Not getting shine from SS Media

[evil5826]

I bought a rolling tumbler from Harbor Freight
http://www.harborfreight.com/dual-drum-rotary-rock-tumbler-67632.html

It has two 6 pound capacity containers. I took two pounds of SS Media divided it into the two contains. Put about a tbs of dawn and 2-3 pinches of lime shine in each containter. It rolled for 4 hours. Came out clean but no shine. My acorn media can shine the outside of the brass really well like new. This outcome was really really dull. Maybe i didn't put enough soap in there. Their tip section on the website says if there isn't any bubbles once done tumbling, then you didn't add enough. Any one use the tumbler below. If so how many rounds of 45 brass or lbs do you put in each container.

[STP22]

Up your dose of Dawn a bit. It took a bit of experimenting for me to get the desired results. Starting with very warm water helps a bit as well.

Regards,

Scott

[DCM]

Also I have found that the brass and media needs to move freely in the tumbler to achieve a nice shine.

Those drums look quite small from here, I have never seen one in person so they may be larger than I think.

My first attempt at a SS tumbler had too small of a drum for the quantities I wanted to do and the brass was not coming out shinny until I went to a larger drum.

[evil5826]

Up your dose of Dawn a bit. It took a bit of experimenting for me to get the desired results. Starting with very warm water helps a bit as well.

Regards,

Scott

Now they did say use cold water to start with and rinse with warm. Ill try the warm first instead.

[birdadly]

That page says it has 2 3lb containers, not 6 unless you got a bigger one than your link had. Maybe you're not using enough pins? You're using 1lb in a 3lb pot... The Thumlers is an 8lb pot and uses 5lbs of pins. The ratio is higher than yours anyway. I don't know.

I've been wasing and rinsing with hot water and they're coming out nice. In an 8lb pot I'm putting in 200 45's, so your 3lb pots, maybe 75 or so?

I've only done 4 loads so far though, but I'm getting good results. Except for pins getting stuck in the holes. A good 10 pieces of brass out 250 9mm's... sort of annoying. -Brad

[evil5826]

More soap seemed to of worked. 1 pound in a 3 pound container worked fine. I was able to fit 100 rounds of 45 acp brass in each container and it came out fine with more soap. I'll probably cut it down to 75 rounds in each container. However I am thinking of making my own container. Just looking for the right one with a seal-able top, I can put L shape brackets in there to make **** sturr up better in the container.

[BossHoss]

2 things.

THe tumbler is round not octagon....if there are no "paddles" or ridges to agitate that brass it is just sliding around.

And if there is not enough space TO agitate..."fall on itself, top to bottom" the mix of pins and brass just slosh around....

Nickel brass will "dull up" if left in more time than enough to wash it.


My quess is that tumbler is going to be more trouble than it is worth....small jobs, and it needs modifying.

I love the SS method. Use as little dawn and Lemishine as possible...

[cajun shooter]

Well you may have skipped one very important step. I have used the ceramic and the SS pins for many years now. My brass comes out so bright both inside and out that it sparkles.
In the directions that come with both types of media is a warning, that tells you to run nothing but the media for a couple of runs to clean it from the production dirt.
I had my first batch of brass with the ceramic come out looking like a dull gray. The only thing that cleaned my media and brass was mineral spirits and then a run with plenty of Dawn.
Your tumblers may be too small to work with the amount of media you are trying to use.
The correct tumbler (Thumblers Tumblers model B) is not cheap but once purchased will run for years and give you the best results.
It's like the Fram man said; "You can pay me now or pay me later".
I use about 3 good squirts of Dawn with OXY and a teaspoon of Lemi-Shine in each cleaning.
If cleaning nickel cases don't go heavy with the Lemi-Shine or it will remove the nickel, don't ask how I know.

[evil5826]

Ended up buying a thumbler. Returning my harbor freight tumbler and selling my Lyman, which btw is in the swapping & selling section.

[Jailer]

Well it's not the cheapest route but you could build one. I copied a design I found on another forum and it turned out great.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b180/Jailer/posting%20pics/Wettumbler1.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b180/Jailer/posting%20pics/Wettumbler3.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b180/Jailer/posting%20pics/Wettumbler2.jpg

[steelworker]

Jailer- what is the speed of the motor and the pulley diameters?

[Bill*]

Also @ jailer....Are there paddles inside the drum or is it just round in there?

[rasto]

The motor is probably, correct me if I am wrong, standard 1400rpm type.
The pulleys are there for slowing it down a bit and add a torque especially the starting one.
According the sealed screw in the middle of container I thought it is a paddle.
Be careful not to get the bars wet otherwise it could slip from the start and it would need a bit pull by hand.
I gathered all information and parts to build one but I am lack of time :-(

[Jailer]

Jailer- what is the speed of the motor and the pulley diameters?

Motor is a 1/4HP 1800 RPM. Pulleys are 1 1/2 and 4 inches.


Also @ jailer....Are there paddles inside the drum or is it just round in there?

Yup 2 paddles made from a piece of 1 1/2 split down the middle.


The motor is probably, correct me if I am wrong, standard 1400rpm type.
The pulleys are there for slowing it down a bit and add a torque especially the starting one.
According the sealed screw in the middle of container I thought it is a paddle.
Be careful not to get the bars wet otherwise it could slip from the start and it would need a bit pull by hand.
I gathered all information and parts to build one but I am lack of time :-(

You are correct to keep things dry. It's quite heavy when full and if the outside is wet it will slip. I thought about adding another set of pulleys to the opposite end to drive both rollers to help combat this. I added some duct tape to the outside of the fittings where it rides on the rollers and it helped but didn't eliminate it. Skateboard tape might work but i wonder how long the hose would last with it. Might just have to try it to see.

Oh, if you have a large PVC drum don't drop it. It will crack and leak. :cry:

[rasto]

This topic is getting away but anyway ;-)
Why you guys are all the time doing your own drums when so many are available out there?
I bought for example this and put some paddles in it.
http://www.emporo.sk/fotocache/bigorig/16901.jpg

[kbstenberg]

Just another way to skin the proverbial cat.
I use a 6 gallon bucket mounted in a clothes drier as my tumbler. My first batch last night had so much suds when I opened the bucket I had a tough time separating and rinsing the brass. let alone finding the brass.

[ncbearman]

Ended up buying a thumbler. Returning my harbor freight tumbler and selling my Lyman, which btw is in the swapping & selling section.

Well......... here is my Po' Man's way to use SS tumbling. I bought a dual drum rock tumbler at Harbor Freight ($45) and the refill pack from the STM site here($30). Each drum holds about 3 pounds, water, brass, ss media. I load it up with HOT water, Dawn dish soap (lots), and Lemi-Shine (spoon). Let it tumble over night, then rinse in the morning. Then someone solved my drying problem for me on this thread. I went and got a $3 hair dryer at Goodwill, lay out the brass on a towel after a good rinsing, fold the towel around the dryer to act as an oven. Brass is hot to the touch, dry and very shiny within 2 minutes, and stays that way. I can get about 300 9mm or 150 45acp in each drum.

If you are on the low end of reloading and shooting THIS WAY WORKS GREAT.