Stainless steel tumbler or ultrasonic?

[Oathkeeper1775]

I cannot speak to a comparison between a SS Tumbler and a Sonic; but my SS Tumbler is saving me hours of prep time.

No more using steel wool, no more cleaning primer pockets... I polished 12k pieces of brass with the same 1/2 cup of Hornady one shot.

I had to buy a $9.00 long-handle magnet.



I use my old tumbler to buff-out the finish products; corn Cobb and car wax.

 

[Tilos]

I like the pics...
And would post some if it wasn't so cold in my shed
I'll get pics of some 9mm brass I de-primed before vibe tumbling as described earlier, that has squeaky clean primer pockets and insides
anyone else have pics?...post'em

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

Hmm, here's some that were in with Dawn and Lemishine for about 45 mins about 18 months ago.

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

I am going to do just mothers wash and wax with lemishine instead of dawn for my next batch.

I can also say, that for the above pictures (with dawn and lemi) that brass is still shiny, just kept inside the house, no tarnishing to speak of.

 

[Member 5605]

Instead of Dawn , I'm using Armorall Ultra Wash and Wax with the Lemishine.
And, adding a couple drops in the separator water leaves a nice finish on the brass and makes sizing a bit easier (pistol, that is)

Interesting idea... does that keep the brass from tarnishing over time as well?

See above.
Brass will once cleaned with detergent (Dawn etc.) have nothing and I mean NOTHING on the exterior to prevent your oily/dirty hands from leaving marks.

.223 brass I cleaned then rinsed with hot water. Hot water rinsed off coating and my water left hard water spots on brass. Keep in mind this brass is ready to be loaded. It's been sized, deprimed etc. I'll actually run these again to make them like they should.

They were cleaned maybe two months ago.



This 9mm brass has been in the tub for maybe a year. Proper care was taken with cold water rinse afterwards.


Light metering was pulled from red inside tub, borderline color washout.




They will sit like that stored forever.

I am going to do just mothers wash and wax with lemishine instead of dawn for my next batch.

I can also say, that for the above pictures (with dawn and lemi) that brass is still shiny, just kept inside the house, no tarnishing to speak of.

Give them time. They will. I have some from my first cleaning prior to a wax soap. I'm looking through photo archives... water spots and fingerprints will show.

 

[mjbskwim]

Ok great thread and I'm late to the party
Has anyone tried putting the brass in a,say pillow case and then in the clothes dryer?
Don't answer if your SO reads this forum

I have heard this works great but some have wondered if it would deform the brass dropping around the dryer.
And is there much difference in the SS tumblers?
Thanks for the thread,timely for me

 

[Member 5605]

Ok great thread and I'm late to the party
Has anyone tried putting the brass in a,say pillow case and then in the clothes dryer?
Don't answer if your SO reads this forum

I have heard this works great but some have wondered if it would deform the brass dropping around the dryer.
And is there much difference in the SS tumblers?
Thanks for the thread,timely for me

Drying brass in clothes dryer..

• I bet you would only do it once. Either the racket would be unbearable, it could destroy your dryer or you could be told that if you ever do it again you will be single.

When it comes to tumblers:

• Preference goes to ones that do not have a smooth interior. Agitation of pins and brass is your friend. Some of the biggest differences can come from what I think was stated earlier, the media. Jewelers media? It's not just pins but has some sharp edges. Apparently it cleans faster but some can get stuck in flash holes (some pins can get sideways as well inside brass) so you have to check stuff anyway before loading.

 

[Mikej]

Ok great thread and I'm late to the party
Has anyone tried putting the brass in a,say pillow case and then in the clothes dryer?
Don't answer if your SO reads this forum

I have heard this works great but some have wondered if it would deform the brass dropping around the dryer.
And is there much difference in the SS tumblers?
Thanks for the thread,timely for me

I have a dryer that has a "Shoe Drying" rack that fits in the drum. You set your washed tenny's on it and run the dryer. Brass in a pillow case on the rack should do the same thing.

I don't use a wet tumbler as I don't shoot enough to justify it but I've bought brass that has been wet tumbled and man it's pretty!

 

[41mag]

re: "Any thoughts on which is better and why?"

the limited trials I've made with 'ultrasonic' brass cleaning have been not worth the effort;

while not claiming 'best' the old turbo/walnut shells/Dillon blue goo or the better smelling orange stuff works fine for my needs.

I prefer the shiny look the stainless pins provide, but so far my $$ have been 'previously occupied'....

 

[DunRanull]

This may be a chicken-dropping way of doing things.. for years now I have deprimed and then put the cases into a cotton or wool sock, run em thru the laundry on hot cycle (with clothing, too), and the rune the sodden sock/brass thru a dryer cycle. Then place brass on a pizza pan or similar in the oven, which is always warm from the pilot light... This works well enuff but of course they arent all shiny-new looking, but they are clean. This operation works best when the SHE isnt home.

 

[best defense]

I used the walnut tumbling media for years. I wore out two vibratory tumblers. I also got tired of the dust. It gets into everything.
First I tried the electronic vibrator cleaner. I got it for $99 at Bi-Mart. I found that if I used the basket that came with the unit it did not work very well. However if I put the cases into a plastic tray like what many rounds are shipped in which made the cases stand on end it worked better.
The problem is I could only get one of the trays in the little tub at a time, and it still did not do a real good job of cleaning the primer pockets.

My next trial was the rotary tumbler (i. e. rock tumbler) I picked one up second hand. I bought a box of stainless steel pins at Sportsman's Warehouse. I use about a cap full of Dawn and a few drops of that stuff that is supposed to keep your dishes from spotting in the dish washer.
You need to be prepared to deal with sorting out the pins from the dirty water and the brass.
Tumbling with the stainless steel pins works best for me.
There are some pit-falls to watch out for.
First, don't tumble more than two hours max.
Second take the brass out of the tumbler right away. Don't let it sit in the tumbler very long after it is done. It doesn't really hurt the brass, but it will come out dull looking. I don't know why, it just does.
Third make sure you get all the pins out of each case. I just de-prime before tumbling. If you want the primer pockets clean, you must do that, and you probably don't want to resize dirty cases, so after you clean them you need to lube and resize the cases. If there is a stray pin in the case, it will screw up the expander rod on the sizing die.
Fourth, get the cases dry. You can see about getting a second hand food dryer. That is the same thing as what the commercial case dryers are, but not as expensive. I don't have one of those, but we have forced air heat and the fan runs all the time, not as much when the heat or air conditioner is not running, but it still circulates some air all the time, so I take a couple of trays of brass and set them over an air vent in the bathroom. I usually leave them there over night. Any flow of air going over the cases will work. Some people recommend putting the cases on a cookie sheet in a warm (not hot) oven. I don't think my wife would go for that, and I have not tried it.

This is just what works for me. I got most of this steel pin tumbling stuff second hand, so I only have about $60 into it. If you go out and buy a new rock tumbler, that alone will cost that much. I hope this helps.

 

[speleologist]

I've used all three at one time or another. I settled on wet tumbling using the Harbor Freight dual drum tumbler. I don't dirty that much brass anymore (about 80 or so rounds per week), so I don't need anything with more capacity.

My recipe is 40 pieces of .233 brass, one dribble of liquid laundry detergent, an incredible small pinch of Lemi-Shine, water to cover the brass by half an inch, and 1/2 pound of SS pins per drum.

Since this tumbler is built to tumble rocks, it is meant to run for several days at a time. I run it for a couple hours if I'm in a hurry or let it run overnight. (It really isn't that noisy - I have it sitting on a foam pad in a spare bedroom (my office/reloading den) and with the door shut I can't hear it.)

Since I am cleaning .223 brass, there will be a few pieces with pins still in the case. I use a doughnut magnet and that collects all the pins from the cases and any that spill during the rinse process. To dry the brass, well I guess I'm lucky, I have a dryer with a sweater rack. I put the cases on the rack and run the dryer on high.

My usual practice is to run the tumbler all night. In the morning, rinse and put in the dryer. Then, after coffee, breakfast and checking email, the brass is dry and ready to be processed. Does it work? We're talking pristine inside and out, even the pockets!

As to having the brass tarnish, that's not a problem for me as I pretty much use the brass within a week or so.

Final thought ... as others have pointed out, this kind of shininess is a bit much. Brass does not need to be this clean. However, I am retired and therefore, by definition, I will chase anything bright and shiny. Chasing shiny brass is harmless compared to what I could be chasing. (So I tell my wife!)

 

[TheCleaner]

I am finding that my sinuses don't like the vibratory media dust when I go to separate my casings from the media. I wear a mask, but that's an annoyance. Additionally, the vibratory doesn't clean the inside of the brass, which is another annoyance... I am starting to dream about going to a liquid cleaner in either a stainless steel tumbler or ultrasonic... Both appear to clean cases inside and out from my reading... Any thoughts on which is better and why?

Another solution to your dust issue would be to wash your used media. WalMart sells a 3 pack of zippered bags of fine nylon mesh made for washing delicate clothing in a washing machine.
Fill bag with media submerge in water with dish soap added let soak overnite agitate by hand to loosen fines and powder residue that accumulates on media. Pour off soapy muddy water and rinse while agitating until water is clear. Dry media completely. I suspend my bags over my furnace register for several days. in the summer it could be done inside any car parked in the sun in an open container.
To increase the polishing of brass using an orange zester grate about 2 teaspoons of jewelers rouge to your newly cleaned media. Jewelers rouge available at most good hardware stores I get mine @ Ace

 

[Tilos]

I've used all three at one time or another. I settled on wet tumbling using the Harbor Freight dual drum tumbler. I don't dirty that much brass anymore (about 80 or so rounds per week), so I don't need anything with more capacity.

My recipe is 40 pieces of .233 brass, one dribble of liquid laundry detergent, an incredible small pinch of Lemi-Shine, water to cover the brass by half an inch, and 1/2 pound of SS pins per drum.

Since this tumbler is built to tumble rocks, it is meant to run for several days at a time. I run it for a couple hours if I'm in a hurry or let it run overnight. (It really isn't that noisy - I have it sitting on a foam pad in a spare bedroom (my office/reloading den) and with the door shut I can't hear it.)

Since I am cleaning .223 brass, there will be a few pieces with pins still in the case. I use a doughnut magnet and that collects all the pins from the cases and any that spill during the rinse process. To dry the brass, well I guess I'm lucky, I have a dryer with a sweater rack. I put the cases on the rack and run the dryer on high.

My usual practice is to run the tumbler all night. In the morning, rinse and put in the dryer. Then, after coffee, breakfast and checking email, the brass is dry and ready to be processed. Does it work? We're talking pristine inside and out, even the pockets!

As to having the brass tarnish, that's not a problem for me as I pretty much use the brass within a week or so.

Final thought ... as others have pointed out, this kind of shininess is a bit much. Brass does not need to be this clean. However, I am retired and therefore, by definition, I will chase anything bright and shiny. Chasing shiny brass is harmless compared to what I could be chasing. (So I tell my wife!)

For me shiny does have a purpose...easier to see when picking range mushrooms

 

[Crohnos01]

ok, I am screwing up somewhere obviously. I tried the SS tumbler first with a squirt of LemiShine and a squirt of Nu-Finish and got really gross black water out of the combination of brass and nickle cases I put in after 3 hours of tumbling, so tried again with about an ounce of LemiShine and a generous squirt of Dawn.... this time the solution had bubbles after 3 hours of tumbling, still had gross black water, and still dull looking cases..... WTF? The stainless pins look dull as well..... Crap... I was getting better results out of the vibratory... Help

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

Oh, that's not right. You got the Frankfort one, right?

How many cases are you putting in?
You shouldn't need that kind of run time.
What's nu finish?
how bad are the cases before they go in?
How much water are you using? (this is likely the issue)

 

[Crohnos01]

Yup, I got the Frankfort unit. I tried the Nu-Finish as an additive on one of the other users recommendations in lieu of dawn or the Armorall wash /wax. Then ran with the Lemishine with Dawn and had the same results.... dunno... I am filling the drum nearly to the top with water and running about 100 38 spl cases... I didn't count exactly, maybe slightly North of that but not over 150.

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

Alright, you shouldn't be having any trouble there at all, that's a small case count.

For that i'd probably add a quick squirt of dawn (haven't tested the wash n wax yet) and maybe a level tea spoon of lemishine.
I fill the drum to the level instructed in the manual and run for 60 mins, that should give you filthy water, and shiny cases.

 

[Crohnos01]

Ok thanks... I will give it a shot and see what happens and then report back.

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

Oh, and i'll add that i use warm water, because science