Tumbling media......

kamlooky

kamlooky

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I know this has been beat to death but here goes.
I was enjoying a stroll through our new Princess Auto yesterday and on the
east wall were a few pails of sample media. There were a couple of broken glass, one more crushed than the other. One had some very fine crushed walnut.
The one that caught my curiosity was that of some fine steel pellets. Very fine or small diameter. I was wondering if this might be a good tumbling media. I'm not convinced that this walnut I'm using is that great. Seems to take a very long time to get the brass shiney. Any comments on this?
Thanks.
Looky.
 
Not to draw away the topic but I was having the same issue with mine ttill I added a cap full of Dillon Rapid Polish 290. It made a huge difference
 
Try adding a couple of table spoons of Nu Finish car polish to the media. I also add a few pieces of paper towel which are cut into one inch wide strips.

The brass will come out clean & shiny. The pieces of paper towel will absorb a large quantity of dirt. I replace the towel each time I load the tumbler.

Works for me.:D
 
I have an old can of Brasso that I poured into the walnut.
Works great and use the static sheet as well.
The brass comes out decent but not like some of the photos
of brass here on Nutzz.
Thanks for the input though.
Looky.
 
kamlooky said:
I have an old can of Brasso that I poured into the walnut.
Works great and use the static sheet as well.
The brass comes out decent but not like some of the photos
of brass here on Nutzz.
Thanks for the input though.
Looky.
Click to expand...

Brasso will give a nice shine but I have read on various forums that the ammonia in this product will cause brass to become brittle.
 
Rod B said:
Brasso will give a nice shine but I have read on various forums that the ammonia in this product will cause brass to become brittle.
Click to expand...

I've heard that theory mentioned as well but I've seen nothing to confirm it. For the most part, I don't think the Brasso or part of its chemical component make-up does anything more than react with the surface oxidation film/tarnish. I can't see it actually affecting the brass or metal to any depth and changing its metallurgy to a brittle state. On occasion, for me, when the tumbling time with walnut shell media required to polish seems to be noticeably increasing, I'll add a couple of cap fulls of Brasso. Over the years, with brass I've polished like this VS brass not subjected to this mixture, I've never noticed any shortened life or earlier cracking.

When I decided on a tumbler and so I'd be able to handle some of the difficult aspects of case cleaning & polishing, I opted for an RCBS Sidewinder. I was thinking for the more difficult tasks, I could go with a more effective liquid media. I haven't used the RCBS liquid media that much but if the chemical make-up of Brasso would be harmful, I would think the RCBS Liquid Media Case Cleaner would be as well. Haven't found that to be the case either. I just find the addition of a small quantity of Brasso to the walnut shell media to be a little less time consuming when compared with/to the use of the liquid media.

With a new batch of walnut shell media, and when used for the lighter cleaning/polishing applications, I add a couple sheets of used dryer 'Bounce' static sheets to collect some of the dust.

As a finish, reguardless of whether the cleaning/polishing procedure was harsh or more gentle in nature, after I resize and de-lube the cases, I'll run them through a brief polishing cycle. There I just use walnut shell media with the polish packet supplied added, or a small amount of car polish such as Nu Finish.
 
The one that caught my curiosity was that of some fine steel pellets. Very fine or small diameter. I was wondering if this might be a good tumbling media.

I'm headed to my closest Princess on Thursday, a 3 hr drive!
Did you get any item number's off it?
Steel or Stainless Steel?
 
I think they labelled it "Bainite Steel".
Price was $40 for a fifty pound bag.
I was going to talk them into selling me a bit from the open
bag they had to get this sample from.
They were indeed tiny pellets.
Would make good critter buckshot.
Let me know what you think of this. Might be worth the experiment.
Cheers.
Looky.
 
Don't do it

kamlooky said:
I know this has been beat to death but here goes.
I was enjoying a stroll through our new Princess Auto yesterday and on the
east wall were a few pails of sample media. There were a couple of broken glass, one more crushed than the other. One had some very fine crushed walnut.
The one that caught my curiosity was that of some fine steel pellets. Very fine or small diameter. I was wondering if this might be a good tumbling media. I'm not convinced that this walnut I'm using is that great. Seems to take a very long time to get the brass shiney. Any comments on this?
Thanks.
Looky.
Click to expand...

DON'T DO IT.
you are looking at blasting media not polishing media. The steel grit will only contaminate the brass and the first time you take that brass out to the range they will rust!!! I may be new to reloading but I have worked in the coatings industry for over 20 years and we work with the steel grit everyday. Whatever that steel stuff touches gets contaimnated and rusts.
 
I suggest trying out Flitz Tumbler/Media additive. It's reduced optimal brass bling-standard quality tumbling time to 2 hours instead of 24 in pet store corn cob media for me.
 
kamlooky said:
Does one need to go on the hunt so to speak to find this media bling?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if we're allowed to type non-sponsor sites here, but if you type in the key words "flitz media additive" in Google, you'll see the manufacturers site in first position, and next a Canadian site that retails it online. The other links that pop up are interesting to read as well.
 
skyhawk you can tell people where to get stuff just no hotlinking to nonsponser's sites.
I have converted to the SS pins in a rock tumbler, this is so much better than all the other systems it's amazing. No more cleaning primer pockets or digging media out of flash holes.
 
Nipigon Jack said:
DON'T DO IT.
you are looking at blasting media not polishing media. The steel grit will only contaminate the brass and the first time you take that brass out to the range they will rust!!! I may be new to reloading but I have worked in the coatings industry for over 20 years and we work with the steel grit everyday. Whatever that steel stuff touches gets contaimnated and rusts.
Click to expand...
Indeed, bainite steel is not the product you are after - however, stainless steel blasting media is perfectly fine, that's what I am using in my wet tumbler. But you will need to find a sandblasting supply company to get stainless.

Oh, and BTW brass doesn't rust...
 
i have a lyamn tyumbler the one that auto drains but when i do that and take the brass out it looks clean but after handling a few pecies my hands are filthy and suggestions
 
aridan said:
Indeed, bainite steel is not the product you are after - however, stainless steel blasting media is perfectly fine, that's what I am using in my wet tumbler. But you will need to find a sandblasting supply company to get stainless.

Oh, and BTW brass doesn't rust...
Click to expand...

It would not be the brass rusting but the steel left on the cases or forced into the "pores" of the brass
 
jcpal said:
i have a lyamn tyumbler the one that auto drains but when i do that and take the brass out it looks clean but after handling a few pecies my hands are filthy and suggestions
Click to expand...

As posted in this thread, cut up 1" strips of a bounce sheet and throw it into your tumbler. Change it every time you tumble. It will pick up the dust and dirt and remove any static from your media. This is also said to prolong the life of your media.
I also agree with adding the Nu-Finish car polish, it makes brass sparkle.
I have also been told to pick up a bag of crushed walnut from PA.
 
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