Thinking of a SS Pin Tumbler

[Poconolg]

I am considering a Frankford rotary tumbler. I am wondering if I need the magnet that they sell. Also should I use tap water or distilled water? I also read that guys use Lemishine, is that a household item available anywhere? Any other suggestions as to what I need to get started with wet tumbling. I am also looking at the dryer that they sell.

[Gdawgs]

Wet tumbling is a little more of a hassle than dry, but once you get a process down, you'll never look back. Tap water is fine. Lemishine is a must if you want your brass to sparkle like golden treasure. If you don't care about that, you can get by without. You can buy Lemishine in the same place you'll find dishwasher detergent(at Walmart anyway). Or you can buy citric acid(same thing) on Amazon for much cheaper. I don't think the dryer is necessary. I pour my wet brass onto an old towel, fold up the corners of the towel to create sort of a sack, then give it a good shaking. That get them pretty dry. Then just let them sit a day or so and you're good to go.

[cecILL]

Too much trouble and too much money. Never used anything but walnut and cases come out like new.

[hounddawg]

magnet is not a must but is the easiest way to move them

[David R]

I have the magnet. I almost never use it. I pour the brass and pins in a media separator from my corncob setup. The pins and water go in the bucket, brass stays in strainer.

I need 1/2 tsp lemi shine. None is OK, Too much and the brass is dull.

With leme shine, if you put the brass in a cardboard box when its done, it looks just like it came new from Midway.

I love this thing. I have a dehydrator,. I did a few batches with out it. Some of my target 38s were not totally dry and go Poof instead of BANG.

I bought it to reduce the lead exposure from the vibratory tumbler. Found out it does a far better job of cleaning.

If you do not use wax, a dusting of one shot makes sizing easier.

So, Hot water, one table spoon soap, 1/2 teaspoon Leme shine,

tumble 1-2 hours.

Dump out black water, add fresh,. tumble one minute. Dump out water,
Add one teaspoon liquid car wax, tumbel 5 minutes. Do NOT rinse. Dry and use.

It will hold about 2 large coffee cans of brass.

David

[NWPilgrim]

Stainless pins are fantastic. Not a must have but really shines up even the worst brass dropped in mud puddles, forgotten in the range bag, etc. Media separator is enough but invariably a few pins scatter around on the floor so having a magnet with release is handy.

I still use a vibratory tumbler and corncob to remove lube when I process a batch of rifle brass. But the wet tumbler is great for cleaning out primer pockets (nice, not necessary) and not having any primer residue dust. Corn cob last forever when not having to deal with dirty primer residue and just lubed cases.

[big al hunter]

I wet tumble without the stainless pins. No lemishine, just soap. Brass is clean inside and out, but not shining like new. The only thing pins will do is clean the primer pockets a little bit better.

I dry my brass in an old toaster oven. You can also use the oven in your kitchen. 200 degrees with the door cracked open, for about an hour if you drain the water first. If you don't intentionally turn every case over it leaves more water and takes a little longer to get dry.

[jaguarxk120]

cecILL too bad you never looked inside of those like new case's that came out of your
tumbler.

The SS pins clean the case's inside and out like new and the primer
pockets are clean. To me that is a big plus, case's clean like factory new.

[mrdaputer]

I picked up a magnet at harbor freight for about 7 bucks. Picked up a strainer and a couple of large buckets to separate the ss pins from the dollar store. Bought a real cheap dehydrator To dry the cases. This system is very easy to use and no media mess. I use a little squirt of Dawn a pinch of lemi shine in hot water. I even use a little J&J car wash and wax.

[BBarn]

Have used a vibratory tumbler for years, and continue to do so. But there is nothing like a wet tumbler with pins to get cases looking like new inside and out.

Using a vibratory tumbler is easy and simple. A rotary tumbler with water and pins is not so easy and simple. Water means the small pins tend to stick to everything including the brass, the strainer, and the drum. That means separating the brass from the pins requires more work than separating media from the brass with a vibratory cleaner. Some people do a lot of shaking of the drum to get the brass and pins out. I find that vigorous shaking tend to throw the pins everywhere. Good results with wet tumbling also means getting all the dirty water and cleaning solution out the of cases. A relatively quick drying process is also needed to prevent water spotting (if that matters to the reloader). Finally, cleanup with a wet tumbler with pins is considerably more work, especially if pins are used.

I use the Lyman Cyclone and find the included separating baskets very helpful. I didn't use a magnet at first, but have since bought one. The large release type magnet is somewhat helpful, but not necessary.

I'm still refining the process and trying to find ways to make brass separation and cleanup easier. After depriming the cases, I use a small amount of case cleaning solution along with the pins. After tumbling a few hours, I typically use a good bit of water separating the pins from the brass and getting the dirty cleaning liquid rinsed off the brass. I use hot water rinses and shake the brass in a towel to remove most of the rinse water. Then I spread them out on a towel in front of the fireplace or in front of a fan for drying.

The tumber instructions say to fill the drum at least half full of brass before adding pins and water/cleaner. Less brass can actually take more time to get clean with this process. Very little cleaner is added to the water. If the lid is not well sealed or tight, the drum will start leaking, so I check the drum often for leaks (especially at the beginning of each cleaning). Pins sometimes get left in or around the cap threads and cause leaking (making a messy spot on the floor).

If it were not for the excellent final result (like new brass), I probably wouldn't fool with wet tumbling. But since I like the results, I continue to use it. I don't use wet tumbling after every firing. And I wait until I have enough brass to fill the drum at least half full (200-500+ pieces depending on caliber) before running a batch.

[Unclenick]

David R,

Try it without the soap. Citric acid is already a water softener (makes it slippery feeling). Soaps can raise the pH, neutralizing some of the acid and making it less effective. I'm not saying yours does (detergents vary, so you'd need a pH meter to find out) but the old Frankford Arsenal formula was just citric acid.

The dullness will gradually darken a little over time, but I prefer it. It is actually a protective layer and brass casters use citric acid treatment to prepare brass for long-term storage for this reason. Also, I find the dull yellow easier to find in the grass, as it doesn't reflect a cylindrically distorted image of the grass back at me. YMMV on that score, because the terrain could well make it otherwise (yellow dirt and sand, for example).

If you want highly polished brass, you can run the citric acid-cleaned and dried brass through corncob and polish and wax afterward without concern, as all threat of lead contamination has already been removed by the SS pin cleaning. I know it feels like cleaning twice, but it does produce a very good finish and has no chance of leaving watermarks with the second treatment.

[David R]

Thank you Unclenick. My wife owns a car wash. I am using low PH cleaner and water soluble wax. That is probably why I only need 1/2 tsp lemme shine.

It only takes a little soap or wax and it’s free. We have a wash basin in the basement. It’s all so easy, the vibratory tumbler is tucked away under the bench to be given away.


Because the lead, I can now tumble then sort as long as it’s similar caliber. Much cleaner than before. All the lead goes down the drain with the black water.

I tried without the pins, inside of the brass is not as clean as the outside. This is mostly on 9mm, 45 and 38.

I am loading for myself, wife and daughter. We all shoot bullseye, steel bowling pins and silhouette.

David


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Grey_Lion]

Originally Posted by big al hunter

The only thing pins will do is clean the primer pockets a little bit better.

Well - that statement leaves out a number of things.

I've used corncob, corncob with rouge, walnut shell, pecan shell, ground bamboo, ceramic media, ground pistachio shells, car carb cleaner solution combinations of these.... I've tried all sorts of stuff.

Until I started wet tumbling with stainless steel pins, I was rarely ever satisfied with how clean the inside bottom of the case was. There was almost always 1/3rd of the shells that needed more work to clean all the GSR out of the bottom of the shells. Unacceptable to me.

As I inspect for primer hole burrs inside the case as well as for case head cracks, I want the bottom inside of the case to be totally clean.

Oh - and stain steel pins don't eventually powder or flour into dust that you have to scrape out if there is high humidity in the air.

And I can't say I ever recall SS media getting stuck in a shell unless I accidentally have an odd shell of a different caliber mixed in. I have however had to break up stuck parts of any of the 3 types of nut shell I have tried in every single load of dry tumbled shells.

Also - I can virtually use the same stainless steel media over & over again until I am no longer reloading.

And - nothing to dispose of except the water.

I might get 2 uses out of fresh corn cob. Maybe 4 uses out of walnut. As I am not a farmer of corn or nuts at this time, I have no free endless supply of this input.

The only thing I use dry tumble for is if I get a load of dirty outdoor range brass to remove the worse of the mud and dust before wet-tumbling.

my 2 cents worth....

[RC20]

My brother does it, I don't.

Its a setup thing for me. He has access to sink and drain in his work area, I would have to go through the house to the tub.

I forget what machine he uses but its the good one and his stuff is as clean and shinner than mine.

It does clean completely. Corn cob does not but ......

He got a food dryer with 4 levels I think from Walmart to dry.

Both work and its a matter of what works best for a person and their setup.

I just process and dump em in the tumbler and let her run for 12 hours.

You still have to trim them and anneal them though (grin).

If someone would just feed me good brass so I could just reload and shoot, sigh.

[hounddawg]

one thing about the pins is if you are reloading 6.5 the pins will stick sideways in the case mouths. You just have to check each before loading powder. I am more worried about primer pockets being clean than shine of the cases. If I went back to walnut I would have to manually clean the pockets and that is a hassle. Nice tip on the Harbour Freight magnet, my FA one busted and I have been using a dial indicator magnetic base to sweep for pins lol

Oh and RC, I guess the wife is not real keen on the idea of running the tumbler in the bathroom ? I know that idea would be shot down in nanoseconds at my house

[mjs66]

I bought the Thumler’s Tumbler. Overkill and overpriced I know. I just dump the shells into a fine mesh pasta strainer and check the flash holes for pins.

For drying, I heat the kitchen oven to about 200, turn it off and let them sit in there overnight.

I got the lemishine at Kroger.

[markr6754]

I started with media and never got anything close to the result I get with my FART. The pins do end up sideways once in a while, especially in .380 ACP and .300 Blackout. They may also stick in an odd .223/5.56 case...but I don’t clean these with pins...just a quick tumble to cut the crud, then I cut em to form my Blackout blanks,

The magnet is just so-so, since in my batch, more than 1/4 of the pins are non-magnetic. Started out to be more of a pain in the butt. After getting the bucket and media separator I quit using the magnet. As others have said, I rinse the brass and pins in the bucket, spinning the cases and pins through clean water, which helps keep the pins from flying out as much. Then I drain as much water from the bucket as I can, sop up what I can with some paper towels, then I dry the pins in an oversized stainless skillet on the stove. It doesn’t take long. I know many don’t even bother, but I want shiny pins and shiny brass.
I have a dehydrator, but I have to be too careful laying brass in the racks. I took to using a stainless cookie sheet...more like a brownie pan...and in the oven it goes. I set it to 185 for 45 minutes, then leave it overnight to cool. It works for me. Everyone develops their own system over time.

[TruthTellers]

These work and they're hella cheaper than the FA tumblers. I got one mainly because I don't do huge quantities of brass yet or rifle brass.

https://www.harborfreight.com/dual-d...ler-67632.html

I did get the Frankford magnet, couldn't find a similar one for less.

Get pins that are about 1/4 inch in length, do not get 9mm length pins or they stick in your 9mm/.38/.357/.380 whatever other cases that use a .355-.359 diameter bullet, possibly the .30 to .32 caliber brass as well.

For faster drying, look at toaster ovens that can work on very low heat, anything around 100 to 150 degrees will dry the brass.

[LineStretcher]

Originally Posted by Poconolg

I am considering a Frankford rotary tumbler. I am wondering if I need the magnet that they sell. Also should I use tap water or distilled water? I also read that guys use Lemishine, is that a household item available anywhere? Any other suggestions as to what I need to get started with wet tumbling. I am also looking at the dryer that they sell.

I have the tumbler, magnet and dryer. I also have their media tumbler for the final polish. I bought a large bottle of their soap and like it, I suppose you can buy cheaper stuff if you want. Dish soap tends to be too sudsy for my liking.

[Stubert]

I use 1/4 tea spoon of powdered Lemishine, hot water and a couple small squirts of dish soap. After the brass is clean, I put it in an RCBS media seperater to get the pins out. Dry it in a dehydrater. They come out so clean, I have to lube the inside of the necks with dry lube to keep from crushing the shoulders when seating a bullet.

[David R]

This is why I use the wax.

David

[mrdaputer]

I first bought the harbor freight but they are to small for my liking. I can do 3X with the Fart in 1/3 of the time. If tight on money the HF work fine.

[cw308]

I gave my dry system to a friend after trying a wet Tumbler with SS Pins . Will never go back to using corn or walnut media . Brass comes out looking brand new , stopped using LemiShine , switched from Dawn to Sun liquid detergent and just tap water . Don't hesitate , I let them dry out in those 308 20 round holders that comes with store bought ammunition , I tape them together , works great for 45 ACP & 308 . Pat them down in a towel first then set them upside down in the holders for a day .

[TruthTellers]

Originally Posted by mrdaputer

I first bought the harbor freight but they are to small for my liking. I can do 3X with the Fart in 1/3 of the time. If tight on money the HF work fine.

If you clean large quantities of brass, I agree, get a larger system like the Frankford. If you only do a few hundred pieces of handgun brass, the Harbor Freight is great and for the volume, a lot better priced than the "lite" models Frankford is selling.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/23...e-tumbler-lite

[Dufus]

The only reason I clean my brass is to keep from screwing up dies. I got a large Ultra Vibe many years ago. I can do 1200 30-06 size brass at once, at least that is the most I have done at one time. I regularly throw 1500-2000 pistol sized brass at a time in it. It takes 2 Lyman sized jugs of media to fill it up. I never wanted to mess with water and putting lead contamination down the drain.