Extreme stainless media separator

[LAKEMASTER]

I love the idea of clean brass. I dont care about shine but i really like how polished brass feels during reloading.

My dad is currently making me a few machined Pieces to complete my ( extreme) stainless separator.

I'm going to go ( all out) yet make it out of things we can all acquire.

My goal is to go from tumbler to separator and never lose a pin. Never tip a bottle neck upside down to get out all those pesky pins we love so much.

Biggest achievement will be the pins collecting into a container while automatically washing/rinsing the brass.

Slowly but surely I'll be posting pictures.

If you've made your own already, please post a picture!

[rancher1913]

waiting to see this, the pin separating is one reason I hate the pins.

[LAKEMASTER]

The only thing i feel everyone will dislike is the size of it. The container/ lid will be a plastic tote, the media separator will be a heavy duty crawdad trap/minnow trap.

And of course the washing/rinsing/ media corralling system will be pvc pipe.

Where a lot of fabricating will be needed is making the minnow trap simple to load and unload.

I've also contemplated making a (rinsing) hose instead of a flushing system.

If 100%of the pins get collected i don't think anyone would be apposed to (hosing) them into a drain.


As i said, it won't be for everyone but you can set it up next to a sink or next to a garden hose outside.


Think of it as making a [ media rinsing station ]

[17nut]

207792

https://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/media-separator-deluxe.html/

You trying to make one of these?

[OS OK]

That's what I use, made by Frankfort Arsenal...same idea in the bucket... dump the soapy water from the tumbler carefully, rinse with a hose to get the sediment mostly out then...fill the separator with fresh water, pour the brass in, pins and all and the brass rinse's and dump their pins in the bottom of the bucket at the same time.

Easy peezy! Dry them in a towel...you know the rest.

At most, about 6 pins will splash out on the concrete but a magnet makes short work of picking those up.

[JimB..]

I use the Lyman separator, in fact just started using it last week. Before that I just set the FART in a bucket and shook it, then when I dumped the brass on a towel to dry I used a magnet to get all the spare pins...it kinda sucked.

Now I dump from the FART or 40lb tumbler into a 5 gallon bucket, decant off most of the water, carefully pour the brass and pins into the separator and then spray it with a hose while turning it slowly. Couple minutes and all the pins are out as the waste water is running clear.

Good luck with your idea, I’m looking forward to seeing it, but I think the bar is pretty high.

[LAKEMASTER]

By no means am i trying to say commercial products aren't good n available.

Alls I'm doing is creating a super station.

I like the idea of rinsing the brass and all the pins collect themselves in a cup/bottle ready to be stored away.

Turn a valve, spin a handle, done....

You guys do what you want, I'll keep building mine.... I just need time away from work. .... Lolol

[LAKEMASTER]

https://ads.midwayusa.com/product/757242/lyman-turbo-rotary-media-separator?utm_medium=shopping&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Reloading+-+Metallic+Reloading+Equipment+(Not+Presses)&utm_content=757242&cm_mmc=pf_ci_google-_-Reloading+-+Metallic+Reloading+Equipment+(Not+Presses)-_-Lyman-_-757242&gclid=CjwKCAiA6K_QBRA8EiwASvtjZXxiIekUfrtQnxGXwZFg cb0oM4wNW_LN-qerZlevSYvpQmIhEGjmMxoCjAUQAvD_BwE

for those of you who are impatient, imagine this separator with a pvc type sprayer attached to the lid and a drain in the bottom. The drain forces the pins in a tub and excess water goes from on the ground or down a real drain.

[OS OK]

A picture is worth a thousand words...draw us a picture of it...let's see this newfangled gadget.

[nun2kute]

I don't see any Pictures yet ! :kidding:

[LAKEMASTER]

Spent a little time with Dad today.

He made me a wooden handle,i was expecting metal but I'm not going to complain.

Cut a slot on one side of the ice chest, and a channel on the other side.

The minnow trap hinges on one side side and latches on the other.

Ran out of time. More to come.


208093208094

[jmorris]

I have the large Dillon one and just fill the tub with water.

[LAKEMASTER]

208118208119

I thought of many many ways to fasten the minnow trap to the Dowling or pvc pipe... I decided to go with my tried and true polymer rope.

I did it this way cause i know any ( pressure points) on the hardware cloth will eventually brake. The rope slips and grabs the surface like noose.

I have fish traps 10 years old that have this type of rope on them. Same hardware cloth same rope.


The drain was a swamp cooler drain kit.

I went this route cause now i can use it this week without loosing pins....

You can stop here... You will never lose pins this way. Water goes up the tube, pins stay in the bottom.

[LAKEMASTER]

Ok guys.

Ran a 15 lb batch last night and put them in the separator this morning.
Pins immediately fell to the bottom.

Sadly, my idea of the pins washing away won't ever work. There's no much surface tension holding the pins in 1 spot. They clump around the drain.

After i install the sprayer in the lid, ill see if the pins will work their way down more.

Rinsing the brass with a spray hose while tumbling was really neat you can watch the water go from black to gray to clear.

[LAKEMASTER]

208187

With the garden hose on low and slowly turning the cage ( didn't want to get wet ) this is what the pins did.

[LAKEMASTER]

I ran a hose from the drain to the bottom on bottom of a plastic container. From there, the lid had a 2nd hose going to the drain..

[JimB..]

I’m confused. You want the pins to wash out the drain at the bottom?

Are you just using a standpipe to allow the water to run out, and then pulling the standpipe so the pins will run down and into another container once everything is clean and the water is off?

If so, mix up some bondo and reshape the bottom of the cooler so everything runs towards the drain, a nice smooth slope to the hole and you’ll be good to go.

[jmorris]

To capture the pins I either use a releasing pickup magnet or dump the rinsed pins and water through a fine mesh bag that lets the water out and keeps the pins, it came from the contanier store.


This is the most "extreme" media seperator I have built, serves a bank of cement mixer tumblers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScrYaUscDe8

[farmerjim]

208201

I have one of these print washers from my old film photography days. The water turns the wheel on the side of the drum. It should separate out the pins with ease.

[jmorris]

That's pretty cool, have some more photos of it?

[farmerjim]

Go to Ebay, there are a bunch of them for sale there. That's where I got this picture. I thought of it when I saw yours. I have lots of film photography processing equipment back in my barn. It is just junk except for the washer

[LAKEMASTER]

I re tried the pin washing thing when i got off work today. The run off tube i made bottomed out in the jug i was using.

They ran out just fine this way.

More pictures to come.