TimSr
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LOL! I have the fancy one with a handle - it's a deep fryer basket.
Media separator: why?
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LOL! I have the fancy one with a handle - it's a deep fryer basket.
SSN Vet
Member
+1 for the RCBS clam shells and a fully enclosed shaker bowel.
It's all about the dust, which is one of the few ways you can actually get shooting sports related Pb into your system.
It's all about the dust, which is one of the few ways you can actually get shooting sports related Pb into your system.
evan price
Member
Because I dont like hand picking 12,000 9mm cases out of 50 pounds of media.
Sunray
Member
Stock holders at Lyman want their dividends. Most stuff is more about the manufacturers needing to bring new stuff out regularly or risk losing market share.
"...always had some leftover in the cases..." You would in a separator too.
A Dollar Store colander with the bottom holes drilled bigger.
"...always had some leftover in the cases..." You would in a separator too.
A Dollar Store colander with the bottom holes drilled bigger.
StrutStopper
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In a moment of weakness I bought a Cabela's tumbler kit. It was right after the one I bought from Amazon quit working after the first time I used it. The kit came with a colander. The colander works well enough, but I separate outside so the cloud of dust stays in my yard, not the house. The only issue I have, is if you just shake, lots of media stays in the cases. The empty cases all align themselves head down because of the weight, and if there's any media left in the cases it stays there. I have to scoop up handfuls of cases and just keep mixing until they're empty. I can see how a rotary separator would be better, but I've got what I've got and I'll keep using it.
JWH321
Member
I use a mesh orange bag that fruit comes in. I put it into a plastic paint pail and dump the tumbler into the mesh. It works well for me and it's cheap.
berettaprofessor
Member
I first separated my brass by picking it out and shaking it individually. Then I bought an $8.00 separator pan that you shake out over a 5 gallon bucket. Just recently bought a Lyman enclosed media separator on clearance, $25. About 5 turns of the handle and I'm done with an entire batch....no media at all left in the cases. Never ever going back to the other methods!
To help control and somewhat "trap" the dust, I've cut a used sheet of fabric softener in half and tumble it with the brass. It collects a lot of dust and is easily disposed. I also try to tumble and separate brass in the garage or outside weather permitting.
Hornady. My Hornady tumbler came with a closed lid and another one which is slotted.
I too am concerned about lead, so I always wash my brass in hot water+dish soap+citric acid (then let it dry) before dumping it in the tumbler. This way, most of the soot inside the cases (which contains lead from the primers and projectiles) is gone after the wash. This procedure will be improved as soon as I get my decapping die (out of stock currently over here :banghead
, as I know there's still lead residue in the primers and it's much better in you tumble your brass decapped. Replacing your media regularly and the use of mineral spirits seems to keep the dust at bay, as what I notice is just some black residue in the inner side of my tumbler. As media separator, I use one of those el cheapo salad spinners. I don't believe that much in media separators, since after separating the brass from the media, you still have to dump your media back into your tumbler, so you'll be spreading dust around, if there's any.
Best way to stay away from lead residue is either ultrasonic or wet tumbling with stainless steel pins. If you go dry, you'll always be exposed to a certain extent. But, you know, I have heavy Diesel engines around me at work that make some funny fumes during their early morning cold starts. I live in a town which has a big power station running on coal a few miles away, and who knows what we eat every day. Some of that will eventually kill me, so I'll just try to have fun in the meanwhile!
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Well, your $0 media separator beat me out by $2. I got this raffle ticket bin at a thrift store for $2. It has paddles built into it which flips the cases over as they tumble. The problem I had with colanders and other screened bins (tried my son's waste basket once, no good) is that the heavy part of the case likes to point up and unless you get them to flip over, you waste a lot of time and energy trying to flip them inside the bin like winnowing chaff.
No dust here, I use cut up used dryer sheets and they collect all the dust. I still separate the media outdoors however.
No dust here, I use cut up used dryer sheets and they collect all the dust. I still separate the media outdoors however.
Potatohead
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Im a Lyman inverter myself.
That's funny Rocket1, I was thinking that looked like the thing my kids have in this little bingo game they have (it rolls the numbered dice all around) and was about to ask if that was the same...then read post.
That's funny Rocket1, I was thinking that looked like the thing my kids have in this little bingo game they have (it rolls the numbered dice all around) and was about to ask if that was the same...then read post.
Well, as you can see, media separation isn't a complex task requiring a dedicated piece of equipment designed for that one process. But, nuttin' wrong with spending yer money on a media separator, if you need one. Reminds me of my Dad who refused to buy a car with an auto transmission. "I aint one of them lazy ba@%!@*S that needs a machine to think fer them. I can shift gears pretty darn good.". He felt auto transmissions were just an unnecessary luxury item...
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Most Europeans think that way, if we talk cars and transmissions. Auto boxes are becoming increasingly popular, nonetheless. Has to do with our roads, I suppose, which are much more twitchy than those in America whenever you get out of the highways. In those, it's good to be able to decide in which gear you want to go round that bend ahead, and if you do enjoy driving, there's nothing like a proper manual gearbox and three pedals. There isn't much fun in switching gears manually in a traffic jam, though.
With media separators, I considered buying one myself as they aren't expensive, but decided I could do with my salad spinner
and invest the media separator's money in components. To each his own .
mikemyers
Member
I hesitate to write this, as you're all going to get a good joke out of it, but I just turn off my Thumbler's tumbler (which is on the carpet running in front of my TV), put on one of those thin Latex gloves you get at a pharmacy, and go fishing for brass with my right hand. By the time my half-hour TV show is over, I've long since finished, and my 50 or 100 rounds are in a container. The only catch is that the Thumbler tumbler is so quiet, I sometimes get wrapped up in the TV show, and forget it's even running! 
(Part II of this is to look at the bottom of the cases one last time, and dispose of any that aren't mine, or have baby primer holes that haven't grown up.... oh, and any that somehow don't look or feel right. I try to filter that stuff out at the range, but sometimes I miss something.)
(Part II of this is to look at the bottom of the cases one last time, and dispose of any that aren't mine, or have baby primer holes that haven't grown up.... oh, and any that somehow don't look or feel right. I try to filter that stuff out at the range, but sometimes I miss something.)
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