Rubbing alcohol for recharging tumbler media?

[Patrick L]

I thought I saw a thread on this subject a few weeks ago, but I can't seem to find it. Do some of you use regular isopropyl alcohol for cleaning/renewing your tumbling media?

Details please...

[Sprue]

I'll probably learn something from this thread but I haven't heard of that one.

However to me, the easiest way for me to clean media is to add a cut up drier sheet to the media and occasionally I'll add some Nu_Finish car polish.

91 % Isopropyl alcohol is an ingredient for case lube but thats another thread.

[BOOM BOOM]

Hi,
Orange peels work too.

[theperfessor]

Since I use one-gallon sealed paint cans to tumble my cases I just add little splash of acetone to my ground corn cob media. It takes off bullet lube real well. I've used the same can full of media for several thousand cases (not all at same time!) and it still seems OK. Watch out though because it is combustible. My tumbler is in my shop, which is well ventilated and well away from house.

Wouldn't want to do this in basement with open top (vibratory bowl type) machine.

[montana_charlie]

Don't know about alcohol, but many people use mineral spirits...
CM

[crabo]

+1 for mineral spirits

[Patrick L]

Wouldn't mineral spirits leave the media "wet?" I think alcohol would evaporate out. Same for acetone, but I'm afraid of what it might do to the plastic bowl.

As for procedure, I'm guessing you add some quantity of whatever I decide to use and run the tumbler to spread it around the media? I assume you leave the lid off to aid in drying/evaporation?

Any suggestions on how much to use vs. how much media?

[Dale53]

I have two different batches of media. They are both ground cobbs. However, I keep one batch JUST for cleaning and polishing brass cases. After many, many batches of brass, when the media becomes too fouled to use for the original purpose, I dedicate it to cleaning loaded rounds. I put it in the tumbler (dirty as it is) and add two or three caps (that seal the can) full of mineral spirits. The media NEVER gets wet but it is enough to dampen it JUST enough to make a perfect lube remover. I am VERY careful to only tumble loaded rounds 15 minutes. That is plenty to clean (ammo comes out like new factory stuff) and not nearly enough to damage the powder. I immediately remove the loaded rounds from the tumbler and leave them in an open container so any residual mineral spirits vapor disappears (vapors can theoretically damage primers).

FWIW
Dale53

[Bob in Revelstoke]

This is what I do and it has always worked for me. When the media is really dirty I put it into a plastic 5 gallon bucket along with some hot water and dish detergent. Let it soak for a few minutes, stir it well, tie an old towel over the top of the bucket and drain. Refill the bucket, stir and drain. Lay a plastic garbage bag out in the sun, spread the media on it and let it dry, stirring it well so it all dries then adding a dollop of polishing paste, turbo bright, or something. As I say, works for me.

[flinchnjerk]

Yep. Isotropyl rubbing alcohol. Use about three times more than really seems neccessary. I first used it in an attempt to keep the dust in the walnut media down; works very well for that purpose; seems that the dust, grit, unburnt powder, residual bullet lube, etc. is suspended in the alcohol and deposited on the bowl about an inch below the rim. Kinda like a bathtub ring. Wipes right out after the bowl's been emptied. Since I keep the media in an open-top bucket into which the bowl's been emptied, it seems that the alcohol evaporates out before the next use. Media lasts a long time, too. Even though I only paid 20 Cheeser bucks for a 50 lb. bag, well, walnut media doan' grow on trees, mon. (Well, OK, technically it does...)

[Patrick L]

Thanks flinchnjerk! I assume you run the tumbler uncovered for the media cleaning operation?]

[largom]

I have been using alcohol in my open top vibrator cleaners for the past 15 yrs. If I don't have any alcohol I use acetone [fingernail polish remover]. After resizing I wipe my cases with a rag dampened with alcohol then they go into the tumbler with fine corn cob and I pure in about an ounce of alcohol. After 20 minutes or so the cases are clean of lube and bright. I also use alcohol when I use walnut media.
Larry

[trk]

I tear up a paper towel and toss the pieces into the tumbler.

The pieces pickup the dirt and crud.

I presume that a solvent as mineral spirits, alcohol or acetone would help that.

Throwing out the paper towel pieces gets rid of the crud.

[captaint]

First thing I do after shooting is dump the cases in the tumbler. On a suggestion here, I added the dryer sheet. ACES!!! I also use a little IOSSO case polish. NU finish is just as good and probably cheaper. We'll try that next time. Don't like running dirty cases in the sizers. Shiny 45 cases are also a lot easier to find. Load on!!! Mike

[DLCTEX]

I have a 2'X2' box made of 2X4's with screen on the bottom for screening sand when doing stucco. It has 1/8" screen but I overlay it with common window screen and pour contaminated media in it and wash with the garden hose. This drains into the septic tank which is pumped every 10 yrs. or so. I let the media air dry in the sun, In between times I use mineral spirits and Nufinish car polish to keep it working. Probably too frugal when a 5 gal. bucket of media is $22 at Fields Industrial supply, but it is 100 mi to their store and I don't get that way very often. Freight would be $35.

[flinchnjerk]

Patrick L
Nope; run it with the lid on. It seems that most of the alcohol ends up in the "bathtub ring" (I leave the lid off for 1/2 an hour or so after I've emptied it; some of the bigger chunks of media will fall to the bottom of the bowl; I assume as the alcohol evaporates). Neither the media nor hulls feel damp to the touch, and since I store the media in an open-topped bucket, any excess alcohol evaporates between uses. I slop the alcohol into the bowl first (makes it easier to tell how much you're putting in), then add the media, then the hulls. I'm using 12/20 walnut, and running the tumbler (Lyman 1200) about two hours.

[Patrick L]

Thanks flinchnjerk. I actually tried it before you replied, so I ran it open. I poured quite a bit of alcohol, two used drier sheets, plus about a dozen scrap cartridges just to keep things moving and ran it uncovered for most of the day. The drier sheets came out FILTHY, but the media felt dry . I had no bathtub ring; in fact the inside of the bowl looked absolutely spotless.