Radioactive Posted March 22, 2020 Report Share Posted March 22, 2020 For those that have done both which do you prefer? Which is more convenient? currently have a vibe with corn cob media and an ultrasonic cleaner thinking about switching to wet ss tumbling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketch Posted March 22, 2020 Report Share Posted March 22, 2020 wet ss tumbler= cleaner brass, and somewhat quiter process. I can do alot more peices at once also. Frankford arsenal is my brand of choice. 🍻 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunuckgaucho Posted March 22, 2020 Report Share Posted March 22, 2020 Only ever don S/S pins after seeing vibe friends were using. One big consideration was not toxic dust as it is trapped in the water. Homebuilt unit Holds two 1 Gallon coolers so one large batch or two seperate calibers at the same time.Food dehydrator for drying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radioactive Posted March 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2020 15 minutes ago, Cunuckgaucho said: Homebuilt unit Holds two 1 Gallon coolers Do you have the plans? What did it run cost wise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radioactive Posted March 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2020 Thanks sketch I’ve been looking at FA for awhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunuckgaucho Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 2 hours ago, Radioactive said: Do you have the plans? What did it run cost wise? No plans just built it up around the two coolers. I can send you some pics w/tape measure( I'll even use the one marked in inches for you). My cost was about CAN$100, a lot of it including the motor was in my parts bin. Having access to unistrut made the assemble easy.It's basically a frame to hold the bearing blocks then everything built onto that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpete Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 If you really want clean and looking like new brass: Punch out primers with universal decapper die (die body never touches the dirty cases) Wet tumble in HOT water, SS media, Dawn dish soap, & 1/2 tbsp of citric acid powder (main ingredient of brass polish, available at organic food shops) dry cases As Gaucho said, food dehydrator works great lube cases and resize remove lube (I wet tumble again in just hot water and Dawn dish soap. My case lube is water soluble.) dry cases. trim, chamfer, deburr, ream primer pockets dry tumble in ground walnut lizard bedding with one capful of Nu Finish car polish When they come out of the final dry tumble you would swear they were brand new. Obviously if your process is different, some steps will be skipped Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunuckgaucho Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 I run pretty similar dpete, On the really dirty stuff I'll run an hour, pour out dirty water, quick rinse then run again for an hour. The ratios(soap,citric acid) will depend on volume of water and where I'm at the water is very soft. As long as you're in the ballpark the brass will come clean. I do notice the primer pockets come out nice and clean. I've added a before and after pic of range pick up brass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radioactive Posted March 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 8 hours ago, Cunuckgaucho said: No plans just built it up around the two coolers. I can send you some pics w/tape measure( I'll even use the one marked in inches for you). My cost was about CAN$100, a lot of it including the motor was in my parts bin. Having access to unistrut made the assemble easy.It's basically a frame to hold the bearing blocks then everything built onto that. I don’t think I have much for usable parts so will probably buy a consumer unit. I have seen plans before somewhere on the net. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 One can buy a cheap tumbler from harbor freight for $58 or so. It's not setup like that (with under roller driver) from what I can tell. Just plain barrels can be $20-$40+ each; depending on where you purchase them. Not even sure if rubber is a good idea with pins and brass; I use plastic barrels for all my metal work. Never actually tumbled brass myself, so I would be interested to hear any thoughts about that in particular... I actually have a whole bag of SS pins on hand that I sorted out of mixed shot; since I explicitly DON'T use pins in my other burnishing processes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpete Posted March 24, 2020 Report Share Posted March 24, 2020 The Frankford Armory tumbler drum it 6 sided and has a rubbery coating on the inside. It works great with the recipe above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunuckgaucho Posted March 24, 2020 Report Share Posted March 24, 2020 On 3/23/2020 at 3:28 AM, Radioactive said: I don’t think I have much for usable parts so will probably buy a consumer unit. I have seen plans before somewhere on the net. Thanks Unless you have most of the bits n pieces laying around you're better off buying as you'll be up and running quicker and cheaper. On 3/23/2020 at 4:37 AM, Lane said: One can buy a cheap tumbler from harbor freight for $58 or so. It's not setup like that (with under roller driver) from what I can tell. Just plain barrels can be $20-$40+ each; depending on where you purchase them. Not even sure if rubber is a good idea with pins and brass; I use plastic barrels for all my metal work. Never actually tumbled brass myself, so I would be interested to hear any thoughts about that in particular... I actually have a whole bag of SS pins on hand that I sorted out of mixed shot; since I explicitly DON'T use pins in my other burnishing processes. I have come across people claiming that they do not use any pins at all. Heck there was one guy talking about how he made his pins by cutting up #12AWG stranded copper wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albroswift Posted March 25, 2020 Report Share Posted March 25, 2020 I have the Frankford wet/ ss tumbler and several vibratory polishers, the frankford does a better job, especially with the primer pockets, but for most range ammo 9mm/ 40/ 44/ 45 the big Dillon 2001 or small off brand vibratories with grit-o-cob and Losso is easier and faster and even rifle brass clean / lube/ deprime/ size/ and clean a second time the vibratory get used more in my shop then the liquid. Good cases can be made for either type, personal preference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Posted March 25, 2020 Report Share Posted March 25, 2020 I've cleaned all my cases by hand other than the regular bulk washing to clean off the funk. It's not fast; but I've not ever loaded a broken brass shell either. Each one gets individual attention in the process. Still curious if rubber tumbler barrels (and there are TONS of types of rubber) will wear and contaminate brass in a bad way. Especially with pins; it could scrape off and skank up the mix. I really do not know; one way or the other on that issue... Many rock tumbler barrels are black rubber. I've not tried vibratory at all. I have a number of roller tumbling options though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketch Posted March 25, 2020 Report Share Posted March 25, 2020 If you have the room and not bothered by the noise.. try this. https://www.harborfreight.com/1-1-4-quarter-cubic-ft-compact-cement-mixer-91907.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98Z5V Posted March 25, 2020 Report Share Posted March 25, 2020 2 minutes ago, sketch said: If you have the room and not bothered by the noise.. try this. https://www.harborfreight.com/1-1-4-quarter-cubic-ft-compact-cement-mixer-91907.html Damn Roman... That tumbler is the Elephant Ballsack-sized tumbler... You actually have one of those things, man?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketch Posted March 25, 2020 Report Share Posted March 25, 2020 I have a 3 x that size for work but no I use the frankford. lol! The last pos lgs had one in use though. 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketch Posted March 25, 2020 Report Share Posted March 25, 2020 he had atleast 20 lbs of pins and could wash about 1k anything at a time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98Z5V Posted March 25, 2020 Report Share Posted March 25, 2020 You fucker -after posting that, you have me wanting a fucking concrete mixer for a damn brass tumbler. I damn sure don't NEED it, but now I want to try it, and see if it's even worth a shiit. Fuk, man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98Z5V Posted March 25, 2020 Report Share Posted March 25, 2020 I'm not happy with you right now. I should be on Amazon looking for toilet paper, but I'm on Harbor Freight looking for small concrete mixers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketch Posted March 25, 2020 Report Share Posted March 25, 2020 I swear it works! 🖕😘 you could pad the barrel with a carpet pad or duck tape a few towels to the outside and reduce the noise sum.. I would do this myself but id be out of brass cleaning in about 3 days and Im here for atleast 14... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketch Posted March 25, 2020 Report Share Posted March 25, 2020 when your done with brass you could wash your cloth ass wipes?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radioactive Posted March 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2020 Hmmmmmmm maybe this thread needs the title changed vibe, rotary or concrete mixer which do you prefer? i do wanna see pics though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketch Posted March 25, 2020 Report Share Posted March 25, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unforgiven Posted March 25, 2020 Report Share Posted March 25, 2020 7 hours ago, 98Z5V said: I'm not happy with you right now. I should be on Amazon looking for toilet paper, but I'm on Harbor Freight looking for small concrete mixers... LMFAO 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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