evan price
Member
I use a lot of tumbling media and I have experimented with a lot of products.
I have tried the Grainger corncob media from Drillspot, shipped to your door for a total price of about 67 cents a pound-
http://www.drillspot.com/products/521055/econoline_526040g-40_40_lbs_blast_media
Corncob is nice, soft, and leaves a nice shine on brass. But for really dirty brass it takes a lot longer to clean, and for that reason I prefer to use ground English walnut shell media. Walnut I have found is the best for dirty cases because it scrubs very well. Corncob leaves a softer, shinier finish but walnut shells cuts the crud off faster and when used with a polish like NuFinish at leaves a very shiny almost new appearance.
I have used brands that were so dusty they would leave piles of dust on the floor around the tumblers- specifically the Kaytee brand sold as bird cage bedding for $21.99/25# in this link:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11147343
The stuff was dirtier and dustier the further down the bag I got, and the last few pounds were probably half dust. I stopped using it because of the dust and fines. I got similar results from the walnut shell sold at the welding supply house in town. Great for use as sandlblasting but not for tumbling brass.
My favorite so far has been the Zilla brand ground walnut shells. It is uniformly a fine consistency like sugar sand and so far is very low on dust.
I had been buying Zilla in the ten quart bag from PetSmart but they want $12.99 plus sales tax for a ten quart bag of it. This weighs typically around 11-12 pounds. This roughly comes out to $1 per pound after figuring in discount and tax.
Being a tightwad I like to get the best deal possible. Also, PetSmart posted their stores to not allow Concealed Carry License holders to carry guns in their stores. This is a pet peeve of mine. I can't avoid PetSmart due to a family member who works in there but I try to avoid spending money in places that are Criminal Protection Zones.
Zilla packages their walnut in a giant 50-pound sack but nobody near me carries it in stock and shipping charges add up to over $1 per pound, the same as PetSmart. So I started searching the web and found a seller on Amazon.com (OZBO) who has the 25-quart sacks of Zilla walnut shells-
http://www.amazon.com/Zilla-English...LU68/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307957083&sr=8-1
With shipping this winds up being $20.39, no sales tax, and delivered to my door (no gas to go get it). The sack weighed at 31.5 pounds of walnut for a final price of under 65 cents per pound, for the best walnut I have found for brass tumbling.
Which you choose is up to you! I prefer walnut because it cleans faster. Heck, mix the two and have a hybrid.
To recap:
Zilla ground walnut shells from OZBO, 65 cents a pound.
Drillspot crushed corncob, 67 cents a pound.
Both of them are delivered to your door, no need to burn gas getting them.
Clean shiny brass = priceless.
Hope that helps! (No, I don't get commission...)
I have tried the Grainger corncob media from Drillspot, shipped to your door for a total price of about 67 cents a pound-
http://www.drillspot.com/products/521055/econoline_526040g-40_40_lbs_blast_media
Corncob is nice, soft, and leaves a nice shine on brass. But for really dirty brass it takes a lot longer to clean, and for that reason I prefer to use ground English walnut shell media. Walnut I have found is the best for dirty cases because it scrubs very well. Corncob leaves a softer, shinier finish but walnut shells cuts the crud off faster and when used with a polish like NuFinish at leaves a very shiny almost new appearance.
I have used brands that were so dusty they would leave piles of dust on the floor around the tumblers- specifically the Kaytee brand sold as bird cage bedding for $21.99/25# in this link:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11147343
The stuff was dirtier and dustier the further down the bag I got, and the last few pounds were probably half dust. I stopped using it because of the dust and fines. I got similar results from the walnut shell sold at the welding supply house in town. Great for use as sandlblasting but not for tumbling brass.
My favorite so far has been the Zilla brand ground walnut shells. It is uniformly a fine consistency like sugar sand and so far is very low on dust.
I had been buying Zilla in the ten quart bag from PetSmart but they want $12.99 plus sales tax for a ten quart bag of it. This weighs typically around 11-12 pounds. This roughly comes out to $1 per pound after figuring in discount and tax.
Being a tightwad I like to get the best deal possible. Also, PetSmart posted their stores to not allow Concealed Carry License holders to carry guns in their stores. This is a pet peeve of mine. I can't avoid PetSmart due to a family member who works in there but I try to avoid spending money in places that are Criminal Protection Zones.
Zilla packages their walnut in a giant 50-pound sack but nobody near me carries it in stock and shipping charges add up to over $1 per pound, the same as PetSmart. So I started searching the web and found a seller on Amazon.com (OZBO) who has the 25-quart sacks of Zilla walnut shells-
http://www.amazon.com/Zilla-English...LU68/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307957083&sr=8-1
With shipping this winds up being $20.39, no sales tax, and delivered to my door (no gas to go get it). The sack weighed at 31.5 pounds of walnut for a final price of under 65 cents per pound, for the best walnut I have found for brass tumbling.
Which you choose is up to you! I prefer walnut because it cleans faster. Heck, mix the two and have a hybrid.
To recap:
Zilla ground walnut shells from OZBO, 65 cents a pound.
Drillspot crushed corncob, 67 cents a pound.
Both of them are delivered to your door, no need to burn gas getting them.
Clean shiny brass = priceless.
Hope that helps! (No, I don't get commission...)