Speaking of polishing brass...what's the better system...bucket vibrator or tumbler?

[Bexar]

Pistol and rifle brass. I have a bucket type vibrator but it's loud. I'm considering a tumbler but don't want to go through the setup if it doesn't produce a better result. Do they use the same type of medium or is one quicker than the other or produce a better over all cleaning for internals...primer pockets etc. ?

Thanks...Bexar

 

[Smokey Joe]

Cleaning brass...

Bexar--Can't give you a comparison because I have never used or considered a rotary tumbler. I use a vibrator, a Berry's, and with it running on my workbench in the basement, it can be heard (If you listen for it) as a sort of hum, upstairs. Even right next to the tumbler when it's working, I couldn't describe it as loud or noisy. Some vibratory brass cleaners are louder than others I understand, even though they are all built pretty much the same.

BTW, what brand IS yours??

The outside of the brass is all I'm concerned with--I think that is true with most reloaders. The inside of the case stays rather dirty no matter what you do, IMX, except with a very short, wide case like a .45acp--Those clean out fairly well. (And who cares--The small amount of burnt powder residue left inside has no effect on the next firing of the case. Exception being blackpowder cases, but the guys who shoot those, actually wash the residue out.) As to the primer pockets: If you deprime before cleaning, the primer pocket often just gets filled up with jammed medium, so most reloaders deprime afterwards. If you want clean primer pockets you clean 'em by hand after depriming/sizing.

Suggestion for noise reduction--Place your tumbler on a concrete floor, sitting on a piece of carpet or some such material. That would deaden a lot of the racket you report, I think. Throw a couple blankets over it to further shut it up, if needed--but be careful that the vent holes for the motor are not tightly covered--The motor needs a little air circulation for cooling.

A rotary tumbler would be very quiet; the results you'd get would probably be about the same I expect. Someone who uses a tumbler will be along to tell us. Those usually use a wet polishing/cleaning medium I believe.

 

[sauer1911]

I run a vibrating unit with walnut shells, a squirt of metal polish, and forget about it. I turn it on when I leave the garage, and give it about 4 hours. Never leave it running while I am gone. Thats just me.

When the shells start to look gray/black, I put them in a 5g bucket lined with an old pillow case, a little dawn soap, (a little is like 1/4 tsp) and add water. stir it around for a bit, lift out the slurry of walnut shells, and rinse a few times.

Lay the pillow case out in the sun, spreading the shells out, turn the case a few times til dry, voila! It seems the shells dont wear out, they just get dirty .

be safe.

 

[medalguy]

Barrel tumbler that holds about 1000 .30-06 cases, and a cement mixer, depends on what I'm doing as to which one I use. Both are in my detached garage and I don't hear either one.

For many years I used a Thumler's model and it worked fine and did everything I needed. At my business we had several vibes, from 1 cu ft to 8 cu ft. Never put any brass in them, but they were loud.

 

[plmitch]

Tumbler with stainless steel pin.........other methods just seem stoneage.....

 

[hartcreek]

My first machine was a Thumbler dual drum. It worked fine but was very slow compared to the vibe Thumbler that I now use. Same media just works better. If yours is noisy then maybe you have it set up wrong or the rubber cushions are shot or out of position.

 

[Field Tester]

From everything I've read, Stainless Steel Pins seem to be the best. Of course you will be paying more up front but may be saving in the long run. It just depends on how much you currently use and spend on materials. Also if the extra polish look is worth it to you. That's really what it comes down to. If function is the same, the satisfaction from the aesthetic quality is what matters.

I would never tell a man how to spend his money on something that is his hobby. I'm just waiting to see if they drop down in price a bit.

 

[Hamish]

I've used both. I used to use a bucket vibrator with a treated corn cob media. The brass did get pretty clean on the outside, but there was all kinds of dirty dust that resulted, and every now and then some dirty media would sneak into the house on the bottom of my shoe. My wife really didn't like this happening since it potentially exposed the baby to lead dust - I can't really blame her since I didn't want him exposed to any lead either. I did try using shredded dryer sheets in the tumbler - they did pick up a lot of the residue which helped.

So I switched to a Thumler's Tumbler with stainless steel media. Add a gallon of water, a squirt of Joy dish detergent, and a .45 ACP case of Lemon-Shine. The results are spectacular. The brass is shiny clean inside and out - even the flash hole is shiny. There is no lead dust, just some dirty water that gets dumped into the utility sink. The cleaning process is faster, but you have to leave time for the brass to dry. I hit the flash holes with some air from the compressor to blow them out - it speeds up the drying process. I know of a few guys who just spread the brass out on a cookie sheet and leave them on top of a heater or wood stove for a short while to dry them. The tumbler is louder than the vibrating bucket, so I usually set the tumbler on a timer and start it when I'm ready to leave the basement room for awhile. No problem with this at all.

There are a few extra steps involved with the washing of the brass by using the tumbler, but the results (and the lack of dust) are worth it for me.

 

[silicosys4]

I have only wet tumbled, and am completely satisfied with the results. My brass comes out shiny inside and out, and if I deprime before tumbling the primer pocket comes out squeaky clean. Drying is easy, I either stand them up on a flat heating pad overnight or if I'm in a hurry I'll set them in the oven at about 150 degrees and air dry them for a few hours.

I have purchased once fired brass that was cleaned prior to sale with a dry vibrating tumbler and some kind of organic media....didn't like it. The outside was very shiny, but the inside of cases and primer pockets were still dirty, and in one batch of 1k .45acp brass they had managed to pack every single primer pocket with fine, dirty media solid enough to bend a decapping pin...now that was a pain, cleaning out every single primer pocket as they went into the progressive.
That experience convinced me that wet tumbling with SS media was the way to go.

The only thing I don't like about wet tumbling is that your cases will tarnish over time after loading as you strip all coatings off of the case during tumbling...unless you apply some kind of coating after tumbling that will prevent tarnishing without also acting as a chamber lube during firing. You can easily add Nufinish to a dry vibrating tumbler.
You also cannot clean steel cases by wet tumbling, obviously....if you reload steel. I have had a few slip through and they rust almost immediately while drying.

 

[345 DeSoto]

The thing that's most important to me, is getting the primer pockets spotless...getting the inside of the cases the same is a plus. Vibrator just didn't get inside the pockets as clean as I wanted, so I went to SS pins and a tumbler. THAT did the trick. Now I only use the vibrator to clean/polish up the finished rounds. Bullets come out like Factory...

 

[Smokey Joe]

Clean medium...

Bexar--Hamish mentioned

I did try using shredded dryer sheets in the tumbler - they did pick up a lot of the residue which helped.

I forgot to mention this--They REALLY collect all the black gunk that otherwise collects on the inside of the tumbler, and all over the medium. The light-blue sheets turn perfectly gray-black--Then I take 'em out, toss 'em, and put in new ones. One of the great things about used dryer sheets is that they are free--I go to coin-laundries and get 'em out of the trash, or ask a friend who has young kids to save 'em for me.

Don't think they'd work with wet medium, but in the dry they are super. Keep the dust in the air down to a minimum, and also keep the medium cleaner longer. And cost nothing. How can you beat that?

Every few months I empty my tumbler of medium and apply a shop-vac to the inside of the bowl. That gets rid of the last of the dirty black dust.

 

[thump_rrr]

Once you wet tumble you'll never go back to vibratory.
No dust, no media to purchase ever again.

As long as you are not in a rush to dry your brass to load it wet tumbling is great.

 

[Wil Terry]

HAVE and used both, equally well.

 

[judgedelta]

Rinse the cases in alcohol after tumbling. Dries faster and no water spots. Alcohol can be used lots of times.

 

[tyeo098]

If your vibrating tumbler is loud, check the 4 nuts under the bucket that attach the base to the motor.

Mine was loud as truck until I tightened those down. Now its quiet.

 

[AlliedArmory]

For our brass processing service we use a polymer drum cement mixer with 20/40 grit corn. It works pretty good, but a vibratory tumbler does the job faster.

We also use a homemade stainless steel tumbler which no other tumbling method can compare to. Is it more work, yes, but well worth it. To dry them, I converted a 16gl plastic bin with 2x 200w light bulbs, computer fan and some chicken wire to make a hot box. This drys 1000 223 cases in about 45 minutes.

 

[red rick]

I used my Thumbler & SS pins for the first time this weekend .

It was fresh once fired brass . They came out shinning like a new penny .

I rinsed them 3 times with cold water . I then dried them no a towel . It was warm & daylight on the first back so I then put them on a tray and let them finish drying outside .

On the second batch it was dark so I preheated the oven to 150 and dried them in the oven for about an hour .

One thing I will say it is still noisy , kind of like my old dishwasher running .

It is hard to see stuck pins in .223 cases . I am a little paranoid about that .