metal pin media question

[RussellC]

Just got my Frankford Arsenal tumbler up and going. How is everyone drying their pin media? Thought about doing it like I do brass, in a big cookie pan at 175-200 degrees. (cookie pan is for this use only, no longer for food items)

Russellc

 

[LD-Ordie]

I may be out in left field, but I rinse mine out and store it in a plastic container damp. They can't rust, so why go thru the extra effort?

 

[josephbw]

I just leave mine in my Thumbler with the lid off. It might take a couple weeks to completely dry, but that's fine. They are right where I need them next time.

 

[GBExpat]

Thought about doing it like I do brass, in a big cookie pan at 175-200 degrees.

That is, pretty much, how I do mine except I first put down a double papertowel layer.

I set the oven to ~275° and the Timer to 4 hours and go to bed. In the morning, they are ready to put back in the storage jar.

 

[Schwing]

I have a 14x20 tupperware container that I just leave them in when I am done. I have only been doing it for a couple of weeks but the pins seem dry after about 24-48 hours.

 

[rcmodel]

Why do you need to dry them?
They are just going to get wet again the next time you use them.

Besides, they are stainless steel and won't rust.
And it wouldn't hurt anything if they did.

rc

 

[RussellC]

Because the instructions say to or they will rust. They do say it will be removed by thumbling some more. I would rather put them up dry.

 

[cfullgraf]

Remember, it is stainlless steel, not stain proof steel. It can rust. If memory serves me correctly, the pins are magnetic which means they are not a 300 series stainless. 300 series stainless is about the most rust resistant of the commonly available stainless steels. Other stainless steels do rust, just not as quick as mild steel.

If intervals are short between uses, no need to dry them, but if you are not going to use the pins for a while, I'd dry them. I just let them air dry but accelerating the process in a warm oven would work. Stir them a couple times to help accelerate the drying process.

 

[Toprudder]

^^^^ +1

There is some ferrous metal content in the pins, otherwise they would not be attracted to a magnet (which, BTW, I highly recommend getting one). I have kept my pins in a plastic container and did notice a slight amount of rusting. I typically leave mine in the RCBS separator that I use to separate the pins from the casings, I just drain off as much water as I can, and then leave it in front of a fan in my shop.

 

[jmorris]

I have a water jug with the top cut off. Dump them in and let evaporation dry them for me.

 

[konertjm]

I have a home made tumbler with a 15 inch long 6 inch sewer pipe. Generally use 10 lbs. of pins at one time.
After going through my process, I am left with stainless pins in my RCBS media separator.
These I dump into a 5 gallon paint strainer bag.
Rinse well under hot water.
Lay the paint strainer bag on a thick doubled towel, and spread them out (inside the paint strainer bag) in a thin layer, and allow to air dry. I have never tracked drying time, but they are usually dry the next day.

As an aside, I have a 1" diameter magnet that I place in the middle of the sink drain. Amazing how many pins it collects that you never saw.

As one poster stated in another thread, the pins don't wear out, but they do disappear!

 

[GBExpat]

As an aside, I have a 1" diameter magnet that I place in the middle of the sink drain.

Now that is an excellent idea ... Thanks!

 

[z7]

i dump all of the water out of my media separator and leave the pins in the bottom, they leave a layer about 3/4" thick it seems and they dry in a day. i've also been keeping them there for storage.

 

[RussellC]

I have a home made tumbler with a 15 inch long 6 inch sewer pipe. Generally use 10 lbs. of pins at one time.
After going through my process, I am left with stainless pins in my RCBS media separator.
These I dump into a 5 gallon paint strainer bag.
Rinse well under hot water.
Lay the paint strainer bag on a thick doubled towel, and spread them out (inside the paint strainer bag) in a thin layer, and allow to air dry. I have never tracked drying time, but they are usually dry the next day.

As an aside, I have a 1" diameter magnet that I place in the middle of the sink drain. Amazing how many pins it collects that you never saw.

As one poster stated in another thread, the pins don't wear out, but they do disappear!

Paint strainer idea is good one! I like the drain magnet idea too. I just poured them out on the same cookie pan that I dry brass on. 35-45 mins later, all dry. I just dont like the idea of putting them up wet. They are magnetic, can and will rust, although a spin would clean them, I'd rather dry them. Putting them up wet, unless I was doing another batch the next day just seems sloppy to me (OCD) and I'm not that lazy...... when it comes to cleaning tools, anyway.

Russellc

 

[jmorris]

The container store sells a very fine mesh bag that is strong enough for pins and they won't fall out. Maybe they are for panty hose? Not sure but they are silver in color.

 

[TexasShooter59]

I let evaporate in a plastic bucket in the garage or outside in nice weather. I've only seen one or two pins rust in a few years of doing this. And that was after not using them for several months.

 

[medalguy]

I drain off any excess water and put the pins on a large cookie sheet and set it out in the sun. We have 300 days of sunshine here, and they dry completely overnight with humidity at about 6% in the summer. Winter takes 2-3 days depending on the temperature. I also don't like putting them away wet.

 

[Toprudder]

A little rust isn't going to hurt anything. They will clean up real nice the next time you tumble them.

 

[GBExpat]

A little rust isn't going to hurt anything. They will clean up real nice the next time you tumble them.

I think that we all know that ... it's just that some of us (the OCD-gene Types, especially) cannot abide allowing any of our equipment to rust when it can be avoided.

And to allow stainless steel equipment to rust just seems really, really ... wrong.

 

[FROGO207]

FWIW mine never stand long enough to rust yet. One time I left them wet in the tumbler for two months when I was done and they were dry but not at all rusty that I could see. So I never bother to do more than drain them and I always store them in the tumbler.

 

[OilyPablo]

I've never actually stopped long enough to let mine dry so far.

IMHO MORE important is to clean them every so often. If you do a lot of tumbling they get dirty and actually stay dirty (but without looking closely seem to look OK). Simple Green, Amazing Roll Off and ZEP Orange Cleaner do fine IN A SEPARATE plastic bucket. Pour some in neat, swirl and soak for a little while, repeat, then rinse with hot water until they rinse clean. Alternatively, STM recommends tumbling the pins with just Simple Green. This is OK because it also cleans the tumbler liner, but that junk just gets on the pins again, so follow with a pin cleaning. I was very surprised how much cleaner my brass looked after cleaning my pins.

BTW I have cleaned over 10,000 cases in the last 10 days or so. Time to dry everything off and start loading.

 

[bob4]

Air dry in the tumbler. While it's drying and IF I think about it I may stir it a bit.

 

[Grumulkin]

I just leave mine in my Thumbler with the lid off. It might take a couple weeks to completely dry, but that's fine.

That's what I do.

Stainless steel can rust, by the way, but thus far my pins haven't.