The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Wet tumble brass cleaning worth the cost?

serf 'rett · June 17, 2014, 12:14 PM

If you are dissatisfied with you current tumbling results, I suspect you will love wet tumbling with the stainless pins. It is a breakthrough if you desire really clean brass.

To give an answer to the “is it worth it” question would depend on how much brass you tumble. In the last four years, I have tumbled over 30,000 pieces of brass in a small three pound capacity Thumler A-R1 tumbler which was left over from the kid’s rock tumbling days. My only investment was the pins, a new belt for the tumbler and a $1.29 plastic bowl and colander (a very important piece of equipment for separating the pins and brass) set from Wally World, so I got in the game cheap, cheap, cheap.

If you tumble a small amount of brass, stick with the shaker, dust maker.
For medium amounts, the HF small tumbler would work.
Large amounts will work better with a FA or Thumler.

June 17, 2014, 12:14 PM	#20
serf 'rett Senior Member Join Date: June 25, 2009 Location: Stuttgart, AR Posts: 1,569	If you are dissatisfied with you current tumbling results, I suspect you will love wet tumbling with the stainless pins. It is a breakthrough if you desire really clean brass. To give an answer to the “is it worth it” question would depend on how much brass you tumble. In the last four years, I have tumbled over 30,000 pieces of brass in a small three pound capacity Thumler A-R1 tumbler which was left over from the kid’s rock tumbling days. My only investment was the pins, a new belt for the tumbler and a $1.29 plastic bowl and colander (a very important piece of equipment for separating the pins and brass) set from Wally World, so I got in the game cheap, cheap, cheap. If you tumble a small amount of brass, stick with the shaker, dust maker. For medium amounts, the HF small tumbler would work. Large amounts will work better with a FA or Thumler. __________________ A lack of planning on your part does not necessarily constitute an emergency on my part.