Wet tumbling brass

[fishingsetx]

Careful with the lemishine. If you tumble it too long or leave it in contact with the brass too long, it will discolor it. Doesn't affect it's function, but it just looks ugly. You can see the difference in this pic. Darker brass is the discolored stuff. After a couple more times of processing, it'll be bright and shiny again. I set it to tumble about 7 pm and forgot about it till 4 the next evening!!!



Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "Holy shoot....what a ride!"

[H-D]

Yeah, for 10lbs of brass I'm using 1/2 tbls of lemishine while in the tumbler and then rinsing with clean water after.

[J-Carp]

What tumbler do you use?


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[Gummi Bear]

I'm now experimenting with some Armor All Wash & Wax in lieu of Dawn dish soap. Cases seem to go through carbide resizer die a little more smoothly. Could be my imagination too, but I like to think it helps a little bit.

1 tbsp soap
¼ tsp Lemishine (a pinch is all that is needed)
1 gallon of water

Dump it all into the F.A.R.T. and twist the timer. Come back 3 hours later, all is shiny.

You only need a tiny amount of Lemishine, now if you live in an area with hard water, you may need a tiny bit more.

If you have really old brass, that is brown, you can resurrect it with using a bunch of Lemishine, but if you leave it too long, the brass will discolor (similar to how it does when you use vinegar). You have to rinse it really thoroughly.


The dehydrator is the way to go. After the separator, it takes less than 30 minutes to be fully dry.

Also - for a media separator, spend the extra on the Dillon unit. All of the cheap $20 units are flimsy and flexible. The Dillon is rigid and awesome. I have the CM-2000, and it is just fantastic.


I've been doing wet tumbling for several years now. I started using my buddy's Thumbler Tumbler. I did probably a hundred or so batches in it. Mrs got the F.A.R.T. for me as a Christmas gift a few years ago, I've done hundreds of batches of brass in it. I have added more pins to it, so there is just shy of 8 lbs of media in it. I don't see me ever going back to a vibratory or ultrasonic for cleaning brass.

[H-D]

I'm now experimenting with some Armor All Wash & Wax in lieu of Dawn dish soap. Cases seem to go through carbide resizer die a little more smoothly. Could be my imagination too, but I like to think it helps a little bit.

Yup, I already ran one batch doing the same thing and for me it's the same feeling through the resizer, but the big difference is no "sticking" when coming out of the expander.

1 tbsp soap
¼ tsp Lemishine (a pinch is all that is needed)
1 gallon of water

Pretty much same recipe I'm using, but I'm using double the water so using double the lemishine.

Also - for a media separator, spend the extra on the Dillon unit. All of the cheap $20 units are flimsy and flexible. The Dillon is rigid and awesome. I have the CM-2000, and it is just fantastic.

Hahaha, great minds think alike...I didn't even mess with any of the others and ordered the Dillon right out of the gate!! Really is built solid.

I've been doing wet tumbling for several years now. I started using my buddy's Thumbler Tumbler. I did probably a hundred or so batches in it. Mrs got the F.A.R.T. for me as a Christmas gift a few years ago, I've done hundreds of batches of brass in it. I have added more pins to it, so there is just shy of 8 lbs of media in it. I don't see me ever going back to a vibratory or ultrasonic for cleaning brass.

My philosophy is buy once..cry once so I went with a "tank" of a tumbler as well. I went with an LT-5 from Lonestar Tumblers....dude is local to me and made right here in S. Texas

[Hunter_Man]

here's a note for people that have the discolored brass....

mix 2 gallons of water and 1 tbsp. of lemi shine in bucket. dunk your discolored brass into the mixture and you can literally WATCH the brass turn sparkling new again. RIGHT AFTER, THOROUGHLY rinse the brass with cool water, and dry immediately.

read this on another forum and tried it. works great. the key is rinsing the brass well afterwards to ensure the acidic water is rinsed off.

[berettadave]

FYI, If you like to deprime before cleaning but don't want to run dirty brass through your resizing die, use the Redding decapping dies. They work great. They even come with the small decapping rod that will work with the PPC flash hole(like the 6.5x47 has). I can deprime 100 rounds in just a few minutes.

Dave

[Gunnyart]

I may be a little obsessive but I like to handle and inspect each case anyway so I take the opportunity to inspect them and use the air nozzle and compressor to blow them dry while I do it.

[MKH]

OP - how much did your wet tumbler run you? Where did you get yours from? I'm always looking for new ideas for presents for my dad, and that might be the one thing he doesn't have....

[M16]

I have the Thumblers Tumbler but just bought different one. It works very well.

https://ads.midwayusa.com/product/713881/frankford-arsenal-platinum-series-rotary-case-tumbler-110-volt?cm_mmc=pf_ci_google-_-Reloading+-+Metallic+Reloading+Equipment+(Not+Presses)-_-Frankford+Arsenal-_-713881&gclid=CjwKEAjwwcjGBRDj-P7TwcinyBkSJADymblTYBihnQalKMkHD7aCOkgc4biNAUL_J8o8deoEKy3CzRoCEqDw_wcB

[H-D]

OP - how much did your wet tumbler run you? Where did you get yours from? I'm always looking for new ideas for presents for my dad, and that might be the one thing he doesn't have....

$420, but this thing will last a lifetime.
I got it direct from Lone Star tumblers in McAllen.
Dude is an engineer that designed and made this thing in his garage and has since been selling them
throughout the country.
Like I said earlier "built like a tank"....buy once cry once.

https://youtu.be/RRldsukGl9I

[H-D]

Here it is.

[Gunnyart]

That's a nice rig! Mine is an old rock tumbler that was in a garage sale for a few bucks. It only holds about 1/4 of what that one does.

[Gummi Bear]

Those of you new to media tumbling:

If you separate your pins like in the video, you need to clean them from time to time. They will get contaminated and eventually you will get a yucky batch of brass, that you will have to rinse really thoroughly and run a couple of times.

Cleaning the pins is easy:

Just run a cycle of clean water, soap and Lemishine, and rinse the pins afterwards several times to remove any crud that is stuck in there.


"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices, have very few virtues" - Abraham Lincoln

[Hunter_Man]

Those of you new to media tumbling:

If you separate your pins like in the video, you need to clean them from time to time. They will get contaminated and eventually you will get a yucky batch of brass, that you will have to rinse really thoroughly and run a couple of times.

Cleaning the pins is easy:

Just run a cycle of clean water, soap and Lemishine, and rinse the pins afterwards several times to remove any crud that is stuck in there.


"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices, have very few virtues" - Abraham Lincoln

I just encountered this for the first time the other day. my brass came out all greyish in color, and touching it would leave a residue on your hands. i will be doing exactly what you said as soon as i get home! i couldn't figure out what happened... but thinking about it my pins weren't all shiny anymore.. i did have some SUPER cruddy range brass in it recently...