I would advise against putting anything abrasive in your tumbling media. There are liquids that are made for this purpose, though at the price of ground walnut shells I just replace the media when it is exhausted.
PaulS
Posts: 639 | Location: SE WA. | Registered: 05 February 2004
One other coarse media that I use instead of walnut shells is rice. Works very well and I follow it up with corn cob media to polish. I always seem to have lots of rice left around the house uneaten and old so rather than throw it out it goes in my tumbler. Once it is really black I toss it out and get "fresh".
Posts: 257 | Location: Long Beach | Registered: 25 June 2002
I use the Dillon media additive with walnut hull and find it makes my brass brighter than media alone. Lasts a long time too, I use about a teaspoon every 3 or 4 runs.
Ian
Posts: 294 | Location: Kentucky | Registered: 09 March 2003
I buy the crushed walnut at the pet store, throw the brass in, tumble for several hours, after a month or so I'll throw some rubbing alcohol in to clean the crude off the media and the stuff is good for another few months. Of course I'm looking to clean my brass, not looking to polish the brass. Jim
Posts: 6173 | Location: Richmond, Virginia | Registered: 17 September 2000
I used to put a little liquid floor wax in my media. At the time, I was cleaning lots of cases with vinagar and salt. The wax replaced the factory coating that gets removed by the chemicals, and prevents a quick return of the corrosion
Posts: 247 | Location: Wyoming | Registered: 20 March 2004
Dave in long beach, I've used washed and dried rice for about a year and a half. I got tired of retumbling all the time to remove the dust and picking out chunks of rice from the flash holes.Sometimes they are stuck from the inside and are a bitch to dislodge. I'm back to walnut only and don't break any more decapping pins. roger of temple city ca
Posts: 10226 | Location: Temple City CA | Registered: 29 April 2003
I've used Brasso in my tumbler with walnut media. I got a haze on my cases when finished but think that was because of using my media too long. I just purchased a tube of Flitz and am looking forward to trying that when I return from the range tomorrow. It's amazing what we put in our tumblers and the vast assortment of media we use. I personally think the secret, if there is one, rests in being sure not to overuse the media. Best wishes.
A trick that I learned here on the forums is to tear some strips of paper towels about 1 inch wide and toss 2 or 3 into your tumbler. It will absorb all of the junk and stuff and keep your media quite clean. I was reading once because my corn cob media was pretty grimy and it took a few strips but my media looks pretty nice now. Anymore I just use my tumbler for polishing, the dish soap and vinegar treatment does such a nice and fast job on dirty brass, it pretty much has to be seen to be believed I think.
Posts: 7778 | Location: Between 2 rivers, Middle USA | Registered: 19 August 2000