Stainless tumbler

Cbh1

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2018
Messages
69
Location
Keithville LA
Just a question the first 6 times i used it the brass came out like new now the last 3 times it was dull and oil feeling so i noticed the stainless as dull also so i put some engine degreaser in there with just the stainless now it new looking i have been using lemon shine wounding if i just need to add more cleaner or should i have to clean the stainless time to time thanks
 
If you put more than 1/8 -1/4 teaspoon of lemi shine in it will yellow your brass. Also, are you using a good degreasing dish soap such as Dawn? I rinse my SS media by swooshing around fresh water and repeating while working it with my fingers. Have used it quite a bit and it still works great.
I don't know what size your tumbler is but I use about 1/4 teaspoon of Dawn and 1/8 teaspoon of Lemi-shine. My tumbler is only about 1.5 qts.
 
Dish washing liquid holds the dirt and oil/grease in suspension and off your dishes and cartridge cases.

Your water should still be sudsy when finished tumbling for clean brass.

My directions with my tumbler says to run the tumbler without any brass with dish washing liquid to clean the pins and tumbler.

Just remember tumbling cases is like washing dishes, if the dish water isn't getting the dishes clean then drain the water and start over.

NOTE, instructions tell you to use 2 to 3 "tablespoons" of dish washing liquid.

aFFwkpL.jpg
 
Last edited:
Heck, if I would put 2-3 tablespoons in mine it would explode! It would at least spew foam out.
 
Cbh, just rinse the pins well after removing the brass. Usually cleans them satisfactorily.
 
Heck, if I would put 2-3 tablespoons in mine it would explode! It would at least spew foam out.

When all else fails follow the instructions that comes with your tumbler.

The instructions I posted above are for the Thumler's Tumbler Model B High Speed with a 15 lb capacity.
 
The one i have lyman cyclone the cleaner that came with it i did measure nothing just poured it in and turned it on i started having the problem when i changed to lemon shine i just poured some in ill measure next time i use it. I dont think mine came with good instructions like his did i get home i look for the instructions that came with
 
Yeah. Lemi shine is wonderful stuff... but it takes very little. For and avg size tumbler about 1/2 teaspoon. I only use about 1/4 tsp in my smallish tumbler and the brass comes out shinier than new. Just a tiny bit too much will darken your brass.
 
I may be way off and if I am I apologize in advance. I do A LOT of brass. I have heard you mention Lemashine several times but have not heard the 2 to 3 tablespoons of Dawn dish soap. Maybe I missed that part. All the Lemashine is for is to help control the water spots. The stainless media combined with the brass all rubbing together in the dish soap is what does the cleaning and shining. It usually takes me 2 to 3 rinses to get the soap out. Actually I started using ONE SHOT and did away with the soap and the Lemashine and the water spots.
 
I also follow the instructions that Bigedp51 posted with one exception, I like to use distilled water (It is cheaper than drinking water and has less minerals ) and also use it for the final rinse. I also dry my brass immediately after the final rinse to prevent spotting.

It is a lot of work/trouble, but the brass comes out amazing looking and the stainless pins are shiney. Don't use a substitute for the lemi shine or the Blue Dawn and your brass will look great. also rense the tumbler and pins before storage.

J E CUSTOM
 
Between friends and I, we've come up with some don'ts. Too long tumbling
Too much Lemi-Shine
Too much Dawn
Not rinsing thoroughly
Letting brass air dry
Some of us have found compressed air the quickest way to dry. I clean brass with this method mainly to get the inside of cases and primer pockets clean.
 
Are you using a lanolin based lube?
I was having the same problem, not using enough soap and everything gets coated with lube instead of getting suspended in soap.
 
I'll throw out my $0.02 as well. First, right amount of Lemishine is important. Too much is worse than too little. Depends a lot I think I your water -- I have tried RO water and regular tap. I just use softened tap now, as its closer in my basement man cave (no trapsing through the kitchen to the RO unit). When I over lemishine, I get dull cases.

Second: I think any detergent dish wash liquid is fine. Nothing about Dawn being special. But, use enough. If there are no suds when you open up to inspect, then you used too little. Kind of duhhh... Hard water and dirty cases require more.

Third: Drying. Compressed air is good. One step further is alcohol. $10 for a gallon at Home Depot. Why consider etoh? Because it will disrupt surface tension and rid the interior of cases of water fast. When I am in a hurry, I shake out the newly tumbled cases, throw them in a small container, cover that with ethanol, then pour out the etoh (it can be reused several times) -- the etoh negates all surface tension. THEN, you blow them out with your air.

Not sure how much I love that last drying step -- I've never trusted it to render the cases dry enough to load immediately. Usually next day. But unless you bake or blow, I think beads of water can persist in cases for many hours or even days after washing. I've looked at trays of brass before that I thought must be dry. And saw beads of water....

Finally, after my initial infatuation with stainless tumbling, I now tumble less and less. Mostly after annealing, where I have used tempilaq. Or if I have come old brass or a mess. But the SS tumbled brass seems less accurate initially than "old brass"..... More and more we read about consistent neck tension being important -- and fowled brass seems to have that more than squeaky clean stuff.

But stainless tumbling has its place, no doubt. You can look inside the brass and see if the flash holes all look nice. Removes all the grunge.....
 
I guess I'll be odd man out. I use Armor-All car wash soap in my Thumler Model B, with a touch of Lemishine. One important step for me is to dry tumble freshly sized brass in walnut to remove the sizing lube (Dillon) before my finish wet tumble.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 7 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Recent Posts

Top