Homemade SS Pin sifter

[dyecocker1]

Not to throw a wet blanket on things...
And this won't apply to smaller volumes, I do about 10 gallons of brass at a time in a cement mixer...
Smaller volume or occasional cleaners will have to adjust their process as needed.

Keep in mind here I'm cleaning to PROCESS brass, not looking for high polish (that comes last in the process).
I just need brass CLEAN so they don't wear my dies in production, carbide dies aren't cheap...
Decap, swage, trim and open case mouth to accept a bullet. (Trimming die undersized mouth/neck slightly)

While J.Morris said he builds for DRY cleaning media, I use an initial 'Wet Wash' to remove range crud from Milbrass.
Nothing like red clay, rocks, etc.!

I use a grease cutting detergent (low suds) and a dab of Lemi-Shine (hard water here), and NO PINS.
The friction of brass on brass cleans the outside, cement mixer action, bars inside the drum tumbling brass, knocks the crud out of the cases.
Grease cutting detergent gets 99.9% of everything off/out of the cases and they come out looking real good.
Strainer/separator removes the last of the rocks or other FOD from brass and it's ready to process.

I use steel pins/chips for corroded cases, and a much longer tumble time.
They also come out looking good, corrosion/tarnished removed.
Chips actually do a better job than pins on corrosion/tarnish...

When brass is cleaned (not polished or coated) and separated, I throw it directly into dry media and tumble for about 10 minutes, separate again.
The dry media dries out the wet cases and they are ready to process without using heat or wasting the time to air dry.
The very small amount of moisture the cases carry into the dry media just prevents a lot of dust and the media lasts a LONG time since the cases are clean and 99% dry when they go into it.

A pass through neck qualifier to reject blanks, loaded rounds, .222/.204 cases, mangled cases, etc,
Then off to lube, lower case roller to restore lower case size, rim & extraction groove,
Then a quick lube tumble (5 gallon bucket tumbler) and into processing for primer/pocket, trim, neck sizing.

I find NOT using pins on everything speeds things up considerably and isn't necessary on anything but the most tarnished/corroded brass.
Your needs/process may differ, but in my case I let the mixer/detergent do the job, and the cases look really good most times.

All that and you never even mentioned what the OP was looking for, what this entire thread is actually about.

[dyecocker1]

Here is what I built. I am not a processor, but wanted something compact and all in one. You may not need something this big, but if you are handy you could definitely scale it down to your operation. 12 inch diameter tumbler, I think its 2 ft long. I can easily do a 5 gallon bucket at a time. I was doing 50 lbs of brass and 50 of pins when I was using pins regularly. You can click on the images to see the full size if you would like.
20180929_075719[1] by Dan Minick, on Flickr
20180929_075741[1] by Dan Minick, on Flickr

When it is done I remove the plug and dump directly into the stainless basket.The bottom pan below the basket is sloped to one corner so all the water self drains. I plan to add a water hookup and a rinse bar with nozzles so I can just turn a valve and let the brass self rinse, right now I just use a hose with a flood nozzle.

20180929_075807[1] by Dan Minick, on Flickr

The pins, if I am using any, are caught in the fiberglass tray along with some water. Rinse, rinse, rinse and empty.


20180929_075829[1] by Dan Minick, on Flickr

Then I remove this cover and reveal a 5600 watt heater with fan. I can completely dry a 5 gallon bucket of brass in about 45 mins, I leave the separator basket on the entire time so it keeps agitating. The basket motor I use only turns at about 25 RPM

20180929_075845[1] by Dan Minick, on Flickr
20180929_075929[1] by Dan Minick, on Flickr

[jmorris]

^^^

Not an orange bag but I like it!

Only thing it’s missing is spiral agitators that tumble one direction to clean, remove the lid and reverse directions and they come pouring out into the basket, like a cement truck.

[dyecocker1]

Ooh good idea! Maybe when I get older and cant lift this any more
I did make a 6" tumbler only 12 inches long for smaller batches of my bolt rifle brass

[Mr_Sheesh]

Can always do like a neighbor of mine did for her pellet stove - Get a plastic scoop and move a scoop full at a time, instead of the whole 40# bag of pellets (or more weight in brass, in your case!) at once. The spiral agitators idea's a good one though -steals it- LOL

[Mal Paso]

I can't believe the guy who cut the bottom out of his separator. I have a similar brass separator from STM and 2/3 filled with water and a splash of car wax the pins are out in 5 cranks. Without the water it took forever and still a few pins stuck. I can see how you might need a motor with damp brass and pins.

[JeepHammer]

Dyecocker, the point was the same as you made, most times pins aren't needed.
No need to separate pins when you don't add them in the first place.

What was the original application for the 5,600 watt heater you are using?

I use dry media, corn cob or used walnut to dry, less energy consumption, but I'm off grid, I have to make my own power, either solar or generator.
My case neck qualifier doesn't do well with wet brass, keeps tripping the proximity sensor, so I have to dry.

[dyecocker1]

Here is the heater. I think I could dry faster if I bypass the thermostat, it kicks out when it gets to a certain temp inside the separator unit. I usually crack the lid and it helps a little I will probably do it someday, just have not taken the time

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[RP]

I use the hand crank separator over the 5 gal bucket as well when I am cleaning brass I dump it in as normal and crank it a few times to remove most of the pins . Then I dump the pins and cleaner back in my tumbler and add more brass sure the water is dirty but it still has cleaning power. I then run water over the brass that is still in the separator while rotating it rinses the brass washes the basket and flushes out the remaining pins. I give it a few good shakes and dump on a blanket out in the sun during the summer in the winter or rainy days I drop them in my walnut and run them for about 30 mins to dry them off.
I like the rinse in the basket method keeps my basket clean and makes sure my brass is rinsed well I been thinking of drilling a hole in the top of my separator that my hose will stick in for more of a hands free rinse.

[greenjoytj]

I bought a plastic pan similar to a the pan a gold miner would use in a river. Mine is made with a sieve in the flat bottom. I set the pan on a bucket in the laundry tub dump in the load of brass and pins and use the short hose fro the faucet to rinse the pins down the sieve slots. I punched a few ⅜” holes halfway around the bucket 3” from the top as drain holes to keep the bottom of the sieve out of the dirty water. Pin go down to the bottom of the bucket cases stay in the sieve.

[JeepHammer]

RP, you are the only other person I know of that uses dry polishing media to dry brass.
Doesn't take long either, no heater involved.

I tried course black volcanic sand instead of pins, works crazy quick, but likes to plug up flash holes if the primers are removed.
I still use it when brass gets corrosion or really heavy tarnish. Much lighter than pins.

[lostpilotz]

Any case / media separator will work to seperate the cases and SS media. Get a fine mesh cooking strainer from the dollar store and strain the SS media pins from the water.