removing tumbler residue

17 May 2008, 00:23

the_captain

I ran a batch of ratty brass through the tumbler using rouge-treated nutshell media. Since it was a small batch, I just wiped off each piece to remove the residue from the outside and then ran a bore brush in the neck to clean that area out. Does anyone have a better way to get rid of it for bigger batches? I like how well it cleaned up the brass, but I don't want to hand-wipe every piece. Can I tumble it again for a short time using plain corncob media to clean off the residue? Any tips would be great. Thx!

17 May 2008, 01:29

butchloc

you shouldn't be having residue. i'm guessing that the media is getting worn out and breaking down. just run the batch through some new sutff & it'll clean right up

17 May 2008, 01:34

Doc

I just changed my corn cob media this week and still got a lot of "new" dust from it as well.

I was having worse residue b4 I changed it, thought the new media would take care of it, but I was wrong.

17 May 2008, 02:52

Markhpb

I just dump the brass in a bucket of water and shake it up a bit to clean off the dust. Then spread them out on a towel to dry. I guess you could put them in the oven at a low temp. to hurry the process along. I live in Arizona so just letting them dry in the sun is quick enough for me.

17 May 2008, 06:35

Duckhunter39208

I saw something on another forum last month about using old dryer sheets to collect/remove tumbler residue. I cut them in quarters or just into strips and drop in the tumbler with the brass. I was supprised at the amount of trash and dust it rermoved. Someone said an unused sheet would work better but the used ones have done so well I haven't tried the new ones. My wife thinks its cool that I have found a use for the used sheets; can't imagine why I would want them but she sets them aside for me.

17 May 2008, 06:38

bartsche

I guess I don't understand everything I know about this thread!!

In the way of a suggestion, Walnut media only, cut a cotton dryer fabric softener into approx. 1" x 1/2" strips and put them in your vibratory bowel along with your brass or whatever. A large percentage of the dirt and dust will be collected by these strps. Than when you empty the contents into your sive brush the residue from you tumbler. When you finish with the bucket clean it in like manner.

If you want to get real clever do as advised with the softener but do it outside with the top off the tumbler. A breeze or a small fan will help.

If you want to go all the way to super niffty add a few squirts of Orange 409 and a couple table spoons of Bon Ami ( calcium carbonate I believe).

roger

17 May 2008, 07:22

the_captain

Thanks for the dryer sheet tip - that's a good one. BTW, this is brand new nut shell media (the first use), so I expected a bit of residue but I got more than I bargained for. I'm sure plain corn cob is a lot cleaner. I bet this stuff will be cleaner after I use it a few times. I'll be trying the dryer sheet thing asap!

17 May 2008, 10:35

SD Shooter

And the fan idea also works. Several months ago I started using the fan. Set your tumbler outside and leave the lid off. Take an electric fan and set it so that the breeze blows across the top of the tumbler. Turn on the tumbler and as it kicks up the dust the fan blows it away. Works like a dream. I also use the dryer sheets which help as the media gets older.

17 May 2008, 11:36

homebrewer

I put a dose of Flitz in with the last batch I ran, but a little more than usual. They came out just super shiny-bright-- like little sticks o' gold. That bunch did not need rinsing at all...

When my media gets worn, it does leave a lot of dust on the cases. I just rinse the cases off in warmish water, swirling them around pretty good in a five-quart stainless pot to get any remaining media out. Then I give 'em a good shakin' to get out as much water as possible. Then I put them into a stainless skillet with a thin bottom and fry them on low heat for about ten minutes, until I can hear the water boiling away in them. After all the water has been evaporated away, I just let 'em cool for about fifteen minutes and it's into the resizer they go.

Once they have been resized, I wash them thoroughly with hot, soapy water to remove the case lube (I use cheap Dollar Store cooking spray) which also gets out more of the powder residue. Next, rinse 'em profusely in warm water, then skillet dry them again. Result: clean cases with no greasy feel to them, no sore fingers from wiping off case lube and not as much powder residue in the cases as before they were cleaned. This method has been working for me for about 20 years...

17 May 2008, 18:05

mho

quote:
Originally posted by the_captain:
...using rouge-treated nutshell media.

Any chance the media you used was something like Lyman Tufnut??

http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0003078210576a.shtml

I got hold of some of this media a while ago, and after tumbling, my cases were red, my hands were red, everything was RED from the wretched media! I dumped the Tufnut after my second attempt of using it (with the same, predictably RED results...), and have stayed well clear of this stuff ever since...

- mike

18 May 2008, 10:36

homebrewer

I went to PetSmart and got ten pounds of clean walnut hulls for about eleven bucks. Brand name is Zilla. Website is www.zilla-rules.com. People who like such lovable pets as bearded dragons, monitors, skinks, uromastyx, chameleons, desert geckos, frogs, green anoles, iguanas, land tortoises, rainforest geckos, salamanders, newts, snakes, swifts, toads and other such warm, fuzzy pets use it for bedding in the cages. What pet lover wouldn't want his loyal bearded dragon to lay in his lap and help watch a movie on a Sunday night? Sounds like fun, don't it?

18 May 2008, 10:48

Mark

Instead of dryer sheets, I've used strips of paper towel for the past several years and they work great too. (I read about it on this forum!) A couple pieces 3/4" X 4" or so, size isn't critical.

18 May 2008, 18:16

bartsche

quote:
Originally posted by Mark:
Instead of dryer sheets, I've used strips of paper towel for the past several years and they work great too. (I read about it on this forum!) A couple pieces 3/4" X 4" or so, size isn't critical.

use to use the paper towels also but found the softener sheets to be much more affective.

roger

18 May 2008, 20:52

muzzle

I set my tumbler next to the door and set a small fan up so that it blows across the open top of the tumbler and I point the whole thing out the back door. I do this everytime I tumble and it keeps the dust to a minimun.

18 May 2008, 23:32

stillbeeman

Am I doing something wrong? I have to pick up each case and dump it out and look for the little pieces of media that are sometimes lodged in the flash hole. I use that as an oportunity to wipe down the cartridge with a soft cloth (aka cloth baby diaper, boy, they're the greatest). Any "dust" that's on the inside of the case is on it's own.
Are we sometimes being too anal or is it just me?

19 May 2008, 04:59

homebrewer

Clean, then resize, stillbeeman. The primer still being in the pocket keeps media from lodging in the flash hole. Pushing media out of the flash hole after cleaning is an annoying, frustrating, time-consuming process.

20 May 2008, 05:49

33806whelen

You might try one of these:
http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm?contentID=productDetail&prodID=RC87076

Also, Just take an old pillow case and pour the separated shells in there and shake them around with a few dryer sheets in there. That will clean them up.

20 May 2008, 23:27

the_captain

quote:
Originally posted by mho:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by the_captain:
...using rouge-treated nutshell media.

Any chance the media you used was something like Lyman Tufnut??

That's exactly what it is. I was hoping to get a good polish on these cases using walnut instead of cob media, as they were pretty ugly range pickups. I know what you mean with the red coating...

The dryer sheet strips didn't help much. It's not so much dust as it is the polish treatment rubbing off. I tried to find some plain ground walnut, but didn't see any. I'll have to try the stuff mentioned by homebrewer. Plainer is better. Maybe I'll go back to plain corncob if the pillowcase trick 33806whelen fails as well.

Overall, the cases look really nice, but it's just too messy. I think plain cob and flitz would do just as good a job and be much neater.

21 May 2008, 03:05

stillbeeman

If I clean and then resize, what do I do about the resizing lube that's on the case????????

22 May 2008, 00:13

fredj338

quote:
Originally posted by butchloc:
you shouldn't be having residue. i'm guessing that the media is getting worn out and breaking down. just run the batch through some new sutff & it'll clean right up

Actually, pretty common w/ rouge infused media. After spearation, I just pour them into an old bath towel & then shake them back & forth. You can spray alittle mist of water on the towel first & that pretty easily takes off the rouge dust. Then switch to non treatd media w/ a tbs of Nu-Finish, Fitz or sim. polish.

22 May 2008, 00:15

fredj338

quote:
Originally posted by homebrewer:
I put a dose of Flitz in with the last batch I ran, but a little more than usual. They came out just super shiny-bright-- like little sticks o' gold. That bunch did not need rinsing at all...

When my media gets worn, it does leave a lot of dust on the cases. I just rinse the cases off in warmish water, swirling them around pretty good in a five-quart stainless pot to get any remaining media out. Then I give 'em a good shakin' to get out as much water as possible. Then I put them into a stainless skillet with a thin bottom and fry them on low heat for about ten minutes, until I can hear the water boiling away in them. After all the water has been evaporated away, I just let 'em cool for about fifteen minutes and it's into the resizer they go.

Once they have been resized, I wash them thoroughly with hot, soapy water to remove the case lube (I use cheap Dollar Store cooking spray) which also gets out more of the powder residue. Next, rinse 'em profusely in warm water, then skillet dry them again. Result: clean cases with no greasy feel to them, no sore fingers from wiping off case lube and not as much powder residue in the cases as before they were cleaned. This method has been working for me for about 20 years...

Wow, way too much work.

22 May 2008, 01:08

ztreh

homebrewer----it may be a pain cleaning the flash hole but somebody's got to do it or it will eventually cause a hang fire.

15 June 2008, 02:29

Edmond

a good way to remove media from flashole easily http://s192.photobucket.com/albums/z69/Quickload/DCB/?a...seMediaSeparator.flv

15 June 2008, 20:10

homebrewer

It might be a lot of work to some, fredj338, but I do it in lots of 200-300 .223Rem cases. I can get about 150 in my skillet so when I'm done, I have enough clean, shiny, resized cases to keep me busy for quite a while. I use lots of old rags in the wash water and a good squeeze of Dawn dishawahing soap to get all the cooking spray off. I swish and swirl and mix the rags and cases all around for about five minutes. The water will turn almost full black, it's getting so much powder residue out of the cases. Then I rinse 'em really good. Then into the skillet they go. Is it a lot of work? Maybe, but I take satisfsaction in knowing my cases are as clean as I can get them-- inside and out...

ztreh, I resize after I clean, which means the decapping pin will push out any media that might get stuck in the flash hole. I also uniform the flash holes with the nifty RCBS flash hole tool. It puts a nice chamfer on the inside of the hole to create a better "funnel" of flash into the powder. You can adjust it to just chamfer the lip or to cut a quite visible chamfer. Cheap at just ten bucks or so...

15 June 2008, 21:24

Quinault

I started out handloading..... without using a tumbler, just cleaned cases in the sink. In the 80s after reading in many gun rags on why I needed a fancy tumbler to clean cases. I got me a fancy tumbler in the shanty. After about 5 years I got real tired of wasting my time money dealing with media in general. Digging it out of cases & primer pockets inspecting primer flash holes a couple times for chunks of media on and on ect.

These days I run my brass thru a Lee universal primer decapper. Throw it all in a stainless steel kitchen sink. Throw in some Joy dish washing soap with hot water swish it around some let it soak 30 minutes. Than rinse a couple times with hot water. Than I put the wet cases in loading blocks neck down. After a few days to a week. They are dry and clean enough with no media residue or plugged flash holes. Ready to resize.

After resizing I repeat the sink cleaning and drying process to remove any traces of case lube. I got no use for fancy tumblers these days.