Getting brass out of media

[colt 357]

Well broke down and bought a brass vibrating tumbler frankford one. Works great. I didn't get the separator.
After picking out 30-06 shell by hand I dump in about 600 9mm cases. Well not as easy to get out as the 30-06. Just then my son came in with a plastic drink cup which give me a idea. I got a small plastic cup and lid and drilled hole in it big as I could without letting the smallest shell pass though.
I scouped up a cup full out of the tulmber. Put on the lid and shook it a few times so the mdeia fell back into the tumbler and I had a half a cup full of 9mm without the media.
A few more minutes and cups later and I had all my 9mm out. Now I can use the $25.00 for more powder or components instead of the basket to separate them.
Now I was going to get some crushed walnut shell for the pet store what do you guys add to it to clean the brass.

[MtGun44]

I use a chicken fryer basket, shake the brass in a rolling motion over a big pan.

Bill

[Mk42gunner]

I used an old collander for years until I got the rotating separator, it works much easier.

I don't add anything to the Lizard bedding; I just want the brass to be clean, it doesn't have to have a blinding sheen.


Robert

[jhalcott]

I STILL use the old collander. I put it in a bucket ,dump the contents of the tumbler in. Then shake a few times and start picking out the brass. Some of it still has media inside, but it's easy to turn it up and empty it. Toss it into a coffee can and return the media to the tumbler bowl and I'm done. Like Robert, it does NOT have to be blindingly polished, just clean! Since I retired a few years ago, I kinda LOOK for things to fill time.

[Calamity Jake]

Wair a dust mask you don't want to breath the dust it has lead oxide from the primeing compound in it.

[Wally]

I made a, what looks like, a cobbler "pan" out of 1/2" hardware cloth. You place in a plastic dish tub and slowly pour out the contents of your tumbler into the "pan"..you then slowly lift the "pan" out. To prevent the dust mentioned, place a 1/2 piece of a used fabric softner sheet that has been dampened with mineral spirits or paint thinner (you don't need much) --no dust.

[1hole]

There is very little lead in the dust from a tumbler, not enough to be a serious potential health hazard. Most dust starts as the media itself, it ends up being mostly dusty dry powder from an excess of polish. 2" squares of any loose weave material will trap the dust so we can toss it out.

An ounce or so of mineral spirits added from time to time will soften/loosen the dried gray polish and helps hold down dusting too. The M.S. evaporates completly so it will need replacing after a few days of sitting.

I bought a wire mesh office waste paper basket from a Dollar Store to use as a media sifter. I stick it in a clean plastic 5 gal. paint pail, pour the tumbler in and give the basket a few spins; works great.

[jakharath]

I have one of these:

http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/content/p/9/pid/23663/catid/8/CM_500_Case_Media_Separator

It's all that and a box of Girl Scout Cookies.

[bumpo628]

I use a cat litter box (new, of course).
It works really well, but I still have to dump out the rifle cases. Pistol shells empty perfectly.
http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=403855

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r298/bumpo628/mediaseparator.jpg

[wcp4570]

I use a plastic colander that set on top of a plastic 5 gallon bucket and a cat litter scoop to dip out brass and media from the Dillon vibrator. The litter scoop separates 80% of the media then I dump the brass into the colander to finish of the job.

wcp

[hes]

I use a metal collander and plastic dish pan. Add a cap full of Flitz metal polish to the media when needed.

[Kraschenbirn]

I have one of these:

http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/content/p/9/pid/23663/catid/8/CM_500_Case_Media_Separator.

Yup! The older version...with the hex-shaped separator and round bucket...came with my Dillon 2000. Of course, I bought mine around '85 or '86....and it's running right now with a couple hundred each of .308, 7.62x54R, and 7.5x55 aboard.

Bill

[milprileb]

I got the money but I am not so lazy to need the crank handle approach. Its quite okay
for the last 30 yrs to use old collator inside a box, pour brass with media into collator from tumbler and shake. Works fine for pistol. Do it for rifle but also pick up rifle brass and pour out
captured media inside.

Its really a matter of convenience and if the cost of crank approach rocks your boat, so be it.
I really could care less as this collator , shake system is quick and no issue to my patience.

I will make purchases for convenience things like tumblers, digital scales etc when it makes reloading more efficient. However, media separation from brass is not one of those areas that make the grade with me so I could care less about using a collator.

[just.don]

laundry bag and a 5 gal bucket

[Hardcast416taylor]

I have all 3 types of seperators, collander and both Dillion seperators. I don`t use the monster size Dillon anymore, the small one does all I need. The collander is an old metal variety that I opened the size of about 20 of the bottom holes to let the corn grit fall thru better and I wrapped the upper half of the outside with duct tape to control spillage.Robert

[Ziptar]

I uses a plastic dish pan and a grate for small batches.

Recently, I built "The Big Orange Media Separator" out of a plastic storage tub, some chicken wire, 2 plastic 5 gallon bucket lids and, a whole lot of tie wraps for big batches

If anyones interested I'll post some pictures and explain it better.

[bslim]

I was fortunate enough to pick up a Dillon CM2000 case media seperator. Works like a charm and over the years, all I have had to replace was one of the latches after dropping it on a conrete floor. First class unit, don't know what else to expect from Dillon.

[blaser.306]

I use the RCBS media separator . Works perfect and being closed there is no dust and or media getting loose into the air/room . I actualy have 2 , One for corn cob and the other for walnut media so I can avoid cross contamination with polish and abrasive media.

[Walt]

I use the small Dillon and wouldn't have it any other way.:grin:

[sleeper78]

I didn't mind just picking cases out of the tumbler and dumping them until I starting reloading .223s. That was a pain. I just bought a rotary separator from Cabelas. The only problem I have with it is the fact that its big and bulky and difficult to store in my gun room.

[trixter]

I have a Lyman 1200, and I just turn it upside down over a huge Tupperware bowl and shake it like crazy. I get a little hang-up sometimes from the strips of dryer sheets but I pull them out asap.

[mdi]

I have a Lyman Turbo sumpin' wobbler that has slots in the lid. I turn the wobbler upside down in a plastic pan (12" x 18") and plug it in for 10 seconds. Brass/media separated..

[Lloyd Smale]

ive got 3 media seperators. The large dillon, a rcbs and a frankfort arsnonal. Ill say first i wouldtn be without my dillon. It saves lots of time and hastle. Its built like a tank and will last forever. Its right up there with star sizers and progressive presses in the time saving bracket. the rcbs and frankfort arsonal will do the job on small batches but both are pretty cheaply made and more cubersome to use. get your wife to buy you a dillon for Christmas or your birthday. Youll never regret it.

[BoolitSchuuter]

Why you guys doin' it the hard way?
Get a brass magnet, they're in the aisle next to the prop wash at Home Depot.

[smilie=1: :bigsmyl2: :kidding:

[alamogunr]

I use the Midway separator that I bought along with the vibrator case cleaner. This was before they came up with the Frankford Arsenal name. Not the best solution but since the money is already spent, I don't see any sense in trying to invent the wheel again. It works.

[13Echo]

I have the Midway rotary separator. It is cheaply built and the handle is a joke (it may have been redesigned since I got mine), however, it works and is much better than picking the brass out or using a colander.

Jerry Liles

[QUON]

I started with a collander years ago. Used a razor blade to cut some of the pastic away to enlarge the holes. Just shake and the media is dropped into another dish pan. Later on from midway. I purchased a bucket and rotary basket with handle that fits over it. Works great too. Getting lazy.

[dromia]

Welcome to :cbpour:Quon. :D

[QUON]

thank you

[QUON]

Thank you dromia

[thump_rrr]

Well broke down and bought a brass vibrating tumbler frankford one. Works great. I didn't get the separator.
After picking out 30-06 shell by hand I dump in about 600 9mm cases. Well not as easy to get out as the 30-06. Just then my son came in with a plastic drink cup which give me a idea. I got a small plastic cup and lid and drilled hole in it big as I could without letting the smallest shell pass though.
I scouped up a cup full out of the tulmber. Put on the lid and shook it a few times so the mdeia fell back into the tumbler and I had a half a cup full of 9mm without the media.
A few more minutes and cups later and I had all my 9mm out. Now I can use the $25.00 for more powder or components instead of the basket to separate them.
Now I was going to get some crushed walnut shell for the pet store what do you guys add to it to clean the brass.

No offense but allowing lead contaminated dust into the air you and your family breathe doesn't balance with the $40 cost savings of a closed media separator such as the RCBS.

[Sonnypie]

'Scuse me Thumper...
But what do you imagine you are breathing in when somebody farts in an elevator? [smilie=p:

The stuff coming in the ventilation system in your car while commuting is much, much worse.

[thump_rrr]

'Scuse me Thumper...
But what do you imagine you are breathing in when somebody farts in an elevator? [smilie=p:

The stuff coming in the ventilation system in your car while commuting is much, much worse.
Carbon based gases such as methane, carbon monoxide etc.
Since I'm an HVAC Tecnician and have also worked offshore on oil rigs I know quite a bit about air quality and gasses.
Neither of these contain lead which can be very harmful to young children.

When I was a kid I always sat next to my Dad on the front seat unbelted as did every other kid at that time.
Needless to say we now know better and put our children in the back seat with a seatbelt.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. and in this case the ounce of prevention is worth $40.00.

I'm now off my soap box and done with this thread.

[LUBEDUDE]

I've been using the big Dillon separator for about 20 years.

[jcwit]

Cheap metal wire collander from WalMart or Dollar General has worked fine for me for decades.


But what do you imagine you are breathing in when somebody farts in an elevator?

The stuff coming in the ventilation system in your car while commuting is much, much worse.


While I believe the lead scare is much hyped up. I also wonder by which study you base your statement on? How many times have you gotten your heavy metal levels tested?

[Sprue]

....... reckon I'm the only one using a 2 lb coffee can with a perforated lid & dryer sheet , geesh. :coffeecom

Any tree huggers want to buy some Ocean Front acreage in WV :kidding:

[largom]

I use the Lyman Auto-Flo Tumblers. Put a pan under the rubber plug, remove plug, turn tumbler on and media is removed leaving cases in tumbler. The Auto-Flo bowls will also fit other tumblers.

Larry

[tding]

Why you guys doin' it the hard way?
Get a brass magnet, they're in the aisle next to the prop wash at Home Depot.

[smilie=1: :bigsmyl2: :kidding:

Not the old "get me 50 yards of firing line" bit?

[dragonrider]

I have the Dillon unit also, worth every penny and then some.

[LaPoint]

I use a 5 qt ice pail that I drilled a bunch of 5/16 inch holes in. I scoop the shells and media into it and then gently shake it over a 5 gallon bucket.

[geargnasher]

I bought a wire mesh office waste paper basket from a Dollar Store to use as a media sifter. I stick it in a clean plastic 5 gal. paint pail, pour the tumbler in and give the basket a few spins; works great.

I was just in the Dollar Store the other day and saw one of those, white painted, flared-mouth secretary's waste paper baskets, snapped it up and took it home. It has since replaced my thrift store collander in the separator bucket. Works great for anything 9mm and larger.

I keep hearing that the oxides of the lead styphnate used in most priming compounds are highly toxic, and the media dust is full of this stuff, especially if you deprime before tumbling. Some say tumbler media is our MOST dangerous exposure to lead. The primer residue is also supposed to be the major contaminant of indoor range air, and is supposedly responsible for much of the lead poisoning of reloaders and shooters. I haven't tested tumbling media myself other than to use a lead-indicating wipe on the inside of my tumbler once. It turned very dark, indicating high lead contamination levels, but I don't know how much gets airborne. I figure better safe than sorry, so I'm careful to sift media outside, downwind from the house, and away from my clothing.

Gear

[oldreloader]

My Lyman Turbo has a slotted lid. All I do is turn it upside down in a pail and shake it a few times. Cut up clothes softener dryer sheets in the tumbler cuts the dust down too.

[kywoodwrkr]

I've got a Lyman 2500 Auto-flo. Purging the corn cob polishing media is slower than smoke off cold s%^$. Got three plastic buckets at Dollar General, cut circular portion out of one leaving about a 3/4" rim and laced some 1/4" chicken wire into bottom with some small copper wire.
I can do another batch with this process while the vibrator would be trying to get the last of the media out when I pull the rubber plug.
Looks like a good idea on drawing board but when I have four hours for cleaning, I want to spend four hours polishing. Three buckets and I'm sifting one lot(takes about four minutes for 1000 9mm) while second one is in the machine working.
I can get about 3 hours and fifty minutes of other things done with this process.
YMMV

[G__Fred]

I work on the less expensive (ok cheap) side of life.
At Good Will, I picked up:

- A plastic toy box with lid.
- A deep fryer basket.

1) I place the basket in the box
2) Brass w/media in the basket.
3) Shake the box / basket
4) Pour out the Brass
5) Sweep up the media off the bench
6) Put the lid on the box and store

My media separation equipment cost $7.50

[1hole]

IF there was even a tiny health hazard in case tumbling the gov - OSHA, EPA, California - would have mandated at least large warning stickers on three sides of the tumbler long ago. If there was any real health risk they would mandate users have full face mask, exposure suits, steel toe shoes and a resperiator and then only work in a 'well ventilated space'. (I worked for almost 7 years as a gov. electronics site Safety/Health Officer) There are no such issues.

[Sonnypie]

I bet the little woman has a colander in the kitchen.... :happy dance:
(I just love dual purpose tools!)

Make sure you wash it for her.
Hell hath no fury like that of a woman.....:holysheep

[Ickisrulz]

IF there was even a tiny health hazard in case tumbling the gov - OSHA, EPA, California - would have mandated at least large warning stickers on three sides of the tumbler long ago. If there was any real health risk they would mandate users have full face mask, exposure suits, steel toe shoes and a resperiator and then only work in a 'well ventilated space'. (I worked for almost 7 years as a gov. electronics site Safety/Health Officer) There are no such issues.

It could be no one in the health community is familiar with this process or professional brass processing operations are too small for OSHA to bother them.

In order to determine if there is an inhalation hazard during the use of the tumbler and getting the media out of the brass, air sampling would have to be accomplished. This would be done in a setting where work processes are regulated by OSHA (i.e., not a hobbyist). If air sampling results exceeded the Permissible Exposure Limit, controls would be required. This would start with a local exhaust ventilation system. If the ventilation system cannot control the airborne hazard, a suitable respirator would be required also (not necessarily a fullface one). Monitoring the lead levels in the blood may be required for workers. If air sampling results show levels below allowable limits, no inhalation controls are required. In any case, all chemicals should be kept off the worker's clothing (this might require work clothes if the process is very messy) and anyone using chemicals must wash their hands before eating, drinking or smoking.

My opinion is that even in a large brass processing area (used by ammo re-manufacturers) airborne levels of lead dust would be very low. This is assuming that tumblers (even large ones) are covered during operation and the media separating activity is done fairly quickly and relatively infrequently (in other words sporadic). Sorting of cleaned brass shouldn’t present a risk if the cleaning media is removed.

There is no way a hobbyist would be overexposed to lead during brass cleaning unless he ingested it. Keep in mind children are very different when it comes to lead exposures...zero possibility of exposure is the best idea for them.

I’ve done an awful lot of air sampling during industrial and medical processes posing inhalation hazards. I did occupational health in the USAF for 20 years.