Making your own polising media?

[Greatgeezer]

I have a grain mill that will grind coffee if I need to, so I figure it will grind shells. My question is, I have used walnut shell media before, but I have all these pecan trees. Will pecan shells work? And if so, what do I need to do, if anything, to the media after it is ground?

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

doesn't sound like it'll cost you anything but time to try it and see.

 

[kingmt]

Dry, screen out the dust, & add some kind of polish. I like polish with wax in it.

 

[Canuck-IL]

There's some natural oil in the shells of most any nut ... I'd guess that you'd want to really dry out the ground up pieces before using them - but it's just that, a guess.
/Bryan

 

[Smokey Joe]

A thought...

Great Geezer--Pecan shells are a good deal softer than walnut shells, as I'm sure you have observed in shelling the 2 kinds of nuts.

It would seem to me that, because of this sofness, pecan shells might not do very well in cleaning/polishing firearm brass. Never heard of using anything but walnut.

However, you state that you have all these pecan trees (and therefore a plentiful supply of free pecan shells I expect). So, what harm can there be in giving it a try??

I suppose you could end up with some kind of a mess, or a set of ruined brass, but that would seem unlikely.

You'll never know, if you don't try it out! Oh, and please keep us posted on your experimentation!

 

[FROGO207]

I would think that the pecan shells being softer would polish more than remove tough grime. That is more what corn cob does as opposed to the harder walnut. So try some and see--you could always mix some walnut in if needed but free stuff is always the best IMHO. It might work so well that you could even sell some pecan media for profit.

 

[jwrowland77]

It's free...why not try it? Nothing ventured nothing gained. If it works great, if it doesn't, back to the drawing board. Just do enough for your tumbler to use properly. If it works...go to town getting free media.

 

[ZeSpectre]

Heck you could use crumbled up dirt from your driveway to tumble with if you wanted (assuming it was completely dry).

Personally it takes me a LONG time to go through a $4 bag of "Lizard litter" (ground walnut) from the pet store. I add some Meguires clean/polish to the mix as well.