OP is dry tumbling.
ohihunter2014 said:
barrowing a harbor freight tumbler and picked up hornady corn cob media.
I also was thinking I have an old leatherman that was found in the woods that looks a bit beat up and tarnished. I was thinking about tossing that in there with the media to maybe clean it up a bit. would this be a good idea or will it not work or break the tumbler?
Commercial manufacturers/fabricators use vibratory tumblers to remove sharp edges/rust from metal surfaces to finish their products.
I have used my tumblers to remove rust and clean/polish the surfaces of dies but since tumbler is not yours, I would get owner's permission before tumbling things other than brass cases -
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=586563
Before and after pictures of rusty dies cleaned and tumbled with walnut media/NuFinish
I have no direction how to do this ... dump it in with cases and turn on and wait?
Here are some directions:
- Fill the bowl with media til 1"-1.5" to the top.
- For smaller capacity tumbler like FA, I use 300-500 9mm cases and for larger capacity tumbler like Berry's, I use 600-800 9mm cases (HF sells small/large tumblers so check size).
- Adding too many cases will slow down the tumbling action and will extend cleaning/polishing time. Watch the tumbling speed while adding brass and stop adding once tumbling starts to slow down.
- If tumbling different size cases, adding larger cases first then adding smaller cases will prevent small cases from sliding inside larger cases.
- Media comes in coarse grit (12-14) and fine grit (20-24). I use fine grit walnut media from HF (24) as it won't plug up in the flash hole and increased surface area of smaller media seems to clean/polish faster than coarse grit media.
- Walnut media tends to clean faster while corn cob media polishes better and some use 50/50 mix.
- You can tumble using dry media and many will add polish for faster cleaning/shine. I use NuFinish liquid car polish and initially treat the media by adding 2-3 capfuls and running the tumbler until clumps are gone. Adding brass before clumps are gone will add spots to the brass as dry friction action by media is what cleans/polishes the brass surface.
- I have found using NuFinish polish will put residual polymer coating on brass surface for easier resizing of brass and keep brass shiny/tarnish free for months (and years stored in air tight containers).
- I tend to run my media on the dry side and will add 1-2 capfuls of NuFinish every 2-3 batches as adding too much polish will wet the media and decrease cleaning/polishing action.
- Using strips/pieces of used dryer sheet/paper towel will collect dirt from media and extend the life of media.
how long do you tumble for?
Depends on the condition of brass and tumbler/media used. For brass with light fouling (jacketed/plated loads with cleaner powder loads), Berry's tumbler with walnut media/NuFinish and 600-800 9mm cases will clean/polish enough in 20-30 minutes to reload while FA tumbler and 300-500 9mm cases will take about 45 minutes-1 hour. Brass with heavy fouling (lead bullets with lube and dirtier powder loads) will take longer (up to twice the time) to get the same level of clean/shine. Really dirty and tarnished/brown cases can take several hours.