another quick question - case tumblers

big daddy 9mm · June 29, 2005, 03:44 AM

am I correct in thinking that tumbling is putting your brass in a sand like substance in a cylinder like a dryer and it rotates also like a dryer and it comes out clean in a few minutes. is this all there is to it or do you have to clean it by hand also????

Jim Watson · June 29, 2005, 07:16 AM

Not sand. Not a few minutes. Not many rotary tumblers around these days.
Most tumbler media is ground corncobs or ground walnut hulls, with a little polish added; run in a vibrating tumbler. Takes several hours to clean up a batch. Nothing left to do but sift out the media, though.

Do you have a handloading manual? It is hard to learn what is going on one question at a time on the Net.

big daddy 9mm · June 29, 2005, 10:27 AM

ok... gotcha.....

tjhands · June 29, 2005, 12:57 PM

Again, feel FREE to keep the questions coming. I'm only a few months ahead of you in this reloading stuff and am happy to return the favors that so many here have done for ME!

Check ebay for lots of pics of lots of different tumblers. I bought Cabela's cheapest tumbler and am happy with it. Tumbling is something that is not 100% needed, but it sure shines them up! I leave mine in for 2 hours.

If you do get one, don't spend extra cash on the corncob media! Go to your local Petsmart or Petco and get what is called "Lizard Litter." It is ground up walnut shells - same stuff as the walnut media is. Ten pounds for under ten bucks in my area. Will last a long time.

Learned that from people on this forum!!

Smokey Joe · June 29, 2005, 11:34 PM

Big Daddy 9--Second Jim Watson's motion--rotary tumblers aren't much used in the reloading-brass business. They are used by the rock-polishing crowd, however. I suppose they would work abt. the same, but the ones I've seen for rock polishing have a very small capacity compared to a couple hundred pistol cases, for example.

Vibratory tumblers seem to get the job done. Does take a while--couple hours anyhow--to clean brass. Very dirty brass may have to be tumbled all night. You can't over-tumble the brass so don't worry about too much polishing.

Get the cheapest tumbler you can find--they all work about the same, and what's to go wrong in such a machine?

I made a little 90° fence that I clamp onto the workbench to keep the tumbler from getting any messy ideas about leaping onto the floor while I'm not there supervising it. It's probably not necessary, but it gives me peace of mind.

You will also need a sifter to separate the brass from the polishing medium when the job is done. I made my sifter from a 5 qt. ice cream pail with a 3/8" drill--it looks cheap (and it is) but it works. I sift the medium into another ice cream pail. When the medium is all in the second pail, I put the lid on the pail and that's that until next time.

Cleaning brass post-tumbling: If the brass was tumbled enough there is nothing extra to clean, EXCEPT that with corncob you may find a bit of the cob stuck in the primer flash-hole. If you tumble before de-priming, the depriming pin also pushes out any stuck bits of cob, so that's not much of a problem.

I try to give a glance at each case before re-priming it--so far I've not seen any cob stuck in cases after depriming. And I think that the primer flame would just push the bit of cob in among the powder as the primer went off anyhow, but I'm not about to experiment with it.

I used to clean each pc. of brass by hand with rubbing alcohol and a rag--now THAT is a true PITA. Used rubbing alcohol so's it'd dry w/o having to be wiped dry, but still, ye gods. A tumbler is SO much less hassle.

BTW, you should still clean sizing lube off your cases by hand, before tumbling them, when (if) you lube the case for FL resizing. Haven't tried it myself, but the word is that the sizing lube makes the tumbling medium clump up into little nasty balls in the tumbler, if you don't wipe the sizing lube off the cases before tumbling. And you do have to remove the sizing lube at some point anyway, before firing the cases. (Firing slippery lubed cases will not allow the case to grip the walls of yr chamber as it expands, so the case slides back and puts tremendous pressure on the gun's bolt face. Not a happy scene. Besides, the lube would pick up all manner of dirt, pocket lint, etc, and take it with it into your gun's chamber. Ugh.)

Jim has another good point--a loading manual, or better yet, The ABC's of Reloading, would cover this and many other basic ideas very thoroughly. The ABC's is available @ yr local gun shop, @ a gun show, via the I'net, or from the publisher: www.krause.com

snuffy · June 30, 2005, 01:01 AM

This is my midway,(frankfort arsenal), tumbler and seperator. As you can see, I'm using corn cob media with the prescribed amount of midway/FA brass polish in it. 2 hours is more than enough for these 45 auto cases, they'll blind you in dirrect sunlight!

tjhands · June 30, 2005, 08:40 AM

Dang, that is some PURDY brass!! Gets my juices flowin!!!

Leftoverdj · June 30, 2005, 09:39 AM

The commercial reloaders and the brass dealers still use rotary tumblers, although you might think of them as concrete mixers.

big daddy 9mm · July 1, 2005, 05:28 AM

do the vibrating tumblers work better than the rotating ones??

thanks for the pics!!!

CaptainRazor · July 1, 2005, 08:15 AM

I don't think they are "better", I think they are "faster".
From what I have seen, vibratory tumblers have a larger capacity than rotary tumblers. To my knowledge, vibratory are a lot faster in cleaning up dingy brass.

Under normal use, a vibratory tumbler will last for many, many years.
I usually tumble my brass for about 4 hours or so, 2 hours will usually clean them up nice, but 4 seems to be the magic number for me.

Of course, I have tumbled brass overnight before, I had to use sunglasses to work with that brass! (just kidding, but it was really shiny!)

June 29, 2005, 03:44 AM	#1
big daddy 9mm Senior Member Join Date: May 3, 2005 Posts: 451	another quick question - case tumblers am I correct in thinking that tumbling is putting your brass in a sand like substance in a cylinder like a dryer and it rotates also like a dryer and it comes out clean in a few minutes. is this all there is to it or do you have to clean it by hand also????

June 29, 2005, 10:27 AM	#3
big daddy 9mm Senior Member Join Date: May 3, 2005 Posts: 451	ok ok... gotcha.....

June 29, 2005, 12:57 PM	#4
tjhands Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2005 Posts: 1,718	Again, feel FREE to keep the questions coming. I'm only a few months ahead of you in this reloading stuff and am happy to return the favors that so many here have done for ME! Check ebay for lots of pics of lots of different tumblers. I bought Cabela's cheapest tumbler and am happy with it. Tumbling is something that is not 100% needed, but it sure shines them up! I leave mine in for 2 hours. If you do get one, don't spend extra cash on the corncob media! Go to your local Petsmart or Petco and get what is called "Lizard Litter." It is ground up walnut shells - same stuff as the walnut media is. Ten pounds for under ten bucks in my area. Will last a long time. Learned that from people on this forum!! __________________ "If the sole purpose of handguns is to kill people, then mine are all defective." - Uncle Ted Nugent

June 29, 2005, 11:34 PM	#5
Smokey Joe Senior Member Join Date: July 14, 2001 Location: State of Confusion Posts: 2,106	Tumblers Big Daddy 9--Second Jim Watson's motion--rotary tumblers aren't much used in the reloading-brass business. They are used by the rock-polishing crowd, however. I suppose they would work abt. the same, but the ones I've seen for rock polishing have a very small capacity compared to a couple hundred pistol cases, for example. Vibratory tumblers seem to get the job done. Does take a while--couple hours anyhow--to clean brass. Very dirty brass may have to be tumbled all night. You can't over-tumble the brass so don't worry about too much polishing. Get the cheapest tumbler you can find--they all work about the same, and what's to go wrong in such a machine? I made a little 90° fence that I clamp onto the workbench to keep the tumbler from getting any messy ideas about leaping onto the floor while I'm not there supervising it. It's probably not necessary, but it gives me peace of mind. You will also need a sifter to separate the brass from the polishing medium when the job is done. I made my sifter from a 5 qt. ice cream pail with a 3/8" drill--it looks cheap (and it is) but it works. I sift the medium into another ice cream pail. When the medium is all in the second pail, I put the lid on the pail and that's that until next time. Cleaning brass post-tumbling: If the brass was tumbled enough there is nothing extra to clean, EXCEPT that with corncob you may find a bit of the cob stuck in the primer flash-hole. If you tumble before de-priming, the depriming pin also pushes out any stuck bits of cob, so that's not much of a problem. I try to give a glance at each case before re-priming it--so far I've not seen any cob stuck in cases after depriming. And I think that the primer flame would just push the bit of cob in among the powder as the primer went off anyhow, but I'm not about to experiment with it. I used to clean each pc. of brass by hand with rubbing alcohol and a rag--now THAT is a true PITA. Used rubbing alcohol so's it'd dry w/o having to be wiped dry, but still, ye gods. A tumbler is SO much less hassle. BTW, you should still clean sizing lube off your cases by hand, before tumbling them, when (if) you lube the case for FL resizing. Haven't tried it myself, but the word is that the sizing lube makes the tumbling medium clump up into little nasty balls in the tumbler, if you don't wipe the sizing lube off the cases before tumbling. And you do have to remove the sizing lube at some point anyway, before firing the cases. (Firing slippery lubed cases will not allow the case to grip the walls of yr chamber as it expands, so the case slides back and puts tremendous pressure on the gun's bolt face. Not a happy scene. Besides, the lube would pick up all manner of dirt, pocket lint, etc, and take it with it into your gun's chamber. Ugh.) Jim has another good point--a loading manual, or better yet, The ABC's of Reloading, would cover this and many other basic ideas very thoroughly. The ABC's is available @ yr local gun shop, @ a gun show, via the I'net, or from the publisher: www.krause.com __________________ God Bless America --Smokey Joe

June 30, 2005, 01:01 AM	#6
snuffy Senior Member Join Date: May 20, 2001 Location: Oshkosh wi. Posts: 3,055	This is my midway,(frankfort arsenal), tumbler and seperator. As you can see, I'm using corn cob media with the prescribed amount of midway/FA brass polish in it. 2 hours is more than enough for these 45 auto cases, they'll blind you in dirrect sunlight! __________________ The more people I meet, the more I love my dog They're going to get their butts kicked over there this election. How come people can't spell and use words correctly?

June 29, 2005, 07:16 AM	#2
Jim Watson Senior Member Join Date: October 25, 2001 Location: Alabama Posts: 18,543	Not sand. Not a few minutes. Not many rotary tumblers around these days. Most tumbler media is ground corncobs or ground walnut hulls, with a little polish added; run in a vibrating tumbler. Takes several hours to clean up a batch. Nothing left to do but sift out the media, though. Do you have a handloading manual? It is hard to learn what is going on one question at a time on the Net.

June 30, 2005, 08:40 AM	#7
tjhands Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2005 Posts: 1,718	Dang, that is some PURDY brass!! Gets my juices flowin!!! __________________ "If the sole purpose of handguns is to kill people, then mine are all defective." - Uncle Ted Nugent

June 30, 2005, 09:39 AM	#8
Leftoverdj Senior Member Join Date: October 15, 2004 Posts: 934	The commercial reloaders and the brass dealers still use rotary tumblers, although you might think of them as concrete mixers.

July 1, 2005, 05:28 AM	#9
big daddy 9mm Senior Member Join Date: May 3, 2005 Posts: 451	can I still get the rotating ones do the vibrating tumblers work better than the rotating ones?? thanks for the pics!!!

July 1, 2005, 08:15 AM	#10
CaptainRazor Senior Member Join Date: February 16, 2005 Location: Charleston, WV Posts: 302	I don't think they are "better", I think they are "faster". From what I have seen, vibratory tumblers have a larger capacity than rotary tumblers. To my knowledge, vibratory are a lot faster in cleaning up dingy brass. Under normal use, a vibratory tumbler will last for many, many years. I usually tumble my brass for about 4 hours or so, 2 hours will usually clean them up nice, but 4 seems to be the magic number for me. Of course, I have tumbled brass overnight before, I had to use sunglasses to work with that brass! (just kidding, but it was really shiny!)