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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Wet tumbling with SS media, lots of pics New info second post 10-02-2015. (Page 6 of 23)
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Yeah, I'm ordering the universal lee decapper. I just wanted to try some at first to see what this SS wet tumbling is all about. I plan to hold off on the rest of the tumbling until I get the decapper.
In the mean time, I may just jump the gun and run them through the resizing/decapping die, just to get them done. Thanks to all who posted pics before, you have another convert to wet tumbling in the mix. |
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Ok, pics are up. This stuff rocks!!! First, I was in a hurry to try it, so I didn't have but a couple of hours to let it run. I also have an old Model B, so that means its the 1550RPM motor. This is what I started with. Not too bad, but a good first test run. http://i53.tinypic.com/2lxe3wy.jpg A couple of hours later... And this is what came out! http://i54.tinypic.com/2z7qyo2.jpg This first run was dead on at 2lbs of brass, and it turned out to be exactly 201 cases. I now have the second batch running, and added a few more cases this time around. It still looks like the barrel is about half full, with pins and brass. I got so excited, I forgot to try some bottle necked cases, just to see how they do. I was going to toss in one or two, just to see how they do. Wish I had done this sooner. Dryflash, I have the older model with the slow motor, and it doesn't vibrate much at all. If I do run it on a countertop or hard surface, I throw a piece of carpet under it, and it quiets right down. Ok. the slow motor doesn't need an extra bracket. Nice results. Thanks for the pic. I normally go 8 hours with my slow tumbler for maximum bling. Like a vibrating tumbler, make sure case necks are close to the same diameter or one will go inside the other and stick in the other cases neck. |
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Well got my setup running a few weeks ago. And all I can say is its amazing. Did 1000 pcs of LC .223 and they look new minus the dings from being fired previously. And the 45 ACP brass looks just like new.
Anyone know of a strainer that the media won't pass through? I would like to have one, but don't really need it. some of the 45 i just got out a few hours ago: http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz225/acuratech_dan/c6d92150.jpg |
I thought ultrasonic followed by corn cob was good but after seeing this and looking at how much time I spend handling brass in my method, there's just no way around it, tumbling's superior.
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Well got my setup running a few weeks ago. And all I can say is its amazing. Did 1000 pcs of LC .223 and they look new minus the dings from being fired previously. And the 45 ACP brass looks just like new. Anyone know of a strainer that the media won't pass through? I would like to have one, but don't really need it. some of the 45 i just got out a few hours ago: http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz225/acuratech_dan/c6d92150.jpg Welcome to the Wet Bling club.  That's a great pic.
I don't use a strainer. I use my dry media separator to seperate cases from water / media. Then slowly dump bucket out, stopping before the media flows out. Refill bucket with clean water and repeat. Normally takes me 3 cycles. It's all in the first or second post on page 1 of this thead. |
| Cheesecloth in a large strainer or colander should make separating the media from the water work pretty quickly. It's my plan when my supply of pennies is up to the level needed to buy the Thumbler and media... I'm just not patient enough with a basic mechanical process like separating the pins from the wash water that I could do your "slow pour" separation method. |
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Based on my limited experience... I am sure you could do it with a cement mixer but I have no idea how you would figure out the required amount of media.
Since this is Arfcom, I am sure someone is already doing it and will be along soon with pictures and details.
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You may or may not be able to adapt a cement mixer to do this but there are a couple of other huddles you will face. First, you will need lots of SS media and the stuff is around $40-50/5 lb. The 5 lb will do around 200 pieces of 223 brass at time, so if you scale up to do say 2,000, you will need 50 lb and the associated cost of buying the stuff. You can probably get it for less since you are buying bulk but still. The second and biggest huddle is how are you going to separate say 2,000 pieces of bottle neck brass from the SS-steel media that likes to sit inside them. Separating out the media in straight wall stuff like pistol brass is easy and you can use a regular media separator. Bottle neck brass tends to hold the media inside unless you hand hold the brass upside down in water at which point the heavier media will slide out. I know of no method to do this part quickly. |
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Quoted: i tumble mine in my frankfort arsnal tumbler, i fill the pale with water then tumble. never had any media stuck in the cases except for the few that get 2 stuck in the primer pocket. http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y124/BIGGDAWG800/IMG_3484-1.jpg I wonder if this was because of the water level you are using? If you fill the water high enough, you might be getting the same effect as holding the cases under water. Although I am glad that you guys may have found an efficient method to do this, I have to still say that I am surprised how well this works since the configuration of the bottle neck cases is such that it would naturally tend to retain at least some of the SS-media.
I guess the question here is I understand your method can remove most if not all the media, but exactly how confident you guys are that absolutely no SS-media is left in the case? For example, have you hand checked every case on a run to proof to yourself that this does not happen? This looks almost as good as the pistol case situation, except that in that situation, some SS-media is indeed trapped, but there you can and do (at least I do) inspect every case before I put it in the resizing/decapping die. I am not talking here about the stuff in the primer hole, but ones that may be trapped inside the case which would change the case volume and perhaps come out the barrel when the round is fired. I am not rying to be an alarmist, but there is a potential safety issue here as you can imagine what can happen if a piece comes out part way and is left in the barrel before the next round comes down the pipe? |
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i tumble mine in my frankfort arsnal tumbler, i fill the pale with water then tumble. never had any media stuck in the cases except for the few that get 2 stuck in the primer pocket. http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y124/BIGGDAWG800/IMG_3484-1.jpg I wonder if this was because of the water level you are using? If you fill the water high enough, you might be getting the same effect as holding the cases under water.
Although I am glad that you guys may have found an efficient method to do this, I have to still say that I am surprised how well this works since the configuration of the bottle neck cases is such that it would naturally tend to retain at least some of the SS-media.
I guess the question here is I understand your method can remove most if not all the media, but exactly how confident you guys are that absolutely no SS-media is left in the case? For example, have you hand checked every case on a run to proof to yourself that this does not happen? This looks almost as good as the pistol case situation, except that in that situation, some SS-media is indeed trapped, but there you can and do (at least I do) inspect every case before I put it in the resizing/decapping die. I am not talking here about the stuff in the primer hole, but ones that may be trapped inside the case which would change the case volume and perhaps come out the barrel when the round is fired. I am not rying to be an alarmist, but there is a potential safety issue here as you can imagine what can happen if a piece comes out part way and is left in the barrel before the next round comes down the pipe? i actually check about 80% of my cases, after dried i check almost all the cases for pins stuck in primer pockets and i also check in the case and i have not had one with media in the case that wasn't in the primer pocket. what i have found is lc brass is more susceptible to having 2 pins stuck in the primer pocket than most other cases. for example i have been doing a bunch of lc10 and i get 8-10 cases in a thousand with pins stuck but in my wcc10 i think i have only had 1or 2 in 2500 and yes i have the pale full of water so the cases tumble in the water to flush out all the pins. just the way i started doing it. it works so i haven't changed. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: i tumble mine in my frankfort arsnal tumbler, i fill the pale with water then tumble. never had any media stuck in the cases except for the few that get 2 stuck in the primer pocket. http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y124/BIGGDAWG800/IMG_3484-1.jpg I wonder if this was because of the water level you are using? If you fill the water high enough, you might be getting the same effect as holding the cases under water. Although I am glad that you guys may have found an efficient method to do this, I have to still say that I am surprised how well this works since the configuration of the bottle neck cases is such that it would naturally tend to retain at least some of the SS-media. I guess the question here is I understand your method can remove most if not all the media, but exactly how confident you guys are that absolutely no SS-media is left in the case? For example, have you hand checked every case on a run to proof to yourself that this does not happen? This looks almost as good as the pistol case situation, except that in that situation, some SS-media is indeed trapped, but there you can and do (at least I do) inspect every case before I put it in the resizing/decapping die. I am not talking here about the stuff in the primer hole, but ones that may be trapped inside the case which would change the case volume and perhaps come out the barrel when the round is fired. I am not rying to be an alarmist, but there is a potential safety issue here as you can imagine what can happen if a piece comes out part way and is left in the barrel before the next round comes down the pipe? i actually check about 80% of my cases, after dried i check almost all the cases for pins stuck in primer pockets and i also check in the case and i have not had one with media in the case that wasn't in the primer pocket. what i have found is lc brass is more susceptible to having 2 pins stuck in the primer pocket than most other cases. for example i have been doing a bunch of lc10 and i get 8-10 cases in a thousand with pins stuck but in my wcc10 i think i have only had 1or 2 in 2500 and yes i have the pale full of water so the cases tumble in the water to flush out all the pins. just the way i started doing it. it works so i haven't changed. I think you can see that the pins stuck in the primer pockets does not concern me because they are visible if you take the time to look, it’s the ones inside the case that worries me. To me, it is a potential safety issue and as such it is an individual’s choice as to what they want to do and is willing to bear as long as they know the risks. Speaking for myself, since I only do precision rifle and don’t run that many rifle cases, I will stick with my old method unless more information becomes available as to how fool proof this method is. |
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I apologize if I missed this question but has anyone tried this large scale like cement mixer scale? I have recently stumbled upon a way to get several hundreds of thousand pieces of 223 brass and don't want to do this a thousand at a time. Yes this question was brought up earlier in the thread. I think separating the media, cases, and water was the big problem. Don't remember. However a couple of guys made their tumblers from scratch and scaled them up for more volume. Look for BIGGDAWG and Flamethrowers posts. Their threads were also toggled, so they will be on pages 30 to 33 at the end of this forum. Toggled means the thread won't go into the archives and become unavailable to non team members. |
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Finally have mine up and running. I've given my solution to the vibration that may cause the tumbler to move. I did my first batch on the kitchen counter and noticed that it would move around a bit.
I made a frame that has an inside measurement of 11.25X11.25. 
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I find that it is best to run the tumbler on a solid surface, running it on anything that is hollow or semi-hollow underneath result in its noise being transmitted and broadcast like a drum. I put the tumbler on a small piece of foam pad and on the basement concrete floor, it pretty much stay put and there is no danger of it falling over an edge. |
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Just a new experience I had with this process yesterday...
The bar (furthest from the motor) that the holds the barrel in place as it turns has little clips that keep the larger disks from moving as the barrel tries to move on the bar. One of those little clips looked suspect when I bought it but I figured it was OK. I guessed wrong. The clip allowed the disk to move so the barrel moved. It was rubbing up against the drive wheel as it ran. Since I run it in the garage and only check it after about 3 or 4 hours, I did not notice this until I figured the batch was done. It does not seem it damaged anything and the motor did not seem overly warm. However the brass had to go back in for a few hours since it had been turning slow. Just something for you to inspect before you do a batch. Yes my descriptive skills are poor but hopefully you understood what I meant. |
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This was what I was trying to find out a few post back. I am surprise that you can get the pins out of the bottle neck cases using the seperator, but obviously you can. Will try it myself sometime. Were these 223 cases?
.308 Win cases are all I have tumbled so far. I'm on a kick of shooting .308 Win lately, plus I have several thousand LC NM cases with the toughest carbon deposits in the primer pockets I've ever seen; that was my main motivation for getting the stainless pins. I have to get a second rotary tumbler set up just for tumbling in corn cob to delube, however. |
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Quoted: Quoted: This was what I was trying to find out a few post back. I am surprise that you can get the pins out of the bottle neck cases using the seperator, but obviously you can. Will try it myself sometime. Were these 223 cases? .308 Win cases are all I have tumbled so far. I'm on a kick of shooting .308 Win lately, plus I have several thousand LC NM cases with the toughest carbon deposits in the primer pockets I've ever seen; that was my main motivation for getting the stainless pins. I have to get a second rotary tumbler set up just for tumbling in corn cob to delube, however. OK, that makes sense. The 308 Win cases are pretty big and so most likely less problematic than the 223 cases that I was visualizing when I first thought of what you were describing. Those LC NM carbon deposit should come off with little problem with this method. |
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Why are people just de-capping the brass vs. sizing it with a regular sizer die?
I get dirty range brass, sort by caliber, pour Lee case lube in my hand with gloves on and lube the cases like mixing pizza dough. I use lots of lube and it looks like a filthy mess, but they all size / de-prime just fine, then wet tumble and ready to load when dry, why add an extra step? Am I missing something? I only tumble for 2 hours and only change is primer pockets may have a very slight amount of dark spots but no carbon. |
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Why are people just de-capping the brass vs. sizing it with a regular sizer die? I get dirty range brass, sort by caliber, pour Lee case lube in my hand with gloves on and lube the cases like mixing pizza dough. I use lots of lube and it looks like a filthy mess, but they all size / de-prime just fine, then wet tumble and ready to load when dry, why add an extra step? Am I missing something? I only tumble for 2 hours and only change is primer pockets may have a very slight amount of dark spots but no carbon. i don't like running dirty cases through my dies. defeats the purpose of wet tumbling if you ask me. |
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Why are people just de-capping the brass vs. sizing it with a regular sizer die? I get dirty range brass, sort by caliber, pour Lee case lube in my hand with gloves on and lube the cases like mixing pizza dough. I use lots of lube and it looks like a filthy mess, but they all size / de-prime just fine, then wet tumble and ready to load when dry, why add an extra step? Am I missing something? I only tumble for 2 hours and only change is primer pockets may have a very slight amount of dark spots but no carbon. Yes you are. You are running dirty, gritty cases through your sizing die. Sooner or later you will scratch your die with the grit. Once your die is scratched it will scratch every case run through it. |
Thanks dryflash- now I have one of these tumblers. 
Now I need to figure out how to make an angle bracket for the motor. And to get the knobs to replace the wingnuts. Why does afrcom cost me soo much...? I told the wife it was my birthday present. She bought it- literally .
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Thanks dryflash- now I have one of these tumblers.
Now I need to figure out how to make an angle bracket for the motor. And to get the knobs to replace the wingnuts. Why does afrcom cost me soo much...? I told the wife it was my birthday present. She bought it- literally . Glad to help you spend your money.
To make the bracket, I took flat stock and bent it in a vice, drilled some holes, painted it, and bolted it on. You do need to space the holes for the motor studs. I used a piece of cardboard for a template, pressed it on the studs to get the hole locations. Happy birthday. |
Wonderful! Every time I think I've got the plan down, y'all throw something else into the mix - DAMN!  It might be down the road, but I'm already a convert without even running the process. As soon as feasible (likely a while due to injuries), I can see another wet tumbling setup in use.
Many thanks to all who posted, and for the time and effort it took! Y'all take care. |
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Thanks alot guys...
Due to finding this thread, I now have 10lbs of media on order, and will be building a 2.9 gallon tumbler that I can run ~7-9lbs of brass at a time. The upside, all that crappy old range pickup brass that I have filling 12 55gal drums will be usable again... The build thread from Biggdawg was the kicker. I will be using 6" PVC to start with the 6-4 reducer and it will be 24" long. This gives 678 cubic inches which is 2.9 gallons. I figure this, with 2 gallons of water, 10 lbs of media, and 7-9lbs of brass ought to make pretty simple work of lots of brass. |
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"12 55gal drums" sounds like you sould make an even bigger tumbler! Wow I probably should, but then running small batches would REALLY suck. I won't tumble my .308 match brass in large quantities. I am already contemplating 2 drums, one bigger, and one smaller. I'll just build one to start, get going, and then re-evaluate if I need to. Plus, I have to deprime all that crap first. Sounds like a good winter project that can take me till spring next year. (Lots of time depriming while watching a movie with the wife when its cold and snowy doesn't sound all bad). |
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"12 55gal drums" sounds like you sould make an even bigger tumbler! Wow I probably should, but then running small batches would REALLY suck. I won't tumble my .308 match brass in large quantities. I am already contemplating 2 drums, one bigger, and one smaller. I'll just build one to start, get going, and then re-evaluate if I need to. Plus, I have to deprime all that crap first. Sounds like a good winter project that can take me till spring next year. (Lots of time depriming while watching a movie with the wife when its cold and snowy doesn't sound all bad). that is what i do i have a small one gallon drum for 4lbs or less and i have my 2.25 gallon drum for 10-14lb runs works out great. i use 15lbs of media in my larger 8" drum and 5lbs in my small drum small drum 6" diameter 
large drum 8" diameter 
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Why are people just de-capping the brass vs. sizing it with a regular sizer die? I get dirty range brass, sort by caliber, pour Lee case lube in my hand with gloves on and lube the cases like mixing pizza dough. I use lots of lube and it looks like a filthy mess, but they all size / de-prime just fine, then wet tumble and ready to load when dry, why add an extra step? Am I missing something? I only tumble for 2 hours and only change is primer pockets may have a very slight amount of dark spots but no carbon. I tumble the brass first with with corn cob ,just enough to clean it first , than I size & deprime & wet tumble with the S/S . As soon as it dries , it ready to reload . Less press work , as far as another tumbling , the tumble does all the work . |
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Just started my first batch and something is happening which I do not like.
The lip of the drum is rubbing against one of the two vertical 'stays' on the back roller. I'm concerned the metal drum will destroy the plastic stay. Would some sort of grip tape help the drum to maintain it's place on the rollers. Or is this nothing to be fretting about? |
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Just started my first batch and something is happening which I do not like. The lip of the drum is rubbing against one of the two vertical 'stays' on the back roller. I'm concerned the metal drum will destroy the plastic stay. Would some sort of grip tape help the drum to maintain it's place on the rollers. Or is this nothing to be fretting about? Level the tumbler and make sure the rubber on the shafts are not worn. |
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Just started my first batch and something is happening which I do not like. The lip of the drum is rubbing against one of the two vertical 'stays' on the back roller. I'm concerned the metal drum will destroy the plastic stay. Would some sort of grip tape help the drum to maintain it's place on the rollers. Or is this nothing to be fretting about? The drum is not perfectly round, which is why the stops are there. I just let mine run, there are shinny spots on the drum where all of the paint is wore off. You could always call Thumbler's. If you do, please post their response. |
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I have used the Model B for several years for my .45-90, and .40-90 SBN brass, fired with black powder. I use ceramic media, and only use a few ounces of water. I've tried dishwashing detergent, and I've used a burnishing compound as well (it was a kit- media and compound- I rec'd as a gift).
65 or so .45-90 cases, enough media to cover the brass, a shot of cleaner, and two or three ounces of water. 3-4 hours later- nice, shiny brass. No need to fill the tumbler with water |
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Just started my first batch and something is happening which I do not like. The lip of the drum is rubbing against one of the two vertical 'stays' on the back roller. I'm concerned the metal drum will destroy the plastic stay. Would some sort of grip tape help the drum to maintain it's place on the rollers. Or is this nothing to be fretting about? The drum is not perfectly round, which is why the stops are there. I just let mine run, there are shinny spots on the drum where all of the paint is wore off. You could always call Thumbler's. If you do, please post their response. I called Thumbler's and they were very nice. They said the vertical stays are there to keep the drum from moving into the pulley. And if I wanted to, I could use a small piece of wood to elevate one side of the tumbler. He said the drum will tend to run uphill once a shim is in place. When it gets 'broken in' (my words) the neoprene rollers should have a groove in them where the drum should stay. I tried the small wood shim on the downhill side of the tumbler, and it didn't seem to work very well (my drum also didn't walk up hill). After this didn't work, I just centered the drum and pushed down to try and make a little groove in the rollers. It hasn't rubbed since. |
[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Wet tumbling with SS media, lots of pics New info second post 10-02-2015. (Page 6 of 23)
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