How do you wet tumble?

[Dudedog]

I generally do on cal at a time. If they don't fit inside each other I may mix, say 9mm and .357.
My range has sandy grit which make nice 20-60grit mud so I rinse everything in a bucket and do about a 1/2 hour pass in the tumbler.
Then later I will resize/deprime and run them another 1 hour.
In winter/cold or raining outside I just lay them on an old towel in the corner of a room to dry. In the summer same towel but outside in the sun.

I use the pins in all batches, no reason not to othe than if you don't use them you don't have to separate them, but it's not much trouble once you get the routine down.

Car Wash and Wax whatever I am using for the car (whatever was on sale when I bought it) and citric acid from the canning section of the super market.

Lots of right ways to do it and a few ways to do it wrong.

Example of WRONG way below...
One time I thought I would be clever and added a spoonful of car paste wax to the batch.
BAD, BAD, BAD idea. Everything came out coated with a grey slime. Cases pins yuck. Opened it up expecting super shiny brass, NOPE!
Lots of 409 and a couple of runs with dishwashing soap changing the water every 15 minutes and I had them clean after a couple hours......
So adding paste car wax did not work out well for me at all.
Don't know if anyone else has tried it and had the same result but I would advise against trying it.
(But if you do let me know how it turns out, and don't say I didn't warn you)

 

[cowboy77]

I like my Frankford a lot. I’m too lazy to clean primer pockets on pistol brass so I de prime and run for hour and half. Liquid car wax and lemishine. Rinse and put in Frankford dryer 30 minutes and done. As stated clean same size cases together. Hard as heck pulling 9 mm out of 45 lc and 44s.
I do 380, 9mm, 38 and 357 together. 45 acp , 45 colt and 45-70 at same time. 7-08 and 7 mm mag together. You will see why if you run oversized case with smaller one in big batches. On rifle I clean, resize and put back in for 20 minutes or so to get lube off. Makes great looking ballets brass or nickel.

 

[forty_caliber]

I've had very good results with 1 tide pod (don't eat these) and 1/4tsp of Lemishine. Use hot water. The tide rinses easily and leaves no residue on the case. One important step that is rarely discussed is getting the brass out of the tumbler immediately after the cycle finishes. Don't let your brass soak in the acid (Lemishine) solution for long periods of time.

.40

 

[lightman]

One important step that is rarely discussed is getting the brass out of the tumbler immediately after the cycle finishes. Don't let your brass soak in the acid (Lemishine) solution for long periods of time.

.40

Thats a good point that has not been mentioned. I have had a couple of batches of brass that came out dull and it was because I left them in the tumbler too long after it shut off.

 

[larry7293]

Gold panning sifters works great. Someone on U tube has several videos using them. Not expensive either.

 

[Axis II]

Used my tumbler today on 223rem with dawn and lemi shine, cold water and 3hr tumble time. Some cases were perfect inside and out and some still kind of black inside. Any idea why some didn’t come out 100% clean?

 

[Axis II]

Well I have tumbled over 1k pieces of brass as of today and I am really glad I made the purchase of the FART. I am a little disappointed that some of the brass and primer pockets don't come out 100% spotless but its a lot less dust and my fingers are a lot cleaner after handling the brass.

I have a pretty good system down now from start to finish.

Decapp all rifle and 44mag cases on Lee Universal Decapping die.
Load the drum with a 9mm case of lemi shine, empty cases, pins and car wash or laundry soap and hot water.
Turn on for 3hrs and sometimes I will run an extra hour.
Put a Lyman sifter pan over the 5gal bucket and the screening lid on the drum and dump 1/4 of the water into the slop sink until pins start coming out. After the pins come out, I dump the drum onto the sifter and shake it until most the pins are out of the drum. I then open the other lid and pour several pitchers of hot water into the drum to rinse the brass.
Once all the pins are shaken out and the brass is rinsed I drain the water out of the bucket and dump the brass into the sifter and rinse 4-5 more times.
I then mix the brass around with my hands to get all the pins into the bucket.
I rinse again and take my magnet and run through the brass to pickup anything left over and then dump onto a towel.
Once on the towel I ball up the towel and shake the brass dry. I dry the towel and give the brass another good shaking and into the sifter to dry for a day or two.
I drain all the water out of the bucket and use the magnet to pickup the pins and place back inside the drum.

One thing I have noticed is before and after shaking the towel I will run the magnet over the brass to pickup the stray pins that sifting didn't get.

 

[GW Staar]

I don't believe this.......2 pages in this thread about wet tumbling......and not ONE picture of bling! What's wrong with you guys!!!!!




How do I tumble?

First I deprime and in the case of .40 S&W range pickups, run them through a G-rX die.

Don't watch all 3 minutes....it's just the same thing, filling up my nut jar.......until my RCBS Summit handle unscrews and falls off.

Second I use a Thumblers full of pins, brass, water, Dawn (1 sec squirt), and Lemishine (.45ACP case full).....and turn it on for a couple of hours.

Oh!, btw, the nut jar is also my measure for how much brass goes in the Thumblers.

When done and there is "color" in that dirty water, I dump it all in an RCBS separator, spin it a few times.....til pins are separated. I dump the pins (and dirty water) into the top clam shell then replace the cage full of cases into the spin mounts over the bottom clamshell, place it in the laundry sink and I spin the cage full of shell a few more times under running cold water.

Then all that's left is to drain the water, open the cage and pour the brass out to dry on an old beach towel. I wipe and roll them in the towel for a couple of minutes then spread them out one case deep in an old cookie sheet, and leave them alone for 12 hours til dry. (I live in dry New Mexico where I don't seem to need an oven or fruit dryer.

Meanwhile the pins get rinsed in clean water once and dumped in a pan to dry. (actually, a 2 gal plastic ice cream bucket, come to think of it)

I've never used or needed a magnet except when I want to clean my rubber Thumbler tub......and get the few errant pins laying around inside.....maybe after every two or three sessions of tumbling.

 

[Tilos]

and no posts from the guys who declare you don't need brass THAT clean and it has no affect on accuracy, you know, the guys that still vibe tumble with dry media.

All I know is the shiny inside results of wet tumbling allows my old eyes to see the powder level in a case way easier than that black hole that vibe tumbling produces.
just sayin'

 

[GW Staar]

MY eyes need that bling.....

All I know is the shiny inside results of wet tumbling allows my old eyes to see the powder level in a case way easier than that black hole that vibe tumbling produces.
just sayin'

Ain't that the truth!........especially if you use a Video Powder Cop like I do!


This 308 case is filled up and easy to see, but a .223 half full is hard to see without bling reflection inside. Bling haters don't know what they're missing....pretty reloads make me feel better, and when I feel better I shoot better.

 

[DukeConnor]

I dry tumble first to keep the 650 clean, size and decap, trim, wet tumble and then reload.

I have found wet tumbling without depriming will trap water in the primer pockets.

 

[Dudedog]

Well I have tumbled over 1k pieces of brass as of today and I am really glad I made the purchase of the FART.

I felt the same way after getting my Lyman Cyclone.
I kept thinking "I doubt it's worth the money it costs" One load and I decided it was.

If you are going to do a 3 hour run, I would drain out the dirty water after 2 sort of rinse the brass in the drum real quick and do the last hour with fresh solution.

pretty reloads make me feel better, and when I feel better I shoot better.

I agree 100%

 

[cfullgraf]

and no posts from the guys who declare you don't need brass THAT clean and it has no affect on accuracy, you know, the guys that still vibe tumble with dry media.

If you feel better about your cases that are shiny and squeaky clean, you will shoot better.

Don't discount the psychological factor.

 

[YBOT]

I’ve now invested in a Frankfort wet system and waiting for the temperatures to stay above freezing so I can do my cleaning in the car garage. Headquarters has informed me that is my designated wet cleaning area.

Looking forward to getting started. Reading through this thread to get pointers.

 

[GW Staar]

What I do know is that some think wet tumbling is a lot more trouble than dry tumbling.....
Honest, it's not any more trouble to me. I do dry tumble sometimes.......okay.....rarely.... and I have all this corncob lying around.....



Some of you remember the following simple video of the first video powder cop I made.
Bet you can tell which test cases I demo have been wet tumbled and which haven't......especially you will notice the .223 case that's shows only a black hole.....the other bottleneck case that you "can" see in was a blinged piece of 762 LC brass. With powder in that one its gets even brighter.

 

[Dudedog]

Headquarters has informed me that is my designated wet cleaning area.

 

[Tilos]

I’ve now invested in a Frankfort wet system and waiting for the temperatures to stay above freezing so I can do my cleaning in the car garage. Headquarters has informed me that is my designated wet cleaning area.
Looking forward to getting started. Reading through this thread to get pointers.

I feel for you, no sink in the garage or laundry room for me, so the hose works in summer, in winter not so much .

I won't bore readers with another thread about the wet tumbling magic sauce formula, this post is about the "process" after wet tumbling is done and the separation and cleaning happens.

A little history of media separation
1.) I started wet tumbling using a dry tumbler sifter and a Paint Strainer bag in a bucket.
Worked OK but pins were difficult to separate from the brass and required a lot of magnet searching of the brass.

2.) Read all the rage about the FA spinning separator, and bought one, only to discover the paint strainer would not fit over the bottom half of the spinner .
Spinner worked great, but getting the pins out of the bottom half of it sucked, almost impossible to get the pins out of the corners with the FA magnet.
Followed the instructions and free lanced a couple of other techniques but never hit on the magic process.
Nothing worse than walking thru the garage and seeing shiny pins on the floor .

3.) Thought about what a "cleaning line" at work was, went to the dollar store and bought a wire waste basket and 4 small buckets, for a dollar a piece
Lined them up on the floor/half filled with water, put a mesh strainer in the 1st 2 and a mix of car wash and wax/water in the last.
Process
I put the wire basket in the 1st bucket and empty the tumbler into it.
Move the basket up/down to flush out the pins,
move the basket to the 2nd bucket,
same up/down to flush any remaining pins,
move to 3rd bucket up/down final flush,
move to 4th wash/wax bucket up/down to coat brass with wax to delay tarnishing.
Spread the brass out on a towel and do the magnet blessing...done

I pull the 1st bag out with the pins and do the bucket to bucket routine to rinse/wax the pins, same with 2nd bag if any pins are in it.

Paint strainer bags, 5 gal, elastic top 2 for $4
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Blue-Hawk-...trainers-Fits-Container-Size-5-Gallon/1008387
Phew, I hate long posts
Sorry for this one,

Edit: I have less than $10 invested in the 4 buckets, 1 waste basket, and 2 strainer bags pictured .

 

[Dudedog]

I had a Frankford Media Separator I used with my dry tumbler.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/183204/frankford-arsenal-quick-n-ez-rotary-media-separator-kit
It works well for getting out the pins but some do try to escape.
(the pins do like to try to escape.., at least mine do.)

Welcome to the wet world

 

[Skgreen]

One thing that I have seen posted and another that I haven't, which may or may not be related:

A. Some of the tumble-times I've seen posted seem, IMHO, a bit excessive.

One sign may be that when you unload the tumbler / separate your pins and find brass 'dust/flakes', you're 'over-tumbling',,, You'll need to experiment a bit to find out what the true culprit is, but ~shortening the spin cycle~ is an easy first step.

(On brass you've just acquired, don't sweat it if a few aren't 100% spotless on the 1st go-round. They'll most likely clean up fine next time, or, they won't. The main thing is, don't 'grind up' the majority in an effort to save what may end up being 'cosmetic culls')

B. Overloading the tumbler.

I have ~brass 'o' plenty~ and tumble multiple consecutive loads. Always a tendency to 'load it up/get more done', or 'yeah, the drums pretty much full, but just a few more handfuls of this caliber and then I can move on to the next' ,,, While the FART reportedly has a 30 lb (combined) load limit, I've had better results staying WELL BELOW, the 30 lb (combined) mark.

(Mixing calibers is a great way to avoid the 'handful syndrome'.)

 

[YBOT]

I had a Frankford Media Separator I used with my dry tumbler.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/183204/frankford-arsenal-quick-n-ez-rotary-media-separator-kit
It works well for getting out the pins but some do try to escape.
(the pins do like to try to escape.., at least mine do.)

Welcome to the wet world

Got one of those with my setup. Thought it would help to collect and prevent those mini pins from escaping.

 

[Tilos]

Got one of those with my setup. Thought it would help to collect and prevent those mini pins from escaping.

Love that over the bucket separator, I wish I had got that one as it will work with the paint strainers, that way no pins could/would escape.
Rinse the pins in the bag, dry the pins spread out in the bag, put the open end of the bag into the tumbler drum, dump ALL the pins back into the drum, no escapees...easy-peesy.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Blue-Hawk-...trainers-Fits-Container-Size-5-Gallon/1008387
I might try and adapt the basket from this to a bucket by cutting notches in the rim:

 

[Toprudder]

I have ~brass 'o' plenty~ and tumble multiple consecutive loads. Always a tendency to 'load it up/get more done', or 'yeah, the drums pretty much full, but just a few more handfuls of this caliber and then I can move on to the next' ,,, While the FART reportedly has a 30 lb (combined) load limit, I've had better results staying WELL BELOW, the 30 lb (combined) mark.

I have found this to be especially true. Seems to me that anything over about 2/3 full does not clean as well. I think the extra space gives more room for a complete "tumble". I've also found that when doing smaller batches, anything more than 1 hour is wasted time.

 

[Axis II]

Well I learned my lesson last night about mixing calibers. 223rem and 38spl do not mix well together. After rinsing, pouring on the towel and shaking most of the water off I started finding cases stuck together. I pulled two apart and slung pins all over the place. Its a good thing I skipped the FA magnet and got the 4ft magnet from HF. I also had some 44mag that had 9mm stuck in them but it wasn't an issue because a good sturdy paper clip in the flash hole and a push they popped right out with a few pins.

One thing I am having trouble with is I will shake most the pins out with the strainer lid on the drum, rinse about 3 times in the drum and then shake everything into the Lyman sifter pan and rinse again and mix and shake over a bucket. I then dump on a towel and shake the towel to get most the water out. I dry the towel and shake again and then something told me to run a magnet over the brass after I put it into a big popcorn bowel and I found more pins. All that mixing and shaking and still didn't get them all.

Well at least now I have 3 quart zip lock baggies of clean brass and probably 2-3 more to go after drying and about 3 bags of 5.56.

 

[Skgreen]

. Its a good thing I skipped the FA magnet and got the 4ft magnet from HF.

The visual I got when reading that made me LOL!!! (Not laughing at ya, laughing WITH ya as we've all been there!)

One thing I am having trouble with is I will shake most the pins out with the strainer lid on the drum, rinse about 3 times in the drum and then shake everything into the Lyman sifter pan and rinse again and mix and shake over a bucket. I then dump on a towel and shake the towel to get most the water out. I dry the towel and shake again and then something told me to run a magnet over the brass after I put it into a big popcorn bowel and I found more pins. All that mixing and shaking and still didn't get them all.

.

Had a sifter pan myself,,, ~OK~ for some stuff, but not really what one wants for capacity or for use with bottleneck rifle cases,,,

Broke down and got an RCBS media sifter. Much better, and you can spin as little or as much as needed. (45 ACP - 'little'. 223 - 'MUCH')

I'll rinse in the drum a bit first, then 'straight into the separator',,,, (1/2 load at a time or less is best)

Been experimenting w additional rinsing/pin removal by filling the separator about 1/2 full of water. (Enough to get at least some of the cases submerged on every spin)

Seems to help some vs. using no water. (Of course, you'll want 'dry' spin 'em before you take 'em out to 'final dry')

Experiment, and have fun!

 

[hdwhit]

ohihunter2014 asked:
How do you wet tumble?

I use the smaller Harbor Freight cement mixer. Assemble it paying particular attention to sealing the gaskets and other penetrations of the drum and you can make it watertight. Far more capacity than a FART or similar tumbler.