Will Rouge on Polishing Media harm dies?

[Bruce H.]

I just came back from the local Bass Pro Shop. I bought the usual Lyman Corncob media that I use to clean my brass. While there, I saw that they also carry Lyman crushed nutshell media treated with rouge. I image that the nutshell with rouge would do an excellent job of cleaning brass, but I didn't buy it because I wonder what effect the rouge residue would have on my reloading dies. Have any of you used the Lyman crushed nutshell with rouge? Did you like it? Did the rouge residue on the brass abrade your dies?

 

[rcmodel]

Not that I've noticed in 30 years or so that I have been using it.

Jeweler's rouge is red because it contains ferric oxide. (IE = rust.)
It is softer then steel or carbide.

Jeweler's use it to polish gold, because it doesn't make the gold disappear in a pile of polishing dust.

Gold is way softer then loading dies!

Besides, would Lyman sell polishing media that would harm your dies?
I think probably not if they wanted to sell it more then once!

rcmodel

 

[lordgroom]

rcmodel- a few questions.

1-Do you use media already treated with Jeweler's rouge or do you add it yourself?
2-Where do you obtain the Jeweler's rouge and is there a specific type/ brand your prefer?
3- How much do you add?

 

[rcmodel]

Both.

I have bought walnut media that was un-treated, and came with a little plastic bag of powdered red rouge.

I don't like it, as it's very messy & gets on everything. Still got half a bag of it left.

I just buy pre-treated media now.

Not sure where I got the bag of rouge as it was several years ago.

rcmodel

 

[evan price]

Personally I buy pet-shop crushed walnut shells, treat with a little Nufinish, and skip rouge entirely- and I get some really "chocolate" brass from our outdoor range, and plain walnut cleans it up fine.
Rouge is entirely un-necessary, unless you want your brass clean in no time flat.
Me, I dump in the brass, nuts, and a few torn up dryer sheets, then go to bed and wake up to sparkly, shiny, mirror bright brass.

 

[Idano]

I am with Price on using untreated media (50/50 corn and walnut) and adding Nu Finish and a dryer sheet for processing range brass. However, for cleaning off case lube I only use walnut and a dryer sheet.

 

[WSM MAGNUM]

Will Rouge on Polishing Media harm dies?

Won`t harm your dies, but are you sure you want your cases blushing?

 

[jjohnson]

PowderValleyInc.com Has Rouge

PVI has this stuff for $10 a pound, which is a lifetime supply unless you're training a SWAT department or something. They're out of stock, according to their website, but give 'em a call or drop a note. By the way, Powder Valley is really a pretty good supplier at pretty competitive prices. Small shop, but very customer friendly. Do check them out.

This material appears to be very generic - like media - so I wouldn't spend a lot of time shopping for brands, especially since there's probably few sources and more people that just repackage it. I put one teaspoon full, more or less, in about a gallon of corncob media. To get it to 'stick' to the media a little, I put in also a little wet media polish, like the Midway stuff.

I've been using this stuff for a few years and I think it makes the process go a little faster, but handling the old media is messier. You can prep a lot of cases just using a big squirt of the Frankford Arsenal liquid from Midway, but it certainly doesn't seem to harm my dies or anything if you want to use it.

Have fun.

 

[Rokman]

I have used both the Lyman treated corncob and the Lyman nutshells with rouge and to me the nutshells with rouge does a better job and quicker. Can't tell you about damage since I haven't been handloading very long.