Large Capacity Brass Cleaning

[grumman581]

There is a chance that I might be acquiring a 55g drum of range brass and was wondering whether there is an easier way of cleaning large amounts of brass than just doing numerous batches in they typical vibrating tumbler. Has anyone around here tried creating a large capacity brass cleaning device?

I'm thinking something along the line of a 55g barrel with a couple of 2x4s inside of it attached to the sides of the barrel as "paddles" and then loading the barrel about half full of brass and media. I could then add a drive belt hooked to an electric motor with a pulley sized so that the RPMs of the barrel were fairly low. The barrel itself would be supported on 4 wheels (2 on each end) so that it could roll in place. Kind of a takeoff on some of the compost barrel designs that you see or maybe like an extremely large rock polishing tumbler.

[Ickisrulz]

Is there a reason why you need to clean all the brass at once?

If you are going to be getting 55 gallon drums full of brass routinely, an inexpensive cement mixer is often mentioned.

Could you rent a cement mixer for a day or two? It would have to be clean.

[williamwaco]

Is there a reason why you need to clean all the brass at once?

If you are going to be getting 55 gallon drums full of brass routinely, an inexpensive cement mixer is often mentioned.

Could you rent a cement mixer for a day or two? It would have to be clean.

I know one guy that makes a nice little sideline out of buying range brass. He uses a converted front loader washing machine to clean it.
Actually washes it. Then sorts it and tumbles it.




.

[Mk42gunner]

If it were me, I would use a cement mixer and a lot of ground walnut shells. You can buy a small one from places like Harbor Freight for around $100 on sale.

Robert

[Dutchie]

Or you could diy an upscaled version of mine ,

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=129238

wash the first time with a bit of citric acid and sort the result. 55 gallon drum ? have bad dreams of those .

Hans.

[ept000]

Check out this thread.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=54602

[MtGun44]

A friend was in the commercial reloading business for years. He ran 4 cement mixers full
of corn cob and a mild polishing compound. They were lined with a pour in- pour out type
of rubber mix, like they use on tool handles so they did not wear out.

Bill

[Jammer Six]

http://www.oz.net/~jammer/Brass/index.html

[timkelley]

Jammer Six, your brass tumbling guide is amazing, Thanx.

[Jammer Six]

Jammer Six, your brass tumbling guide is amazing, Thanx.

You're welcome. Thanks for the kind words.

[DCM]

Also look on craigslist for a cement mixer.
I picked up a really good one for $50 2 years ago. All it needed was a belt. If you hose it out well IMMEDIATELY after mixing concrete it will be like new inside and still can be used as a tumbler once dry.

[Chakta]

Now some years ago, I used my Daddy's cement mixer to clean a couple bushel baskets of 30-06 cases and .45-acp cases. It was a bit noisy in the daytime but sure did a great job on those cases with corn cobbs thrown in whole mind ya.