Tumbler media questions and a issue

[Younggun]

Yup.

Not even close to worth it. Especially if you don't like the mountain fresh smell, lol.

 

[shortround]

I have always used walnut media as my first and only. When it gets dusty, just toss it out in the trash, and start with fresh media.

Polishing agents prolong the life of the media, but eventually breaks down in to big clumps and lots of dust.

Dryer sheets keep the dust of old media down.

All media will eventually clog primer pockets -- that's what tooth picks are made for.

 

[A.Texas.Yankee]

Are you using a tumbler or vibrating one? I built a tumbler (rotating) and use corn cob (from a pet store) and an hour or two at most and shells are clean. Over night is too much. I have a sonic cleaner too, but I only used it for initial cleaning of once fired factory brass. It's not any faster due to having to dry the shells.

They also sell a flash hole tool that pops the media out of the flash hole which is where is gets stuck occasionally, even with cob.

 

[TheDan]

Lots of people are going to ultra sonic for cleaning after depriming to avoid media issues.

That's what I currently do, but it really only works for small batches. At some point I'm going to get a vibrating tumbler and use stainless steel media.

...or maybe just do it like Jerry

 

[TaylorS]

Well I'm running a vibrating tumbler but for the most part with this last batch I ran I had that powder building up inside the case reducing volume and possibly other bad thingsXD. The primer pockets and prices stuck in the flash hole aren't a issue since the pockets gonna be cleaned every time and like was said earlier that's what toothpicks are for. I might change the stuff out and run it again to loosen it up


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[Younggun]

I'm having a hard time imaging how enough powder would stick inside the case to cause issues with case volume.

 

[ed308]

Thumbler tumbler with SS pins. But I'll admit it, I hate dealing with the pins. PIA.
So, I use corn, a little paint thinner, car wax and a dryer sheet when I'm feeling lazy.

 

[TheDan]

But I'll admit it, I hate dealing with the pins. PIA.

Why are the pins a pain?

 

[Vaquero]

I'm having a hard time imaging how enough powder would stick inside the case to cause issues with case volume.

Me too.

 

[Acera]

That is funny you posted the video of him using a concrete mixer. I was looking at one this afternoon at Harbor Freight and was thinking it was not much more than to fix my tumbler.

I may end up going that route, this one was on sale for about $140
Portable Electric Cement Mixer - 1-1/4 Cubic Ft.

It will be ideal for mixing single bags of quickcrete also.

 

[TaylorS]

I don't know that it would for sure but every lil bit makes a difference and some of this brass is gonna be some higher velocity loads compared to what I have been loading I'll clean a few out and see if I can get a weight or volume on how much is packing in there


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[Younggun]

A picture is worth a thousand words.

 

[Younggun]

It sounds to me like there is another issue at play if you have powder packing in to the cases.

But maybe I'm not visualizing the same thing you are describing.

 

[LOCKHART]

I'm with youngun on this. I use corn cob media, and always have. When it looks like
it's not doing the job, anymore, I just buy a new box! I mean, c'mon, guys! Its not
like trading in precious metals, its CORN COBS!

 

[TaylorS]

Lol I'll get some pics when I get home at the end of the week


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[ed308]

Why are the pins a pain?

They are small and tend to go everywhere when you empty the water. You would think the pins would sink in the water and they do to a degree. But they also tend to stick to the rubber liner of the tumbler and the brass. The SS pins clean better than corn/walnut method but I find the process more difficult. If you go that route, make sure you get the magnet. The magnet makes picking the pins easier since they can be hard to see.

 

[Vaquero]

They are small and tend to go everywhere when you empty the water. You would think the pins would sink in the water and they do to a degree. But they also tend to stick to the rubber liner of the tumbler and the brass. The SS pins clean better than corn/walnut method but I find the process more difficult. If you go that route, make sure you get the magnet. The magnet makes picking the pins easier since they can be hard to see.

Water? I got some learning to do.
Good stainless isn't magnetic. I do know that. EMFs are part of my job, so we use stainless to avoid magnetic field heat buildup in many applications.

 

[TheDan]

But they also tend to stick to the rubber liner of the tumbler and the brass.

Sounds kinda like the surface tension of the water is holding onto the pins. Have you tried adding a little dish soap?

Water? I got some learning to do.
Good stainless isn't magnetic. I do know that. EMFs are part of my job, so we use stainless to avoid magnetic field heat buildup in many applications.

He's using a rotary tumbler, hence the water... Whether stainless is magnetic or not depends on the nickel content. Some stainless is only iron, carbon, and chromium.

 

[ed308]

Yes. Water, a little liquid dish soap plus Lemi Shine. The pins are very small (1/4" long and as thin as mechanical pencil lead) and they stick to surfaces when wet.

 

[TaylorS]

Ok so here's a few pics of the walnut powder in the case and next one is what it looked like after I scraped most of it out the powder weighed .4gr

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