Which media seperator?

[sirgknight]

I have decided to wet-tumble my brass and I need your consensus on which media separator to buy. The four that seem to be the most popular are the Lyman Turbo, the RCBS Case/Media Separator, the Smart Reloader SR405 and the Frankford Quick n Easy. The Lyman, the Smart Reloader and the RCBS have a lid to cover the rotating separator and the Frankford does not. Since I will be rotating the brass and media through water for rinsing and separating, I think I have ruled out the Frankford. It appears that the Smart Reloader has the same perks as the Lyman and RCBS and is a tad cheaper. Your thoughts and input are appreciated.

[Bayou52]

I have decided to wet-tumble my brass and I need your consensus on which media separator to buy. The four that seem to be the most popular are the Lyman Turbo, the RCBS Case/Media Separator, the Smart Reloader SR405 and the Frankford Quick n Easy. The Lyman, the Smart Reloader and the RCBS have a lid to cover the rotating separator and the Frankford does not. Since I will be rotating the brass and media through water for rinsing and separating, I think I have ruled out the Frankford. It appears that the Smart Reloader has the same perks as the Lyman and RCBS and is a tad cheaper. Your thoughts and input are appreciated.

I use the one purchased from STM that came in a kit along with my Thumler's tumbler. It's a manual rotary separator with an inside squirrel cage and lid that closes. It looks the same as the RCBS media separator except for the color.

I use my separator for both separating media and "spin cycling" the brass dry.

I spin it vigorously, and therefore, a separator with a lid that closes is a must. Otherwise, there would be water everywhere.

I use my separator routinely after wet tumbling, and I would thus recommend this type of separator.

[Love Life]

Dillon.

[dudel]

Dillon. You couldn't pay me enough to try another Dumb Reloader ***.

[ffries61]

Dillon. You couldn't pay me enough to try another Dumb Reloader ***.

+ 3 , Couldn't get rid of that orange *** fast enough

[LUBEDUDE]

Dillon big'un.

They have two sizes , big 'un and mini-me.

[monadnock#5]

I have the RCBS unit. It's too big for the shelf so it lives in the barn. It's not particularly well engineered. The hinges are weak. It's big. It won't fit under the faucet at my house, even with the top off.

I gotta tell you though, compared to what I was using before (coffee can with the bottom cut out and replaced with hardware cloth), the RCBS separator is a giant step out of the Dark Ages.

[762 shooter]

My free 5 gallon and 3 gallon icing buckets from the grocery store with 3/8" holes drilled in the bottom of the 3 gal work just fine. one set for dry media and one set for lemishine.

chip bastid

762

[williamwaco]

I have the Frankford Arsenal.

It does a really good job very quickly.

BUT.

It is so loosey - goosey you must reassemble it every time you use it.

I would not buy it again.

Now I use this one:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/731116/frankford-arsenal-standard-media-separator?cm_vc=ProductFinding

Just set it on top of a 3 gallon bucket, grab your buzz box and upend it into the device and stir them around a few times.

[Dan Cash]

Dillon, big blue one. No one will pay you to use any thing; take your pick and ride the horse if you can.

[sirgknight]

I have no problem with Dillon equipment, but the Dillon does not have a covered bowl. Rotating the basket through a water rinse and separating the media from the casings, it seems prudent to cover the water so that the operator doesn't get wet from the rotation. I'm thinking that a gentle rotation may not get all of the media separated from the brass.

[Bayou52]

When I spin that cage in my enclosed media separator, I spin it fast. If it weren't enclosed, I could break out the Ivory soap and take a shower.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

This is what I do and you can take it for what it's worth. I've processed about 5000 5.56MM milsurp brass this way, some of which was water tarnished and stained. All of it was dirty.

1. I chose not to use the metal media, because I had a feeling I could get more than satisfactory brass without using it.
2. Instead, I bought a bottle of Lemi-shine from Walmart to try it out. Used the largest pot out of the Harbor Freight $25.00 stainless steel set and mixed my citric acid in it.
3. Boiled on the stove the first time, out in the garage on my turkey fryer after that.
4. After a calculated period, I removed the brass from the citric acid using a strainer stainless steel spoon I bought at the Dollar General store. I put the removed brass into a pot of clear water, to rinse off the last of the citric acid.
5. I then removed the brass from the water and put it into a the smaller Dillon media separator. I let the water drain down a minute or two while I wiped up my wife's kitchen counter from the above operations.
6. I then rotated the brass slowly to allow any large quantities of water to drain. That was done in a couple rotations, so I was able to speed up and spin out the last of the water. A negligible amount of water was thrown out of the Dillon media separator and I was able to easily wipe that up with a towel, but it was small enough I could have just let it air dry if I chose.
7. I spread the now clean brass onto a towel on the table, dabbed the brass with a towel, rotated it a couple times dabbing it, then allowed it to dry over night.
8. The next day, I put it in my small Dillon tumbler with a mix of corn cobb/walnut shell and a blop of Nu-Finish car polish. Let it run for a while and whala, beautiful clean, slick brass with absolutely no concern of moisture in the brass.
9. Separated the brass from the tumbling media using the Dillon tumbler and dumped it into Sterlite plastic shoe bins for storage until ready for use.

This method may or may not be the fastest method, but the final product was absolutely ready to be reloaded with no concern of moisture or other media. If you've already got the stainless steel media, I think williamwaco's 11 dollar media separator would get your brass separated from most or your water and stainless steel media, then use the Dillon media separator with it's large bucket to finish the job. I've owned the cheaper media separators and tumbler and while they work, they just are not a pleasure to use.

Note: I am not a Dillon fan boy and do not own one of the progressives. But they do offer some products that are extremely good. Their tumblers and media separators are one of them.

[sirgknight]

I will definitely use my vibrating tumbler to assist in the drying of the brass. My primary concern is finding the simplest and most effective way of separating the ss media while rinsing the brass. I have a huge screen strainer that will work great for pouring the media, the brass and the dirty liquid into. The screen strainer will allow all of the dirty liquid to go through and hold the media and brass. I will then be able to put the media and brass into the rotating separator and rotate it through clean water. This will accomplish two things; it will completely rinse the brass and it will allow the ss media to drop into the bottom of the separator bucket. Then I can concentrate on drying the cleaned brass.

[Love Life]

Using the Dillon separator, just spin the squirrel cage at a moderate pace. All the pins will fall out, and you don't get soaked. True story.

[Artful]

Using the Dillon separator, just spin the squirrel cage at a moderate pace. All the pins will fall out, and you don't get soaked. True story.

Oh, the common sense approach

[D Crockett]

well looks like I am the only one that uses a large magnet with a piece of flat steel on top so I can separate the pins from the magnet easy might take a little longer but what the heck I am in no hurry anymore D Crockett

[Love Life]

Just fill the tub your separator sits in with water. Then dump your whole drum of brass, pins, dookie water, etc into the separator. Rotate squirrel cage for however long makes you feel good at a moderate pace. Lift squirrel cage from water/bin and shake over the bin a couple times. Dump whole load of brass on a towel/blanket/ etc. Swirl it around. This get most of the water. Dump onto another blanket to allow to dry. If you see pins on your blanket...STOP!!! Now this is important. Don't freak out. Pick the pin or two up and put it back in your drum.

If you dry tumble afterwards there is absolutely no need to rinse the brass off with clean water. Seriously.

I really have this down to a fine art.

I clean my pins every thousand pounds of brass or so.

[Airman Basic]

+1 for the RCBS separator. It works. It's too big to store most places, and it falls apart every time you use it. But, it's easy to put back together and easy to find when you need it. Just look for the giant green thing. I use it for wet and dry separating. Fairly cheap also.

[Lloyd Smale]

ive got a rcbs and a frankfort arsonal that are kind of trashy. My dillion is hands down the better piece of equiptment

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

If you dry tumble afterwards there is absolutely no need to rinse the brass off with clean water. Seriously.

I really have this down to a fine art.

I clean my pins every thousand pounds of brass or so.

Question for you: The citric acid used in this process, though mild, is still an acid. What neutralizer are you using in your dry tumbling to stop the citric acid's action on your brass?

I can tell you I'm simply diluting mine to the point it won't affect the brass, then dry tumbling with a polishing material to scrub the last bit of acid off the brass with the final bit of crud that might be left after the acid wash.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I will definitely use my vibrating tumbler to assist in the drying of the brass. My primary concern is finding the simplest and most effective way of separating the ss media while rinsing the brass. I have a huge screen strainer that will work great for pouring the media, the brass and the dirty liquid into. The screen strainer will allow all of the dirty liquid to go through and hold the media and brass. I will then be able to put the media and brass into the rotating separator and rotate it through clean water. This will accomplish two things; it will completely rinse the brass and it will allow the ss media to drop into the bottom of the separator bucket. Then I can concentrate on drying the cleaned brass.

Have you already purchased the stainless steel media? The reason I ask this is because I'm getting the results I'm getting without using the ss media. The time spent dry tumbling with corn cob/walnut media is very short, only about 15-30 minutes tops.

[762 shooter]

Question for you: The citric acid used in this process, though mild, is still an acid. What neutralizer are you using in your dry tumbling to stop the citric acid's action on your brass?

I can tell you I'm simply diluting mine to the point it won't affect the brass, then dry tumbling with a polishing material to scrub the last bit of acid off the brass with the final bit of crud that might be left after the acid wash.

From scant knowledge obtained from the citric acid sticky, the acid only works on the surface then passivates it or something. I have left mine in overnight with no ill effects. Air dry, then vibrate with walnut media for about an hour and it looks brand new. One teaspoon per quart, heat up before every use, and I have been continuously using the same solution for the last 3 days on some pretty crappy brass. Works great on J bullets also. I have noticed that brass put through the citric acid bath stays untarnished for a long time also.

Best thing since sliced bread.

762

[r1kk1]

I have the big blue Dillon.

Take care

r1kk1

[mozeppa]

i use tweezers to pick out the ss pins.

took me a week to do 200 brass

[sirgknight]

Have you already purchased the stainless steel media? The reason I ask this is because I'm getting the results I'm getting without using the ss media. The time spent dry tumbling with corn cob/walnut media is very short, only about 15-30 minutes tops.

Yes, I have everything except the media separator. After watching all the you-tubes that I could find and after researching several threads on ss tumbling, I have tried to extract the good points and either change or eliminate the bad points to make this process less troublesome, more sensible and more enjoyable to do. In my humble opinion, some of the you-tubes makes the process a PITA and wastes a lot of time and possibly some media too. It appears that the original media was .040" in diameter which would allow two of them to occasionally get stuck in the primer holes. Also they were short enough to get stuck sideways in larger casings. Now, it appears that the better choice is a media that is .047" in diameter and long enough to not get stuck in anything. These are good things to know for newbies like me. I have received brass from two different forum members who tumble with ss media and their brass absolutely sparkles like new. None of my vibrator tumbling using everthing from cat litter to walnut has ever looked as good as their brass. I've used brasso, paint thinner, cabelas brass polisher, nufinish and you name it, but the ss has no decent competition when it comes to making the brass look NEW. I am retired now and enjoy tinkering with stuff, but I still want it to be sensible, relaxing and a joy to do.

[Bayou52]

I was originally uig standard size pins (0.041" diameter). After having stuck pins in flash holes in 3-5% of the cases, I switched to the larger size pins (0.047" diameter). The result is that after thousands of cases tumbled, not a single stuck pin.

Enjoy your retirement and your reloading hobby......

[dudel]

I have no problem with Dillon equipment, but the Dillon does not have a covered bowl. Rotating the basket through a water rinse and separating the media from the casings, it seems prudent to cover the water so that the operator doesn't get wet from the rotation. I'm thinking that a gentle rotation may not get all of the media separated from the brass.

Gentle rotation gets all the media out for me. No need to spin it like a washer spin cycle. You'll not only send water all over the place, you'll also send media all over the place.

I find that a rocking motion over 180 degrees works fine for me.

[Bayou52]

Gentle rotation gets all the media out for me. No need to spin it like a washer spin cycle.

It's interesting that you use the phrase "spin cycle" because that's exactly what I use the enclosed media separator for in addition to separating media.

Once the media is separated, I throw a dry towel into the squirrel cage and spin hard. I repeat this with a second dry towel. The result is that this spin cycle removes 99% of all remaining moisture after tumbling. No need to use dryers, heaters, ovens, air compressors, etc, etc......

[Love Life]

Question for you: The citric acid used in this process, though mild, is still an acid. What neutralizer are you using in your dry tumbling to stop the citric acid's action on your brass?

I can tell you I'm simply diluting mine to the point it won't affect the brass, then dry tumbling with a polishing material to scrub the last bit of acid off the brass with the final bit of crud that might be left after the acid wash.

The bin is already full of fresh water, so when I dump the drum in the citric acid gets further diluted. I let the brass dry overnight and then tumble in CC treated with NF the next day.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

The bin is already full of fresh water, so when I dump the drum in the citric acid gets further diluted. I let the brass dry overnight and then tumble in CC treated with NF the next day.

So except for using pins, you're doing something similar to what I'm doing.

[Love Life]

Probably, but I don't know what you are doing.

SS tumble
Dump
Let air dry overnight
CC tumble

Done.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Yes, I have everything except the media separator. After watching all the you-tubes that I could find and after researching several threads on ss tumbling, I have tried to extract the good points and either change or eliminate the bad points to make this process less troublesome, more sensible and more enjoyable to do. In my humble opinion, some of the you-tubes makes the process a PITA and wastes a lot of time and possibly some media too. It appears that the original media was .040" in diameter which would allow two of them to occasionally get stuck in the primer holes. Also they were short enough to get stuck sideways in larger casings. Now, it appears that the better choice is a media that is .047" in diameter and long enough to not get stuck in anything. These are good things to know for newbies like me. I have received brass from two different forum members who tumble with ss media and their brass absolutely sparkles like new. None of my vibrator tumbling using everthing from cat litter to walnut has ever looked as good as their brass. I've used brasso, paint thinner, cabelas brass polisher, nufinish and you name it, but the ss has no decent competition when it comes to making the brass look NEW. I am retired now and enjoy tinkering with stuff, but I still want it to be sensible, relaxing and a joy to do.

Your process related to research was very similar to mine, but after reading everything I could find on the subject, I decided NOT to buy the stainless steel pins, because I felt the citric acid was what produced the greatest portion of the effect. After my experiment and comparing my results to the pictures of those using stainless steel pins, I strongly felt (and still do) the stainless steel pins were not really needed to get bright, shiny and beautiful brass. I also felt (and still do) that I wanted to run the brass through a tumbling process with the corncob/walnut shell to insure the brass was absolutely dry.

I can say without hesitation the process I described above has given me excellent results with dry, slick brass ready to reload. While it reads "complicated," in actual practice it is pretty simple, straight forward and doesn't take much time on my part, the largest amount of time being setting things up, taking them down, waiting for the water to heat up (acids are more effective when heated, ask any chemist, no need to leave overnight) and doing the little bit of cleanup.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Probably, but I don't know what you are doing.

SS tumble
Dump
Let air dry overnight
CC tumble

Done.

citric acid bath (no stainless steel media)
Dump (Use the Dillon media separator for this. I do rinse a second time with water to insure acid dilution. Not sure if it's needed, but it gives me extra piece of mind on several thousand cases.)
Let air dry overnight (On a towel on the table, yep)
CC tumble (I use corncob/walnut shell with a dollop of Nufinish car polish.)

[Love Life]

Then we have very similar processes. I use cold hose water for my SS cleaning and my brass come out nice and shiny.

[gunoil]

i have rcbs

[375supermag]

Hi...

I use the RCBS media separator for dry tumbling. It is setting on a workbench in the garage all the time.

When I wash brass, I separate it from the cleansing mix by pouring it through a large stainless steel mesh strainer.
I then spread the brass out on a large towel on the dining room table with the ceiling fan on for several hours. I gather up the towel and brass every hour or so, shake it and spread it out again. When the towel is dry, so is the brass.

Does my wife approve? No idea...I don't tell her how to do laundry and she doesn't tell me how to clean my brass.

[bbqncigars]

One thing: put a magnet inside of a plastic bag, once the pins are retrieved you just turn the bag inside out to capture the pins without having to touch them.

[sirgknight]

Gentle rotation gets all the media out for me. No need to spin it like a washer spin cycle. You'll not only send water all over the place, you'll also send media all over the place.

I find that a rocking motion over 180 degrees works fine for me.

Thanks. Watching some of the videos it appeared that a brisk rotation would be needed to separate the media. It appears that a gentle rotation will get the same results. All this information is helpful and actual OJT will "learn" me a lot.

[Rhino77]

:pI also use the Dillon smaller media separator. I already had a Cabela's media separator, but the slots were too large for de-rimmed .22 long rifle jackets. The Dillon works well with the small cases. I have been swaging .224 cal bullets using .22 long rifle brass to make the cases for a little over a year.

Since I started using the stainless steel tumbling method last year, I have never used my dry media tumblers since. I am very happy with the SS tumbling method.

[Beesdad]

RCBS works great w/ SS pins and for about $35.00... Designed to fit inside a 5 gallon bucket.

[BrianC636]

Since I use the harbor freight dual drum tumbler, I purchased a 10 dollar "salad spinner" at Walmart. I partially fill the bowl with water and then spin it. I also figured out if I spin then stop it quickly I can almost all the pins out before I give the brass a final rinse in the sink out in the shop.

[Rhino77]

I also use abrupt stops with my media separator and then reverse directions, this seems to get the pins out well. I have found rinsing the brass with cold water in a bucket not only keeps the brass from spotting but will help remove SS pins stuck to the case walls.

[gunoil]

This is green RCBS and it has a top so you want sling dirty water and stuff everywhere. I wash rcbs w/hot water after every use. Also, l rinse my brass w/scaulding hot water to cut soap and other stuff off. This city hot water does not spot.

http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k511/putt2012/D88027C0-3BF5-42E7-BB7E-FD4AFE9B2E21-210-000000877195E0DD_zpse91b05f8.jpg

Thats my homemade ss media bowl setting on top from dollar store.
http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k511/putt2012/null_zpsd1ccaf65.jpg

DIRECTIONS: Things great! Hunt a 400 or 500 RPM used motor. Then amazingmagnets.com Midwayusa.com sells SS media. Plastic bowl from dollar store. Rinse w/hot water, dry on beach towel in spare room.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_FpiTzVYP8

[sirgknight]

One thing: put a magnet inside of a plastic bag, once the pins are retrieved you just turn the bag inside out to capture the pins without having to touch them.

After receiving all of my equipment and operating the HF dual drum for the first time, I immediately learned that it is how the media is handled that makes the whole process either gratifying or a PITA. I can see where a small magnet could definitely come in handy from time to time. My initial theory was to use a fine screen and dump the dirty water, media and brass before rinsing, but, even the tiny screen allowed a few pieces of the media to fall through. I didn't lose any of the media but it was a PITA to gather. A small magnet would have solved that. As for the cleaning of the brass: the brass was not real dirty so for my initial recipe I used about 1/8 of a tsp of Dawn and 1/4 tsp of lemishine and tumbled for 1.5 hrs. The brass came out sparkling, there was no over-sudsing and the water was just a little murky. I'm using a SmartReloader SR405 media separator that I purchased off of Amazon. It took only 7 or 8 "slow" rotations in rinse water to get all the media separated from the brass. I didn't even need to close the top of the separator. Everything considered I think this first session was very successful. The brass is absolutely beautiful and what I really like is the fact that the casings get cleaned just as nicely on the inside and in the primer pockets. If I were just starting out, I would definitely go with wet tumbling.

[Bayou52]

The brass is absolutely beautiful and what I really like is the fact that the casings get cleaned just as nicely on the inside and in the primer pockets. If I were just starting out, I would definitely go with wet tumbling.

I've been sold on wet tumbling for about a year and a half. The results are stunning, and the process becomes very efficient after you get it down pat.

[Ubet]

I've had a Dillon separator for years, and the catch tub, on the bottom half, cracked. I called Dillon to buy another one and they sent me one for free. So even something as simple as that was covered under their warranty, which they quickly filled.

[Bjornb]

Dillon.

What Love Life said. Without question. Tried Frankford, RCBS and other budget solutions. Large Dillon separator is the cat's meow.

[kaskillo]

For walnut and/or corn cob media I use Dillon
For SS media I use F arsenal

[rodsvet]

Separating steel pins from the brass by tumbling with the small Dillon CM500 just became a lot less messy for me. I took a Sterilite 56 quart bin from Home Depot ($8) and cut out the bottom along the line about one inch in from the sides. Put a couple of notches for the hinge pins and did a little judicious trimming and problem solved. The bin fits perfectly along the top of the Dillon tub, the water stays inside. The lid still fits on the top of the tub, or you can leave it off depending on how fast you spin the handle. I don't know why Dillon doesn't offer a lid. Take your empty Dillon tub to Home Depot and do a trial fit. If the idea seems workable, then spend the $8. Rod