My View of Stainless Media Cleaning

[Broz]

Nice review Jeff.

My only concern is the need to tumble / clean for multiple hours (this is the single biggest down side that I can see), then rinse before drying. Two questions:

How many 338LM cases or Edge cases can you clean at one time?

What was your rinse and then separation procedure?

Jeffvn

Hi Jeff, I don't understand the concern for a 4 hr clean? I do them a few days prior to brass prep anyway?

This load was 50 338 LM cases. I feel that is about right but it might do more in one cleaning.


To rinse, I set the tub in the sink and started over filling it with water from the tap. Once all the soap was gone I would reach in and grab a few cases and swish them mouth down. Then rinse them a little under he tap and put them in one of my wifes spaghetti collanders. The let water run on them to rinse and dumped them on a couple paper towls. From there they went mouth down into a franklin arsenal case block. They sit at an angle allowing water to get out and air to circulate. They were completely dry the next day. But being the way I am, I will rotate them and wait a few more days to trim, anneal and size.

I have about gotten to the point where I anneal every firing. It just makes sense to me to keep them all the same for neck tension. Plus it is a breeze with the bench source annealer anyway. In the rare event there was and moisture or dampness the annealing process will dry them 100%.

The frankfort arsenal bucket / media seperator would make seperating the media a breeze. My process works well, but I can see one of these in my future.

Jeff

 

[specweldtom]

Jeff, Thanks for the link. I've never been satisfied with any of the drum, vibratory, or ultrasonic cleaners. I'm going to try this in an RCBS sidewinder. I expect it will damage the inside of the plastic drum, so I've got an idea on how to rubberline it. I've got a lot of .30 x .378, .338 x .378, and .460 brass that is good, but crappy looking, particularly inside.

Thanks again, Tom

 

[SidecarFlip]

Jeff, Thanks for the link. I've never been satisfied with any of the drum, vibratory, or ultrasonic cleaners. I'm going to try this in an RCBS sidewinder. I expect it will damage the inside of the plastic drum, so I've got an idea on how to rubberline it. I've got a lot of .30 x .378, .338 x .378, and .460 brass that is good, but crappy looking, particularly inside.

Thanks again, Tom

I believe the Thumlers will be less expensive than the RCBS and probably better. I'd peruse some lapidary (rock polishing) websites to ascertain who is the least expensive conerning rotary tumblers. I know Cabelas has them and I also know, well, surmise... that they can be gotten substantially cheaper elsewhere.

I'm wondering if stainless ball bearings would work as well as the rods, so long as the diameter is small enough to slip in and out of the primer pocket?? Those are easy to get and pretty cheap too.

 

[Dr. Vette]

If you want to try this idea inexpensively, you can pick up a small tumbler at Harbor Freight.

one drum:
Rock Tumbler, 3 Lb. - Save on this Rotary Rock Tumbler

two drum:
Dual Drum Rotary Rock Tumbler

Like most of you I've used a vibratory tumbler for years (mostly to clean old car parts but also rifle brass) as well as an ultrasonic cleaner. I wasn't keen on $180 for the Thumlers and have it sit around unused so I picked up the one drum unit from HF a week ago when driving by. I'd purchased SS media from the seller on the classifieds here a couple of weeks ago. While it's a case of "you get what you pay for" it's probably enough for an occasional reloader, and my brass looks like new. The HF one drum unit is a 3 pound rating vs 15 pound for the Thumlers so I cut all measurements to 20% of what was recommended for the larger unit. Other than the fact that the SS pins get stuck in Winchester brand cases it's worked great. For 20 to 30 cases at a time (size dependent) I've had no major issues. So far I've done 223, 25-06, 270 and 300 Weatherby cases.

I am just getting into reloading, and if I do much reloading as time goes on I suspect the Thumler's unit will go on a Christmas list. If I do just the occasional then this unit will probably work for a while.

 

[geargrinder]

Keep your eyes out. Cheap deals can be had. I scored a Thumblers for $65 on Ebay.

I also got some media from the seller here.

Now all I have to do is go dirty up some brass.

 

[Broz]

We should note the Tumbler I purchased from SSM is indeed the "Thumlers Tumbler" Model "B" and is the High Speed unit. I was told this is the best choice for stainless Media cleaning of brass and I would imagine the high speed has something to do with it.

Also, I was impressed how easy all the pins fall out of the cases when swished in water neck down. It is very easy to remove the pins and it happens quickly.

Jeff

 

[SidecarFlip]

Jeff....

I believe the only difference between the Thumler regular speed and the high speed is the drive pulley diameter. The motors are all 1725 rpm shaded pole 60 Hz units. Nothing to wear out except the end pivots on the axle shafts and the motor bearings.

I'm still wondering if small spherical stainless ball bearings would do the same job as the pins. I'm gonna have to try them I guess. I'd think they would, so long as the diameter is less that the primer pocket od.

Guess I'm gonna have to get some (and a tumbler and give it a try. You said you were using Dawn dishwashing liquid and something else? What is the other stuff??

 

[specweldtom]

Yeah, I wouldn't go out and pay the $400 or so for a Sidewinder, but I have had one for years. It got so old that the plastic drum crumbled and fell apart, but RCBS came through again when I emailed them with some pictures. They had me package up the broken pieces I had and send them to them. Less than 2 weeks later, a new drum showed up on my doorstep with no charges and postage pd.

That's the way good companies handle product stewardship and customer service.......I've had this thing about 20 yrs. It may have helped that my reloading station was in a couple of the pictures. Everything except the Harrel measure is green. Couldn't hurt.

I hate to hear that some of their presses are made in China.

Good hunting, Tom

 

[Dr. Vette]

Guess I'm gonna have to get some (and a tumbler and give it a try. You said you were using Dawn dishwashing liquid and something else? What is the other stuff??

Dawn, LemiShine and water (in addition to the media).

Excellent video here:

Stainless Tumbling Media - YouTube

It only takes a tiny bit of the LemiShine to do the job.
I find that you can add a bit extra of the Dawn without any side effects other than a bit more rinsing. However, if you cut back in it then you won't clean nearly as well.

 

[Broz]

Dawn, LemiShine and water (in addition to the media).

Excellent video here:

Stainless Tumbling Media - YouTube

It only takes a tiny bit of the LemiShine to do the job.
I find that you can add a bit extra of the Dawn without any side effects other than a bit more rinsing. However, if you cut back in it then you won't clean nearly as well.

Correct. Two TBL spoons of Dawn and 1/4 TSP of LemiShine. I was surprised even as dirty as my brass was, I still had plenty of suds after 4 hrs of cleaning. And when I started rinsing even more suds were made.

Jeff

 

[Outlaw6.0]

Broz, did your cases end up with any tarnish on them from rinsing with tap water? Thanks for the write-up.

 

[Broz]

Broz, did your cases end up with any tarnish on them from rinsing with tap water? Thanks for the write-up.

No they did not. I rinsed them under the tap (we have a water softener) and layed them out on a paper towel and blotted them a little with a few more paper towels. Then they pretty much dried in a pile that night. They are now dry and spot free and still look like new brass or better.

Jeff

 

[gamehawker]

Dammit,

It looks like I need something else now to reload!

Thanks for the write-up, the brass looks fantastic!

 

[lachoneus]

I have been using the same system as the OP for a couple of months, and it is simply the best.

I have a Frankford Arsenal media separator, and have found that it really streamlines the process. After rinsing the polished brass, I dump it into separator and spin the unit a few times to remove the media. Then I place a couple of paper towels in with the brass and spin the separator a few more times. That dries off the surface of the cases quite nicely and prevents water spots. I usually let the cases dry overnight, but I suppose they could be placed in a warm oven for a few minutes, if one was in a hurry.

I have used Dillon vibratory cleaner for many years, and tried my hand with liquid case cleaners. The stainless steel media system with a rotary tumbler beats them all by a mile.