Rotary Tumbler Recipe

[oremike]

Two things to note
1- don't run cases that will nest together, if you do get the wack a mole bullet puller to separate the cases.
2- you can buy citric acid in bulk from places like Walgreens and Walmart. Way cheaper that way than Lemi-Shine.

 

[fstdraw]

Thank you, I'll do that today.

 

[Katonk]

Try brass juice, you will have cleaner brass after 45min than with any other solution for several hours.

What he said.......I've tried everything, and Brass Juice is what I do all my cleaning with now. Without the hassles of SS pins

 

[P7M13]

Dang. You guys are so precise and complicated!
I used to measure. Don't really care that much to be precise anymore.
~1/2 Pint mason Jar of pins (used to think it was a quart)
about four seconds of squeeze from a bottle of Dawn
About a quarter to half cup of Meguire's wash/wax (hell, it may be as much as one cup, but I don't know. what I do notice is when it's not in the mix)
A good, stout pour from a bottle of lemon juice from Dollar Tree.
Fill with water to cover the brass
Tumble. I find for pistol brass, 1 to 1-1/2 hours works. For rifle brass, I'll do 2-3 hours.

When it's done, I'll take off one cap, use the yard hose and flood the contents with water until it's running clear.
Then I'll put on the media separator cage, hold the tumbler drum over a 5 gallon bucket and pour/shake/shake like a m-f'er. I'll repeat this step two or three times, as it gets almost all the pins out.

The 5 gallon bucket should be full of clear water and your pins in the bottom. I'll fish them out with a HF magnet pick-r-upper.

THEN I'll dump all the brass from the tumbler drum into the bucket of water. Pick them out by the handful, being sure to have the case mouth tip down so any pins inside fall out. Place each handful of wet brass into a steel or plastic colander until I've emptied all the brass from the bucket.
Transfer the brass from the colander into an oversized towel. Grabbing both ends so it makes a towel hammock for the brass, I'll tumble them back and forth many times. This gets them considerably dry.

I find it's the drying phase that determines whether or not the brass tarnishes. If I transfer the brass into this decorative wire bucket I have, and place it in front of a heat register, It will be dry in a day. If there's any smell, it's from the Meguires, almost imperceptible, and has a fruity sort of smell like juicyfruit gum.

If I'm impatient and put it in the oven at 180°F (the lowest setting on my stove), it will come out with a very slight tarnish. Last batch of 223 I did with the grill in a roast pot, and they came out with some coloring.

Me, IDGAF about how the brass looks. About the only time I see it is when I'm loading it at the press or putting it in a magazine. No doubt, bright shiny brass brings a smile, but the boom brings more of one for me.

 

[RVTECH]

If I did something wrong, please correct me.

You don't add anything greasy (such as car wax) to the water. Also I wouldn't use any car wash either.

Use only water soluble compounds for Liquid tumbling such as a liquid soap like Dawn (mentioned several times) and Lemishine (or an equivalent) or lemon juice .

 

[P7M13]

Using the method above, here are the results from three weeks ago. I measured the additives using lines I marked on a plastic water bottle so that both were done the same way.

308 Based brass, air dried over heat register:


5.56 brass, dried in a roast pan in the grill (oven being repaired/replaced)

 

[Mikej]

I received a new Frankford Arsenal rotary tumbler for my birthday and wondered what you guys put in it with the brass to achieve that perfect clean shiny brass. Shinny brass is like a beautiful sexy woman, a joy to behold!

Here's a guy that gets it!

You don't add anything greasy (such as car wax) to the water. Also I wouldn't use any car wash either.

Use only water soluble compounds for Liquid tumbling such as a liquid soap like Dawn (mentioned several times) and Lemishine (or an equivalent) or lemon juice .

I'm under the impression that using citric acid you're better off using a little less than too much? Pretty sure I'd read of some issues here with the old "If some is good, more is betterer" saying?

And even though I still tumble with walnut I would think the amount of dish soap you put in could be way too much if you were using the Dawn Platinum. That stuff is crazy concentrated.

 

[HighlandLofts]

Wet tumbleing can and will vary depending upon your water, amounts of additives, time of tumbleing and drying methods.
Then put the make up of the brass it's self.

But wet tumbleing does get the brass as clean as it can possibly get clean.

 

[RVTECH]

I would think the amount of dish soap you put in could be way too much if you were using the Dawn Platinum.

Oh this is true! Heck I am only using a Harbor Freight rock tumbler and only a couple drops of dawn is necessary. A larger style might need a little more but not much OR it will foam up and start 'leeching' out around the seal of the drum lid!

 

[Tilos]

I must have done something wrong. Everything looked great until I retumbled the brass in hot water and a bit of car wash and a squirt of car wax. Now cases don't look so bright. The good news is the cases are very clean. If I did something wrong, please correct me.

I used about a pound of pins for 200 cases, a large squirt of Dawn and a pinch of Lemi-Shine powder my wife had. Tumbled for about 2 hours and drained, removed pins then tumbled again as discribed above.

Thanks for posting your results, now we can critique your process and offer fixes.

The condition of the WATER in that re-tumble is what changed the brass from a "light" colored/shiny brass to a "dark" colored/duller brass.
You need to add some Lemishine to every tumble and skip the warm/hot water.
I use cold tap water and only get "dark" colored/duller brass when I forget the Lemishine...or put in too much lemishine.

The wash and wax products don't have any real wax in them, just silicones, won't mess up the brass, and actually makes resizing easier (for me anyways).

I have a gallon of water with both a pinch lemishine and a heavy dose of Armorall mixed in that I use over and over as a FINAL rinse.
This "lubes" the (pistol) cases for resizing and protects them from tarnishing.
I put this mixture into an empty pail, final rinse the tumbled brass, and put it back into a gallon jug to be used again.
jmo,
.
Edit: If you are getting a lot of foam/suds from the Dawn back off on the Dawn or add a few drops of fabric softener- works for me.
The pins can actually become suspended in the Foam/suds floating on the top of water and away from the brass.

 

[DizzyJ]

I must have done something wrong. Everything looked great until I retumbled the brass in hot water and a bit of car wash and a squirt of car wax. Now cases don't look so bright. The good news is the cases are very clean. If I did something wrong, please correct me.

I used about a pound of pins for 200 cases, a large squirt of Dawn and a pinch of Lemi-Shine powder my wife had. Tumbled for about 2 hours and drained, removed pins then tumbled again as discribed above.

I don't retumble. I just rinse with cold water a couple times, separate the pins, lay the brass out on a towel, gently roll back and forth to get rid of excess water and place on a cookie sheet in the oven @ 200F for 30-45 min.

 

[Mikej]

Guys keep coming up with these threads and pushing me closer to wet/pin cleaning myself. I've bought used bass before that was wet cleaned. Mmm'-MM, you can really tell the difference.

 

[Tilos]

Two things to note
1- don't run cases that will nest together, if you do get the wack a mole bullet puller to separate the cases.
2- you can buy citric acid in bulk from places like Walgreens and Walmart. Way cheaper that way than Lemi-Shine.

#1
Some are too long to fit in the Wack-a-mole.

#2
Citric Acid = vitamin C
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=citric+acid&crid=LWOCSYQW6H0Y&sprefix=citric+acid+,aps,776&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

 

[fstdraw]

What's the optimal amount of SS pins to use with the smaller Frankford's? I've got a Frankford lite.

 

[DizzyJ]

Don't quote me but I think the full size Frankfort comes with 3lbs of pins.

 

[fstdraw]

More pins the marrier?

 

[DizzyJ]

More pins the marrier?

There's probably a "ratio" that will give you the best results. A wild bubblegum guess tells me 1 to 1 1/2 lbs should take care of you.

I've still got some SS chips to try out as well. Still sitting in the box they were mailed to me in a couple years ago

 

[DizzyJ]

More pins the marrier?

Here you go.

 

[kbuc nw]

More pins the marrier?

Most of the manufactures give estimated amounts of brass per lb, usually 5lbs of pins.
most are close but never the same.
less brass, faster results.

 

[fstdraw]

I did try tumbling some steel cased 7.62x39. They sure look nice, I'm just afraid they're gonna rust.