First batch of wet Tumbling

[minihawk1]

Picked up a thumblers tumbler yesterday from 1911kevin (Great guy). Tumbled last night and was really impressed with the results even though I knew they do a good job. Cleanest brass I've owned by far! Just thought I'd share with you guys. I would recommend this to anyone that's willing to spend a little more money.

 

[jrguns]

wow those are clean and shiney.

 

[MyMonkey]

Which one is this? And what's the process like? What additives etc? Do you just dump in and then dry?

 

[swampratt]

welcome to the club minihawk1
makes you wonder why you ever got a vibratory..
I love my homemade one..

 

[minihawk1]

Which one is this? And what's the process like? What additives etc? Do you just dump in and then dry?

I got the thumblers tumbler model b high speed model. There are A LOT of videos on YouTube on how this works. As for me since its a 15 pound capacity I did 5lbs of media, half a big zip lock bag of .223, filled water going over the brass about a inch, then added about .45 case full of lemi shine then 2 .45 cases full of dawn. Tumble for 4 hours, rinse out dirty water with clean water then dump in a media separator full of clean water then turn until media sinks to the bottom. Then dump media free brass onto dry towel and move then around then I get a blow dryer and blow dry this for 5-10 minutes. If I forgot anything else someone please fix this.

 

[Hump66]

Easier trick for drying, place them on a cookie sheet in the oven. Low temp works fine.

 

[swampratt]

That's about it..
But i use hot hot water to rinse..then lay out on a towel..outsides dry almost instantly..
They will dry overnight in this dry air we have..well foggy now...so may need a little help.
I like this method because of the spotless primer pockets..I dislike any carbon on my brass.

I do not use as much dawn...you may want to check the cleanness of the brass at 2 hours then at 3 hours..
You may be pleasantly surprised ...most of my brass is spotless after 2 hours.

 

[minihawk1]

That's about it..
But i use hot hot water to rinse..then lay out on a towel..outsides dry almost instantly..
They will dry overnight in this dry air we have..well foggy now...so may need a little help.
I like this method because of the spotless primer pockets..I dislike any carbon on my brass.

I do not use as much dawn...you may want to check the cleanness of the brass at 2 hours then at 3 hours..
You may be pleasantly surprised ...most of my brass is spotless after 2 hours.

Using how water with the dawn will only make more suds unless like you said not using that much. I usually check at the 2 hour mark. The outside and inside of the brass is clean but the primer pocket isn't.

Easier trick for drying, place them on a cookie sheet in the oven. Low temp works fine.

most new ovens take about 30 minutes to preheat no matter what temperature you need it at as to where I use a towel and a blow dryer that takes 10 minutes.

 

[acp]

I have a plastic container that has holes in the bottom. I just shake the wet brass vigorously for a minute to get excess water off. Then I have a small fan mounted on my bench. I put the brass under the fan over night and its bone dry in the morning.

 

[okietom]

That setup is on my wish list. It may cost a little more to start up but it cleans better and the stainless pins last a lot longer. I wish I had gotten a wet rotary tumbler a few years ago. RCBS used to sell ceramic media for that and I had access to more ceramic media than I could use in a lifetime. Oh well, I still want one. That is some nice looking brass.

I keep thinking that the right kind of bag would allow you to toss a bag full of wet cases into the clothes dryer.