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Other cleaning media???

Doyputasos

Doyputasos

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jan 11, 2012
235
2
Southern California
Did a quick search and found nothing. Has anyone tried any other media besides cob or walnut? There is 80grit glass media that is supposed to be good for brass according to the description on the harbor freight site. Anyone using other media?<style id="_clearly_component__css" type="text/css">#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } </style>
 
yes, start over, and put in the money now and save later with stainless steel media and thumler's tumbler.... then you will never need to worry about cob or walnut or any other media bs again.


Doyputasos said:
Did a quick search and found nothing. Has anyone tried any other media besides cob or walnut? There is 80grit glass media that is supposed to be good for brass according to the description on the harbor freight site. Anyone using other media?<style id="_clearly_component__css" type="text/css">#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } </style>
Click to expand...
 
Doyputasos said:
ok, forgot to mention that SS was excepted. I know its good but I aint buying a thumblers<style id="_clearly_component__css" type="text/css">#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } </style>
Click to expand...


I'm sorry I can't add anything in terms of alternative vibratory media, but am curious as to your resistance to SS. Cost? Negative experience? Not challenging your choice, just trying to learn.
 
gvanhyning said:
You might be opposed to Thumler's but I just got mine from Midway and it's great. I can't believe I waited this long.
Click to expand...

Im sure they are great, no doubt. But I have heard good enough things about the $50 tumbler at Harbor Freight. It just needs to spin right?

A real reason that I don't want to mess with SS is that I don't have water or a sink in my shop.
 
Midway just had SS media on sale for 34.95!, that's around $15.00 less than others sell it for, and midway is still making a profit (I doubt they are taking a loss), it works very well, and as doyputasos points out, you can buy a less expensive tumber at HF, I don't have one, but I do know HF has top end customer service, doubt if you'll have any problem with their unit, and if you do, they'll replace it. As time goes by, the cost of expendable media adds up (as you keep buying new and replacing the old), whereas the cost of the SS media is fixed, the more you clean the cheaper it gets, I don't think you'll ever wear it out. Also, it does a better job, in the primer pockets and in the case it's self. It does so good a job in fact, I've found you need a little bit more lube. Give it a shot, you'll be glad you did.
 
The Thumblers SS 15 lb tumbler does a great job on brass but it's capacity and labor involved to get the brass dry and usable is the downside. It should come standard with a magnetic finger because it's inevitable that the small pins will end up all over the place, no matter how careful you are. I recently processed 4000 cases through it at 150 per 5 hour batch....I would run it once overnight, again in the morning before work, then again when I got home. Yeah...that took a while.
 
Doyputasos said:
Did a quick search and found nothing. Has anyone tried any other media besides cob or walnut? There is 80grit glass media that is supposed to be good for brass according to the description on the harbor freight site. Anyone using other media?<style id="_clearly_component__css" type="text/css">#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } </style>
Click to expand...

I woudn't use blast media it will round the edges like crazy before it polishes. I think Harbor Freight intended it for brass castings
 
Case tumbling with cob and walnut has been around for several decades because it works well, it's cheep and and has no disadvantages for our needs. You can be sure a lot of other gritty stuff has been tried but the people who sell media still sell only cob and nut; there are valid reasons for that.

Cob and nut media rarely 'wears out', instead it generally gets over loaded with a thick cake of (excessive) dry gray metal polish and tossed out. An occasional ounce or so of mineral spirits/oderless paint thinner will do a lot to rejuvinate dirty looking, polish clogged media. A few 2" or so squares of a loose weave fabric or paper towel or used dry sheets, etc, will trap a lot of the loose polish dust so it can be tossed out.
 
pet smart

Pet smart has bedding for lizards that is crushed walnut shells $22.00 for 30 lbs works good.
 
Glass media will leave grit on the cases that can damage your dies.

Pet Smart Kay Kob works for a cheap corn cob media. Just add some Dillon Polish or similar. Some of the other pet bedding is too large. Kay Kob is a bit bigger than Lyman Green media, but still works well.
 
A lot of my friends have been talking up ultra sonic cleaners lately. I guess it only takes 20mins to clean the hell out of the cases. My main concern is how long it takes for them to dry.
 
I use an ultrasonic cleaner and it works well except for the primer pockets but that is no big deal. It take several hours or overnight to air dry completely.

My concern with tumblers has always been overworking the brass and getting brittle brass. Not sure if it is a really concern but in theory that would be a concern.
 
VKC said:
I use an ultrasonic cleaner and it works well except for the primer pockets but that is no big deal. It take several hours or overnight to air dry completely.

My concern with tumblers has always been overworking the brass and getting brittle brass. Not sure if it is a really concern but in theory that would be a concern.
Click to expand...

Harbor Freight has one for about $60 that my friend has been using. He says it works real well. Another reason I'm reluctant to go with the Thumler's Tumbler is that it doesn't really hold that much brass. If I was gonna go the SS route I'd wanna get a bigger container(and not pay $700 for the 40lb one on stainlesstumblingmedia.com).
 
walnuts said:
Pet smart has bedding for lizards that is crushed walnut shells $22.00 for 30 lbs works good.
Click to expand...

This. And if you get the finer cut stuff so you'll never have to worry about it getting caught in flash holes. Mixed with the dryer sheet and mineral spirits that Fuzzball mentioned and a little NuFinish wax your cases with polish fairly nicely.
 
Just go to your local home depot or lowes and get a bag of play sand. Put your brass in the tumbler and pour in some play sand. Those babies will be squeeky clean in no time flat.
The old ways are passe', brass should litterally induce something like snow-blindness when you have polished and cleaned it correctly. If you aren't wearing a welding helmet to remove your brass from a tumbler it simply isn't worthy of match grade. " I went to take a batch of brass out the other day and went completely brass blind!" "Way to go scooter, that brass will be a winner, guaranteed."
 
armorpl8chikn said:
Just go to your local home depot or lowes and get a bag of play sand. Put your brass in the tumbler and pour in some play sand. Those babies will be squeeky clean in no time flat.
The old ways are passe', brass should litterally induce something like snow-blindness when you have polished and cleaned it correctly. If you aren't wearing a welding helmet to remove your brass from a tumbler it simply isn't worthy of match grade. " I went to take a batch of brass out the other day and went completely brass blind!" "Way to go scooter, that brass will be a winner, guaranteed."
Click to expand...

C'mon man. It'd be one thing if this was funny, but you know this is the Internet and someone is gunna go try that!
 
Corncob plus Nu Finish car polish and ~ 2hours is hard to beat in my book. I'll have to try the mineral spirits trick to refresh the corncob.
 
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