Walnut and comet cleanser in tumbler

[RustyFN]

Originally Posted by JLA

I like the stainless pins idea.. but damn look at the friggin price!

What kills it for me is the extra work with the drying time and all that. Mine come out looking like new on the outside in 1.5 hours with 50/50 walnut/corn cob and half a cap full of Nu Finish car polish and I only have around 4 minutes of hands on time for 600 to 900 cases. When they come out they are ready to load..

[RAJBCPA]

I am a sucker for shiney cases.....

This is why I like nickle plated brass. It always comes out looking like factory new ammo. All I do is run it in walnut shells for a couple of hours with a cap full of newfinish car wax.

[76Highboy]

Originally Posted by LDBennett

stev32k said:

"...............but I don't like the idea of cleaning brass with corn cob or walnut shells. Both of those contain a lot of fine dirt and abrasives."


What happens is the vibration acts as a separator. All the dirt and fine particles end up in the bottom of the vibratory cleaner bowl. If you are careful when transferring the cases out of the cleaner machine, the dust and fine particles stay in the bowl. I then use the Dillion rotary basket which tumble the brass to remove the remaining media out of the cases. In 25+ years of using this system my dies show no sign of scratches. And I really stretch the usage of the walnut shell media running it literally for years without changing it. I can not do that with the corn cob media as it doesn't clean but polishes and looses even that ability rather quickly.

But hey, we all get to choose. As long as the cleaning method does not harm the brass (as some unknown chemical in cleanser, or soap may) all is OK , I guess.

LDBennett

Ya I agree. I run mine just long enough to clean them up so they function smoothly and that is it.

[Airdale]

Originally Posted by JLA

Im very ceriously trying to justify 250 bucks for a stainless pin kit.. Maybe put my krinker plinker on hold

Josh,

My wife has a small tumbler from Harbor Freight for her jewlery work. She uses the steel pins. I gave her a handfull of 9mms to clean and polish after reading this thread as a test. The results were great after only an hour of tumbling. Her little three pound unit would limit capacity. I asked her how many she thought it would do at a time and she guessed about 75. They do have a double drum unit. But hey I can give up capacity if I can save $.

This unit is on sale for $39.
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-lb-ro...ler-67631.html

The double drum is on sale for $49.99.
http://www.harborfreight.com/dual-dr...ler-67632.html

I think to get them really pristine an hour and a half would be perfect. The unit is quiet, the media is clean and lasts forever. What's not to like?

[howlnmad]

I've got one of those rotary rock tumblers and was thinking about buying the refill kit for the pins and trying that. I don't know, I'll probably just keep going with the vibratory and have brass that's clean enough and ready right out of the cleaner.

[medalguy]

The SS pins sure do make brass look like new, inside and out. I bought 10 pounds of pins a couple of years ago and I've used them many times. The drawback is the time required to separate pins, brass, and water. So, I decided to only use the pins when I get some really stained brass or tarnished brass. Otherwise I just use cob and NuFinish polish.

The SS pins are expensive, but they never wear out, and never need replacing. Buy once, cry once, as they say.