Ceramic Media Question - Does it wear out?

[oldracer]

I posted this question in the Black Powder Cartridge area but no one has answered yet so I'll add it here. Hope the admins don't get mad??!!

I have been using ceramic media (small spheres) to clean my cases and in the past month the cases are not getting as shinny as they did 5 or 6 months ago? The only thing that has changed is the media has gotten older but is still white and has not shrunk in size so I am not sure what is happening? They are clean but just not shinny. My process is:

- Decap cases and put in jug with dawn and water.
- When home, flush cases with water well, flush the jug.
- Add 10 cases or so to tumbler, add ceramic media to near the top, add a spot of dawn and water.
- Seal tumbler, run for about 4 hours.
- Flush the cases and media well with water.
- Dry the cases well and blow dry.

[docone31]

Yes, it does.
It does take a while though.
Dry, it wears out almost over night.

[Sonnypie]

Everything wears out.
I'm retired.
I was tired yesterday,
And I'm retired today.

Of course, sizing 936 - 45 ACP boolits today helped make me tired.

[garym1a2]

The pours could fill up with dirt and brass.

[Red River Rick]

How many times are you going to ask this question? This has already been asked and answered to in another section.

RRR

[Chicken Thief]

YES!!!!!!!

At the same rate as your plates and cups.

[W.R.Buchanan]

It wears out eventually but you will never see it in your lifetime just tumbling brass.

What it does do is get loaded with brass dust.

The ceramic pieces are just like miniture sharpening stones, If you use them wet then the water rinses the "swarf" out of the pieces and usually it flows out a drain hole in the bottom of the barrel.

If you run it dry it just gets loaded, and then you can run the tumbler flooded with water and Dawn to clean the stones.

I have been running the same rocks in my industrial tumblers for 20 years! One hold 100# the other holds 50# I have tumbled everything from Aluminum to titanium, and stainless steel. I run the ti and ss dry so I get a nice polished surface. And then run a clean up cycle aferwards to clean the media.

I run Aluminum wet as the soft aluminum loads the media very fast.

I run a total loss watering system with a 5 gal plastic bucket with a spout off the bottom with a needle valve so I can just drip a few drops a minute into the machine, and the excess along with the swarf drains out the bottom.

After all of the rocks are wet about 10 drops a minute is what you're lookin for, and that keeps everything from getting clogged up. After you pull your parts you dump a bucket of water or two in the machine to rinse the rest of the swarf out.. As long as it stays wet you can rinse virtually all of the cuttings out the drain. It is easy to see when the media is clean as the drain water gets clear.

I will run SS and Titanium parts for 2-3 days with dry media and they come out polished really nice. With aluminum wet you get a .01 radius on the edges in 1-2 hours! Brass will be similar. I have never used ceramic media on cartridge brass as it will grind the stuff to oblivion in a matter of a few hours.

I run Walnut hulls from PetSmart with Dillon Polish for 24 hours, and get complete cleaning less the primer pocket.

I just bought 10 lbs of ss pins to try and will share my results when used a Vibro Tumbler after I get some experience. Pretty sure I can make it work just fine, but we'll see.

Randy