Corn Cob media mistake.....!!!!!!!!

[Wally]

I made a mistake and bought some Kaytee Kay Kob Bedding that is 0.2" granuals of corn cob, which I wanted to use to polish (not clean) brass. It is too coarse. What I need to do is to grind it to smaller/finer granuals....has anyone successfully done so? Next time I will buy the correct granulation...

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Have you actually tried it? It might work better than you anticipate. Also, it's been my experience that the coarser medias grid themselves finer with use, sometimes to a powder. I used to buy the walnut shell impregnated with jeweler's rouge. Got tired of the red dust that remained on the brass, so switched to Lyman's corn cob. Two different grades, and the finer one will give a high shine to the brass, but I like the coarser of the two. It does a good cleaning job and shines the brass enough for my taste. People have used all sorts of surprising
stuff to get the desired results, including rice hulls.

[salpal48]

I have been Buying media from a company Called Kramer Industries for Years. They are an Industrial polishing and finishing supplies. They have many grades Of media from Flour grade to Extra Coarse. You will find selecting the Grade needed for your needs is Better that what others are selling. Most loading Companies just Buy Cheap media and resell it. Cheap media is something that has No mesh size . EG Harbor Freight. Kramer sell by mesh size. It is very Long Lasts and They also sell a variety of additives for Polish

[BigAlofPa.]

I did that too my 1st time buying media. The bigger stuff worked. But also go stick in the primer pockets. I used it until i got smaller media. The rest of the bigger stuff we used for cat litter.

[Wally]

I tried it with & without Lyman Tubo polish....it didn't polish any cases. With the turbo polish my .45-70 cases had a gunky coating.....I cleaned them using crushed walnut shells. Apparantly the granuals are too coarse and must be finer. Using a food processor did no good as it didn't reduce their size one bit. Some suggest buying a cheap coffee grinder???? Again, I will not buy this ever again...my mistake.

[HumptyDumpty]

I would recommend a cheap coffee grinder. You could probably find one at a thrift store, but they cost very little new.

[BP Dave]

I tried some oversize corn cob one time to polish some .308 Win. brass--don't recall the size, but got it from a pet supply store and it was probably about .2" As I recall, it did a good job cleaning, but when the tumbling was done it would not come out of many of the cases, even when vigorously spun in a squirrel-cage media separator. I ended up having to drill it out of about half the cases. Maybe it would work in a large, straight wall case, but I won't try that again.

[mdi]

I've never experienced the OP's problem as size of cob grit has little to do with "shiny" brass, the hardness of the cob media is more important than size for the finish. But I might try a blender, food processor to grind some smaller. I would start with about half ground and half "chunks" and give it a try...

[ReloaderFred]

You most likely won't find a satisfactory method of grinding the corn cob you have to a smaller size. Been there, tried that.

I buy a 40 pound sack of 20/40 corn cob from zoro.com about once a year, since I have four tumblers that run most of the time. It's cheap, and if you sign up with them, shipping is free on $50.00 orders. They're owned by Grainger's, but cheaper, and better shipping. Here's the link: https://www.zoro.com/zoro-select-bla...40/i/G2165387/ It's easy to make a $50.00 order, since they carry just about everything under the sun.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Wally]

Did you try a coffee bean grinder....I tried a food processor and it was a dismal failure.

You most likely won't find a satisfactory method of grinding the corn cob you have to a smaller size. Been there, tried that.

I buy a 40 pound sack of 20/40 corn cob from zoro.com about once a year, since I have four tumblers that run most of the time. It's cheap, and if you sign up with them, shipping is free on $50.00 orders. They're owned by Grainger's, but cheaper, and better shipping. Here's the link: https://www.zoro.com/zoro-select-bla...40/i/G2165387/ It's easy to make a $50.00 order, since they carry just about everything under the sun.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Conditor22]

I use the course stuff % a little solvent to clean the lanolin off my loaded cartridges.

[ReloaderFred]

Did you try a coffee bean grinder....I tried a food processor and it was a dismal failure.

We have an antique coffee grinder, and it didn't work at all. Coffee beans are pretty hard, and corn cob is really soft. It takes a special process to grind it, along with specialized equipment. It's just easier to buy the fine grit, as the 20/40 doesn't stick in the flash holes of the brass.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[poppy42]

I made the same mistake and both the same stuff from the same company. The good news was it was too big to get stuck in small pistol primers pockets. The bad news was it sure packed in the large primer pockets. And the worst mistake of all was tumbling a batch or 2 to 3 brass with it. It totally packed some of the cases! Packed it’s so good that I actually had to take a small twist drill between my fingers to grind it up a little so that I could get it out of the cases! It was almost as bad as the time I grab the Wrong package Of citric acid. The stuff I grabbed was evidently used in making jellies and had gelatin in it! You can use your imagination as to what the cases look like filled with congealed gelatin! LOL. Oh well I’ve never been accused of being the brightest bulb in the lamp, and if you can’t laugh at yourself you got no business laughing at anybody else. Anyway I threw that batch of corn cob media out as I had only purchased 6 pounds of it . In summation I can tell you it will work just like the finer stuff just beware of what your tumbling!

[Wally]

Thank you...I tried an Oster blender...total failure!!!!!

We have an antique coffee grinder, and it didn't work at all. Coffee beans are pretty hard, and corn cob is really soft. It takes a special process to grind it, along with specialized equipment. It's just easier to buy the fine grit, as the 20/40 doesn't stick in the flash holes of the brass.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Wally]

I first tried with some clean .223 Rem brass---the granuals packed in many of them; it was a chore to remove it. I will use it with bigger calibers to remove sizing lube....I learned my lesson. I thought it would work and save me some $$$ I was very badly mistaken. Midways sells the right granulation for about $1.19 a Lb... if you buy a 15 lb bag.

I made the same mistake and both the same stuff from the same company. The good news was it was too big to get stuck in small pistol primers pockets. The bad news was it sure packed in the large primer pockets. And the worst mistake of all was tumbling a batch or 2 to 3 brass with it. It totally packed some of the cases! Packed it’s so good that I actually had to take a small twist drill between my fingers to grind it up a little so that I could get it out of the cases! It was almost as bad as the time I grab the Wrong package Of citric acid. The stuff I grabbed was evidently used in making jellies and had gelatin in it! You can use your imagination as to what the cases look like filled with congealed gelatin! LOL. Oh well I’ve never been accused of being the brightest bulb in the lamp, and if you can’t laugh at yourself you got no business laughing at anybody else. Anyway I threw that batch of corn cob media out as I had only purchased 6 pounds of it . In summation I can tell you it will work just like the finer stuff just beware of what your tumbling!

[Texas Gun]

And just to let you know used corn cob works great in a sandblaster for cleaning things

[Epd230]

I would recommend a cheap coffee grinder. You could probably find one at a thrift store, but they cost very little new.

Been there. Done that.

Coffee grinder did nothing but stir the media around.


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[ReloaderFred]

I've had pretty fair luck removing stuck media by removing all the media from one of my vibratory tumblers and putting the brass back in that has media stuck in it. I turn the tumbler on and let them clang and clatter for awhile, and that will shake most of the media out, depending on the size of the cases. The .223 brass is about the worst for getting oversized media stuck inside, and the hardest to remove it.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Wally]

Yeah...that's justy what I did....however had many cases with the corncob still in them....had to use a wire through the flashole to get it out.

I've had pretty fair luck removing stuck media by removing all the media from one of my vibratory tumblers and putting the brass back in that has media stuck in it. I turn the tumbler on and let them clang and clatter for awhile, and that will shake most of the media out, depending on the size of the cases. The .223 brass is about the worst for getting oversized media stuck inside, and the hardest to remove it.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[David2011]

You most likely won't find a satisfactory method of grinding the corn cob you have to a smaller size. Been there, tried that.

I buy a 40 pound sack of 20/40 corn cob from zoro.com about once a year, since I have four tumblers that run most of the time. It's cheap, and if you sign up with them, shipping is free on $50.00 orders. They're owned by Grainger's, but cheaper, and better shipping. Here's the link: https://www.zoro.com/zoro-select-bla...40/i/G2165387/ It's easy to make a $50.00 order, since they carry just about everything under the sun.

Hope this helps.

Fred

Agree 100%. This stuff is so fine that it flows through primer flash holes. I’ve been using it exclusively for at least 12 years. If a tablespoon or two of mineral spirits and a shot of NuFinish polish are added the brass looks great, glides through dies and remains bright for a long time.

I made the same mistake with too large media and had to dig it out of .223 cases with a hooked wire.