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Old September 5, 2012, 02:28 PM   #1
capodastro
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Polishing media

Whats better for polishing as well as economical, corn cobb or walnut? Or does anyone have a suggestion for homemade media? I'm sick of dirty looking brass, plus I think it would be better on my dies.
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Old September 5, 2012, 02:37 PM   #2
Hoosier_Daddy
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I don't know which is better. I use walnut with a little nufinish in vibratory tumbler for 2 hours for cleaning. Cleans up the brass well.
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Old September 5, 2012, 03:04 PM   #3
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It is said that corn cob media shines better than walnut shell media but walnut cleans better. I do not know inasmuch as I have just used walnut media with my tumbler for years. It seems to clean and shine just fine.

I do not see the need to experiment with home-made, house-hold media for cleaning and polishing cases...tumbling media (walnut) is inexpensive, lasts a long, long time and is available either as tumbling media or intended for various pets, in the pet stores. I see no point in re-inventing the wheel, and there are too many stores of people making a mess while trying to save a buck or two.

As posted above, nufinish car wax improves the speed of the cleaning process even more.
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Old September 5, 2012, 03:04 PM   #4
Misssissippi Dave
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Walnut cleans faster. Corncob polishes better. Some people mix the two and add Nu-Finish auto polish. I use corncob and put a little brass polish from Dillon. It works. I have also tried some liquid car wax and it worked too. Just corncob will work but it does take a longer. Add a dryer sheet to the bottom and it will keep the dust to a minimum. Clean brass will be easier on your dies and is easer to resize too.
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Old September 5, 2012, 03:15 PM   #5
William T. Watts
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Ditto what Mississippi Dave said

50-50 mix of corn and walnut with 1-2 capsful of Nu-finish will clean cases in 4-6 hours in my lyman tumbler. William
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Old September 5, 2012, 03:54 PM   #6
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To POLISH, without a doubt corn cob with a capful on Nu-Finish. Cheap? I'd say so at

http://www.drillspot.com/products/52...bs_blast_media

Thats less than $ .85 cents delivered to your door.

And a pound of corn cob is a lot of cob.
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Old September 5, 2012, 03:57 PM   #7
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One of the advantages of using Nu-Finish or any liquid auto polish/wax is the fact it depositd a fine layer of finish on the brass preventing tarnish during storage.
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Old September 5, 2012, 04:15 PM   #8
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Corn cob for me...
Cheap, is right...I made the mistake of ordering 20 lbs. from P.V. Probably last me five years...
It cost twice what the media cost to ship it!
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Old September 5, 2012, 07:34 PM   #9
jwrowland77
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I use a 50/50 mix of corn cob/walnut with a teaspoon or so of Nu-finish. Seems to work for me.

Walnut media can be found pretty cheap at pet stores or other places that sell stuff for lizard bedding.
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Old September 5, 2012, 09:46 PM   #10
mrawesome22
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Walnut Zilla and Nu-Finish produces mirror like finishes.


sudo passwd root
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Old September 5, 2012, 11:18 PM   #11
dacaur
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I tumble first in (lizard litter) walnut to get it clean, then switch to corncob till shiny (and to get rid of the walnut dust). I have a separate batch of walnut for range-pickup brass, range pick up gets a hour in that, then it goes to the normal walnut, then corncob.
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Old September 6, 2012, 01:33 AM   #12
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I just started reloading... had no tumbler..... had no media. I put dirty brass, one pound of grits in a plastic pickle jar, wrapped the jar in an old blanket...electrical taped the blanket...tossed in dryer with no heat for an hour.....

Worked fairly well.
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Old September 6, 2012, 05:27 AM   #13
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I tumble in tufnut by Lyman till clean, then for awhile in corncob with some Dupont added to remove red film and polish.
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Old September 6, 2012, 07:34 AM   #14
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I just tried Lyman Treated Green Corn Cob Media and put a used Bounce fabric softener torn in half in with the brass. 2 hours and All I can say is WOW! That stuff made my brass look Brand New. Here is the link below to the stuff. I used 2 lbs. in a Lyman 1200 Turbo Tumbler. I put a thin sheet of plastic over top of lid to keep any dust from flying around. Then the bolt to hold down the lid over the plastic.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/541...pour-container

Good luck and make sure you check the primer holes in the brass for left over media.
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Old September 6, 2012, 09:48 AM   #15
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I use the zilla lizard bedding very fine crushed walnut and it works great. I have Flitz brass polish to it and let it run for about two hours and it comes out looking new.
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Old September 6, 2012, 10:48 AM   #16
jcwit
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Quote:
Good luck and make sure you check the primer holes in the brass for left over media.
No reason to do this when using

http://www.drillspot.com/products/52...bs_blast_media
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Old September 6, 2012, 03:16 PM   #17
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walnut

I've used both corn cob and I've used walnut. I prefer walnut, as it seems to clean better. Corn cob will get them shinier, but I don't care if they're all that shiny; I care if they're clean. So I use walnut and a touch of the Dillon liquid polisher. Works well, and it's cheap. You can also tear a paper towel into strips and throw them in your tumbler...or a dryer sheet...it picks up the nasty dust and therefore prolongs the life of your media.

U.L.
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Old September 6, 2012, 03:30 PM   #18
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I use a mixture of both walnut and corncobb, with that magical capful of NU-Finish, and a capful or two of Mineral Spirits.
I lube, resize, dump cases into the thumbler tumbler and walk away for awhile, last week I left some 30-06 cases in overnight, man you could almost shave using them as mirrors!!
Also if I come across loadeed cartridges that look pretty bad, I through'em in for awhile usually one hour will do, to clean them up enough to function in my rifles.
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