Wet Tumbling with SS media - The How and the Why.
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GBExpat
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FWIW, my 16oz bottle says ArmorAll Ultra Shine Wash & Wax ... got it as part of an ArmorAll Gift Bundle several Christmases ago.
konertjm
Member
Armor All Ultra Wash and Wax fortified with Carnuba wax.
Does an outstanding job.
My homemade tumbler (Big Dawg design) holds 1.5 gallons of water without any brass or pins.
I use 10 lbs pins, no more than 8 lbs brass, works better with 7 lbs.
Fill with water, 2 tbs ArmorAll, 1 tbs Lemishine Booster.
2.5 to 4 hours, depending on brass.
Magic happens here!
Does an outstanding job.
My homemade tumbler (Big Dawg design) holds 1.5 gallons of water without any brass or pins.
I use 10 lbs pins, no more than 8 lbs brass, works better with 7 lbs.
Fill with water, 2 tbs ArmorAll, 1 tbs Lemishine Booster.
2.5 to 4 hours, depending on brass.
Magic happens here!
mmorris
Member
Thanks all, I broke down today and ordered a wet tumbler from Amazon! Hence the question on which ArmorAll! I have been fighting the urge for a month or so, but received an order of once fired range brass (40 S&W) and the old Lyman 1200 just wasn't getting it clean enough...
Gravedigger56
Member
You're going to be so glad you switched when you see that first batch of sparkling brass come out of that tumbler. I also use the wash&wax pictured above. Works fabulous!
Gravedigger56
Member
If you got the FART that comes with the 5lbs of media, I might suggest buying another 2-3lbs of pins. 7-8 lbs seems to be a nice media-brass ratio when tumbling with this tumbler to get better finished results..
That is the one I bought. I have never been unhappy with the old Lyman 1200 (25+ years old), just capacity was starting to kill me on 10,000 count of 40 S&W range brass! I assume you can easily do 500 40 S&W (Amazon stated 1000 .223s) and that would definitely make cleaning go by faster...
Gravedigger56
Member
No problem. I normally tumble 500 .223 and have room for much more in there even with the additional 3lbs of pins. The 30lb. tub capacity is what sold me on the FART. That thing holds a LOT of brass.
USSR
Member
Yes, the 30lb capacity includes the weight of the drum, which weighs 3lbs. I also suggest you get more pins than what comes with the tumbler. I am presently running 9lbs of pins in mine.
Don
GBExpat
Member
Thanks for the Tip, guys ... I just ordered another 5lb batch of pins.
I will add an extra 2-3lbs to the batch as a test the next time I am FARTing around.
I will add an extra 2-3lbs to the batch as a test the next time I am FARTing around.
Toprudder
Member
I've been running 5lbs of pins, up to 10lbs brass in mine. I might try adding more pins, but might also have to drop back a little on the amount of brass to compensate. 10 lbs of brass is 1000 of 40, and about 1200 9mm. I save up my brass until I have a full load.
2011redrider
Member
Wash n Wax
http://www.walmart.com/ip/16817381?reviews_limit=7&
Just noticed WalMart has it on sale for 3.88 for the half gallon size. Works good when washing my motorcycles too!
http://www.walmart.com/ip/16817381?reviews_limit=7&
BigGame
Member
GBExpat,
O.K. so I have purchased ArmorAll Wash&Wax . I have a Tumbler. How much do you use in a gallon of water to get the brass clean?
O.K. so I have purchased ArmorAll Wash&Wax . I have a Tumbler. How much do you use in a gallon of water to get the brass clean?
GBExpat
Member
For each drumload I add ~2 capfuls of W&W and ~½ tablespoon of citric acid powder (I think that most here use LemiShine, which is, apparently, a more-expensive version of the same thing).
FWIW, if the brass is filthy (or if the brass is coated in resizing lube), I pre-clean it with a short Dawn+hotwater cycle.
FWIW, if the brass is filthy (or if the brass is coated in resizing lube), I pre-clean it with a short Dawn+hotwater cycle.
I have been using 1/2 teaspoon of LemiShine (under $4.00 at Target) and 2 tablespoons of the ArmorAll W&W. Running 1,000 40 S&W with the standard 5 lbs of pins that came with it for 3 hours, and I do not see how they could get any cleaner... And all of this was range brass purchase, some of it was really nasty - the single stage press I used to deprime it all needed a good cleaning after 5,000 rounds (green press pretty much turned a brown rust color and hands too!).
Question: what would cause the brass to come out dull after a cycle? especially the nickel plated brass (looks gunmetal gray).
Is it too much water? too much lemi-shine? something else? asking in case others have encountered before I go experiment with multiple cycles.
Data:
using the frankford arsenal tumbler with stainless steel media 5-8lbs worth over time, about 1/4 teaspoon of lemi-shine boost powder and half a cap full of the armor all liquid soup. Has been working great and I've done 18-20 gallons worth of various pistol and rifle brass.
I cold rinse and separate the pins out with a magnet and big tub followed by a light hot air drying cycle. Brass was super shiny up until this cycle. I'm pretty sure I haven't gotten any contaminants in. I also cold rinse the pins before letting them dry out mostly.
thoughts?
Is it too much water? too much lemi-shine? something else? asking in case others have encountered before I go experiment with multiple cycles.
Data:
using the frankford arsenal tumbler with stainless steel media 5-8lbs worth over time, about 1/4 teaspoon of lemi-shine boost powder and half a cap full of the armor all liquid soup. Has been working great and I've done 18-20 gallons worth of various pistol and rifle brass.
I cold rinse and separate the pins out with a magnet and big tub followed by a light hot air drying cycle. Brass was super shiny up until this cycle. I'm pretty sure I haven't gotten any contaminants in. I also cold rinse the pins before letting them dry out mostly.
thoughts?
Gravedigger56
Member
How much brass did you have in the tumbler. I have found that if I crowd the tumbler with a lot of brass (even though I'm well under 30 lbs) it comes out very clean but a little dull. If I put 1000 pcs. of brass in it comes out dull. If I only tumble 500 they come out perfect. I use 1 tsp of lemishine and 2 capfuls of wash & wax with approx. 8 lbs of pins. I was also told that you should clean the pins/tumbler every once in a while with a good degreaser/cleaner. Just pour some in the tumbler, add the pins, run it for 30 minutes and then give both a good rinse/dry.
GBExpat
Member
The first thing that I would try is to stop being so bleed'n' stingy with the Armor All, unless you are processing brass that it already clean.
This was actually the first time that I ran the tumbler only half full of brass. Usually I fill it almost all the way up, add the pins, then top off with water. This time it was less than half full of 38 and 357.
The right two in each row are the current batch while the left two are prior batch.
Maybe it was the fact that I had more water due to half brass that diluted the soap?
The right two in each row are the current batch while the left two are prior batch.
Maybe it was the fact that I had more water due to half brass that diluted the soap?
I have noticed that the amount of ArmorAll and LemiShine affect the brass color. I have gone between 1/4 teaspoon of the LemiShine and 1/2 and 1 to 2 tablespoons of AA. Unfortunately, I can't remember which caused it to be more golden to yellowish color! Still experimenting! It could just be the brass as some batches have two distinct hues to them...
I have found that letting brass soak is a bad idea. As soon as you put the LemiShine in start the tumbler and as soon as possible after stopping rinse the brass. I also use 1full tsp. LemiShine and a generous amount of Wash and Wax. Works for me.
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