brass polish question

24 October 2003, 03:57

hi, i have just bought my first tumbler and unfortunatley the shop was out of the brass polish that you add to the media,they said it would be allright to use ordinary household brass polish instead is this right?
thanks for your help

24 October 2003, 04:05

<reload>

You don't need polish added, the media will do the job for you. Some people use jeweler's polish or brasso. Try it with out and adding anything and see how you like the results. Good Luck

24 October 2003, 04:09

bunnybasher

thanks for that reload. i thought i had read on here that u did not need to use anything but they told me at the shop that it would not clean otherwise!

24 October 2003, 04:19

jt1

Walnut hulls or corncob media will clean the brass just fine by itself. Adding the polish will just give it a little extra shine, nothing earthshaking.

John

24 October 2003, 04:28

Dago Red

It will clean the brass without polish in there, but if you want it to shine then you will need to put some polish in. It is just a cosmetic difference though, nothing that would affect reloading or shooting. I normally throw in the brass and depending on how it looks decide if I want to deal with polish, then turn it on and go away for an hour or so. (I also put a couple of towels under mine to cut down ont he sound of it vibrating through the workbench).

Red

25 October 2003, 05:26

Eterry

i dont polish brass very often...dont see much need in it. so when i do the brass is usually very cruddy and needs all the help it can get. so i add a little brasso to the mix...never have measured it, just add a couple ounces. it seems to clean faster and better...hope that helps.

good luck and good shooting

eterry

29 October 2003, 10:10

RobertD

The problem with Brasso is that it contains ammonia. This will impact the reliability of the brass over time.

If you are polishing door knobs, it won't matter. When you start firing 40,000 psi loads in your brass, then it matters.

I suggest you stick with either a commerical brass polish made for cleaning cartridges or make your own.

I have a nice receipe, but it is not with me right now. If you are interested, I will dig it up and post it. It cleans at least as well as the Dillon cleaner.

RobertD

29 October 2003, 10:48

Paul Libby

quote:
Originally posted by RobertD:
The problem with Brasso is that it contains ammonia. This will impact the reliability of the brass over time.

If you are polishing door knobs, it won't matter. When you start firing 40,000 psi loads in your brass, then it matters.

I suggest you stick with either a commerical brass polish made for cleaning cartridges or make your own.

I have a nice receipe, but it is not with me right now. If you are interested, I will dig it up and post it. It cleans at least as well as the Dillon cleaner.

RobertD

How about posting your formula, I bet it will be of interest to lots of us.

29 October 2003, 11:53

claybuster

I bought a bottle of lyman turbo polish 12 years ago,haven't used a 1/4 of the bottle as to date,a little goes a very long way.Probably have used more of the stuff for polishing my brass barreled darts,and wifey's jewlery,than for brass.Just remember more is not better,in regards to adding polish.It does'nt take much to gum up your media.Try to avoid,The media with polish already mixed in, ie. lyman's red rouge walnut.You wind up re-polishing in plain corncob to get the rouge off of the brass.Best of luck to you,Clay.

29 October 2003, 12:05

claybuster

P.S. I bought a collander at the dollar store that rests in the top of a 5 gallon bucket,I dump the tumbler contents into the collander resting in the bucket and pick up the collander just enough to shake it to work out the media.All done outside because the stuff is so damn dusty.

29 October 2003, 14:35

Chargar

Go to your local pet store and buy some walnut shell bird bedding. Now go to your auto supply store and by some Mothers Mag Polish. Put the bird bedding in your tumbler, add a tablespoon of Mothers, run the puppy for about an hours to mix it all up and throw your brass in. Much cheaper than buying the stuff sold at gun stores. Works like a champ.

31 October 2003, 00:46

BAShooter

I need my cases shine to find them easily in the grass, specially in spring/summer time when the grass becames green/yellow.

For rotary type tumblers:
Sawdust with a little of polishing paste.
Sawdust must be from natural wood, nor hardboard neither others aglomeratted plates because they cointain abrasive particles.
Polishing paste I am talking about is used by industrial bronze polishers, chrome platters, etc.
It is supplied in blocks, request polishing type, because they came in different abrassive graduations. It is necessary to scrape and get small pieces or grains. Grains must be as smaller as to impede be retained into the case or prime hole. This grains became powder in a couple of times.
It is neccessary a litle quantity to get a good gloss.
Put lots of 8/10 cases in a rag and rub a litlle.

For vibratory tumblers.
Rice, the cheapest rice. Here is called " broken rice" and it is used for feeding dogs. I do not know how its is called in the States.
Sharp borders of "broken rice" provides a good polish. Friction among rice grains is low, so, it is possible to put much rice and cases in a vibratory tumbler without overloading and heating the motor .

Hope this helps

BA Shooter

31 October 2003, 00:55

wheelgun101

I have read that car polish works so I tried it last year.Works just like the stuff I bought for the tumbler.My .02

31 October 2003, 04:30

vmaxx

You can get treated media from Sinclair that has little stone like particals in it. That does a bit better than just plain corn cob or walnut media.

31 October 2003, 04:39

Stonecreek

I wouldn't use Brasso or any other liquid brass polish. These work through chemical, not mechanical action, and actually attack the surface of the brass. This can't be good.

Just a dab of liquid car polish added to corn cob media will help speed its action immensely and will revitalize it after it is "worn out". It will have the same basic ingredient as the Lyman's or other media enhancer -- just a little bit of mild abrasive.

I won't touch walnut shells. The red-brown dust they create attaches itself to everything.

31 October 2003, 19:39

B17G

I never add polish to tumbling media. I found that Walnut does a lot better job in a few hours than corn media did in 24 hours of tumbling.

As far as Stonecreeks recommendation to add to Corn Media, I have to try that out. It sounds like a good idea.

The little dust that comes from Walnut media to me is a small price to pay based on the massive improvement it gives over corn polish.

Maybe Stoney's suggestion will change that.
Cheers.

31 October 2003, 23:34

<BEJ>

I would rather spend time loading cases than waiting for them to emerge from the tumbler. I'm sure a case soaked in Brasso for a long period will show some sign of deterioration, but not from a quick wipe from some on a rag and wiped off within a few seconds. At least I haven't seen ANY negatives using it for three years.
I can reload several boxes before your cases are removed from the machine because mine are ready to load when I pull them out (case OAL notwithstanding).
Instead of twiddling my thumbs waiting for the barrel to cool, I wipe down the cases whether one, three, or five. Takes, maybe, 30 seconds for five cases. I can even BS and wipe cases at the same time !!
Tumblers have their place for severely oxidized cases, but for me, they are a waste of money, time, and resources. To each his own !!

01 November 2003, 00:13

sakofan

Walnut media with a dab of car polish. I dont use corn cob media anymore. Walnut is much faster..sakofan..

01 November 2003, 06:41

Need Just 1 More Gun

Don't forget to buy a cheap electrical timer. I sometimes run my tumbler at night on the timer to avoid having that racket when I am working in the garage, and to limit the actual amount of time that something is tumbling.

01 November 2003, 10:16

MT Lassiter

I'm more interested in clean cases than shiney ones. Lately I've been using 3-4 tablespoons of Bon Ami cleanser (calcium carbonate) in my Midway 1292 with walnut cage litter and an added couple tablespoons of water to keep the dust down.

After tumbling for no more than two hours I switch the media to untreated walnut cage litter for 10-30 mins to remove any remaining cleanser.

Works for me. Cases come clean but a little duller than with traditional polishes.

02 November 2003, 19:37

<Bill T>

I use corn cob media with Dillions Rapid Polish. In a few hours the dirtiest millitary cases come out like new, inside and out. The nice thing about corn cob is it's cheap. When it gets dirity, I simply toss it. Bill T.

06 November 2003, 13:00

Tom Burns

I like to put shells in sox with end tied and into a dark wash like dungerees -- they come out shiny and clean -- if additional cleaning is necessary -- I use tumbler-- I use corn cob bedding used for dogs--- inexpensive-- will add polish if needed also used orange peels or liquid polishing compound just a few ideas to kick around Mag801