Too Much Mineral Spirits in Corn Cobb Media!

[UtopiaTexasG19]

This morning I decided to try a small amount of mineral spirits in the corn cobb media when vibrating some .357 casings. It works quite well and the shells are comming out cleaner than using the media alone and with a shorter cycle time. Since it is over 100F here today I figured the mineral spririts would volitalize into the air so I added a bit more to the second batch and a more to the third batch. Third time was the charm and the media is wet to the point that the casings don't want to move around in the media. I have the media and casings out in the sun now and wonder if all the mineral spirits will eventually evaporate or will the heavier componants remain. In other words should I dump this stuff and start all over or will it dry out enough to us later on? Thanks...

[Walt]

Give it time. It will evaporate sooner or later. Probably sooner with the heat.

[mooman76]

Turn it on every once in awhile, just enough to move the media around so the dry moves down and the wet media moves to the top. That way it will dry faster.

[tomme boy]

Just let it run with the lid off. Will dry in about an hour.

[zomby woof]

I have two tumblers. I have one with walnut and one with corn. I run the walnut quite wet with MS. It goes in the corn and comes out clean and dry. I have a one hour timer for both. The MS does help in cleaning.

[cajun shooter]

Make sure that you don't put this mix in a hot place in a closed container as it could make a fire. I found that out years ago while working with a oil base stain. We put all the cotton rags that were used in a 5 gal can and it burst into flames.

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

Make sure that you don't put this mix in a hot place in a closed container as it could make a fire. I found that out years ago while working with a oil base stain. We put all the cotton rags that were used in a 5 gal can and it burst into flames

YES! Had a buddy that did this in his house. Luckily he didn't burn the place down!

[13Echo]

Oil base stains use a "drying oil" like tung or linseed. They "dry" by a chemical reaction with oxygen to form a polymer that produces the tough film you want. Unfortunately this is an exothermic reaction and can cause spontaneous combustion as described. Mineral spirits do not produce heat in this manner and are not, by themselves, a cause of spontaneous combustion. Still it is not a good idea to have gallons of oil soaked rags in a bucket, or other closed space no matter what the type.

Jerry Liles