Potential for airborne contaminants during tumbling?

[rutilate]

Has anyone run across any discussion or better yet, measurements of harmful airborne particulates generated during tumbling/separating brass?

I'm running the tumbler in my basement (next to exercise equipment!) and cannot afford to have lead build up and seepage into the house above.

I've read about people finding fine dust all over their shops/basements when using the dry media and/or open lid tumblers. I've taken some steps to ensure dust is minimized during tumbling. I need to know what else is necessary, including the possibility of just moving everything outside.

There are five actions with potential for airborne contamination:

Pouring soiled media into tumbler
Tumbling
Pouring media and brass into separator
Separation
Pouring media into storage (or back into tumbler for another load)


1.) Pouring soiled media into tumbler
3.) Pouring media and brass into separator
5.) Pouring media into storage (or back into tumbler for another load)
Don't know how to minimize dust here, or even how big of a problem it really is.

2.) Tumbling
I have a Frankford Arsenal tumbler with a solid lid (although not necessarily sealed) and am using the walnut media with DukeInMaine's recipe of mineral spirits and NuFinish. How much will this combination knock down dust?
How often should the mineral spirits and NuFinish be reapplied to keep the dust down?

4.) Separation
I'm pouring into the RCBS rotary media separator. I bought it because of the lid. I've been using my wife's old colander (caught hell for that when she found it missing!) and turning them with my hands. That won't continue!

What are your thoughts?

[zuke]

If your that concerned do it all outside the house.
Or get a Thumblers tumbler and SS media

[jcwit]

Yes this is a potential hazard with tumbling media.

Keep the dust down as much as possible, keep the lid on the tumbler, add used dryer sheets, they not only help keep the dust down they remove much of it and in the process help to keep your media clean. I do not use a media separator, I use a metal mesh colander and with the finer media I use "20/40" the media flows right out like fine dry sand.

Don't know why you would have caught He!! for using your wifes colander, I realize they are so expensive, mine cost $2.00 from WalMart.

[ReloaderFred]

You'll actually get more lead in the air when shooting, from the lead styphnate priming compound, than from the tumbling, but take whatever precautions that make you feel better.

The most important thing you can do is maintain a regular routine of washing your hands after handling anything containing lead, or lead residue, and don't eat or smoke prior to washing your hands. You can't absorb elemental lead through your skin. It's only absorbed in airborn or oxidized form through ingestestion or inhalation.

I've been reloading for the past 50 years, and casting bullets for the last 45 years, and when I had my blood tested for lead levels during my last physical, they were well within the normal range at 11. My doctor told me that some people who don't shoot at all have higher lead levels, and I had nothing to worry about.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[DLCTEX]

I cast as well as tumble brass in the same tumbler as you. Just ordinary precautions are taken and my BLL was 1 recently.

[rutilate]

Thanks for the input.

Don't know why you would have caught He!! for using your wifes colander, I realize they are so expensive, mine cost $2.00 from WalMart.

I didn't replace hers before commandeering it. She was in the middle of making spaghetti when she discovered it was missing.
:smile:


If your that concerned do it all outside the house.
Or get a Thumblers tumbler and SS media

Moving it outside AND considering SS media!

[facetious]

Before tumbling I wash the cases with dish soap and water then rinse in fresh water with some vinegar then let dry to cut down on all the crud getting in the tumbling media . I run the tumbler out in the garage.

[larryy]

I moved to SS last year (Thumler Tumbler) and my corn cob has sat idle since. When you see the inside of your cases looking like new it's hard to use anything else. Watch their video on u-tube. Someone said it rusts when wet, but I just put the lid on mine when stored and it's been fine. Read somewhere that airborn lead levels are really high next to the vibrating cleaners which helped me convince the wife.
Expensive to get started, but media lasts forever. Just be careful what you tumble together. Have had smaller cases stick in larger to the point of throwing out. I.E. .380 and 45 colt or 22 hornet and 300 Win Mag.

[Jim]

I covered the holes in the top on my Lyman tumbler with duct tape. I run it in the closet and all generated dust stays in the tumbler.

[dragon813gt]

I tumble in my basement and cast/reload in my garage. I tested both areas for lead and both came up negative. I clean up the area in my garage after every session. I'm lazy with the basement and vacuum up every so often. IMO you really have to be doing something wrong to contaminate the area the tumbler is in.


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[rutilate]

I tested both areas for lead and both came up negative.

How did you test the areas? Is there a consumer lead kit that can be used to swap surfaces?

[Pavogrande]

Take up knitting

[cbrick]

First, keep the lid on while tumbling.

Next get a spray bottle and fill with water. When you shut off the tumbler to get the brass out spray a mist of water onto the media. Don't soak it, just enough to contain any dust. Wash hands when finished.

Rick

[gwpercle]

I use crushed walnut shell media treated with a polishing agent. Purchased from Midway, several companies sell it. This doesn't generate any dust that I have noticed in/on my reloading room/bench. I sometimes add a liquid polishing additive when doing a batch. The untreated corn cob media seems to be a bit more dusty. I think if you stick to commerical treated media, walnut shell, and add a liquid rejuvenator now and then, you shouldn't have a dust problem, I don't. Also my tumbler has no holes in the top so nothing can get out.
gary

[1hole]

If there was a health hazard from lead dust in a tumbler there would be warning stickers all over both the tumbler and the media containers as well as in our reloading manuals; there are none because it's not an issue.

The trivial amount of dust that frightens so many people is from both the original crunching of the media AND excessive polish that's dried and crumbled to a gray dust. Neither is harmful, neither is pleasant to breath so don't stick your head into the tumbler bowl while it's working.

Don't lick the gray color off your fingers after handling lead bullets and all will be well.

[r1kk1]

Lee in his book addresses tumblers and lead dust. We don't shoot much indoors as my wife and I walk away with stuffy noses. I tumble out in the garage and use a N-95 mask when separating media. People who have pulmonary issues are more sensitive to airborne containments. We see our share of these people on a daily basis at work. Be safe and be comfortable. Have your levels checked when you get a physical. We do. My wife and I flip old homes and that's one of the reasons we have ours checked.

Take care

r1kk1

[cbrick]

If there was a health hazard from lead dust in a tumbler there would be warning stickers all over both the tumbler and the media containers as well as in our reloading manuals; there are none because it's not an issue.

The trivial amount of dust that frightens so many people is from both the original crunching of the media AND excessive polish that's dried and crumbled to a gray dust. Neither is harmful, neither is pleasant to breath so don't stick your head into the tumbler bowl while it's working.

Not true.

Inaccurate info.

Read this.

http://lasc.us/FryxellSafeHandlingLead.htm

Rick

[zuke]

Here's 4000 word's I don't have to type.

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy356/zuke_bucket/DSCF1256.jpg

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy356/zuke_bucket/DSCF1257.jpg

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy356/zuke_bucket/DSCF1258.jpg

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy356/zuke_bucket/DSCF1259.jpg

[Pavogrande]

Well, if you are concerned about a hazard from tumbling -- don't do it --
Just do as we used to do before tumblers were common - wipe the case with a solvent dampened rag-
I don'r think shiney brass shoots any better.

[rutilate]

Take up knitting


Well, if you are concerned about a hazard from tumbling -- don't do it --
Just do as we used to do before tumblers were common - wipe the case with a solvent dampened rag-
I don'r think shiney brass shoots any better.

Pavogrande, do you still use .38 casings for ear plugs?

[John Boy]

What are your thoughts? Retire the vibratory tumbler and use a rotary tumbler with burnishing solution and media

[1hole]

cbrick: "Not true, inaccurate info" per web site.

Well, you cite an interesting artical but what I said only runs counter to the author's self stated opinion, not fact, and most of us have learned that what gets posted on web sites isn't always fully accurate. No Phd's opinion without data means very much to me, I know a few of those guys and, as a group, they don't impress me for having a lot of common sense; YMMV. He said:

" I have no hard data on (lead in tumbler dust) one way or the other, but I believe that lead contamination of tumbling media is inevitable due to residues left in the cases from the lead styphnate priming compound."

And I don't argue about that being his opinion. Nor do I doubt there has to be some amount of lead in used media. The valid question is, "How much is there and what do we need to do about it?" Truth is, there isn't much lead in a primer pellet. Primer pellets are tiny and most of what's in any fired case gets blown out the muzzle, not left lieing inside the case to get mixed with tumbler dust.

Tumbling has been around some 30-35 years and all that black ash left in fired cases isn't lead. It's MY opinon that if there was indeed any particular hazard in the ash (that common sense won't take care of) it would be plastered everywhere we look; it isn't. Nice thing about a still sorta free country is the gobbermint allows us to be worried about anything we may wish; I just don't wish to be very concerned about lead dust in my tumblers.

[r1kk1]

Read this.

http://lasc.us/FryxellSafeHandlingLead.htm

Rick

I've been a fan of Paco Kelly, Fryxell, etc., for many years. The LASC has the best website on cast bullets bar none. Their is a yahoo group that has the cast bullet handbook put together. C.E. Harris has contributed many articles as many other authors.

Lots of info on that site.

r1kk1

[cbrick]

No Phd's opinion without data means very much to me, I know a few of those guys and, as a group, they don't impress me for having a lot of common sense;

Glen Fryxell is a very highly regarded cast bullet writer and has been for many years. He earns his living with his Phd working with heavy metals.

Since it seems that only your opinion matters, and that's all you offered and only you could have common sense you should continue on as you have, eyes shut tight with a complete refusal to learn anything. Just keep on slamming everyone else in a failed attempt to make you look good.

Rick

[cbrick]

The LASC has the best website on cast bullets bar none. Lots of info on that site. r1kk1

56289

Thanks but Ken might argue that point, :mrgreen:

Rick

[williamwaco]

I use the Lyman with walnut shells.

First time I ran it it made so much dust I was coughing before I could pull the plug.

I washed the media in plain water and let it dry.

Now every time I tumble, I add enough mineral spirits to make the media VERY SLIGHTLY moist. ( Just a tiny bit more will make it clump like mud. ) I screw the top on tightly. There is NO dust and the solvent does a better job of removing carbon and bullet lube from the outside of the cases.

I dump the entire contents of the tumbler into the Frankfort Arsenal separator and crank it longer than necessary. I remove the brass and dump the media back into the tumbler and replace the lid.

I never touch the media except for the few grains that remain in a few cases.

.

[cbrick]

Pretty much what I do except I use this instead of mineral spirits.

56299

Rick

[1hole]

I must assume those who object to my opinion didn't bother to read the man's own statement:

" I have no hard data on (lead in tumbler dust) one way or the other, but I believe that lead contamination of tumbling media is inevitable due to residues left in the cases from the lead styphnate priming compound."

And you have ignored that I agree there has to be some tiny but very probably irrelivant amount of deadly (gasp!) LEAD! in media dust! :)

Carry on.

[ChuckS1]

If you're that worried about lead contamination, you've got the wrong hobby.

[Pavogrande]

Gee Chuck you must use 38 cases for earplugs also :-)

[rutilate]

Gee Chuck you must use 38 cases for earplugs also :-)

:grin:

[jcwit]

If you're that worried about lead contamination, you've got the wrong hobby.

True, but then if your hobby is playing volley ball you don't do it in the middle of the interstate either. Nothing wrong with taking a little precautions, even tho I believe the lead scare is way overblown.

[o6Patient]

We use to throw an old towel over the tumbler while it was running mostly for sound.
I never noticed excess dust from tumbling, you wouldn't get much dust during tumbling
as long as you had the lid on and it fit good ..right?