A Eazy Way to Separate Stainless Media and Brass

[GracieSymon]

I admit I am always on the prowl for an easier way to do something, even if it costs a few dollars more. To that end, I have been using two stainless steel sieves of appropriate dimensions stacked on top of the other to separate stainless steel tumbling media from brass. Both sieves are 12 inches in diameter. The first (top) sieve in the stack has a mesh of 8.0mm. This mesh catches all the various sizes of brass I reload and it easily lets the stainless steel tumbling media pass through. The second (bottom) sieve in the stack has a mesh of .125mm and it easily catches all of the stainless steel tumbling media while allowing the dirty tumbling water to pass through. I stack the larger mesh sieve top of the smaller mesh sieve, place the whole assembly in the bathtub, and I empty the tumbled contents of the tumbler barrel into the sieves. The first sieve catches all the brass, the second sieve catches the stainless steel tumbling media, and the water goes down the drain. I separate the sieves and with brass and media in their respective sieves, and I rinse each one off. I then vigorously shake each sieve, and place teach sieve with its contents sill inside on a towel under a bathroom space heater to dry.
The process is very simple. The issue is the sieves cost about $100.00 each and they are not so easy to find. I purchased the one I use from H&C Sieving Systems http://www.affordablesieves.com/.

I hope this helps someone.

 

[bronco_buster]

Re: A Eazy Way to Separate Stainless Media and Brass

$35 Works like a charm. Nice idea though.

 

[427Cobra]

Re: A Eazy Way to Separate Stainless Media and Brass

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bronco_buster</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

$35 Works like a charm. Nice idea though. </div></div>

Yep

 

[TexIndian]

Re: A Eazy Way to Separate Stainless Media and Brass

The most tedious part for me is making sure the brass doesn't have a couple sticks of media stuck inside - 'stuck' meaning that when it's wet the individual sticks of media tends to stick to the case walls.

 

[nauta]

Re: A Eazy Way to Separate Stainless Media and Brass

I'm using the separator shown in the picture and it does fine. I have only run two batches through mine and haven't had any media stick to the brass. The part where I like the sieve idea is for getting the media back out of the dirty water. I wonder if they make a piece of window screen material that is fine enough to keep the media on one side. If so, you could lay it in the bottom and just lift it and the media out at the end. It would have to be a lot less than a sieve.

 

[Mike Sobr]

Re: A Eazy Way to Separate Stainless Media and Brass

I just carefully rinse the water out a couple times to get rid of the majority of the nasty stuff then grab 3 or 4 cases at a time and while holding them upside down in the water give a vigorous shake and the water frees the pins by taking away the "sticktion" and they just fall out back into the tumbler...but If your doing more than say 50 at a time this could get old fast.

 

[opeagle]

Re: A Eazy Way to Separate Stainless Media and Brass

I dump about 1/4 of the water out of the tumbler then reach in and grab a few at a time and dump them out. I throw them into a bucket of clean water. Once they are all in the clean water I dump the bucket out into an old flour sieve. Brass goes onto old cookie sheet.

If you pay attention dumping them and swish the clean water bucket around a bit, you will rarely have any issue. Personally I like this better than using the separator.