I'm saving up for a Crest brand ultrasonic cleaner. I'll use it on pistols, rifle actions and, of course, dirty brass!

Does anyone have some favorite potions to employ in that role????

Thanks for your help,

LD

LD

I use Birchwood Casey Cartridge Case cleaner mixe according to the directions. When the cases look clean enough I place them in a plastic collander rinse them in cold water Shake to remove most of the water then I blow dry them with a hair dryer.

Ultra sounds are also great for Mommas jewelry. Use in 1/3 portions, water, ammonia, and Mr. Clean. However don't use on soft stones like Opals. They will shatter. Don't ask how I know.

Also if you have arthritis in your fingers it will sometimes help to place your fingers in the machine using plain water. It can be rather harsh though.

Best wishes, Bill

LD, I did an Internet search on 'Ultrasonic Cleaners' and found a wealth of info on them. There were units out for a while in the golf industry that were fairly large and used for golfers to place their clubs in after the round for a 2 or 3 minute cleaning, and damn they did a fine job. One of those might be available at a pretty good discount, and except for barreled actions might be big enough for your purposes.....

There was tons of info on the various cleaning solutions, at the 2 golf courses that I know that used them, they used something like Simple Green and hot water--those units did not have heating elements.

Good Luck--Don

lawndart-

Personally, this process is too far off the "law of diminishing returns" scale for me.

But who knows what you're up to.

If you want to clean cases for commercial reloading, more power to you.

Anyway, seems this guy did the research:

http://www.6mmbr.com/ultrasonic.html

on the 6mm Benchrest Forum.

flaco

Thanks for the feedback guys.

As usual, I'm up to something. For one thing, if the brass is perfectly clean it is a lot easier to evaluate it for defects.

I have left the tumbler going over night for brass that had ball powder residue baked on it.

It will be nice also to just put a sidearm or a rifle action into the ultrasonic cleaner for a few minutes, and then dunk it in some water displacing oil.

The big difference between loading for a hobby, and loading for profit is that time is indeed money.

For the same reason, I am replacing the motors on my Gracey case trimmers with more powerful units. If it takes three seconds to trim a .223 case instead of 15 seconds, well that is a very good thing.

LD

Golf Clubs??????

What an 'effing waste of electicity.

Jean Charles, there a couple of good reasons to clean with ultra sound, at least from a practical viewpoint. Don't forget to extract the primers first. Otherwise you'll just get everything a dingy grey!

I've noticed on my large bores that resizing wax can build up on the inside of the case at the shoulder just before the neck. A pain to get out by any other method than ultra-sonic. I also think you get better neck tension, or at least more consistent neck tension, from a down-to-the-metal-clean neck. On straight walled pistol cases resizing with a carbide die on really clean cases is a breeze.

The best reason of course is that everything is all shiny. I now wear a tie at the range.

quote:

Originally posted by lawndart:

Golf Clubs??????

What an 'effing waste of electicity.

And electricity too!

Holy shit,

You know you are in trouble when you develop a lisp when you type .

LD

I use citric acid crystals dissolved in water, about a tablespoon per pint of water, ( the metric police will be after me now!) I use that lukewarm, and then rinse in warm soapy water and then rinse in plain water. No ultrasonics and they come up bright shiny, no carbon deposits remain after about 10 minutes. I think in an Ultrasonic cleaner it might work even better.
Anyone tried that yet ?

T260

quote:

Originally posted by lawndart:
Holy shit,

You know you are in trouble when you develop a lisp when you type .

LD

LD ; Borax , dawn dish washing detergent . Or Ammonia works well , steal I mean borrow the wifes Windex . I used the old White King or Calgon auto dish wash stuff !. Shit howdy does that stuff combined with borax clean !!!!!!!. It takes tree resin off chain blades where acetone or lacquer thinner wouldn't touch the stuff . TSP would work also almost any phosphate cleaner loves carbon !. Drop a line over the bank into the river a tell me what you catch.

Save your money. Buy a nylon mesh bag(laundry bag). Put your cases in the bag. Put the bag in your washing machine, or dish washer.
NOTE
Those of you who are still married and wish to remain so. Do not do this when the wife is around!

muck

Between 1977 and 1987 I walked into Bender's Jewelry 3 times a year and let my wife pick out jewelry while her other jewelry was getting ultrasound cleaning.

The jewelry always got sparkling clean.
You can take a tooth brush and tooth paste to jewelry, but it will not sparkle like it does after ultrasound.

=========================

The part of brass I really want to get clean is the inside of the necks.

I wrap a bore brush in steel wool and spin it in the mini lathe. I shove each cartridge case over the brush while it spins.

This seems to make it pass the bullet puller test:
If I seat a bullet and then pull it, are there any marks or scratches from the case neck?

Hey guys,

I'm getting a Crest model F575HT, and some extra baskets.

I'll use Citranex for brass, and L&R for sidearms and rifle actions, then use L&R water displacing oil for lubrication.

Next step from there is the Giraud case trimmer and then on to the Ken Light annealing machine!!!!!

John, where is the Crest coming from? I've got a little interest in one myself.

Thanks--Don

E-bay.

There is an outfit in North Dakota that sells them on there by the carload. Comes with a 2 1/2 year warranty, etc.

Thanks LD, I'll check it out.

Thanks--D.

quote:

Or Ammonia works well ,

Do not use ammonia on brass.

quote:

Originally posted by lawndart:
E-bay.

There is an outfit in North Dakota that sells them on there by the carload. Comes with a 2 1/2 year warranty, etc.

LD

Where is and who is this outfit? I did a Google and found nothing.

Thanks for the help.

Bill

Lawndart- you mean citronox?

Stinger - I think the outfit mentioned earlier is Balkowitsch Enterprises Inc. I believe they just sell on EBay.

Hi,

I too am looking for a Crest to buy. Beware the Balkowitsch outfit, here is a webpage I found:

http://kurtgilman.info/

Thanks,

Alan

I live in Minot which is about 112 miles north of Bismarck.

I have never heard of Balkowitsch. I am sure I would have if they were popular. I would garner a rabid a$$ guess these lovely folks are dealing with out of staters only. From what I read of their business practices if, they tried those things in state they'd be hanged.

I would suggest that anybody who has issues with these folks to inform our States Attorney General of the complaints. The Attorney General actually will do something to correct the matter. I mean that. North Dakota runs a pretty tight ship on matters such as these. We can't be like some other states and let stuff like this ride. We are a small state and are striving to be noticed not only for our products but for our honesty and fair business practices. We are #2 and were trying harder. Just to put this in perspective, there are more people in the Dayton Ohio metro area than there are in the State of North dakota.

With all the documentation that is available it would not surprise me to see the Attorney General hang these folks by the yard arm.This is one of the few states I've been in that when they say something it will get done. And no, I'm not a native.

The State does have a web site with the Attorney General prominently mentioned on it.

Please contact him and air your problems. I'm sure you will be satisfied.

Best wishes, Bill