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I use hot water with soap and Lemishine, then rinse w hot then immediately towel tumble so it dries sooner/easier.. I don't use a tumbler to process brass.

I used hot water too. I didn't want to buy a tumbler. It seems a lot of work and takes too long and I'm not looking for bling bling brass. I used an empty 1-gal vinegar jug and dump the dirty brass in and put in dawn dish soap, lemishine booster, and a little bit of winco cheap vinegar and start shaking for about 3 minutes. Then let it sit for another 10 mins and rinse thoroughly then laid the brass cases out on a towel and leave it to dry for about 3 days before loading. In the future I'm planning to buy the cheap citric acid on Amazon or resort to using only vinegar and dawn.
 
I use a Lyman vibratory with walnut blasting media and a tablespoon of BarKeepers Friend. I then put the clean brass in some tap water with a little lemishine and shake then let it set for 15 minutes or so. Then I rinse the lemishine off and put the cases in distilled waer and shake, rinse and dry in a dehydrator. It keeps water spots off and seems to keep the brass shinier for extended periods of time. It is a little more work, but a lot of my reloads are match grade or expensive brass - .375 Winchester and .41 AE.

If I reload bulk, I skip the lemishine.
 
Lemishine is a surfactant, i.e., it makes water wetter or, in common terms, acts as a water softener. The citric acid helps adjust the pH. Na3HPO4 (tri-sodium phosphate) will do the same thing. Ever noticed how slippery your hands are after handling trisodium phosphate or lemi-shine?
 
I have always dry tumbled. Walnut shell and jeweler's rouge. Harbor Freight sells 50 lbs of crushed shell, coarse or fine, for $49.99. Add $6.99 to your door.

To treat the walnut shells, rouge, or (non-Ammonia) Flitz liquid does the same job.

I do something similar, except I'm in the corn media camp, and I use Nufinish (auto parts stores have it) and my brass comes out as shiny as I could ever want
 
One note for liquid tumblers: best to completely avoid products containing ammonia (Brasso). Yes, they will bring brass to a gold-like brilliance, but ammonia embrittles the brass, making it more likely to split at the case mouth or, in worst cases, a head separation.

 
I do something similar, except I'm in the corn media camp, and I use Nufinish (auto parts stores have it) and my brass comes out as shiny as I could ever want

Depending on what I have on hand I'll use either corncob (from Cabelas) or walnut media (from HF). Corncob I've been using Nufinish lately but had better success with TurtleWax liquid in the past. Gotta find it somewhere.
Walnut media I treat immediately with a few caps of mineral spirits to keep the dust down then add Nufinish wax.
I went through a lot of media the last few years, I've sold over 25k brass cases this year alone & they all were spiffy clean.;)
 
Depending on what I have on hand I'll use either corncob (from Cabelas) or walnut media (from HF). Corncob I've been using Nufinish lately but had better success with TurtleWax liquid in the past. Gotta find it somewhere.
Walnut media I treat immediately with a few caps of mineral spirits to keep the dust down then add Nufinish wax.
I went through a lot of media the last few years, I've sold over 25k brass cases this year alone & they all were spiffy clean.;)

I gotta see if I can find that turtle wax liquid, my media needs refreshing anyways.

Thanks for the tip Caveman!!!!

for attention here is a pic of 556 cases done with corn and nufinish

7C807CE8-72E3-4A86-9390-BFB6322B4932.jpeg
 
I watched some YouTube videos and also read some materials online regarding lead dust from dry tumbling that could affect our lungs or could travel into the home ventilation system and potentially affect others.

Any truth to this? How dangerous is dry tumbling and the risk of spreading lead into our homes?
 
I watched some YouTube videos and also read some materials online regarding lead dust from dry tumbling that could affect our lungs or could travel into the home ventilation system and potentially affect others.

Any truth to this? How dangerous is dry tumbling and the risk of spreading lead into our homes?
"Safety" prevents many enjoyable things and can justify avoiding many other fun activities. I never heard of Elmer Keith suffering from lead poisoning. Or any of the other old school bullet casters. Now, casting is different from tumbling, with somewhat more risk.

I suppose that if you are a quantity reloader and have poor ventilation and do not use a mask (masks are verrrry trendy right now), you are likely at greater risk. But what does "risk" really mean?

Do you tumble close to the cold air return? If so, cover it with cardboard - assuming the chemicals in the cardboard are not worse than the lead.

Lee Precision, Saeco, Lyman and others have all the safety advice that you need.
 
Use citric acid-food grade from Walmart. 7.5 ounces for $10. Find it in the canning aisle. Safe. Does great job with steel pins and tumbler and water. No rinsing required. I clean everything after shooting. Shining is nice! Don't have too, but enjoy the looks like new brass.
 
I watched some YouTube videos and also read some materials online regarding lead dust from dry tumbling that could affect our lungs or could travel into the home ventilation system and potentially affect others.

Any truth to this? How dangerous is dry tumbling and the risk of spreading lead into our homes?



Can't speak to the house ventilation thing, except that lead particles don't actually travel very far on their own, a couple fans and proper ventilation are realistically all you need, I do however wear gloves and a respirator when I'm messing around and dumping or transferring the media as that is your highest probability of lead transfer. Otherwise while it's tumbling the units are fairly well sealed, so not much cause for concern on that front imo


honestly your probably more likely to pick up lead after an extended shooting session with bad wind than from a quality tumbler.
 
I know this is going down a rabbit hole a bit but would like to add a little more info about Lemishine for wet tumbling. Citric acid is an important component, but the product also contains other proprietary ingredients that make the combination work better. If you want a simple explanation without getting too technical, here's an article about dishwasher rinse agents and how/why they work. Any rinse agent should do the job. Lemishine just happens to be one of them out there and citric acid is one of the ingredients.

It's absolutely not necessary to get your brass super clean, but for those that like the bling, might as well get the best bang for your buck. I use a capful of Armor All car wash & wax instead if detergent. The wax helps to minimize tarnishing of the brass.
 
I know this is going down a rabbit hole a bit but would like to add a little more info about Lemishine for wet tumbling. Citric acid is an important component, but the product also contains other proprietary ingredients that make the combination work better. If you want a simple explanation without getting too technical, here's an article about dishwasher rinse agents and how/why they work. Any rinse agent should do the job. Lemishine just happens to be one of them out there and citric acid is one of the ingredients.

It's absolutely not necessary to get your brass super clean, but for those that like the bling, might as well get the best bang for your buck. I use a capful of Armor All car wash & wax instead if detergent. The wax helps to minimize tarnishing of the brass.
I am not sure what the exact ingredients in Lemishine that keep brass from tarnishing, but I have never had to resort to any wax products.

My Dad, reloader for 40 years before passing, never used anything but walnut media and BarKeepers Friend. He, and my brother and I, shot up the reloads so fast that they never had a chance to tarnish. He never used wax or Lemishine. He had a RCBS Rock Chucker and later two Dillon 650's.
 

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