Tumbling media

[AJC1]

We hear the debates about wet and dry. Corn cob or walnut. I just watched a thing about using ceramic balls. They can be used wet or dry. I'm not planning on getting rid of my media, and I have a backup bag of pins, God knows they end up everywhere except in the tumbler. The size of the ceramic balls is based on flash hole size he said. How cool is having media that works wet or dry... might be worth a look for those using disposable media. He was using a tumbler and I'm curious if it would work at all in a vibrator style. Anyway I thought it was cool.

 

[Mark_Mark]

We hear the debates about wet and dry. Corn cob or walnut. I just watched a thing about using ceramic balls. They can be used wet or dry. I'm not planning on getting rid of my media, and I have a backup bag of pins, God knows they end up everywhere except in the tumbler. The size of the ceramic balls is based on flash hole size he said. How cool is having media that works wet or dry... might be worth a look for those using disposable media. He was using a tumbler and I'm curious if it would work at all in a vibrator style. Anyway I thought it was cool.

I worked at a pigment plant once and they used Stainless steel balls as a media. was super cool. I should have kept them.. 500-1000 pounds would go in the dump every week

 

[Bfh_auto]

But what if you're happy with the dull shine of walnut and car wax?

 

[Mark_Mark]

But what if you're happy with the dull shine of walnut and car wax?

I’m just mixed Walnut with Mineral and Nu Finish ... tumbling 500+ 5.7 ... lets see how they look! tomorrow

 

[Hockey7711]

How often do you guy replace the media?

 

[Mark_Mark]

How often do you guy replace the media?

1 year

 

[Walkalong]

When it is ineffective, too full of crud

 

[milsurpguy]

I used dry media vibrating tumbling since maybe around 2007.
I started wet "rock tumbling" with stainless steel pins last year.
Yeah wet pin tumbling rules.
Now I'm doing a lot of out door range pickup brass that's black, stuff I never would have picked up 2 years ago. Yeah you have to wet pin tumble that unless you want it to stay black or dark brown.

 

[kalielkslayer]

New to tumbling brass but stainless steel pins and Dawn will make any brass shinier than new. Then after resizing, a lil brass cleaner and another hour with the pins, will clean you primer pockets!

 

[Pat Riot]

I guess I am just old fashioned. I like my Lyman “green” corn cob media. It works great until it doesn’t then I just toss the old stuff and start over with fresh stuff.

I was going to switch to lizard bedding (corn cob media) from pet stores and just add some Mother’s chrome polish because Lyman media went up in price, but there is none to be found in local pet stores. I found some Lyman media on Amazon and bought that.

 

[.38 Special]

I have been using corn cob media for about thirty years now. I normally tumble about three hours. This produces like-new results on nickel, which is what I normally use. The results aren't quite the same on brass, but it still is good enough to look decent and - most importantly - prevent damage to the dies. I replace the media every few years, whenever it seems like it's not working as well. As I really am not concerned with making brass shine like jewelry, the whole wet tumbling thing is kind of lost on me.

 

[bersaguy]

I used to think wet tumbling was way overkill, that walnut and nufinish got everything as clean and shiny as it was going to get. But, I was shooting primarily at indoor ranges. Now, over the past couple of years I've been shooting outdoors...maybe you wet tumblers are on to something

 

[Dale Alan]

I guess I am just old fashioned. I like my Lyman “green” corn cob media. It works great until it doesn’t then I just toss the old stuff and start over with fresh stuff.

I was going to switch to lizard bedding (corn cob media) from pet stores and just add some Mother’s chrome polish because Lyman media went up in price, but there is none to be found in local pet stores. I found some Lyman media on Amazon and bought that.

I like the Lyman green stuff also , works for a good long time . When it stops I add some Lyman Turbo Charger juice to refresh it , which works pretty well .

Regarding lizard bedding, I tried that but had poor results . The stuff I ordered is very fine and does not do much of anything . Maybe I got the wrong stuff ?

 

[CQB45ACP]

I use green ceramic pyramids in a wet vibratory tumbler to clean metal parts (like rusty nuts and bolts). I’ve never used it to clean brass, but have been tempted.

I bought this tumbler from Eastwood years ago—it came with two hoppers, one smaller one for wet/pyramids another larger one for dry (which I now use with corncob for brass).

I used to work on old cars and saving original fasteners and other small parts was essential. Wet tumbling was far easier, less labor intensive, and less dusty (duh) than media blasting. I’m still using my original pyramids.

Two reasons I haven’t used the wet pyramids on brass. First, they are really hard and sharp. I’m thinking too aggressive for soft brass. Second, when they get stuck/wedged in small places (like inside a smaller case) good luck getting them out. Third (bonus reason I just thought of), the hopper is pretty small and it couldn’t hold a lot of brass at a given time.

 

[Goes211]

I use corn cob unless my brass is filthy in which case I use walnut. I add a dab of whatever car wax I happen to have and I let the tumbler go for a few hours. I'm not super OCD about clean brass so I only tumble my brass occasionally. I've reloaded absolutely nasty looking stuff without any cleaning and had fine results. If your dies are carbide a little grunge probably isn't going to make much difference.

 

[Pat Riot]

I like the Lyman green stuff also , works for a good long time . When it stops I add some Lyman Turbo Charger juice to refresh it , which works pretty well .

Regarding lizard bedding, I tried that but had poor results . The stuff I ordered is very fine and does not do much of anything . Maybe I got the wrong stuff ?

Thanks for the tip on the Turbo Charger Juice.
When I was looking at lizard bedding online I found that the ads / postings were saying the granules were #20 grit. Way too fine. I hadn’t seen any in the pet stores I checked so I couldn’t visually see what was available. Many of the items I found didn’t specify how big or small the bedding granular were and I really didn’t want to play the email game with customer service. I was looking at the bedding on Amazon when I found 4.5# containers of the Lyman media and I just went ahead and bought it. It was reasonably priced. It came in the clear plastic containers with screw top lids. Not a tub, like in the picture.
Lyman Corncob https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000NTN...abc_3D67BAQ4B307NH40Z02G?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Mark_Mark]

I use green ceramic pyramids in a wet vibratory tumbler to clean metal parts (like rusty nuts and bolts). I’ve never used it to clean brass, but have been tempted.

I bought this tumbler from Eastwood years ago—it came with two hoppers, one smaller one for wet/pyramids another larger one for dry (which I now use with corncob for brass).

I used to work on old cars and saving original fasteners and other small parts was essential. Wet tumbling was far easier, less labor intensive, and less dusty (duh) than media blasting. I’m still using my original pyramids.

Two reasons I haven’t used the wet pyramids on brass. First, they are really hard and sharp. I’m thinking too aggressive for soft brass. Second, when they get stuck/wedged in small places (like inside a smaller case) good luck getting them out. Third (bonus reason I just thought of), the hopper is pretty small and it couldn’t hold a lot of brass at a given time.

View attachment 990815

what the heck!!! that looks cool!

 

[Highland Lofts]

I used to think wet tumbling was way overkill, that walnut and nufinish got everything as clean and shiny as it was going to get. But, I was shooting primarily at indoor ranges. Now, over the past couple of years I've been shooting outdoors...maybe you wet tumblers are on to something

I use to dry tumble, once I used my wet tumbler I never went back to the dinasor dry tumbler.
I liked the Frankford wet tumbler so much I bought another.
One for tumbleing with pins and one for tumbleing with out pins.

I will never dry tumble again.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

We hear the debates about wet and dry. Corn cob or walnut. I just watched a thing about using ceramic balls. They can be used wet or dry. I'm not planning on getting rid of my media, and I have a backup bag of pins, God knows they end up everywhere except in the tumbler. The size of the ceramic balls is based on flash hole size he said. How cool is having media that works wet or dry... might be worth a look for those using disposable media. He was using a tumbler and I'm curious if it would work at all in a vibrator style. Anyway I thought it was cool.

In like my balls dry, thanks. Although, they do work wet or dry so I doubt the vibratory equipment is necessary. Also, I really don't consider walnut disposable. It cleans up nice and the finer the powder, the shinier the brass.

 

[Zendude]

Is there a dry media that can be used in a vibratory cleaner, but doesn’t create as much dust as walnut or corncob?

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Is there a dry media that can be used in a vibratory cleaner, but doesn’t create as much dust as walnut or corncob?

I tried clay kitty litter before with "good" results - not as good as corn and walnut though. It's not as dusty as corn but is dustier than walnut. Are you keeping a tight lid on your tumbler when running it? I use both corn and walnut and don't have dust problems but I also don't have a lid with openings and I keep it on tight when the tumbler's running.

 

[Zendude]

I tried clay kitty litter before with "good" results - not as good as corn and walnut though. It's not as dusty as corn but is dustier than walnut. Are you keeping a tight lid on your tumbler when running it? I use both corn and walnut and don't have dust problems but I also don't have a lid with openings and I keep it on tight when the tumbler's running.

The lid is tight. It’s just the dust when emptying the tumbler and refilling it. It’s not a big problem, but I’m always open to better solutions.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

The lid is tight. It’s just the dust when emptying the tumbler and refilling it. It’s not a big problem, but I’m always open to better solutions.

In that case, never mind. The clay didn't polish better and wasn't that much cleaner to use. It was cheaper but I stopped using it when the unscented, plain clay stopped being available locally.

 

[packetloss]

I wet and dry tumble. Wet tumble with steel pins and the usual citric acid/dawn combo initially to get rid of the lead dust and crud. No way do I want to dry tumble that toxic mess. After I load up my rounds I dry tumble for 10 minutes in corncob and nufinish.

 

[AJC1]

Is there a dry media that can be used in a vibratory cleaner, but doesn’t create as much dust as walnut or corncob?

That's exactly why I posted this talking about the new ceramic balls....