Vibrating Tumbler question

[Geegolly]

My 9x19 cases have been used and re-used about 5 times now, they are getting pretty dirty. It was time to get into case tumbling. This is what I got. http://www.frankfordarsenal.com/855020.html I picked up a Frankford Arsenal Quick-N-EZ Vibrating tumbler from MidwayUSA.com on sale for 29.99. I picked up a 25lb bag of crushed corncob, the kind used for animal/bird bedding, for 9.99 at TSC. I also picked up a bottle of Nu-Finish car wax from Wally world.

I’m doing something wrong and I need some suggestions. I filled the bowl about 3/4 full with the corn cob and then added a cap full of Nu-Finish and let that run for about 5 minutes. I then filled the rest of the bowl with 9mm brass and turned that loud noise maker on. The brass got sucked in the center and went to the bottom of the bowl, never to be seen again. Then the whole thing just sits there spinning around and it isn’t tumbling, rolling, or cascading. It just spins with the brass staying at the bottom of the bowl.

Another thread I found, someone said that you have to keep adding brass until you see the brass cascading. Being sucked into the middle and coming back up around sides. Well If I can't get this effect with a boat load of 9X19 brass, how the heck am I going to get this to happen with my 200 something Makarov cases?

Did I add to much media? Could the media be too large? Do I need more or less cases? :banghead:

The thing is running all night while I am at work, so we shall see how the brass turns out in the morning. I bet my neighbors in my apartment building aren't to pleased with me leaving the thing running.

 

[scrat]

i have always used the vibrating kind. and lyman cob media. which is already treated.From what i hear you may have to add more of the nue finish as a cap ful is what i would used on the treated stuff. As for the tumbling action im not to sure.

 

[Geegolly]

I'm beginning to think the media is to large. Wonder what would happen if I used a blender to chop the crushed corncob?

 

[FieroCDSP]

It does seem to be effected by the number of cases. My brass cleans quicker with more in there than with only a hundred or so, but I don't think I've ever had them just sit at the bottom. Try taking some of the media out to help it out some. I have the Lyman Magnum tumbler. It's huge. It ate 200 223 cases no problem, and it's only half full.

I just thought, maybe you should use a mix of media. Maybe half and half corn and walnut. That should help the cases float to the top. I've only ever used walnut, in fact, I'm still using the first load I put in a year ago. Most of the guys here can give you a recipe.

 

[Mark whiz]

Too much media for the amount of brass you put in the tumbler. The size of your brass doesn't matter, shoot I've run lots of .32ACP thru mine unit from Midway USA and they cycle thru the tumbler just like you read.

If you will only fill the bowl no more than halfway with media and then add those smaller pistol cases, you should see them cycling thru just fine.

Your corncob media might be on the large size for this use - it the chunks are larger than 1/16 of an inch, you might see about finding something to grind them down a little smaller - maybe something like a coffee grinder would do the trick. I found lizard litter at one pet store that was finely ground walnut media and it works great, especially for cleaning heavily soiled cases.

 

[Steve in PA]

Make sure the bowl is secured tight.

 

[tasco 74]

i use a vibrateing type of thumbler's tumbler to clean my cases with some cob media. my friend got me that for x-mas one year. i like to tumble my cases with the primers in because almost every flash hole has a little bit of madia in it if i don't. i use a little cat littler cleaning scoop to get the cases out of the tumbler. works great! i unload the tumble while it's running and put each case over the the theaded post in the center that holds the hold down nut for the lid to knock the media out of the case for sure. i sure like the way the cases look after cleaning.

 

[donttellthewife]

All the corncob bedding I have seen was to large to work properly and to difficult to grind smaller. See if thet have ground walnut shell for snake and lizard bedding, that and Nu finish car polish works great for me
.
A couple of hard learned pieces of advice.

Don't deprime the cases until after they are polished.

Add some 1 x 1 cut squares of used dryer sheets or paper towels with the media. They will collect the dirt and you can throw them away after cleaning a batch

Add a simple timer between the tumbler and outlet so that it turns off after two hours or whatever time you want.

Seperate the cases and media outside to keep any chance of lead contamination to a minimum.

 

[gaudio5]

ok ill toss my 2 pennys in.

1. go to pet smart get the 25lb bag of WALNUT HULLS
2. fill er up half way with the walnut hulls and add 1/4 cup nufinish
3. let her run for 15 mins then add 1/4 more walnut hulls.
4. pour in brass till it almost overflows the hulls put the lid on and wait till the leavel goes down then add more brass repet till full.
5. toss in a dryer sheet and let it roll for a while.


i have the same tumbler i hope this helps.

 

[Geegolly]

I will stop by the pet store on the way home and pick up some of the lizard bedding. They don't have that kind of stuff at TSC. I'll also take the bag of corncob to the parents place and try and blend them in dad's margarita blender. After we have made a few batches of margaritas ofcourse.

After reading another thread, now it is to late, I realized I should of used an old dryer sheet. The new ones will gum stuff up.

I'm pretty sure I tightened everything up when I assembled the tumbler, but I will give everything a bit more umph.

I will play with the amount of media/brass, untill everything cycles correctly.

 

[JoeHatley]

+1 Your bowl is loose.

Joe

 

[Walkalong]

Loose bowl or overloaded with media. A tumbler full of cases does work a little better than with just a few cases, but will still do the job.

 

[koja48]

Sounds like the bowl is loose to me.

 

[Geegolly]

Bowl was loose. It was screwed on pretty darn good, but I could turn the screws about another full rotation. Works like a champ now.

 

[RustyFN]

I had better luck with walnut media. I fill the bowl about 2/3 with walnut. Add Nu Finish and cut up used dryer sheet. Then fill to the top with 9mm cases ( about 400 ) and tumble for 1.5 to 2 hours. They come out looking like new.
Rusty

 

[Shell Shucker]

Walnut hulls are the best for cleaning DIRTY cases. I treat my media with Dillon media treatment (Rapid Polish? not sure what they call it); BIG difference! In my experience corn cob is great for putting the "high shine" on already clean cases as well as removing lube from sized brass. It takes MUCH longer to clean dirty cases than walnut hulls.

 

[PsychoKnight]

Your corn cobb grains are too large. The fine-grained corn cobb bedding I've found (yes, hard to find) at pet stores are specially labeled as finely ground to 1/16-1/8"
If you chop it in a blender you won't get consistent sizing, unless you run it through an over and undersized sieve to filter out grains too small or large.
Easier to just buy the right type. In larger pet stores, they are often located in different pet areas and only one may have the smaller gains - whether bird, small animal, or reptile.