Wet tumbling with stainless pins

[Win1892]

Just cleaned my first batch. WOW! I'm sold.
About 300 pieces of 45 ACP and it looks brand new. I've never gotten that with either of my 2 tumblers or any of the different brands of media.
NO DUST!!!!!!! I HATE THE DUST!!!!!!!

To you guys that have ridden this horse, I need to know how you handle the separation of brass, media and water.

I dumped it all into my conventional media separator, spun it to dump the water and steel pins, then rinsed the brass in a colander. Dumped that back into the media separator and spun it close to dry and dumped it onto a cookie sheet to dry.

Dumped the water and pins into a fine stainless steel colander and did a rinse. The pins that clung to the separator pan and the tumbler tank were rinsed in place. Returned the pins to the tumbler.

A little bit of work, a little messy, but no dust.

Questions. How do you dry the brass? How full do you want the tank?

 

[PCCUSNRET]

To you guys that have ridden this horse, I need to know how you handle the separation of brass, media and water.

I pick the brass out of the tumbler by hand and put it in separate pan of clean water to rinse off the soap and Lemi-shine. I then pour the brass and water into one of those large plastic colanders to remove most of the water.

Questions.

How do you dry the brass?

I put the brass in one of those mesh laundry bags and put it on the sweater rack in the dryer for about 45 minutes. If it is a hot sunny day I will set the brass on the porch on a cookie sheet and let it dry for a couple of hours.

How full do you want the tank?

I leave about 2 to 3 inches from the top of the tank.

 

[FROGO207]

As with all reloading things we all tend to do things a little differently. I also pick my brass out individually using this time to do a final inspection on it. Then I rinse well in a different 2 gallon bucket. I have an old fine mesh bag I got some type of produce in and after placing the brass in it I spin it over my head a bit. Then pour it into a large bath towel and roll to dry the outside to prevent water stains. Then pour into paper towel lined cookie sheets to dry as needed.
I use Lemmy Shine/Dawn cleaning formula or a small amount (3 TBS) of IOSSO case cleaner. I also use it as a presoak for really tarnished brass following directions with it to speed up the process.
I only use enough liquid to barely cover the brass in my rotary tumbler to save weight and add a bit more brass as a result. I Never fill it more than 1/3 full.

 

[cfullgraf]

I am still working on a more efficient method of removing the cases from the pins and water but have not improved on picking them out one or so at a time.

After rinsing and shaking out as much loose water as possible, I spread the cases on a terry towel lined cookie sheet. I bought a couple cheap towels and cookie sheets at Wally World for the task. (or give the wife an opportunity to redecorate the bathroom).

 

[Blackrock]

Thanks for the info fellers. I am considering getting into this type of a setup soon. I should have 1K of brass to clean after I get back from my SD Pdog shoot.

 

[jmorris]

I use a Dillon separator to separate and rinse.




Normally drying in the Sun is fine here in TX but if its cool out side I use a small forced air heater.

 

[HJ857]

You want your media separator at least partially immersed in water. The cohesion of water is enough to keep the pins stuck to the brass. But if you fully immerse them in water the pins will fall away while you're spinning the separator.

I use an RCBS separator and fill the bucket almost full with water, so that about half the separator basket is under water. Rocking it back and forth for a couple minutes does the trick.

I would guess that a colander in a bucket of water would do just as well.

For drying I use a small toaster oven that I got at a pawn shop specifically for drying brass. I lined the grate with tin foil and spread the brass on that, 150 degrees for 45 minutes.

I use the Harbor Freight dual drum tumbler. I load up the drums pretty good, probably 2/3 full or around 200-225 9mm cases or 100-125 .223 cases per drum. If you can envision a can of Fancy Feast cat food, I fill that a bit over 1/2 full with pins per drum, add a squirt of dish soap and 1 1/2 caps concentrated lemon juice and just enough water to cover the cases.

For 9mm I tumble for at least 1 1/2 hours. For .223 I tumble for 30-60 minutes, drain and rinse (which removes almost all the carbon) and refill and tumble again for another hour or more.

One note, my brass rarely gets gritty so I size and de-cap before tumbling. I have had a few instances where pins get stuck in the flash hole. I use a hand primer tool and inspect before installing a new primer. I could see that it could be a problem if priming is done on the press.

 

[dhenry132]

I would like to jump on this wet tumbling with stainless pins idea.
My problem is I need volume. 1to 4 K at a time and a better way of drying without costing a fortune.

 

[HJ857]

I seem to recall that some folks use a small cement mixer for large volumes.

Maybe like this. http://www.harborfreight.com/1-1-4-quarter-cubic-ft-compact-cement-mixer-91907.html

 

[Swampman]

This ought to do for the tumbling part.

http://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/mixers/3-1-2-half-cubic-ft-cement-mixer-67536.html

About separating and drying, I have no idea...

 

[jmorris]

I felt the same way you did but I also didn't want to spend a bunch of money so I built my own that will clean and polish thousands at a time.

Details in this thread.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=628974&highlight=homemade+wet+tumbler

 

[Varmiter]

As has already been said, we all do things a bit differently.

Since my batches are not usually very big, I too pick the cases out of the tumbler one at a time, rinse, then load 4 at a time in an old hand crank centrifuge and give them a quick spin. They come out dry as a bone. It takes me less time to do about 200 cases than to just lay them out to dry. Oh, a rule I’ve observed for over 45 years. When it comes to reloading, I’m never in any hurry, as all of my reloading in done on a single stage. Something I will never change.

At times, when the tumbler is going to be idle for some time, I pour all the dirty water and pins into a very fine mesh screen. Then they are rinsed. I filter the pins/rinse water with a 4 inch paint brush and the pins are then poured into a high(ish) sided cookie pan and put into the toaster oven set to about 150 to 200 degrees for drying.

Chris

 

[bags533]

I use something similar to the Dillon separator to rinse. I got it a stainlesstumblingmedia.com

After a rinse, I put the brass in a towel, grab both ends and rock the brass back and forth.

For the final dry, I place them on this rack and then put it on the roof of my car out in the sun. The 1x2's on the bottom of the rack keep the grate off of the ground/car.

 

[why.kyle]

I felt the same way you did but I also didn't want to spend a bunch of money so I built my own that will clean and polish thousands at a time.

Details in this thread.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=628974&highlight=homemade+wet+tumbler

I just have to say that people like you and coming up with stuff like that.. it builts my faith in humanity for some reason.. awesome rig.