How to get shiny brass out of stainless media tumbler?

[Pointman]

I use brass juice my brass shines like jewelry then put in vibrating tumbler to dry

I also use my old Lyman vibratory tumbler with only walnut shells, no polish. I then blow them out with compressed air. I double-check the flash holes then continue the load cycle.

 

[LoneTraveler]

I always use examining gloves to handle brass after cleaning, till I have in dried and in a storage container. In the summer I wear a thin cotton glove on my left hand while priming cases, Weighing powder, Seating bullets and putting loaded shells in storage boxes.

 

[SSgt G Cody]

Cleaning Brass - First step is cleaning nasty field brass. Use SS pins, tsp dish liquid, and hot water for 1-2 hours. Then rinse and dry. Deprime, re-size, trim, neck tune, etc. Anneal if needed. Final clean is with SS pins, 1/2 tsp dish liquid, a squirt of lemon juice, and polish (dash of Comet or Bonami) for one hour. Rinse well and drain. Air pressure can be used to speed drying.

 

[RWE]

All,

I recently got a rotary tumbler and it works great. The weird thing is, when the brass firsts comes out it is really shiny but as it dries in my dryer (food dehydrator) I start to get these kind of clouds of swirls making them look less shiny. I am using the frankford arsenal cleaning solution as an FYI. Any tips or tricks? Thanks!

I used Turtle Wax "wash and wax" as a "soap" and then once I rinse and do the bowling ball polish drying with a towel I put them on a clean baking sheet and put in the oven. Set the temp for 200* and start the oven (gas). Once it reaches temp I turn it off and after a little while (aka I finish my bourbon or cutting grass or chore I pull it out and box or bag it. No tarnish.

I have cleaned a lot of brass in in the wet/pins, this works for me. I do add 1/8 tsp lemishine to balance the pH fo our water that comes from limestone springs (where Rev. Elijah Craig first made bourbon by the way). Use too much lemishine and it turns pink, not enough and it is not as bright, ymmv.

 

[lyle2231]

I'm new to pin tumbling, it seems the tedium is the drying stage.
I wondering if you shook the water out as best you could then tumble a while in crushed media would that help dry things faster? Thanks for listening! LP

 

[338 dude]

I use a heat gun I can dry 100 rounds in about 3 to 4 minutes

 

[RWE]

I'm new to pin tumbling, it seems the tedium is the drying stage.
I wondering if you shook the water out as best you could then tumble a while in crushed media would that help dry things faster? Thanks for listening! LP

Might make dry media dust sludge in cases.

I lay a towel out, dump damp brass in center, fold sides in and twist ends so brass doesn't fall out then raise one end of towel up and lower the other then back and forth. Like when people polish bowling balls. Only takes a few seconds, then to the cookie sheet and oven. Lots of ways to do it, hope you find what works for you.

 

[lyotehunter]

Distilled water, leme shine and a little dawn.

 

[javman]

To take it a step further I use filtered or distilled water.

 

[lyle2231]

To take it a step further I use filtered or distilled water.

How many times can you use the same water?

 

[338 dude]

How many times can you use the same water?

Once,it will be filthy

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I put a drum full of dirty 40 S&W brass in my STM tumbler and the water got so filthy that it needed to be replaced and the load re-run with fresh Dawn & Lemshine. You can definitely overload the drum with too much filthy brass. I've never seen water clean enough to consider reuse.

 

[javman]

Once,it will be filthy

Yes it will come out dirty as heck.

 

[Mike D Texas]

Since I bought my Rotary tumbler I rarely if ever use my vibratory tumblers. I hate the dust they produce and leave on the brass even when I use dryer sheets in the media.

That said I am on well water and it is filtered and softened so that in itself make a big difference. If you have hard water you will have spotting issues most of the time.

I just use HOT tap water (1 gallon) 1 TBSP of dawn and 1/4 TSP of powdered Lemishine. Be conservative on the Lemishine or it will tarnish your brass, especially if you happen to have any nickel brass. Depending on how dirty the brass is, I'll run it anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours. After the tumbling cycle is complete, I drain the water, brass and media using a gold prospecting pan with a fine mesh screen and wash it thoroughly with warm tap water. I then use a media separator to get the pins out. After that I place on a towel and roll/tumble within to dry the loose/excess water then I place the brass on an old tee shirt on a dryer shoe pan (front load dryer) and dry for 15-20 minutes on high heat setting. The brass comes out super clean and very shiny.