Gotta have a tumbler

[dangerranger60]

I still use my vibratory polisher for display rounds, rounds that go on a belt, etc. Some of my highly polished rounds ended up in a magazine add for aftermarket mags. I made them for a photographer friend. DR

 

[NMCB 133]

Mind you, that's the worse piss-poor representation I've seen for military brass, especially for that area with officer's galore, & all the "Important" folk that would visit there. When I was in/there, you rarely could look at brass, without the sun gleaming & blinding you. It was the standard. Those emblems don't appear to have been Never Dulled in some time, oddly.

You can think of ND like vehicle waxing. After the initial applications, much easier to clean/keep clean, if 1 stays up on it.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I process a lot of brass, normally just cleaning for sale, not showroom polished but they have a nice shine so I have 2 Thumler Ultra-vibes that have seen many hours of use. If I ever get out of the "brass game" I'll use only the FART.
I do not wet cleaning "for sale" brass unless it's asked for.

 

[Camelfilter]

I like wet tumbling but I tried chips instead of pins today. What a nightmare lol chips are way messier then pins.

Sorry to hear of your troubles with chips.

A handy way to get chips or pins out:

Rotary Case/Media Separator | RCBS

Buy Rotary Case/Media Separator at RCBS, the leading producer of high-quality reloading equipment supplies for over 60 years.

www.rcbs.com

(A couple companies make similar, or exact copies)

Use above with a bit of clean water, enough water that a bit of water goes in some brass as you turn it. Breaks the surface tension adhesion of the "stuck" chips (or pins) on the brass.

 

[Tilos]

I have a fart but I wanted something to tumble small lots and bought this:

Robot or human?

I use it with the pins from the fart and it works a treat.
Pins are available on amazon for less than $10.
There are others at Wallyworld for less than $50:

rock tumbler - Walmart.com

rock tumbler - Walmart.com

www.walmart.com

So, there's that,
jmo,
.
Edit: like everything else I did modify it...
It has a plastic safety shield/cover that trips a switch allowing in to run, I cut that down to be just a switch trip.
I put something (a board) under the front feet to put more weight towards the back-onto the belt/drive gear.
.

 

[sophiedog19441]

My first tumbler I built using a coffee can with the lid taped on for the barrel and the rollers were from a wringer washing machine. I made the pillow blocks out of Oak. I found the motor somewhere. The pulleys were the only thing I bought and got those from Granger.

Jim: Kind of sounds like me I took a 5 gal bucket put a couple of aluminum angle in it built the bearings out of wood and a dowel put the top on it put a 4" hole in the lid with a screw in pug and a hole in the side with a plug for draining out the cleaning solution and used an old v belt and a 3/4" old and I do mean old low speed drill motor works great by old My dad had this in the early 40s and I have had it for the last 20 years I am in my 80s, probably around 100 years old by now, works great keeps me busy, have a great day sir.

 

[gmerkt]

As long as all the dirt and grit are removed is the main thing.

This is it. Factory military ammo doesn't have a mirror shine and it works well enough. As well as dirt, though, I don't like any carbon residue on the mouths. Which can scratch dies even if the case otherwise looks "clean." Depending on the state of the brass or batch size to be cleaned, I use different techniques. Including a vibratory tumbling (in use since the 1980's, they practically never wear out). I also use chemical case cleaners. Sometimes, just water and detergent. Haven't done the steel pins thing yet.

My first tumbler I built using a coffee can with the lid taped on for the barrel and the rollers were from a wringer washing machine. I made the pillow blocks out of Oak. I found the motor somewhere. The pulleys were the only thing I bought and got those from Granger.

Yes, I did something like this as well before I bought a vibratory tumbler. An office where I worked at the time was throwing away a copying machine, a great big thing that must've cost thousands of dollars at the time (early 1980's). I took it home for salvage. It contained several motors, one of which had a nice train of reduction gears that had a final drive of just about the right thing for a rotary tumbler. Basically, I was copying a lapidary tumbler. The drum was a coffee can. It was all scrounged, er, "repurposed" materials.

 

[conditor22]

DIT brass tumbler.

 

[conditor22]

or make one with a wood frame (my first one)

I use this bucket to coat HiTek coating. You can also use the bucket with pins in it