Dust on brass after cleaning

Walnut does get dusty. I put a couple capfulls of NU-FINISH car polish in to aid polishing the brass and will stop the dusting.

When I start with new walnut media, I run the tumbler outside to air out in the wind. When I do not see dust, I trickle two capfuls of NuFinish and tumble for another 5-10 minutes (or until I don't see any clumps).

After doing this, I do not see or get dust on the cases. I will recharge the media with another capful of NuFinish every 3-5 batches.

I received a great tip somw years ago and it works. Throw a sheet or two of your wife's anti static strips that she uses in her dryer into your tumbler and it run. The anti static strips will collect all that fine dust. Just hrow them away( the sheets, not your cases) when finished. It works for Me!

I don't think those dryer strips work nearly as well as they say on the internets.

Just get a bath towel, and dump the dusty brass on the bath towel.
Rub it around on the towel for a minute, and call it good.
Shake out the bath towel (outdoors), and its ready to be re-used like 15 million times.

I like to run the tumbler outdoors, so the dust can escape without coating everything in the vicinity. Helps to run the tumbler empty for a few minutes with the lid off to let a lot of the dust blow away.

Hello the camp! t-g, both media work well, ime; cc gives you a higher shine, but ws works fast, and is the real deal for bp hulls. WS is especially nifty if you've learned of lizard litter--fine ws at Petco or PetSmart, ~$20 for 25#. As for dust, it usually stays with media--I use a Dillon separator. I change the media when it takes longer than a couple hrs to do a batch. Your mileage may vary; hope this helps. mm

Walnut is very hard and does a great job cleaning black fouling and dirt off cases. I use old walnut media to pre-tumble really dirty cases before I tumble them in newer walnut media.

I use corn cob to put an extra shine on my cases as it does a better job of polishing the brass.

I don't need really "blind your eyes" shiny cases, just clean. I usually tumble range brass in walnut/NuFinish for about 20-30 minutes to clean with a nice shine and 1+ hour in corn cob with polish for gleaming shine to impress my friends/relatives when they shoot with me at the range.

I use walnut media, and buy it as a pet bedding (marketed for reptiles or birds or something) from the local pet store. Much cheaper than buying the same stuff from a reloading company.

I have dust issues as well, and usually just wipe off the cases. I've heard the Nu Finish trick works, but I've never tried it myself.

Weelll , I added polishes & tried the sheet thing it all works somewhat then eventually you have to change the media!!

I use plain pet store walnut & corncob 50/50 , it lasts for a long time , cleans & polishes fine !!

The dust I remove by pouring em out on a towel & bunching em up & rattling em around a bit , rifle I`ve usually handled enuff to remove the dust prior to sizing .

Everyone is different & like to do things "there way" but if ya try adding anything to your media use it sparingly , as not to "overload" your media.

Use corn cob media, the dusting is why I quit using walnut.

I use walnut to clean the brass and then change it out to corncob to polish to a nice shine and it removes the dust too.

Out of curiosity, as I am running my first brass in a vibrating brass cleaner... What about the dust inside the case? Must that be cleaned out?

Cut up a few used dryer sheets and throw them in with the brass, then add a capful or two of mineral spirits. The mineral spirits helps loosen any carbon on the brass, keeps dust down, and the dryer sheets trap a lot of the dirt and gunk from the brass.

NuFinish added will polish the brass also. Don't put too much in, and let it tumble about 10 minutes before adding the brass or you'll end up with clumps of media and polish inside a few cases. If you put too much polish in, the media will become covered with polish and it won't really polish at all.

The best place to get cob is drillspot.com. They will deliver to your front door a 40 pound bag for $35. Use the 20/40 grit to avoid stuffing it in the flash holes.

Someone asked about the cleaning rusty dies thread how I keep my tumbler bowl clean. If you start your new vibratory tumbler with NuFinish treated media, your bowl surface will get coated with NuFinish and minimize dirt/dust sticking to it. I gues you could simply apply NuFinish to the bowl surface before putting media.

If you want to treat your old bowl with NuFinish, clean the surface really well and dry it then use new media and treat it with NuFinish.

Fuggedaboutit!

I have been tumbling brass for about 40 years now and the dussssssssssstttttttttttt.

Scuzeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa mmmmmmooooooooooo mmmentttttttttt.

I had to go wipe the drool off my chin & keyboard.
Now I'm back and am perfectly fine again.

The dust out of a tumbler is not nearly the health hazard as the Big Mac's + Super-Size fries & drink you had for lunch and dinner tonight, yesterday, and the day before.

Or the bullets you handled while reloading them in the cleaned cases

It's just dust.
O.K.

You get more lead ingestion while sucking your thumb or licking your lips while shooting or reloading.

rc

You may very well be correct rc, but by the same token I wouldn't make a practice of breathing it.

Well, who wants to live forever?

rc, some of us have OCD and OSHA/CDC paranoia ...

Kinda like working crazy to eliminate that occasional rare flyer you see on your target.

I know I know, there's no cure ... it's a sickness ... I admit it.

...

"My name is <your name here> and I am a reloader ..."

I don't make it a practice of breathing gasoline fumes while fueling the truck, or the Hickory smoke out of my BBQ grill smoke-stack either.

Just saying.

If you got enough dust in your tumbler media to cause health concerns, or worry about it?

You need a big Shop-Vac with a HEPA filter running close at hand when you take the lid off!

Or a dollar ninety-eight dust mask.

As for myself?
I have a lot of things wrong with me at 68 years, 11 months old.

But breathing tumbler dust for half my life isn't one of them.

rc

mc223 said:

NU-FINISH

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There are thousands of brands of car wax, why is it that NU-FINISH always gets top billing among hand loaders?

Do any of you do anything to the brass after tumbling?

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Yeah, I usually prime, charge and stick a bullet on top.

five.five-six said:

There are thousands of brands of car wax, why is it that NU-FINISH always gets top billing among hand loaders?

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I used to use Dillon, MidwayUSA/FA and other brand brass polish before I switched to NuFinish. Before I switched, I tested various liquid car wax/polish (Turtle wax, Mothers, Meguiar's, Zymol, etc.) including Carnauba based liquid wax.

What I found was that with some car polish/wax, I got dark shiny cases!

Yes, some car cleaner/polish does work well but NuFinish just seems to work consistently well in removing the tarnish/dirt/grime. The residual polymer coating on the brass prevents tarnish and seems to help with resizing effort and prevent case sticking in the die. If you have rust issues with your dies, residual NuFinish on the surface will prevent surface rust for 6-12 months for me. And no, I do not work for NuFinish or have any affiliation - just a happy life-long customer.

This from NuFinish's webpage - http://www.nufinish.com/car-care/car-wax-vs-car-polish

Nu Finish Car Polish does not contain any wax.

It is actually a blend of advanced polymers that creates a superior protective layer to your car’s finish while adding a deep gloss. Nu Finish uses zinc cross-linking technology that bonds to your car’s paint, giving it a full year’s worth of protection in just one application. A surface treated with Nu Finish will continue to bead water even after 52 automatic car washes.

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dusty brass

just rinse them off with some cheap laqure thinner after sizing and triming , good to go .

The Lacquer thinner is known to be more dangerous to your health then the tumbler dust.

Like I said before.

Fuggedaboutit!
Or suck it up in a Shop-Vac.

The tumbler dust may eventually kill you, or not?
But you will be dead from natural causes, or an accident before it does.

rc

Two words: Ultrasonic Cleaning! No dust, lead residue goes down the drain, cheap to start and maintain, clean shinny cases inside and out, no media getting stuck or clogging flash holes and primer pockets.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=692818