Tumblers and Stainless Pins

lejarretnoir

lejarretnoir

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Ok, my old RCBS vibrator needs to be retired.
I keep hearing about SS pins and tumbling. This is new to me and I've had it with dry media making a mess everywhere and taking forever to get cases shiny.
I'd like to do at least a thousand 9mm cases at a time.

Any links on how to do this and best tumblers to buy. Advise appreciated.
 
Either the Thumbler tumbler or the Frankford arsenal are good, I believe the Thumbler is bigger. If you are up to it there are lots of DIY versions you can make. Just look on YouTube and you will see both in action. I would never go back to dry media again, they come out so damn shiny with the SS. All I have to buy is dish soap and Lemishine every few years.
 
Im tempted to make a remark about my wife having a similar problem but i will try to keep it clean for the sake of keeping this thread from spinning out of control and burning out.
I never found a tumbler that i liked and i dont like having to replace the media all the time. I started looking into wet cleaning of my brass because i was doing small batches infrequently and didnt want to spend money on a tumbler i knew i wouldnt be happy with. Im a big fan of wet cleaning my brass now.
I have been checking out videos on wet tumblers for awhile and of the stainless pins and thats where im putting my money. I was looking at a kit at a large outdoor store in Edmonton and decided to buy the media and build my own tumbler when i get home. The tumbler and media was $280. Media was about $70. I can make a tumbler from material i have at home for almost nothing.
 
I have the Frankford arsenal one and love it. The media separator end caps make it easy to shake out the pins. I dump it into a five gallon bucket with a cloth paint strainer. Brass stays in the tumbler, pins stay in the strainer and the black water gets dumped out.
 
I had a sonic cleaner it wasn't great.

I bought a Thumblers Tumbler $240 at Cabela's and stainless pins for $70. It has a huge capacity (I would say 400 pcs of 308) so you could probably fit 1000 9mm cases easily.
Its incredible how clean the brass comes out. It cleans the inside of the cases and the primer pockets. You would think the cases were new.
 
Busta Capp said:
But then you have drying time too....
Click to expand...

Meh. A food dehydrator should be standard equipment for anyone who wet tumbles. Dump in in there, turn it on and come back 45 minutes or so later. You're right that it does add to the overall time required, of course. Personally I work in large batches so I'm never in a hurry to reload.
 
Big k said:
I had a sonic cleaner it wasn't great.

I bought a Thumblers Tumbler $240 at Cabela's and stainless pins for $70. It has a huge capacity (I would say 400 pcs of 308) so you could probably fit 1000 9mm cases easily.
Its incredible how clean the brass comes out. It cleans the inside of the cases and the primer pockets. You would think the cases were new.
Click to expand...

If it's the Thumbler Model B then the capacity isn't quite that high. See here for info. The tumbler can handle about 2 lb of brass, so it's about 150-230 .308, depending on how much water you put in there. Note that it's based on weight, not volume-- it's not hard to put so much brass in there that the motor can't turn the tumbler.
 
Busta Capp said:
But then you have drying time too....
Click to expand...

Meh, I got enough brass in rotation that I won't need what just got cleaned for some time. If I ever need to dry them out in a hurry, I'll rinse them in hot water then I just lay them out on a tray with a fan blowing over them for 3hrs.
 
After tumbling I shake/roll the brass back and forth in a old large beach towel and then place the brass in a plastic five gallon bucket and dry them with a hair dryer. The brass is dry in 10 minutes or less and when cool ready to load.

Separate the pins from the brass and then shake them in a towel.

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Then dry with hair drier, the fast moving hot air dries them very quickly.

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I have a Thumbler Model B; son in law has a Frankfort Arsenal Tumbler. Both work well but Frankfort is faster if speed is an issue. It is somewhat more convenient to use. Having said that, my old Thumbler has worked well for 3 decades tumbling dry media and wet media (pins). Speed/convenience vs durability-your call
A little hint. Go to your local Dollarama and buy one of their fine mesh strainers. Dump pins & water into strainer. Strainer captures pins with no losses. Be sure you buy the fine mesh one. (They have strainers with different size mesh) Good $3.00 investmrnt
 
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