Rock Tumbler For Brass

[Austan]

So my wife wants a rock tumbler. I currently use a Lyman 1200 for brass but thought about getting a rotary to do double duty for brass and rocks. The rocks would be mostly small but can be a big as a chew tin sometimes. Is that a possibility with any of the better rotaries or should i just get her a dedicated rock tumbler and be done with it?

 

[PXranger]

When I need to polish brass I use a Harbor freight rock tumbler with steel pins, Dawn dish soap and Lemi-Shine powder (citric acid powder) the dirtiest nastiest brass you can imagine comes out like a mirror, inside and out.

oh, and it polishes rocks, to.

 

[lash]

They are the same thing. Most regular rock tumblers are just smaller than the tumblers we use for 100 brass cases. Go for it!

 

[Austan]

Thanks guys. I figured they had to be basically the same thing. I mean, all they do is rotate, I just wanted to make sure big rocks wouldn't damage a housing made for brass cases. Anyway, I went ahead and ordered the Frankfort platinum that comes with the stainless media so we'll see how it goes.

 

[TripleBull]

Your fired brass has lead and/or mercury in it from the primer. I know it's not much but it collects in the media. One of the biggest health risks in reloading is the from cleaning fired cases so you need to clean up good before your wife puts rocks and the media to polish rocks in it.

 

[padom]

When I need to polish brass I use a Harbor freight rock tumbler with steel pins, Dawn dish soap and Lemi-Shine powder (citric acid powder) the dirtiest nastiest brass you can imagine comes out like a mirror, inside and out.

oh, and it polishes rocks, to.

While a HF rock tumbler (including the double barrel one) will clean your brass, it is in no way comparable to the speed and efficiency of the dedicated brass SS tumblers on the market (Thumlers Tumbler B or Extreme Rebel 17) I have owned all 3. Your money is better spent on a Rebel 17. Its the best made today for SS tumbling and is super fast compared to the others.

 

[Changed]

The nice thing about the HF tumblers is that your can make drums for for brass out of 4" PVC. It's nice if you are smaller scale reloader like me.

Now I have several drums, one for cleaning without pins, and one for pins.

 

[black max]

The thumblers tumbler is actually a rock tumbler thay reloaders started using for brass...

 

[Nodakplowboy]

^^Been using a couple of Thumblers for many years. They have a HD rubber lining, and run very quiet. B model.

 

[FALex]

When I need to polish brass I use a Harbor freight rock tumbler with steel pins, Dawn dish soap and Lemi-Shine powder (citric acid powder) the dirtiest nastiest brass you can imagine comes out like a mirror, inside and out.

oh, and it polishes rocks, to.

No, say it ain't so!! Using SS pins will dent the mouths and necks of your cases and they will also give you inconsistent neck tension!!

I'm kidding, of course, but I have heard and read this crap for awhile now. Just to try these theories out, I ran 10, .260 cases with 2.5lbs of pins (normally I run 60 cases with 2.5lbs of pins) for 4 hours (I normally only go 2) and guess what happened? Nothing. No dents on the mouths or anywhere for that matter.

I have had excellent results with SS tumbling. I just run cold water and two tablespoons of Dawn. I used to use Lemi Shine (small pinch), but there were times when it would discolor my brass. It was never consistent when this occurred, but it made them look terrible. Sticking with just the Dawn has worked just as well, honestly.

A friend of mine runs his brass in the tumbler, without any media. Just water, Dawn and the cases on their own. He showed me his brass, and it looked just as good as mine.

 

[jarhead1077]

Harbor Freight single tumbler - 50 (.308) or 50 (260 Rem) at a time. 6 drops dawn, very small amount lemi-shine, cold water only tumbling 45 - 60 mins. SS pins need to be cleaned themselves when new before using with brass. Probably have cleaned 2500 to 3000 rounds one tumbler. Running both caliber's with single digit SD no problems. Actually made my own dryer using common hair dryer on low for heat source using plastic loading block stuck in top of old cookie container (small hole drilled in each holder space with air blowing up through primer holes) Total cost of loading block and stole wife's old hair dryer. Dries in 45 mins. You can go lean or not. Have fun!

 

[D̷e̷v̷i̷l̷D̷o̷c̷A̷Z̷]

A friend of mine runs his brass in the tumbler, without any media. Just water, Dawn and the cases on their own. He showed me his brass, and it looked just as good as mine.

Even inside the brass and the pockets?

 

[19Scout77]

I strongly suggest that you look into what it takes to tumble rocks. You will never have cross contamination between the brass media and what you need for rocks as you will NEVER use the same media. It's not even close. The bigger problem, and likely insurmountable is that brass takes hours to possibly a couple days to clean, while it takes a couple months, non-stop to tumble rough stones to polished. Let your wife use your tumbler for rocks and you will NEVER get it back!! Buy two.

 

[lash]

From rocktumbler dot com:

This usually takes between three and seven days depending upon the type of rock and their starting condition. The rocks are then processed two or three days in fine grit (also called pre-polish), and two or three days with polish. So, vibratory tumbling generally takes between one and two weeks.

 

[FALex]

Even inside the brass and the pockets?

Surprisingly, yes, even inside the cases and the pockets. In fact, after seeing them, I asked him "are you sure you didn't have anything else in the tumbler?" He swore that it was just the cases, water and Dawn.

 

[PXranger]

"Your money is better spent on a Rebel 17. Its the best made today for SS tumbling and is super fast compared to the others."

could be, considering I only spent about $30 on the HF tumbler, (I had a coupon) and I usually process less than than 100 cases at a time I can't imagine how I would be better off spending more on a dedicated tumbler

 

[D̷e̷v̷i̷l̷D̷o̷c̷A̷Z̷]

Surprisingly, yes, even inside the cases and the pockets. In fact, after seeing them, I asked him "are you sure you didn't have anything else in the tumbler?" He swore that it was just the cases, water and Dawn.

Seems super simple. I'm going to try this!!

 

[FALex]

Seems super simple. I'm going to try this!!

See, I've been wanting to try it, but I also have a method that works for me and I'm super anal-retentive about changing methods that work for me.

Please let us know. I am texting him now just to again make sure he wasn't messing with me.

 

[D̷e̷v̷i̷l̷D̷o̷c̷A̷Z̷]

See, I've been wanting to try it, but I also have a method that works for me and I'm super anal-retentive about changing methods that work for me.

Please let us know. I am texting him now just to again make sure he wasn't messing with me.

if you can will you ask him how much dawn.

 

[D̷e̷v̷i̷l̷D̷o̷c̷A̷Z̷]

So I ran my tumbler with water and dawn. Got the results. I'll post a new thread because I'm sure there will be questions.