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Stainless Steel Tumbling


survivalshop

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  Every once in a while I get $hitty results from wet tumbling with S/S , they come out looking tarnished & refreshing the mix , doing them again , doesn't make a difference . Any of you guys using the wet method have this happen . I use the same formula every time , but sometimes the round count is more or less , but not too many . I had this happen with the 70 count of 308 I did the other day . Most of the time , they come out beautiful . 

  One thing that may effect it is I didn't wash the sizing lubricant off , but would't that be taken care of the first tumbling . I use Dillon spray on & usually I wash them off with hot water & dish soap to pre clean them & I didn't this time .

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  It only happens once in a while , but it bugs me that I believe I'm doing the exact same procedure , but why different results once in a while . I still think it has something to do with the Spray Lube & not cleaning it off . I threw them in the tumbler with Walnut media & they came out nice & polished .

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WP_20150923_001.thumb.jpg.97a1719fbac148

Cleaned in One Shot Sonic Cleaner, Frankford Armory Tumbler and SS pins.  Came out looking brand new, better than the remanufactured ammo I got from Freedom Munitions.  If my spray lube or the One Shot cleaner are different from what you used it may explain the difference.  Another possibility might be a variation in water chemistry from load to load.  When we lived in Florida (Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando) there was little consistency in tap water.  It is also generally bad here but I don't waste our distilled water cleaning cases.

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 I sometimes wonder if it has something to do with the amount of cases done in a batch , also . This last batch only had 50 count of 308's. It may be a combination of things that cause the problem  . Like I said , 99% of the time they come out like better than new brass , like your photo .

 Its got to be something I'm doing or not doing , if no one has had an issue like it .  

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Do you just run it with soap and water once in a while to "clean" the pins?  I dilute Lee lube with water and spray it on the cases.  Sometimes it's on there for months before I get around to rerunning them to clean the lube off.  Most of the time they come out looking like new but once in a great while they are clean but not as shinny.  A quick "cleaning" of the pins and the next batch comes out like new.  I don't pre wash and just use cold water.

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I use Dillon's spray case lube , no idea what all is in it , but when the cases don't clean properly , they have a slimy feel to them . I'm thinking may be some Paraffin in it or something like it . Just strange it does it once in a while , i need to find what is different about that particular time . 

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 6 months later...

  Well the dark greasy happened to a batch of 5.56 brass again , I just did a batch of 308 brass & no issue , I think I actually found the true cause . The Dillon case lube I use has lanolin & isopropyl alcohol in it . The Alcohol is used to thin it for a light application & flash off  , well I have several bottles of the Dillon Case Lube ( I don't like to run out  ) & the one I'm on is really low & I think the Isopropyl Alcohol is gone from it making it thicker , no flashing off , so I think I have been over lubing the cases for one & even using dish soap & hot water to rinse them after sizing was not good enough to get it all off . Nor the dish soap & Lemishine in with the S/S ,good enough .

 So this last batch I did yesterday , is when I figured there was too much Lube on the cases , so I used a Bio-degradable De-greaser that I use on my Harley Parts ( Formula 88 ) & sprayed in on the cases in a wash tube in my utility sink & it didn't take much , them cases came out from just the degreaser almost clean enough to reload , but I did the S/S cleaning any way & they came out like new shinny brass , like I'm used to from the wet Tumbling . I also noticed the water from the Tumbler was not all that black 

 So , since I've been doing a batch every day , today I'm going to add some Isopropyl Alcohol to the last of the bottle of Dillon Lube to see how it works & still use the De-greaser to make sure that Lanolin is gone .

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On 12/14/2015 at 11:07 AM, survivalshop said:

I use Dillon's spray case lube , no idea what all is in it , but when the cases don't clean properly , they have a slimy feel to them . I'm thinking may be some Paraffin in it or something like it . Just strange it does it once in a while , i need to find what is different about that particular time . 

I used to joke it is made with Slick50 and KY Jelly ! You have to wash your hands three times to get it off ! Lol !

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  Well the adding of the Isopropyl Alcohol made a big difference & now I can smell it again , like I used to . The feel of the Lube on the case is a lot lighter & still sized properly , I will probably have to add the IA as needed , because the unopened bottle is probably evaporated also , I will use it as a refill & mix as needed . 

   I still used my Degreaser on the cases & it cleans them really good , should have used it from the get go , cases came out beautiful again & I think the Degreaser is cleaning them so good , that the water when dumping after three hours of tumbling ,is only slight darkness , still mostly clear , no where near as with out using it , it used to come out real black . 

  I was going to look for another brand of Case Lube , because of my issue , but now I think I have this down , I will just use what I have & will look into it when I run out .

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  • 3 months later...

Sorry to be late on this thread but I am new to this forum and just came across the thread while looking for something else.  I had the exact same issue when I started wet tumbling some months ago.  I cleaned a batch of 9 mm Para cases which came out like gold!  I loaded and fired some of the batch and cleaned them a second time. This time they came out sort of tattle tale gray - well at least they were rather dingy compared to the cases which I had only cleaned one time.  I cleaned the offending cases a second time and they STILL looked dingy.   I attributed this to one or more of these issues:

1 - I had cleaned some rifle cases in the interim which had traces of lanolin based sizing lube remaining on them. Contaminated the tumbler drum I think.

2 - I had tried the "add a little automotive wash & wax to keep the cleaned cases from tarnishing" trick. Did not work but also contaminated the tumbler drum I think.

3 - Not enough detergent.

To clean up the mess I tumbled just the stainless steel media with detergent and an ounce of isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol.  This seemed to remove the traces of contaminant from the drum and media.  I get better results now.

I also now clean the lanolin lube from rifle cases with a dedicated vibratory tumbler using corn cob media and a splash of isoproply alcohol BEFORE putting them in the wet tumbler. I also add a little isoproply alcohol to the wet process when cleaning rifle cases.

Finally I bumped up the charge of stainless media to 6 pounds from 5 pounds (Thumler's Model B).  This improved the results and reduced the time required to do the job.

Ken

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  • 5 months later...

    Well this issue showed up yesterday tumbling 60 7mm08 brass , black greasy film on the brass . I accidentally went over the normal 3hr. tumbler time by about an hour & a half , pretty sure that had nothing to do with it . 

     i degreased the brass after Sizing , the only thing I didn't do was clean the Tumbler Barrel that had been used with Walnut media , but I can't see how that would have anything to do with it . Maybe I didn't clean all the Sizing Lube off , but man , that crap was ugly . I cleaned the Black film off with degreaser & it took two washings to get that $hit off , using a parts brush .

    Two things ,

   One - not sure if this has anything to do with it , because this only happens , once in a long while , is my Tumbler is about forty years old & made for Rock Polishing , so it has been trouble free for all this time . I've been wanting a new one , but its not been an issue .

   Two - I'm changing my Sizing Lube , maybe this is the issue . What gets me is I use the same formula , same procedure , every time . I make a point not to deviate from it because of this , maybe I'll get more aggressive with the cleaning of the Lube , maybe Acetone , may be cheaper to change Sizing Lube .

 This is just crazy !

 

 

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