Case tumbling with brasso cleaner media mixed ??

[survivalshop]

I think I paid between $30-40 for my S/S pins & they work great . That mix is interesting & since you brought out a photo , you have to buy some & give us a review  <dontknow>

[shibiwan]

I think I paid between $30-40 for my S/S pins & they work great . That mix is interesting & since you brought out a photo , you have to buy some & give us a review  <dontknow>

 

Already ordered 10 lbs. Gonna see how it does on my 9mm cartridges.

[shibiwan]

Received the jewellers SS shot today.

 

 

Misc cases (6.8, 9mm, some .380) BEFORE - initially tumbled with Raytech Dri Shine III  (industrial walnut + rouge media .... notice the red residue)

 

 

 

Let the tumbling begin (test dry tumble - no additives or fluids)

 

Edited February 13, 2014 by shibiwan

[seasprite]

So how did it turn out shibiwan I've been waiting since 12:30 am  :ph34r:

[shibiwan]

So how did it turn out shibiwan I've been waiting since 12:30 am  :ph34r:

 

Left to right: 20 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours (and then the wife chased me off to bed).

 

 

 

Edited February 13, 2014 by shibiwan

[survivalshop]

In a vibratory tumble no less , nice.  If you pop the primers , the pockets come out the same way.

[shibiwan]

In a vibratory tumble no less , nice.  If you pop the primers , the pockets come out the same way.

 

Yup - that media was meant for vibratory tumblers. I have a couple of primerless rounds (no, I don't have a 9mm die set yet) in the mix and those came out sparkly clean. I did add a little simple green + water (about 6-8 oz total) about an hour into the tumble. Just curious to see how it fared.... now where did my wife hide the Lemmi Shine.

 

I'll post pics of the setup when I get home - there's a way to set up the vibratory tumblers to be more efficient ... it's a trick you learn when you tumble stuff in bigger industrial ones on a regular basis.

Edited February 13, 2014 by shibiwan

[seasprite]

Looking good  <thumbsup>  Looks like 1 hour should do the job? Do you think the difference between the 1 and 2 hour run times is worth it I mean it doesn't look like its that much better than the 1 hour run time in the pic? Looking forward for your tips and I need to check into this media your using ( shot and pins). Are you going to be able to run just as many cases in your polisher with the new media as you would with walnut or cob media? Sorry for so many questions but you peaked my interest  :yup:  

[shibiwan]

Update as promised.

 

Left the stuff sitting all day so a lot of what was in the tumbler got corroded and discolored (dark brown) but the smooth finish is still there. Fired up the tumbler again to re-tumble it. Lets see how it does. I got 10 lbs of media and I think I can tumble quite a bit more than what I have in there. I'll probably get another 10 lbs later (bought the stuff off Ebay). I'm gonna try tumbling aluminum parts in there too... I currently tumble those in ceramic media

 

Industrial Tumbler trick:

Tilt the tumbler over 15-30 degrees. This causes any media to go lopsided in the tumbler. This forces a speed differential as the media and parts go around, making it more effective since it forces the media to mix and flow around the cartridges.

 

Here you see my old Midway tumbler with a large cap bowl (from a Thumler that died) being propped up by an aluminum block for the tilt). The Hornady catalog is there just to keep things quiet.

 

Here's the video. Notice how it speeds up on the right and slows down at the bottom left

Edited February 14, 2014 by shibiwan

[98Z5V]

Left to right: 20 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours (and then the wife chased me off to bed).

 

 

 

 

THE LONGER YOU LEFT THEM IN THERE, THE MORE THEY SHRUNK!!!  :eek: <laughs> <lmao>

[shibiwan]

THE LONGER YOU LEFT THEM IN THERE, THE MORE THEY SHRUNK!!!  :eek: <laughs> <lmao>

 

DAMMIT TOM.....IT WAS COLD OUT THERE IN THE GARAGE!     :stfu2:  

Edited February 14, 2014 by shibiwan

[survivalshop]

THE LONGER YOU LEFT THEM IN THERE, THE MORE THEY SHRUNK!!!  :eek: <laughs> <lmao>

<lmao>

[shibiwan]

Update 2

Left the tumbler running all night. Results were bleh....the liquid got dirty with all that scrubbing so rounds weren't shiny and sparkly. So there's apparently a point where you can overdo it (should've known this...been there with ceramic media).

I'll have to clean the media and redo it. This time I'm gonna use Lemmi Shine and see what happens.

Edited February 14, 2014 by shibiwan

[shibiwan]

Update 3

 

Re-ran the "dirty" batch that ran overnight. The media was extremely dirty and residue was everywhere. 30 minutes of tumbling fixed everything.

 

The "magic" sauce is definitely the Lemmi Shine (original).

 

Here's some 308 cases that went through the tumble.

 

Edited February 15, 2014 by shibiwan

[98Z5V]

And that was the jewelers ss media, and some lemi-shine, IN a vibratory tumbler?  That fukkin SWEET!

Edited February 15, 2014 by 98Z5V

[shibiwan]

YEP!

 

Here's more tips.

1. When wet tumbling in a vibratory tumbler, don't overload the media with too much water. About 6-8 oz is enough. If there's too much water, you lose the vibratory effect.
2. Keep the media clean. There's not much water in there, and you can't run a flow-thru setup due to the size of the media so it gets contaminated relatively quickly. Good thing is that the media stays clean enough for about 2-3 hours of tumbling.
3. The secret sauce: Water + 1/2 tsp laundry detergent (because it's low foaming) + 1/2 tsp of lemmi shine.
4. Don't tumble for too long. See #2. 1-2 hours should do it.
5. Don't be lazy and leave the brass sitting in the wet media for more than a few hours if you're not tumbling. This causes the brass to tarnish.
6. Rinse and dry off the cartridges by putting them on rags/paper towels immediately and rolling them around. I think oven drying may be may be a bad idea since it will likely accelerate the water tarnishing the cases.

Edited February 15, 2014 by shibiwan

[NoFail]

Awe crap!!! Holy $hitz!! And I gots a N.I.B. Thumler's I mean have not even opened it, ding dang!!

Shibi they come out gorgeous. I think one of my juices just flowed :)

[shibiwan]

Stop wetting yourself and open that box already!!

 

P.S. Which Thumler's you got? The tumbler or the vibratory one?

Edited March 21, 2014 by shibiwan

[shibiwan]

Here are some additional notes since doing it several times with improving results:

 

Additional Notes: 

- 5.56/300 blk brass seem to catch the mixed SS shot in the primer hole. Gotta poke them out with a decapping pin or one of those Lee case length gauges.

- Speed to obtain shine is proportional to amount of lemmi shine used. I put in about 1 tsp. More if you don't want to wait. Too much and it stings my skin

- 5.56 brass can fill up with the mixed shot and they get stuck. To remove with minimal hassle, use an impact-type bullet puller.

Edited March 21, 2014 by shibiwan

[NoFail]

I gots me the wet rock Tumbler and 5mm pins. Obviously I'll stick with that tumbler. I have tumbled much brass in my bro in law's when I had his and it worked just as well. I think took little longer but whatever. Used Dawn in the water and it was enough for the job. Dawn, I put that $hit in everything :)

[shibiwan]

The tumbling style usually takes a longer time in my experience with metal parts that I make. The tumblers are really meant for rock tumbling. Fastest ones are the vibratory ones, and you set them up with a thru-flow cleaner fluid (water+laundry detergent) to drip it in from the top and flow out from the bottom. Should be the same with our brass but the small shot and pins would find their way out the outlet (about 1/4" hole) and into the collection bucket.

 

Never tumbled anything with SS shot until now. I'm actually considering using that as a secondary process after initial ceramic tumbling to buff out my crap.

 

If I bumped up the amount of Lemmi-Shine in the cleaner, the process starts almost immediately and within 20-30 mins the cases are all shiny.

Edited March 21, 2014 by shibiwan