Rotary Tumbler VS. Sonic Cleaner

[hylander]

I'm tired of messing with the Dirty walnut
Looking at either the Rotary tumblers or Sonic cleaners.

First: Do Sonic cleaners actually work ?
Second: If I go Rotary, where is a good price ?, they seem pretty pricey

[biggdawg]

sonics clean fine they just don't polish so if you like bling brass you won't be happy.

ss is more money to get started but the media will last forever and you have to pay to play.

i think stm and advertiser here has the best price to get started if you are doing small batches. ie: up to 3lbs of brass at one time

[Baja_Traveler]

I've done both - well all three actually. When my vibratory tumbler took a dump, I used the ultrasonic for awhile using water and citric acid. The problem with ultrasonic is that while it does get the brass clean (but not shiney), you can only run 20 to 30 cases at a time through it, or the ultrasonic energy gets too dissipated to really work. And I still had the same old problem of dirty primer pockets.
Then I tried the stainless pins in the rotary tumbler and was amazed that the brass looked as new as virgin. I've never looked back...

[Horace]

I have a used THUMLER`S Ultra-Vibe 18 .Motor can be gotten at Graingers when it goes a very simple and strong machine.

Horace

[marlin39a]

I bought the Hornady Sonic Cleaner 2L from Grafs on sale at $79.00 awhile back along with the sonic cleaner solution. Don't use the solution anymore, went to a Tablespoon of Lemishine and a squirt of Dawn. I use mine mostly for rifle cases. Deprime first, clean in sonic. Cases come out like new on outside and inside. I then polish in corncob and get cases that look factory new. It is one purchase I am very happy with. Oh, the brass is cleaned without using the heater. I do use the unit with heat and the other Gun Cleaning to solution to do AR Bolt Carriers and other small handgun parts. Works great.

[hylander]

Got my Thumlers today
Here is my first batch, I only ran it 2.5 hours.
Primer pockets are not sparkly clean but I wanted to see how the first run would do with just 2.5 hrs and very grubby brass.
Hapy Camper here, no going back

[Bullet Caster]

Yeah, I, too, was looking for the most economical way to clean brass. After asking a lot of questions here on the forum, I decided to go the tumbler and stainless steel media. Now I'm glad I did. My brass looks new. I bought the refresher pkg. of STM since I had to keep the weight down.

Of course I couldn't afford the Thumlers Tumbler (the 12 lb. one) so I settled on a Lortone of the 6 lb. one. Since my rock tumbler is so small I can only do 25 cases of .30-06 at a time and about 75 to 100 9mm cases. This works for me 'cause I'm not a high volume shooter (since all my guns sank in lake). I usually run the tumbler for 5 hrs. for each batch.

Now concerning the Lortone tumbler--I started out with 9mm brass and cleaned 1000 cases in about 10 runs. Then I switched to the .30-06 and started having problems with the lid staying on tightly. I tried washers under the lid between the lid and metal cap and that did no good. It kept leaking. Then I tried it like it's supposed to run with the washer on the outside of the lid and that helped. But it still leaked and I started loosing some pins. However, after cleaning the liquid off my bench and the floor, a light went on in my head.

I commendeered my wife's big aluminum wash tub and put the tumbler in it. That did the trick. It doesn't leak like it used to and if it does I don't have a great big mess to clean up. It's all contained in the wash tub--much easier task to clean up.

When using a rock tumbler please ensure that you use HOT water with your citric acid and soap. I also found out that a little soap goes a long way. I was putting in too much soap and the brass started coming out golden coloured. Backed off on the soap and the brass looks more like brass should. Now I boil my citric acid solution to ensure it is hot enough and that even helped the seal. I found out the hard way to squash out all the air with the lid before putting on the outer metal lid and tightening it down. That keeps it from leaking.

Maybe one of these days I'll make enough $$ to buy a Thumlers 12 lb. Model A. So far my little tumbler works for me. BC

[bobthenailer]

Ive had a Lortone QT6 for over 35 years , and have only replaced the drive belt once , and clean my fired brass every time , so its processed many 100,000 pieces of brass
a few years ago i picked up a used QT 12 for a steal@ $25.00 . there current price is pushing $200.00 for either model
In my opinion the Lortone lapidary /rock/ brass tumblers might be superior to the Thumblers tumblers that i have seen used by friends.
In my smaller QT 6 i can clean alot more cases than you have stated at least 50+ rifle cases
and probley 250 to 300 9mm so you must have a smaller model than mine.
I only usually tumble my brass ,even range pick up for 1 hour to get it sparkley clean & shiny with stainless jewlers mix of 6 different shapes of media , IMO superior to those smallish SS pins and easyr to work with but more expensive . add to water some Joy dwd and lemon juice concentrate. and later use corncob & nu finish in a vibrator for 1/2 hr for protection from oxidation and that as new or better apperance. you could also add finial protection with the tumbler but i just happen to have a vibratory unit.

[Shiloh]

Ultrasonic cleaners are just that, cleaners. They don't polish. You need a medium to polish something.
Steel pins, cones, balls, ect. Same thing is available with ceramic media, walnut or corn cob.

If ultrasonics would polish, I could have saved hundreds of hours a year spent at the buffing machine of my jewelry shop.

You can clean with acids as well, but they need to be neutralized and then chased with some sort of media polishing machine. This method works great for tarnished brass.

Shiloh