which ultrasonic cleaner,,Hornady??Lyman???other???

[44 WCF]

Anyone had experience with the Lyman or Hornady ultrasonic cleaners. I know they buy these out and add with their label and color so if anyone has a lead to the original manufacturer would appreciate the info.. I have 5 gallon bucke tof308 and 45 ACP mix brass to deprime, remove or swage the primer crimp and clean and polish and any input on equipment would be appreciated.

[Circuit Rider]

I have a ultrasonic from HF, like Lyman but without the label. Works ok, but as soon as I finish my annealer, I'm going to build a rotary tumbler similar to what some on this site have suggested, using SS. From the comments of the gents that use SS, it does a great job inside and out on the brass. CR:castmine:

[rasto]

Who cares about brand?
From my personal knowledge it should be with integrated heating, equipped with timer adjustable for more than 8min, escape valve, 5 liter in volume , stainless steel tank ...

For example
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B002QD624C/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=1055398&s=home-garden

[ShinyPartsUp]

I got the Harbor Freight 2.5 liter ultrasonic for $70 shipped to my door. Add some Hornady cleaner and a dollop of liquid clothes detergent and brass comes outlooking almost like new, with deprimed pockets looking pretty clean. I take the wet cases, put them in an old sock and tumble dry in the clothes drier for 5-10 minutes (with a bunch of dirty towels, etc to pad the casings). While that goes on I put a new batch in the cleaner and putter on the bench. 3-4 cycles in the cleaner the second batch is ready to rinse and dry. Take the dry ones out, wet ones in the drier and more dirty ones in the cleaner. Rinsing after they come from the bath and before going in the drier helps. YMMV.

[rbertalotto]

With all the coupons and 20% off I got the Horrible Freight version for under $50.

http://images15.fotki.com/v246/photos/2/36012/10025899/P1020879-vi.jpg

But i find using it takes an awful lot of time.

I made a rack that holds the brass with the rim up. Made it out of plastic vent ceiling tile material available at HD or Lowes.

http://images9.fotki.com/v114/photos/2/36012/10025899/P1020886-vi.jpg

Fits right in and makes it easy to remove and dry.

http://images110.fotki.com/v109/photos/2/36012/10025899/P1020878-vi.jpg

And for drying I simply place the rack on top of my dehumidifier. Extremely dry air coming out of the dehumidifier dries the brass very fast.

http://images9.fotki.com/v250/photos/2/36012/10025899/P1020884-vi.jpg

But, my vibratory cleaner with Brasso and corn cob media does a good enough job. This method doesn't clean the inside of the brass like the Ultrasonic, but I don't care about the inside.

I never clean primer pockets. I like a bit of carbon build up in there. Carbon is real hard stuff. I think it helps preserve the primer pockets..........(In the pictures of the brass being cleaned in the ultrasonic cleaner, I have primers in place. I was experimenting. It does a much better job with primers removed because with my rack you get air pockets as you lower the brass into the water with the primers still in place. Don't run dirty brass through your resizing dies. The burnt powder carbon is VERY abrasive and it will scratch your dies. Buy a universal decapping die)

BTW, be careful what you put in that ultrasonic cleaner. I put parts from my Cap & Ball 1858 Remington and it removed the blueing in under 15 seconds!

There is NOTHING like the ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning small motorcycle or firearm parts. Especially if they have lots of little holes and passages.

[cp478]

So would you buy the Horrible freight cleaner again or recomend buying some other brand?

[Circuit Rider]

cp478, If I was going to purchase one instead of build one, I'd get Thumlers Tumbler and 3 pound of SS. Some recommend 5 pd, but the guys at Buffalo Arms said it did fine with 3. CR

[dano440]

With all the coupons and 20% off I got the Horrible Freight version for under $50.

http://images15.fotki.com/v246/photos/2/36012/10025899/P1020879-vi.jpg

But i find using it takes an awful lot of time.

I made a rack that holds the brass with the rim up. Made it out of plastic vent ceiling tile material available at HD or Lowes.

http://images9.fotki.com/v114/photos/2/36012/10025899/P1020886-vi.jpg

Fits right in and makes it easy to remove and dry.

http://images110.fotki.com/v109/photos/2/36012/10025899/P1020878-vi.jpg

And for drying I simply place the rack on top of my dehumidifier. Extremely dry air coming out of the dehumidifier dries the brass very fast.

http://images9.fotki.com/v250/photos/2/36012/10025899/P1020884-vi.jpg

But, my vibratory cleaner with Brasso and corn cob media does a good enough job. This method doesn't clean the inside of the brass like the Ultrasonic, but I don't care about the inside.

I never clean primer pockets. I like a bit of carbon build up in there. Carbon is real hard stuff. I think it helps preserve the primer pockets..........(In the pictures of the brass being cleaned in the ultrasonic cleaner, I have primers in place. I was experimenting. It does a much better job with primers removed because with my rack you get air pockets as you lower the brass into the water with the primers still in place. Don't run dirty brass through your resizing dies. The burnt powder carbon is VERY abrasive and it will scratch your dies. Buy a universal decapping die)

BTW, be careful what you put in that ultrasonic cleaner. I put parts from my Cap & Ball 1858 Remington and it removed the blueing in under 15 seconds!

There is NOTHING like the ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning small motorcycle or firearm parts. Especially if they have lots of little holes and passages.

I like those trays the looks like it works pretty good.

another trip to lumber yard / hardware store.

[rasto]

My advice is to deprim the cases before cleaning.
I would rather place the cases primer down.