One more SS Tumbling Question??

[tred1956]

Hi,
Thanks to all for all the help and suggestions. Drums are painted and curing. Plugs for drums are here as are SS pins. Have Lemi Shine and Dawn. Won't be long before it is moved to permanent mounting location in the shop. Can't wait for is initial run.:bigsmyl2:
Have read some where about the benefits of using distilled water and (car/RV) wash/wax. Please offer opinions on whether distilled water and (car/RV) wash/wax is really of benefit?

As always thanks in advance for all opinions,
Doug

[Nueces]

I've used the SS system for several years. My softened well water is still too nasty to drink, but it serves to get my cases sparklingly clean and bright. I use Dawn with LemiShine for an hour, then switch to Armorall Wash'n'Wax with LemiShine for another 2 hours.

Distilled water would not offer me any improvement. My cases are not brighter after beginning to use the Wash'n'Wax, but the shine now lasts a long time.

[Bayou52]

I've been SS wet tumbling for about 3 years. The results are spectacular. I use regular cold tap water, 1/4 TSP of Lemishine and between 1-3 ounces of Blue Coral wash & wax to impede the return of tarnish. I doubt if anything would be gained by using distilled water. I've read that the Lemi-Shine is a water softening agent. The citric acid, I've read, is what gives that brilliant high shiney finish. I'm using the Thumler's model B tumbler. Typical results appear in below pic:

http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/gg578/Bayou413/IMG_20150514_131144_zps9lgzf4t9.jpg (http://s1244.photobucket.com/user/Bayou413/media/IMG_20150514_131144_zps9lgzf4t9.jpg.html)

The second pic shows the effect of Lemi-Shine. Both batches were tumbled under the same conditions and duration except the dull looking batch on the right had no Lemi-Shine added:


http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/gg578/Bayou413/IMG_20150125_155806_zps2bgx1ezm.jpg (http://s1244.photobucket.com/user/Bayou413/media/IMG_20150125_155806_zps2bgx1ezm.jpg.html)

Happy Tumbling......

Bayou52

[EddieNFL]

Hot water from the tap. Does temp make a difference? Don't know, but I feel better after a hot shower. Armour All Wash n' Wax (cheapest I found at Target). Dash of Lemi-Shine (no, I don't measure). Spin 'em for 1.5 hours, separate, rinse and into the Dillon with corncob to dry. No, the corncob doesn't clump; I use Drillspot 20/40, not pet store.

[kencha]

I certainly would suggest using the Wash-n-Wax instead of Dawn. It really does help prevent tarnishing which happens fairly rapidly with just Dawn+LemiShine.

I've always just used tap water, which is quite hard here. Can't comment on using distilled.

Only other things I'd comment on are that the rotary media separator/sifters work great--much better than I'd expected--but still make sure you thoroughly inspect for pins left in the cases or stuck in the flash holes.

Also, I use a food dehydrator that I picked up used from Salvation Army. Works great to dry the brass. Lots of different methods for drying though.

[Carrier]

What is the reason to run the brass through a dry tumbler after wet tumbling? I see many posts that say they do this but don't give a reason.

[r1kk1]

1. Keeps the shine.
2. I use car wax in the shell media and it leaves cases slick for resizing.


Take care

r1kk1

[blikseme300]

I've used the SS system for several years. My softened well water is still too nasty to drink, but it serves to get my cases sparklingly clean and bright. I use Dawn with LemiShine for an hour, then switch to Armorall Wash'n'Wax with LemiShine for another 2 hours.

Distilled water would not offer me any improvement. My cases are not brighter after beginning to use the Wash'n'Wax, but the shine now lasts a long time.

I have been using SS for a few years and my experiences are the same. The water here is quite hard so my cleaning has evolved into a 2-step process in which the first wash is for an hour using Dawn and Lemishine. Pour off the dirty water and then refill with water and add about 2 ounces of Armorall then tumble for another hour. Tumblers used are the standard & high speed Thumler model B. Large rifle cases in the standard and other in the high speed.

The drying is where things come together if done right. With the hard water here spots will occur if just left to dry in the sun or dehydrator. I sewed together 2 large towels so that it resembles a pillow case and pre-dry the cases by rolling them around to remove any droplets. (Hard to describe well but the brass is not just shaken.)

The resulting finish is excellent and the Armorall resists tarnishing even here in the high humidity.

[Nueces]

Good call to bring up the drying process. I roll the rinsed cases in a large towel and slosh them around a bit, then put them into a stainless steel roaster pan, in the oven for 20 minutes at 170F. I'd prefer not to leave them outside because the darn mud daubers might make a hotel of them.

[tiger762]

Been using a BiggDawg Tumbler for three years. I've found that the hotter the water, the faster the cleaning process. This is right out of college chemistry class, i.e. "reaction rates". Another thing is you might have to do a batch of brass in two stages. In the first stage, you're really just getting the bulk of soot out. Then, new hot water / soap / LemiShine to remove last little bit of dirt and to put the final polish on it. When I tumble fired 22LR, I always have to do it in two stages. When you pour out the water from the first stage, it will be black. The second stage flush will have a green tint to it. That's when you know it has gotten as clean as it can.

The soap can only float but so much dirt. So to try to just leave it run longer, just throws dirt around but there's not enough soap to bind to the dirt, hence the need to dump the water and do a second cleaning. You don't have to separate the SS pins out. Just pour out 99% of the black water and repeat...

[EddieNFL]

What is the reason to run the brass through a dry tumbler after wet tumbling? I see many posts that say they do this but don't give a reason.

Post #4

[Clark]

high speed Thumbler Model B.
5 pounds of stainless steel media [ round rods .041" dia, .255" long]
Add 200 pieces of rifle brass
Fill to the top with hot water
Agitate by hand to get bubbles out
Fill to the top with hot water
Add 1 tablespoon of Dawn liquid dish washing detergent
Add 1 teaspoon of Lemon Shine powder
Tumble for 3 hours with the machine resting on 4" of foam rubber to keep noise down.
Drain the dirty water
Add clean water
Agitate by hand
Drain the semi dirty water
Dump contents into a large open container
Shake the water and media out of each case
Put the brass one deep on paper towels and allow to dry overnight.
Check that a meniscus of water does not exist on the flash hole.