Frankford Tumbler with Petco Corncob and Flitz

[hotwls13]

OK, I'm a total newb at this reloading stuff, so I started with the tumbler. I hope to get the rest of my reloading stuff for Christmas . Anyway, I purchased the Frankford Tumbler and Flitz from Midway.

After setting it up, I bought some of the Green Label Corn Cob from Petco. This is the larger stuff, not the 1/8". I filled the bowl about 3/4 of the way, then added approx 250 mixed 45, 9mm, 40sw cases. I also squirted some Flitz in. I turned on the tumbler and walked away for approx 2 1/2 hrs. I came back and the cases looked nice and shiny on the outside, though I didn't notice much if any improvement on the inside. Also, I noticed that some of the media had gotten stuck in some of the cases. An easy fix with a little screwdriver.

Anyway, overall I think this tumbler works pretty good. It does seem loud to me, though I have heard these are supposed to be quiet. Maybe the other ones are just painfully loud.

Couple questions:

1. How long do you keep reusing the media?
2. Should you add the Flitz and run the tumbler a little while before adding the brass?
3. I noticed after the 2 1/2 hrs that the media seemed to harden or stick together. I had to run my hands through it to break it up. Is this normal? It would seem that if it hardens up, this would prevent the cleaning/tumbling action.
4. Are the insides of the cases supposed to be getting cleaned as well? The outsides are nice and shiny, but the insides look to still have remnants of burnt powder.
5. Should I go to the local feed store and try to find some ground walnut? The pet store didn't have any walnut.
6. What do you guys use as a cheap media separator? I had to basically pick them out one by one. I checked my wifes strainers, but the holes were all too small for the media I am using.

Thanks for any input, I look forward to the whole reloading hobby, and expect to be producing my first rounds by the end of the year.

[ledavatar]

1. How long do you keep reusing the media?
2. Should you add the Flitz and run the tumbler a little while before adding the brass?
3. I noticed after the 2 1/2 hrs that the media seemed to harden or stick together. I had to run my hands through it to break it up. Is this normal? It would seem that if it hardens up, this would prevent the cleaning/tumbling action.
4. Are the insides of the cases supposed to be getting cleaned as well? The outsides are nice and shiny, but the insides look to still have remnants of burnt powder.
5. Should I go to the local feed store and try to find some ground walnut? The pet store didn't have any walnut.
6. What do you guys use as a cheap media separator? I had to basically pick them out one by one. I checked my wifes strainers, but the holes were all too small for the media I am using.

Thanks for any input, I look forward to the whole reloading hobby, and expect to be producing my first rounds by the end of the year.

I have the same Frankford Arsenal media tumbler and I use the same large granule Petco corn cob media.

1. I load the tumbler full and use the media about 8 times. After load 2 I usually mix some brass polish in there.

2. 3. Yes! Definitely turn on the tumbler to add the polish in and let it run for about a minute before dumping the brass in. That may be why your media is clumped together. However I'm surprised that the big granules clumped, as this is was a problem with smaller granule media for me.

4. Cleaning cases is only necessary so that your dies don't get scratched. It has little to do with accuracy. I clean/polish brass just because I like shiny cases, but you won't see the insides of casings once they're loaded, so don't worry about it.

5. I've tried many types of media and corn cob seems to get the job done better than anything else. Walnut is finer and seems to do a polish job without the flitz but it produces a lot of dust when you're sifting through the cases after a polish. My suggestion is that if corn cob cleans the cases to your liking, don't fix what ain't broke. Go ahead and try walnut and you'll see what I mean about dust. To me, it's not worth the health hazard.

6. I got the frankford arsenal "package" that came w/ some corn cob media, a media separator, and some polish. That has worked well for me. If you want something that lasts, I've heard great things about the Dillon separators (www.dillonprecision.com).

[hotwls13]

2. 3. Yes! Definitely turn on the tumbler to add the polish in and let it run for about a minute before dumping the brass in. That may be why your media is clumped together. However I'm surprised that the big granules clumped, as this is was a problem with smaller granule media for me.

Thanks for info LEDAVATAR

I had a few instances where the media clumped inside the 45 cases. Upon inspecting, it looked as though the Flitz had clumped with the media. What I am mostly talking about is at the end of the 2 1/2 hrs, I turned off the tumbler, and ALL OF THE MEDIA in the tumbler was sticking together. It was like one big clump. It easily broke up when I ran my hand through it, then I restarted and everything was moving freely again. Is this a sign that I need more or less flitz or is this normal? I don't know how long it goes before this stuff starts to harden together, but it appears to be working fine.

Should I be filling the tumbler to the top with media?
Is there a max for the # of cases to tumble at a time?

[CrustyFN]

I use walnut. I turn on the tumbler and add Nu-finish car polish while it is running. Then I cut a dryer sheet into 10 or 12 pieces and add those. They will collect the dust and keep your media clean. Then I add the brass. I let it run for 2 to 2.5 hours and it comes out like new. I separate it in a spaghetti colander on top of a 5 gallon bucket. Be careful putting different calibers of brass in at the same time. I have heard of the smaller ones getting stuck in the larger ones. I hope this helps.
Rusty

[ledavatar]

Is this a sign that I need more or less flitz or is this normal? I don't know how long it goes before this stuff starts to harden together, but it appears to be working fine.

Should I be filling the tumbler to the top with media?
Is there a max for the # of cases to tumble at a time?

How much polish are you using? I suspect you're putting too much. I always put a bare minimum amount and it seems to ge the job done (3-5 cap fulls - if you imagine say water bottle caps). After you have some polish in the media it just becomes a function of time for how shiny you want the brass to be.

Fill the tumbler 3/4 full with media and dump cases to the point where you can still see them moving in circles freely (getting sucked in the center and back up near the outer rim).

[hotwls13]

How much polish are you using? I suspect you're putting too much. I always put a bare minimum amount and it seems to ge the job done (3-5 cap fulls - if you imagine say water bottle caps). After you have some polish in the media it just becomes a function of time for how shiny you want the brass to be.

Actually I think it's just the opposite. I didn't do capfulls. I only have the small 3.5 oz bottle so I just squirted 3-4 swirls of the stuff into the media. I would think 3 capfulls would be 3 times the amount I used.

Then I cut a dryer sheet into 10 or 12 pieces and add those. They will collect the dust and keep your media clean. I separate it in a spaghetti colander on top of a 5 gallon bucket. Be careful putting different calibers of brass in at the same time. I have heard of the smaller ones getting stuck in the larger ones.

I will give the dryer sheet thing a try if I switch to walnut. As far as the colander, it will not work with the corn cob I have, the pieces are too big.
So far with the 3 calibers I am tumbling some have been inside others, but none have been stuck.

[ledavatar]

If you can, try to separate the brass and tumble one caliber only. I know it's hard since you just started and might not have much brass. I've had 9mm brass inside .40 inside .45 casings and they're really tough to remove. The large corn cob media you're using should be better though as they're hard to get stuck between various sizes.

[hotwls13]

No problem, I will stick to just 1 caliber at a time.

I will also get me some Nu-finish car wax as I bet it's cheaper than flitz and easier to find.

[CrustyFN]

I use two cap fulls of the Nu-finish. I am fairly new at this also and was wondering if it was possible to use a finer grain corn cob media that would sift through a spaghetti colander? I hear the corn cob does make the brass shinier but to me the walnut makes it look like new so that is good enough for me. Also if you have a Harbor Freight near you they have the walnut media cheap. If not I bought mine at Wally World, still a good price.
Rusty

[Toolman]

I have the frankford arsenal tumbler & it is loud, but not too objectional. I use Flitz polish with the small cob. I start out with new media & add flitz & let it run empty for about 15 minutes before adding cases. I don't mix cases. I've never had "clumping" problems.

[Abndoc]

I add a small amount of polish to 1 or 2 inch squares of paper towel and dump them into the media. Brass comes out clean and no clumping. I don't know if its any better than what you are doing, but it works for me.

[WestWorld]

I had a Frankford tumbler that was loud... turned out the nuts that hold the motor were loose and the thing shook itself to dead in a few hours. The second one I got... had loose ones as well... tightened them and mine is now very quiet.

Pull the plactic bowl off and tighten the four nuts on the base plate... they are holding the motor in place.

[Don H]

Petco walnut shell is in the reptile section.

[hotwls13]

Westworld

Pull the plactic bowl off and tighten the four nuts on the base plate... they are holding the motor in place.

I will do that before my next tumble, I don't want mine dying. I already did the "drill holes in the base plate thing" to help with ventilation, so I can't return it.

CrustyFN

Also if you have a Harbor Freight near you they have the walnut media cheap.

I will have to take a look. I just happen to have a HF right next door to my local Indoor Range that I am going to tomorrow.

As to the "clumping problem", I'm not sure if I am explaining it right. After it had ran approx 2 1/2 hrs, I went out to check on it. I noticed not too much movement in the bowl. After turning it off and taking the lid off, it was as though the entire contents was one big piece. If I were to tilt the bowl, it probably would have all broken up. Once i ran my hand through it, it all broke up very easily. After I ran my hand through and restarted, everything was flowing freely. Once I came back a 1/2 hr later it was all back to it's semi-stuck consistency. The bowl was approx 1/2 to 3/4 full with media, a few squirts of Flitz and probably 250 mixed cases. The bowl was probably 3/4 full with the cases thrown in. Probably worrying about nothing, I just want to get it right.

I think I just need to add more polish/flitz. I was thinking that the polish was just for making the brass shiny, but now I am thinking that the polish aids in lubricating the media as well.

As for the strainer, I think i may just pick up a cheapy plastic collander from walmart, then drill some larger holes in it, but keep them smaller than 9mm brass.

[Foxman]

I have tried the metal polish stuff and I have to say none of it was real good.
Since then I use the RCBS polish powder and the finer corn cob it works great and has lasted about 6 months each time.
I just add enough of the polish powder from the plastic packet to get the media rolling and rotating freely. I add the cases and leave it between half and 1 hour sometimes a bit longer. As soon as the corn stops rotating freely and the polishing slows down I just add enough powder again to get things moving. The packets last a long time (5 in a bag) and I only dump the corn cob when it gets real dirty and stops working. Never had a problem since using this method.

[rnovi]

Damn, I've been using the same walnut hulls for over three years and 15,000 rounds now. Guess I should toss it all? A squirt of whatever car wax I've got lying around every third tumbler use keeps my brass looking just fine.

I like the dryer sheet idea though...

[hotwls13]

Bought a 25lb box of Walnut from Harbor Freight last night. I will try it out this weekend. I think this stuff is pretty fine though, so I may be able to use a regular collander.

[Ammo Junky]

+1 on the bolts comeing loose. I check mine and replace the media 1 x / yr. I have had mine 3yr and it still runs well. The rcbs is much better made for $10 more dollars and probably would last 5X as long. The rcbs use to be 2x as much, but fa was beating them to death with their prices.

[JHill]

Some points of interest:

Visit your pet store and buy a product called Lizard Litter--25# bag for $20 or so. It is finely ground walnut shells.

I have read elsewhere that you should not use any product that has ammonia in it (brasso) as it deteriorates brass...makes sense.

+1 on not lumping several different casings of nearly the same size--9mm w/ .40 or .40 w/ .45 as they can get jammed together.
I have had good results w/ rifles cases w/ pistol cases together...

If you want to go even bigger on the tumbling media you can hit a sand blasting supply store for walnut media--50# for around $10-15.

[hotwls13]

Well I tried the Walnut, and it worked just fine. My tumbler also ran much quieter. I don't know if it was the large corn media or not the proper amount of flitz, but with the walnut and just a squirt of flitz it is many decibel quieter. I think the corn cob did a little better job polishing, but the walnut is still pretty good. I think if I get some Nu-finish polish and put a couple cap fulls, that will help. Plus I can use a collander with the fine walnut to separate.