Tumbling brass on a budget advice

Any decent vibratory tumbler should come with a lid. Those do a fine job of keeping what's in the tumbler, in the tumbler. Using walnut media will get your shells pretty clean. I use corncob media with polish to get cases shiny. I used that method until I got a wet tumbler, but I'm in Texas and we have different weather. I dump my shells and media through a media separator into a bucket and it's not too dusty. Good luck with whatever you choose to do. It's a fun hobby.

I would think that in Alaska there would always be a wood stove, fireplace or register nice and warm to put freshly cleaned brass on...

I just pop it in the oven set at 170-200 degrees for twenty minutes or so.

Dry tumbling is probably less expensive to get setup. Vibratory tumblers start around $70. Picking one to start kind of depends on the volume of brass that you need to clean. If you need to clean 100 cases or less at a go, one of the smaller ones will work.

I use a 50-50 mix of corncob and walnut with a squirt of liquid car polish. The polish will help keep the dust down and give the brass a nice shine.

There are media separators available for sale that make quick work of separating brass from media but an old colander and a bucket will get the job done too.

.40

I would go with either of the wet cleaning methods, you can dump the wash water down the drain if you use citric acid to clean them with.
With the wet tumblers, you don't need to use pins,
Ultrasonic cleaners don't toss the brass around, they use cavitation bubbles to clean the brass. With either one of these two you only need Citric acid (Lemi-Shine booster) and some detergent like Dawn or some use car wash and wax.

I don't know how much bass you have to clean, if its a lot, you may want to consider a wet tumbler. If you don't have thousands to clean at a time, then maybe an ultrasonic.
I run my ultrasonic cleaners beside the kitchen sink. This is the one that I would recommend if you go with an ultrasonic.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083KFSNG2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you buy an underpowered ultrasonic it won't clean well.

This one has three transducers, and it works well. I never worried much about drying time, it's just something you have to factor in, when you have brass to clean.

If you go with a wet rotary tumbler, than really, any of the brands will work fine. You can also use dry media in a wet tumbler if you wanted to, just make sure it's good and dry inside. With walnut media they will clean a lot faster than a vibratory that way.

With dry tumblers you still have to dump out the contents into a separator to get the media out of the brass, and they do make dust while doing that. They are the slowest cleaner to use, depending on how clean you want your brass. You can put New Finish car wax in with the media and pieces of used dryer sheet to mitigate the dust.

It all depends on how clean you want to get your brass. Once you figure out how to use an ultrasonic it will clean the fastest. The one in the link above takes 10 minutes and off to the dryer.
If I didn't use ultrasonic cleaners I would be using one of the wet tumblers. Citric acid is suppose to combine with the molecular lead and make it so we can't absorb it.
I dump mine down the drain in the kitchen sink or you could dump it in the toilet. According to the sewer companies, citric acid treatment with lead is the preferred method for disposal of the wash water.
Hope this helps in some way

edit to add: if you happen to choose the ultrasonic I put the link into you need to know the basket that comes with it is not fit to use with brass. The holes are to big and they fall through it. I use a deep fryer basket with mine so you will have the additional expense of buying a different basket. That is it's only down fall but I wanted you to know before you made your decision.

I've always been tempted to throw some brass into a quilted, zippered pillow case, then run it through the washing machine and dryer.

Disclaimer -- If you decide to try this, and you have a wife, I cannot be held responsible for the consequences.

I started tumbling with a standard sized Hornady vibratory, it had two lids, one solid one slotted. While the dust is contained, you have to separate media from brass and I did this outside with the wind blowing because there is a lot of dust. You would be surprised how little brass you can do at one time so if you have a lot of brass to process either get a big vibratory or switch to wet tumbling. I don’t know your weather but here when it gets cold it can get very dry out so it’ll still dry. I’ve not tried ultrasonic just because you either need a very large bath or small batches and that’s not for me. Good luck!!

If you on a budget, you can clean them somewhat just by soaking in dawn with some Lemonshine. Let them soak overnight and then rinse well. Hot water works better than cold. They won't be shiny but some of the crud will come off. Next is find or make a tumbler. You have a lot of budget choices for both wet and dry tumbling. The used market can be good. Keep your eyes open and your friends informed of your need.

Wet tumbling is the way to go. Lemmie shine and dawn makes brass shiny! If you tumble before decapping the brass will take a long time to dry. Use pins or the primer pockets won't get clean. I separate pins and brass in a kitchen strainer over a plastic bowl and give it good toss to get as much water out as possible and 20 minutes in a 175 oven or my wife's hair dryer if I'm in a hurry takes less than 10. My Harbor Freight dual tumbler was like 50 bucks and will hold 200 .223 cases at time or like 300 9mm or 100 .308.

cheapest way is to throw it in a container of soap and hot water and shake it.

bhhacker said:

I have heard vibratory tumblers throw a bunch of lead dust in the air? Does media get everywhere as well?

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Both of mine came with lids. Quite handy that.

And yes, since you're tumbling brass, anything on the brass will end up as particulates in the media, and dust in the air when you take the lid off. If that's a consideration, do it outside; I also recommend a dedicated colander to sift the media out of the brass.

How many at a time are we talking about?

Not a real high volume but none of my benchrest cases have been tumbled since I prepared them. I wipe them off with a rag and nylon brush out the areas I can’t reach by hand. Not only is it the cheapest method I have but the smallest single hole groups I have shot, were cases cleaned this way.

Any wet method, ultrasonic or otherwise requires drying and I have never found corncob or walnut media dusty by the time I have the right amount of polish added.

The exact cleaning methods one uses depends on the amount of cases that need to be cleaned at a giving time. These are mostly handling issues whether your are cleaning a hundred or two cases or cases by the 5 gallon bucket full.

Vibrating tumblers should come with a lid and the lids are good at containing the dust during operation. If you add a little liquid car polish to the media, it keeps the dust contained when pouring the media and cases into a separator. A little polish goes a long way and if too much is added, it will gum up the dry media.

If you dry cases indoors after wet tumbling, they will dry just fine even in Alaska. Outdoor drying or in an unheated building, not so much.

Spread them out one layer thick on an old terry cloth towel, stir them every day or so, and they will dry in a few days. Placing a fan or heater vent to blow over the cases will accelerate the drying time. There are other methods to reduce drying time, it depends on what you have on hand and how much time you wish to expend.

Wet cleaning definitely captures the dust residue from the cases.

Wet tumbling will clean more cases faster than dry tumbling. As the dry tumbling media ages, it does take longer to get the cases clean and shiny. Wet tumbling cleaning time is always about the same in part because one uses fresh cleaners at each batch. But, I find separating the pins from the cases takes more time than separating dry media from the cases for the same quantity of cases.

The cleaning method can be streamlined if you do not want bright, shiny cases. When I first got in to reloading, I used an ultrasonic cleaner because I had it on hand. Cases were cleaned but not pretty.

I have both vibrator and liquid media. For me, I have grown so used to the vibrater that I rarely use the media. For me, the Hornady media cleaner does not hold as many shells as the vibrator. The media is slower than the vibrator, and the media for the Hornady is more expensive.

The Hornady media cleaner is more expensive than the RCBS or the Hornady vibrator, I have all 3 of them.

I recommend the RCBS vibrator cleaner, along with the 50/50 mix of Corn Cob & Walnut. Add the liquid car wax, about 1/2 teaspoon, run it 1-3 hours depending on how dirty it is. I usually deprive after tumbling because the brass is clean and therefore not as hard on the dies. If you deprive before tumbling, there will be media stuck in the flash hole of the primer pocket that takes a lot of time to get out.

Good Luck,

Enjoy this hobby that I love

Dan

length_of_pull_1 said:

Wet tumbling is the way to go. Lemmie shine and dawn makes brass shiny! If you tumble before decapping the brass will take a long time to dry. Use pins or the primer pockets won't get clean. I separate pins and brass in a kitchen strainer over a plastic bowl and give it good toss to get as much water out as possible and 20 minutes in a 175 oven or my wife's hair dryer if I'm in a hurry takes less than 10. My Harbor Freight dual tumbler was like 50 bucks and will hold 200 .223 cases at time or like 300 9mm or 100 .308.

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More or less what I do. HF dial tumbler, made a brass container from 4" PVC. Dawn, lemishine, and ss pins. Use a colander and bowl to separate the pins, stick the brass in the oven to dry on a cookie sheet. I decap before tumbling, btw.

Buy the cheapest vibrating "tumbler) you can fine and some corn cob media. some Nu Finish (or similar) and all will be well in the world.
Cleaning brass is not a big deal. Or just wash it in a bucket with some dish soap an Lem Shine. Rinse well and let dry.

Above are all good advice...I have used vibratory for 30 years, and works for me. I run 100-150 cases at a time, I'm not a hi volume shooter. Cob or walnut, 1 tbl spoon of paint thinner, 1 tbl spoon of NuFinish car wax, run the cleaner for 5 min w/out brass, while you cut up 2 used dryer sheets onto 1/4's (8 p s). Add them and brass, not deprimed, and run cleaner till you get result you want, for me it's 2-4 hrs.

Dryer sheets will come out grey-black. Throw them away. I don't have dust. I wipe each case with old towel/T shirt while I inspect it. I don't deprime first, because any media that gets stuck in primer hole gets poked out when I deprime. When finished, don't screw the plastic lid down tight, it will take a "set" and begin to rattle in use, infact you should turn it over when cleaner is idle.

Grody...haven't heard that in a long time. The things in my garage get covered more with sawdust than any lead residue.

I got my Lyman wobbler in about 2005 (the one with the slotted lid). It works quite well and I believe the dust/lead dust is overthinking the "Lead Poisoning Scare". I have cleaned tens of thousands of various cases and have never been bothered with "Toxic Dust". Like any reloading process, just use common sense (don't do your deep breathing exercised with your face 12" above the wobbler, and a little ventilation is a good thing.). After a few years of experimenting, I settled on corn cob blast media 14-20. Cleans much better than pet litter, is inexpensive, and does not produce dust. I use just a bit of auto cleaner/wax in the media, not for cleaning or shining but it leaves a very light film of wax on the case to retard tarnish and provided a little "case lube" ( feels better when sizing 44s in my carbide die). There arew hundreds of hints to keep down dust and keep you safe (from a bit ot solvent soaked paper towel to a full Haz-Mat suit), but I have no problems with dust (BTW, up until I retired I had annual physicals which included heavy metal testing. After 25+ years with 20 casting and shooting lead bullets and cleaning cases in dry media, my blood lead levels were "normal").

You mentioned living in Alaska and not wanting to use water and freezing the wet cases, but here's a tried and true, ancient method of cleaning brass; http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?28750-Home-made-liquid-case-cleaner

Jes thinkin'; tumbling/cleaning brass is probably the most talked about, but least important part of reloading discussed on reloading forums today...

I use a franklin armory dry tumbler. If you are doing low to moderate volume it works fine. I think I paid about $60 for mine. But, be careful. I overtightened the lid and ripped the holding bolt out of the middle of the basket. If you are careful it will last a long time. Using the used dryer sheets really helps to keep the dust particles down. Crushed Walnut shells is what I use. Lasts a long time.

Rule3 said:

just wash it in a bucket with some dish soap an Lem Shine

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I dry tumble/vibrate for normal use. But I did have a batch of 3500 .223 range brass to do a few years ago and I did it wet with no equipment. Hot water in a 5 gal. bucket, a squirt of dawn and a 1/2 teaspoon of Citric Acid or Lemishine. Stir occasionally with a 1/2" dowel rod then dump and rinse with clear water after a couple of hours. I probably did 1000 or so in a batch and dumped them on an old towel, folded it and tossed them a few times then laid out in front of a vent - dry the next day.

A Franklin Armory dry vibrator, crushed walnut "Lizard Litter" from the chain pet store, and "NuFinish" car wax is the most inexpensive, easy, and effective way to get started.

If you use a vibratory tumbler, I'd suggest reading this thread.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...stopping-using-vibrating-case-cleaner.828788/

mdi said:

Jes thinkin'; tumbling/cleaning brass is probably the most talked about, but least important part of reloading discussed on reloading forums today...

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Honestly, right at this moment, I’d rather talk of nothing else!

bhhacker said:

I have heard vibratory tumblers throw a bunch of lead dust in the air? Does media get everywhere as well?

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Naw, we tumble our brass in a vibratory tumbler in our unfinished basement. If you want to talk about something (hair) getting "everywhere" in your house, try having one of these things (a Cocker/Springer cross) in your house for a few years.
That's Ruger. Unlike Ruger, our vibrating tumbler has a lid that keeps stuff from being scattered throughout the house.

No tumbler? No problem. Just throw the brass in the washing machine with your wife’s clothes. They’ll be ready in 35 minutes. Use her hair dryer if they’re still damp.