Corn cob or nut for brass ??

[Dave Berryhill]

....Crock stick knife sharpeners are probably the same stuff, and they are murder to clean, once they are clogged. .....

Off topic but the instructions that came with my Spyderco ceramic knife sharpener say to make a paste with household cleanser and water on a green scotchbrite pot scrubber to clean the ceramic rods, then rinse with water. Works like a charm and it only takes few minutes.

[Hip's Ax]

I decap with a Lee decapping die and the brass goes in walnut and ammonia free polish for a couple of hours. After resizing with Hornady One Shot it goes in with a seperate batch of corn for an hour or so to get the lube off. After all other operations are done it goes in with corn and polish for a couple to several hours then an hour in plain corn no polish. I use Thumler's Tumblers.

[WildmanJack]

Hey guys, I have never used anything but walnut shells to clean and throw in some red rouge to polish with. But come to think of it, I have NEVER see the inside of my cases clean. just the outside. Now I've been tumbling brass since the mid 70's (W's that is) and always used a tumbler. Now I'm using a vibratory type tumbler. Now I'm wonderin if I'm missing the boat . Should the inside of my cases be nice and bright as well?? If so then I've been messing up for a hell of a long time. Your thoughts, please..
Jack

[gcf]

Thanks guys, next time I'm in town I'll have to take a look at Petsmart, never would have thought of that. Good idea.

A good source for walnut media, is an industrial sandblasting supply outlet.

Big bags / low bucks ;=]

[Char-Gar]

I sarted reloading before there were such things as case tumblers in common use. Reloaders prided themselves on having tarnished brass. That set us apart from the others.

I tumbled my fired cases to remove dirt, powder smoke and bullet lube. I uses crushed walnut bird bedding from the pet store to which I add a table spoon of Mohers Mag Polish from the auto store.

[flinchnjerk]

+1 on the industrial sandblasting supply outfits. A couple of weeks back I bought a 50 lb. bag for 21 bucks. 12/20's the sieve size that I find works best. 1/8 cob was about the same price. A bit of dust the first couple of times using it, but putting about half an anti-static dryer sheet in with it pulled nearly all of it out.

[Marshal Kane]

Nut or cob? I use nut for cleaning my fired cases before they go to the dies and for removing the caselube after sizing. Next, they go into the cob for polishing before priming and charging. With a little Flitz brass polish, the cases sparkle. Got tired of swapping the media in and out of my vibratory tumbler so I broke down and bought a second tumbler. Makes cleaning cases much easier now.

[theperfessor]

I use my homemade tumbler to clean before depriming. I use corncob media with a tiny splash of acetone added. It helps degrease the cases. My tumbler has two parallel rods covered with rubber tubing, one of which is powered by an old dryer motor. I got some 1 gallon paint cans from a local paint store, ground off the knobs where the bail handle attaches, and taped the cans up with duct tape. I just sit the cans on the rods and let them roll. I can check one can while the other one is still running. The lids fit tight and don't come off, and man are they clean inside!

I don't use any abrasive, the cases are grease-free and clean enough for me without having to worry if some abrasive is left on them to screw up my dies, etc.

Just my way of doing things, everybody's different.

[tomf52]

For those of you with a Grainger Idustrial Supply near you, they have I think it's a fifty pound bag of a very fine corn cob that does a great job and doesn't get stuck in the flash holes. It was around $22 a bag. They call it blasting media for use in presure blasting wood and other softer materials.

[LAH]

Thanks Tom, I will sure look into it..........Creeker

[Sundogg1911]

I use walnut with a little Hoppes 9 in it to clean, and corn cob with Dillon brass polish if I want to make it shiney.

[Marshal Kane]

Dillon brass polish is some good stuff. When I run out of Flitz, Dillon is my backup.

[TexasJeff]

Hey guys just wondering what you use and why for tumbling brass. I have an old Thumblers Tumbler rotary brass/rock polisher

I have a Thumler's and love it--it's been running for over twenty years with no problems (other than changing belts).

I use the Zilla brand of ground walnut you can get at Petsmart for something like ten bucks for ten pounds. A capful of NuFinish car wax and thimble full of mineral spirits every fourth/fifth run gets you shiny brass.

Jeff

[badgeredd]

Hey guys just wondering what you use and why for tumbling brass. I have an old Thumblers Tumbler rotary brass/rock polisher..........

I use a combination of 2/3 corn cob and 1/3 walnut, with some polishing agent added. I've used Brasso, Mother's, and now I'm using some Menzerna polish (don't recall where I got it though). It seems to clean the really nasty cases in about 3-4 hours and the less tarnished/or dirty ones in about an hour in the vibrator. The tumbler does it in a longer period but it's quieter too.

NOW I have a question. Where can I get the ceramic media some of you have mentioned?

[WildmanJack]

Well last week I squirted in a couple of squirts of "Mothers" metal cleaner. Then I turned on the vibratory cleaner. What happened next was quite interesting. All the "Mother's" gathered around the center of the vibratory tumbler and formed a big lump. didn't 't do a dam thing for the brass. So I emptied the walnut media and cleaned the bowl with paper towels, then I put some clean crushed walnut shells in there and went back to the old way. Just walnut shells and red rouge. just bought some .357 shells with some black spots on them. Never fired, never primed. Ran them thru the tumbler for 24 hours and they look clean except they still have the black spots on them... Maybe I should use some brasso ? What do u guys think ???
jack

[badgeredd]

Well last week I squirted in a couple of squirts of "Mothers" metal cleaner. ................... Maybe I should use some brasso ? What do u guys think ???
jack

I've used brasso until I ran out............then I found this other stuff I had stashed away (see above). Brasso kinda makes things smell a little funny and you don't want to use very much (don't ask how I know). One thing that occurred to me though just lately, what is in that crap...ammonia? If there is (kinda late for me to think of this) it proably isn't good for the brass if you don't get the residue off and out of the cases.

[13Echo]

Wildmanjack,

Try crushed walnut with Mineral spirits and Bon Ami cleanser. Start the tumbler with the walnut. Add about 4 caps full of mineral spirits and let it distribute evenly then add a couple of tablespoons of Bon Ami and toss in the cases. It will do about as good a job as you can get with walnut and the BonAmi is not going cause wear on your dies (it's used for cleaning glass). I use this technique for my black powder cases and it works well.

Jerry Liles

[snowwolfe]

Tried that red stuff Lyman sells and it just leaves a ton of residue on the cases. Ground walnut works very well, and don't laugh but clean kitty litter works excellent as well.

[WildmanJack]

Jerry,
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try the Mineral Spirits and see if Winn Dixie sells Bon Ami. I remember that stuff as advertising that it didn't scratch.. We'll see how it works..
Jack

[gcf]

...All the "Mother's" gathered around the center of the vibratory tumbler and formed a big lump. ...

... just bought some .357 shells with some black spots on them. Never fired, never primed. Ran them thru the tumbler for 24 hours and they look clean except they still have the black spots on them... Maybe I should use some brasso ? What do u guys think ???
jack

I've been using Dillon 290 Polish for a long time. Works good, but you need to use a bit more then the directions indicate. I add the polish to the walnut media & let it run a few minutes w/ no brass. I will gather up as you describe, but I just scrape it off, let it run a bit longer, & it will dissapate.

Problem case brass w/ black spots, etc., gets the Eagle One Never Dull Wadding Polish treatment. This stuff is sold at Wally World, is cheap, & works. It can be used as a stand alone polish, but I like to just use a light application, then throw it in the shaker (still wet) w/ the rest of the brass.