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New Way to Dry Brass after Wet Tumble!!!

Infinity

Infinity

Always Professional
Full Member
Minuteman
Apr 17, 2012
465
1
39
Atlanta, GA, USA
My wife bought one of these for drying baby bottles, etc. Looked perfect for brass so I bought one for the cave. It is the best thing I've found for drying without heating. I didn't time how quickly it dried but it was definitely way faster than leaving brass on a towel.

Looks like it would easily fit 100 pieces of 308 brass per mat (maybe even 150+, I have it spaced out pretty well). There is plenty of space between the bottom of the mat and the case neck. I imagine you could thread the "grass" into a 223 case and leave the flash hole unplugged...I'm sure it'd be useful for lots of calibers... Anyway, worked well for me and thought it was worth sharing. Hope it helps...





Amazon.com : Boon Grass Countertop Drying Rack, Green : Baby Bottle Drying Racks : Baby
 
Shove them in a dehydrator .So easy. No baby crying as well.:D
 
Pretty cool idea. I'm sure it drys faster than wiping them & leaving on a towel, but I always just plan it so I leave them spread out in my garage, and they dry overnight. I wouldn't want to take the time to place each individual piece of brass on each stalk, esp when I do 500 rd batches of 5.56. Thanks for sharing your technique though!
 
Awesome find! Ive also found that once the brass is taken out of the water, if i dip them in a shallow bath of 90% rubbing alcohol, they dry extra quick!
 
what works for me.. out of the tumbler, into a metal spaghetti colander rinse a bit more shake it a bit to get some water out, dump brass into towel, ball up and get a lot more moister out, back into a dry colander hand-held blow dryer whilst stirring the brass for a few minutes, let cool and anneal.

the hair dryer in the colander works well and is fast.
 
I just put my brass on a cookie tray with a towel in the bottom and then pop them on the tennis shoe rack in the dryer. Just fold the wife's cloths before and she doesn't mind! Usually takes 30 mins.
 
You know what dries brass even faster?... Not wet tumbling.

Haha! Flame me with your bling bling brass jewelry. Lol
 
i take them out if the tumbler and spray with 50/50 water alchahol for no water spots and they dry in a heated ammo can quickly.
 
tolnep said:
what works for me.. out of the tumbler, into a metal spaghetti colander rinse a bit more shake it a bit to get some water out, dump brass into towel, ball up and get a lot more moister out, back into a dry colander hand-held blow dryer whilst stirring the brass for a few minutes, let cool and anneal.

the hair dryer in the colander works well and is fast.
Click to expand...

I use the colander and hair dryer method as well but when I anneal, I just put the moist cases in the rotary disk annealer and they'll be dry afterwards.
 
alpine44 said:
Is the can heated as well or just vented?
Click to expand...

There's a 100W incandescent light bulb under the grate.

A few more notes:

The insides of the can are lined with mylar tape, so the radiant heat is reflected, instead of being absorbed by the ammo can. The can barely even gets warm.

There are a few 1/2" "intake ports" down low on the sides of the can.

The fan is arranged so it blows out the circular array of exhaust ports in the lid of the ammo can.

Theory of operation is the bulb heats the air down below the grate the cases are laying on. The moisture capacity of the air is increased because it is warmed. That warm air rises due to both bouancy and because of the pull of the fan. The warm "dry" air pulls moisture off/out of the wet cases, and the now-humid air is exhausted by the fan out the top. Fresh, cool "dry" air is inducted through the intake ports.

Seems to work very well. Been using it for ~4 years.
 
In Texas, this time of year, a few thousand 45 cases set in the sun are not only dry in 2.5 beers, they are so hot you cannot hold a hand full of them.


IMG_20130727_144639_090_zpsd9095290.jpg
 
HodgdonExtreme said:
There's a 100W incandescent light bulb under the grate.

A few more notes:

The insides of the can are lined with mylar tape, so the radiant heat is reflected, instead of being absorbed by the ammo can. The can barely even gets warm.

There are a few 1/2" "intake ports" down low on the sides of the can.

The fan is arranged so it blows out the circular array of exhaust ports in the lid of the ammo can.

Theory of operation is the bulb heats the air down below the grate the cases are laying on. The moisture capacity of the air is increased because it is warmed. That warm air rises due to both bouancy and because of the pull of the fan. The warm "dry" air pulls moisture off/out of the wet cases, and the now-humid air is exhausted by the fan out the top. Fresh, cool "dry" air is inducted through the intake ports.

Seems to work very well. Been using it for ~4 years.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I recognize the bulb now in the photos.
 
Pretty neat idea. I'll build one and give it a try. Guess the DC elites will raise objections because I'm probably destroying the planet by using a 100 watt bulb -- got a couple stashed away for such emergencies. Oh well, fugg 'em. Thanks again HodgenExtreme for the well thought out idea. Just had a thought, do you think a heat gun (nozzle inserted through a hole in the bottom of the box below the "grate" be as effective or better than the bulb?
 
oldfudd said:
Pretty neat idea. I'll build one and give it a try. Guess the DC elites will raise objections because I'm probably destroying the planet by using a 100 watt bulb -- got a couple stashed away for such emergencies. Oh well, fugg 'em. Thanks again HodgenExtreme for the well thought out idea. Just had a thought, do you think a heat gun (nozzle inserted through a hole in the bottom of the box below the "grate" be as effective or better than the bulb?
Click to expand...

I too stockpiled 100W bulbs prior to the ban. I'd like to go on a political rant, here, but won't on account of the rules.

I think a heat gun would do the job faster, but I think it would be way too much heat. The 100W bulb gets the brass HOT as is, never mind a 1500-2000W heat gun.
 
Believe it or not, I actually thought of drying some Cerakote like this, on one of our 100degree summer days!!!
jmorris said:
In Texas, this time of year, a few thousand 45 cases set in the sun are not only dry in 2.5 beers, they are so hot you cannot hold a hand full of them.


IMG_20130727_144639_090_zpsd9095290.jpg
Click to expand...
 
jmorris said:
In Texas, this time of year, a few thousand 45 cases set in the sun are not only dry in 2.5 beers, they are so hot you cannot hold a hand full of them.


IMG_20130727_144639_090_zpsd9095290.jpg
Click to expand...

morris, where do i get the blue media seperator your using.


ps charlie papa came up with the bottle dryer 6-7 months ago ya prob just missed it.


im gonna weld up a rack with screen like morris has but its gonna sit about 1-2 ft. above my ac unit fan outside.
 
JByrd said:
morris, where do i get the blue media seperator your using.


ps charlie papa came up with the bottle dryer 6-7 months ago ya prob just missed it.


im gonna weld up a rack with screen like morris has but its gonna sit about 1-2 ft. above my ac unit fan outside.
Click to expand...

That blue one is from the Dillon large media separator/tub combo
 
I spread mine on a large baking sheet and put a powerful construction lamp over them. They dry pretty quick and leave no water spots. If I'm heading out and don't want to chance burning the house down with it I just leave the brass on said tray in my gun room. I have two large dehumidifiers that run in there 24/7 and also dry them pretty quick.
 
Definitely some slick options on here. If I come over to the dark side and start heating my brass to dry it, you guys have provided some great options. Thanks...
 
Air dry. Rinse them off, put them in a terry cloth bag (towel folded length wise and sewn on two sides) and act like you a polishing a bowling ball. Dump them out on a cookie sheet and let dry for 24 hours or so. For me this is Wednesday night of brass week.
 
As Senior JMorris said, there may be only one advantage to living in the South, 15 minutes on the deck rail on a dark colored towel and you better take them in on the towel to cool off before you handle them. In the winter, I use the rack in the dryer (after the alcohol bath).
 
I use an old food dehydrater, one with a fan in it. Space the casings out over a few of the racks and they are dry before you know it.
 
After I spin them around in a large Dillon separator I toss them in a Dillon CV 2001 with corn cob media and they are nice and dry in about 20 minutes. When the media gets wet I just leave the lid off and run it and it dries out in about an hour out in the sun.

Cheers,

George
 
Some great ideas here, I think I have an old dehydrator that might get put to use. I try to think ahead and have the brass ready so I SS clean a few days before hand
 
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