Using rubbing alcohol in my vibratory tumbler

[Yankee1986]

WOW! that toxic

I work for an oil company and we sell it by the drum.
It is the one product we carry that I've had the owner tell me "if they don't want 55 gallons, they can go to the paint store". Just about any of our other flammables we would bust the drum down into 5g pails if that is all they want.

 

[Mark_Mark]

I work for an oil company and we sell it by the drum.
It is the one product we carry that I've had the owner tell me "if they don't want 55 gallons, they can go to the paint store". Just about any of our other flammables we would bust the drum down into 5g pails if that is all they want.

I bought a pint of it from Amazon. Was going to use it for a stubborn paint on a outdoor lamp. But… didn’t

I use precaution when handling chemicals, one of my many jobs was mixing chemicals at a metal deco ink factory/lab

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I work for an oil company and we sell it by the drum.
It is the one product we carry that I've had the owner tell me "if they don't want 55 gallons, they can go to the paint store". Just about any of our other flammables we would bust the drum down into 5g pails if that is all they want.

MacDac bought it by the drum. The shop supply guy divided it up into cans for us (machinists and inspectors) to use. He had to fill out paperwork and keep a log for MEK. They did the same thing with lacquer thinner and acetone but they were really tight about MEK.
Before adding any kind of volatile to a tumbler think really hard about whether you want to aerate it. Alcohol is pretty harmless but I’m not sure about mineral spirits. MEK - no way. Even I’m not that crazy!

 

[Yankee1986]

MacDac bought it by the drum. The shop supply guy divided it up into cans for us (machinists and inspectors) to use. He had to fill out paperwork and keep a log for MEK. They did the same thing with lacquer thinner and acetone but they were really tight about MEK.
Before adding any kind of volatile to a tumbler think really hard about whether you want to aerate it. Alcohol is pretty harmless but I’m not sure about mineral spirits. MEK - no way. Even I’m not that crazy!

It's nice having gallons of isopropyl alcohol, acetone, mineral spirits, laquer thinner, 2 kinds of solvent all available for use if I need it, not to mention, xylene, toluene, 2 kinds of ethanol, lantern fuel, methanol, 6 different octanes of racing fuel ...
Needless to say, no smoking in that building. Lol.
I like regular corncob, nothing added, works fine for me.
I might try iso. alcohol if had some really dirty brass but I'll pass on the min. spirits even though it seems quite a few use it with no problems.

 

[Mark_Mark]

MacDac bought it by the drum. The shop supply guy divided it up into cans for us (machinists and inspectors) to use. He had to fill out paperwork and keep a log for MEK. They did the same thing with lacquer thinner and acetone but they were really tight about MEK.
Before adding any kind of volatile to a tumbler think really hard about whether you want to aerate it. Alcohol is pretty harmless but I’m not sure about mineral spirits. MEK - no way. Even I’m not that crazy!

MET tumbler debate is OFFICIALLY over!

Btw: the in plant lab I worked at, my boss would smoke near the 99% alcohol and other unknown solvents. Dude was 35 and looked 55! I stop working there after about a year.

 

[rdnktrkr]

I'm on the mineral spirits, nufinish,dryer sheets & walnut bus. I like the film it leaves on loaded rounds (not lubed lead) and how shiny they are. I've never thought about isopropyl alcohol instead of mineral spirits but it would be cheaper

 

[Tilos]

I use mineral spirits and mothers chrome polish. It's cheaper than new finish per ounce.

Yes, and that OMS hydrates the tumbling media keeping the dust down too.
jmo,
.

 

[MarshallDodge]

Funny that this thread came up. Earlier this year I started putting a little 70% rubbing alcohol in the media for getting the lube off of cases, and adding a little bit of whatever car wax, chrome polish, etc. I have in the garage. Before I added alcohol I was getting some lube left on the cases that would collect dirt. Now it is no longer an issue.

My tumbler is in the garage so I just leave the lid off.

 

[CoalTrain49]

I've had a can of Brasso for a decade so decided to try that yesterday. About a table spoon and 2 hours using walnut medium makes brass look new.

I've used NuFinish in the past but Brasso costs about the same and doesn't clump up in the medium. I'm a Brasso user now.

 

[Mark_Mark]

Funny that this thread came up. Earlier this year I started putting a little 70% rubbing alcohol in the media for getting the lube off of cases, and adding a little bit of whatever car wax, chrome polish, etc. I have in the garage. Before I added alcohol I was getting some lube left on the cases that would collect dirt. Now it is no longer an issue.

My tumbler is in the garage so I just leave the lid off.

Another win for Rubbing Alcohol + Car Wax!

how much alcohol do you put in? I probably do 2-3 ounces, huge splash

 

[MarshallDodge]

Another win for Rubbing Alcohol + Car Wax!

how much alcohol do you put in? I probably do 2-3 ounces, huge splash

I don't measure but I would guess an ounce. The bottle has an 1/8" hole in the foil seal and I give a quick circular squirt into the media.

This is something I have had an issue with for years so I was super happy with the way it works.

My garage now smells like a doctors office

 

[Sudden Thunder]

It’s probably 90% methyl ethyl ketone. Don’t worry about the brass, worry about your liver.

Many years ago there was an obnoxious fella making one of the local barmaid’s life miserable… so we applied a bit of MEK to each of the tires on his car

It was a real hoot watching him trying to drive off with the bottom of each tire well bonded to the asphalt….. even funnier when he eventually ripped chunks of asphalt loose and managed to go “clumping” down the road at 15 mph

(moral of story is don’t give the bar staff grief because spit in your beer isn’t the worse that could happen!)