steps.
Once I bought my Thumbler Tumbler B Hi-Speed and Stainless Tumbling Media, I think I tumbled every piece of brass I own. Even metal that wasn't brass.
1. My recipe so far is 1 Tsp of blue Dawn ultra-concentrated. Any more and it's a foam bath. 1/4 Tsp of Lemishine. Fill with as much deprimed brass (Lee Universal Decapper is handy here) as I dare, and then fill the tumbler to about 3/4 full of water. Turn it on for 3 hours. Should be done by then. Brass comes out better than factory clean.
2. After tumbling, I pop the lid off, and dump out the black water. I flush the tumbler with HOT water a few times, and then dump the contents into a media seperator over a bucket. Shake a bit, and 99% of the pins end up in the bucket. I dump all the brass into a thick towel, bundle it up, and shake it a lot. Comes out mostly dry, and any spare pins are usually loose by now. I usually just spread the brass out on a towel on the shelf and a few days later it is dry. Using HOT water helps the drying.
2. I do, in some cases, get some brass fogging after it is dry. Oddly this seems to occur on brass I handle physically, so I am guessing it is skin oils reacting with the fresh surface.
3. I made a few modifications to the tumbler. First, this has to be the worst built piece of metal fabrication I have ever seen. Nothing is straight, every bit of sheet metal is warped a little, or welded crooked, and the rollers came bent. I spent a few hours straightening the rollers the best I could. I pulled the tub liner out and spray painted the inside of it to protect the untreated metal from rust. I placed a thick square of 3/4" neoprene foam weather stripping under the motor, which provides some upward pressure, stopping most of the rattling. It doesn't block the air vents. I headed down to Lee Valley and bought 6 tri-wing 1/4"-20 plastic nuts (item C) to replace the wingnuts.
I also bought some 1" grip tape and put it around both hubs of the tub. It has chewed up the rollers a little, but it certainly doesn't slip. I also bought 4 polyurethane feet (door bumpers) for the base of the thumbler, which really grip, and seem soft enough to eliminate most mechanical noise. They are just thick enough to lift the base of the tumbler off the ground.
4. I have also tried tumbling other metal pieces to see what would happen, gun parts and the like. They all turned out pretty good. However, a very bizarre thing happend. I tossed in a mixed load of parts and tumbled them. When I took them out, two parts, which were unblued raw carbon steel, where chocolate brown! As it turns out, I tossed in a few really old blackened pennies. The pennies came out sparkling and nice, so I am guessing that the oxidized copper was lifted from the pennies by the tumbling and the mild acid bath that is lemi-shine, and was then deposited on the carbon steel. It appears I now have copper plated gun parts. Neato.
On the whole, this is a fantastic buy. I am disappointed by the general build quality of the tumbler. It might work for a few decades, but the fact everything is slight warped just irks me. After all the mods I made, it runs very quietly, with the only noise really being the brass tumbling around inside. The brass comes out fantastic, especially the grungy range pickup stuff that looked hopeless. Amazing.
1. My recipe so far is 1 Tsp of blue Dawn ultra-concentrated. Any more and it's a foam bath. 1/4 Tsp of Lemishine. Fill with as much deprimed brass (Lee Universal Decapper is handy here) as I dare, and then fill the tumbler to about 3/4 full of water. Turn it on for 3 hours. Should be done by then. Brass comes out better than factory clean.
2. After tumbling, I pop the lid off, and dump out the black water. I flush the tumbler with HOT water a few times, and then dump the contents into a media seperator over a bucket. Shake a bit, and 99% of the pins end up in the bucket. I dump all the brass into a thick towel, bundle it up, and shake it a lot. Comes out mostly dry, and any spare pins are usually loose by now. I usually just spread the brass out on a towel on the shelf and a few days later it is dry. Using HOT water helps the drying.
2. I do, in some cases, get some brass fogging after it is dry. Oddly this seems to occur on brass I handle physically, so I am guessing it is skin oils reacting with the fresh surface.
3. I made a few modifications to the tumbler. First, this has to be the worst built piece of metal fabrication I have ever seen. Nothing is straight, every bit of sheet metal is warped a little, or welded crooked, and the rollers came bent. I spent a few hours straightening the rollers the best I could. I pulled the tub liner out and spray painted the inside of it to protect the untreated metal from rust. I placed a thick square of 3/4" neoprene foam weather stripping under the motor, which provides some upward pressure, stopping most of the rattling. It doesn't block the air vents. I headed down to Lee Valley and bought 6 tri-wing 1/4"-20 plastic nuts (item C) to replace the wingnuts.
I also bought some 1" grip tape and put it around both hubs of the tub. It has chewed up the rollers a little, but it certainly doesn't slip. I also bought 4 polyurethane feet (door bumpers) for the base of the thumbler, which really grip, and seem soft enough to eliminate most mechanical noise. They are just thick enough to lift the base of the tumbler off the ground.
4. I have also tried tumbling other metal pieces to see what would happen, gun parts and the like. They all turned out pretty good. However, a very bizarre thing happend. I tossed in a mixed load of parts and tumbled them. When I took them out, two parts, which were unblued raw carbon steel, where chocolate brown! As it turns out, I tossed in a few really old blackened pennies. The pennies came out sparkling and nice, so I am guessing that the oxidized copper was lifted from the pennies by the tumbling and the mild acid bath that is lemi-shine, and was then deposited on the carbon steel. It appears I now have copper plated gun parts. Neato.
On the whole, this is a fantastic buy. I am disappointed by the general build quality of the tumbler. It might work for a few decades, but the fact everything is slight warped just irks me. After all the mods I made, it runs very quietly, with the only noise really being the brass tumbling around inside. The brass comes out fantastic, especially the grungy range pickup stuff that looked hopeless. Amazing.
