Thumler's & Brass Cleaning Questions

[Mal Paso]

No case prep section?

I used to use a RCBS dry tumbler which worked ok except the motors didn't last. 4 years average but I used to shoot every week. I've been blessed with enough money to get something better and Thumler's was recommended.

The Ultra-Vibe 18 comes in 2 models. The #180 sold by all the reloading suppliers and the #160 which will polish rock too. Is there any advantage using the #160 for brass? Is there another quality vibratory tumbler I'm missing?

I've seen a lot of posts on wet tumbling over the years but I couldn't find an overview in any posts or stickies. Can you just wet tumble and eliminate dry tumbling. I often see extraordinary wet cleaning but the guy will finish them dry with wax. Anyone just leave them naked?

Thanks!

[Nueces]

Wet tumbling with pins, Dawn soap and LemiShine leaves brass nearly chemically clean and bright, so it will tend to tarnish some. I do that for an hour, then replace the solution with one of the auto Wash'n'Wax liquids along with a spot of LemiShine. The auto liquid leaves a micro coating of wax on the brass that I find completely eliminates tarnishing, but it cannot be otherwise detected. It doesn't even build up in a sizing die.

I dry by shaking in a towel, then heating for 20 minutes in a 170F oven.

[MyFlatline]

I deprime and wet tumble. Dawn ( a good squirt ) and a dash of Lemon shine ( have been wanting to try cream of tarter) 2 hours tops. rinse and set in the sun or in front of a fan. Clean inside and out..

219685

[kayala]

I've had to double check :) The ultra-vibe that OP mentions is "regular" as in "not wet" tumbler. I'm not sure how it justifies its price, for corn cob tumbling I just use FA tumbler, which was around $50 (occasionally) my main one is Thumler's ("wet") tumbler.

[Omega]

I deprime with a Lee universal die then wet tumble for an hour, a bit longer if extra dirty, then let them air dry on a towel. Just a tbs of dawn and 1/4 tsp of lemishine, and they come out as new. I haven't seen too much tarnish yet, but you can always dry tumble or do the carwax trick.
219687
Notice the difference between the two methods.
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Water after wet tumbling brass previously dry tumbled.

[MyFlatline]

I've had to double check :) The ultra-vibe that OP mentions is "regular" as in "not wet" tumbler. I'm not sure how it justifies its price, for corn cob tumbling I just use FA tumbler, which was around $50 (occasionally) my main one is Thumler's ("wet") tumbler.

and mine is home made..

219689

Can do almost 50 pounds a shot

[dansedgli]

I wet tumble with dishwashing liquid and lemon juice for an hour or 2. Then dry in a dehydrator.

I've had clean 40 brass sitting in my garage for 2 years that still looks like new.

[winelover]

Motor on my Thumbler's Model B is at least 40 years old and still going strong. The Model B can be used wet or dry. Mine is used, mostly dry. I only do wet, when I first clean, once fired military brass.

Winelover

[Mal Paso]

Motor on my Thumbler's Model B is at least 40 years old and still going strong. The Model B can be used wet or dry. Mine is used, mostly dry. I only do wet, when I first clean, once fired military brass.

Winelover

That sounds like a plan. I was told that 12 pounds was a more realistic load for the model B. Would that be 5 lbs of pins and 7 lbs brass for wet tumbling?

There was a sweet spot, brass/media with the RCBS. How do you load the model B wet and dry?

And who has the best deal on Pins?

Thanks!

[Nueces]

Must include the water weight in the total, so that drops allowable brass weight to 2-3 pounds. My Thumler B High Speed has done well with heavier amounts. A marginal motor may not handle that.

[muta4warrior]

Must include the water weight in the total, so that drops allowable brass weight to 2-3 pounds. My Thumler B High Speed has done well with heavier amounts. A marginal motor may not handle that.

I have 2 Thumbler B's, I typically run 400 pieces of 223, 450 pieces of Blackout. Pistol, it mostly comes down to weight depending on the calibers. Defiantly deprime before wet tumbling as the primers will have a chance to weld themselves in the pockets if you leave them for a bit before reloading, plus you get a chance to get the pockets nice and clean at the same time. I toss my finished brass in a regular Dillon small tumbler with polish for about 30 mins to dry and coat the brass with polish to keep them from tarnishing quickly.

[Walks]

I've had a # 10 for at least 25yrs. The only problem I ever encountered was the rubber drum liner disintegrated and STUCK TO THE BRASS INSIDE AND OUT. NO WAY TO REMOVE INSIDE. Lost 100 once-fired REMINGTON .270WIN cases. THUMBLER'S wanted as much for a new "tub" as I could BUY a brand new complete one from GRAF&SONS. so I just bought a LYMAN 2200 Replacement tub for $22.00 shipped.

I'd never buy another THUMBLER'S product . They said I used their product improperly, and that's why it failed.

[Walter Laich]

STM, a vendor here (see at the top of the page) got my money. https://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/

I went with the Rebel 17 and find it is great! right now brass from today's run is drying in 87° Texas sunshine, in fact

I went with Southern Shine Tumblers https://www.facebook.com/southernshinetumblers/ for my SS 'chips'

seems to cut the time in half from pins

since Southern Shine also sells tumblers that might be a way to go

I use 1/4 tsp of Lemishine and 1 oz of wash and wax from wally world--cheap is fine. No need for Dawn or the like

2 hours and a couple of rinses and out in the sun to dry

I have some 38 Sp cases that are 3 years from their wet cleaning and while they have darken a bit are still shiny like the day they came out of the tumbler

I may take a bit longer but I like clean shiny brass both in my guns and it makes it easier to find in the grass (cowboy shooting)

[Jeff Michel]

Thumbler's Model B, run it dry, half full of brass, fill remaining space with walnut media. I run it for twenty four hours per batch. It's over ten years old and still does a great job. I'm tumbling twice a week

[Omega]

STM, a vendor here (see at the top of the page) got my money. https://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/

I went with the Rebel 17 and find it is great! right now brass from today's run is drying in 87° Texas sunshine, in fact

I went with Southern Shine Tumblers https://www.facebook.com/southernshinetumblers/ for my SS 'chips'

seems to cut the time in half from pins

since Southern Shine also sells tumblers that might be a way to go

I use 1/4 tsp of Lemishine and 1 oz of wash and wax from wally world--cheap is fine. No need for Dawn or the like

2 hours and a couple of rinses and out in the sun to dry

I have some 38 Sp cases that are 3 years from their wet cleaning and while they have darken a bit are still shiny like the day they came out of the tumbler

I may take a bit longer but I like clean shiny brass both in my guns and it makes it easier to find in the grass (cowboy shooting)I went with STM, they work great, I had seen the chips but it worried me that they may get stuck in the flashhole as some seem rather small.

[ReloaderFred]

I've got two Ultra Vibe 18's that I've had for over 35 years. The motor in the first one lasted over 25 years, and the second one lasted a little over 30 years before they had to be replaced. I've also got a Berry's tumbler, and the motor on that one lasted about 10 years before replacement.

My tumblers run most of the time and get heavy use. In fact, all three of them are running right now. You get what you pay for, like in most things. When I called Thumler's for replacement motors, they couldn't have been more helpful. I highly recommend their products.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Bayou52]

Thumler's model B with 1 ounce of auto wash and wax and 1/4 TSP of Lemi-Shine. Run a typical batch 2-3 hours depending on the degree of tarnish. Cold water. Typical results:

https://image.ibb.co/hRHSHF/IMG_20160401_141930.jpg


https://preview.ibb.co/dhoTPv/IMG_20150221_182103.jpg (https://ibb.co/fcYv4v)

Bayou52

[9.3X62AL]

I have 2 Thumler Model "B" units--one each, slow and fast speed. I don't wet-tumble, I use #14-#20 untreated corn cob grit from Kramer Industries. 50# of the stuff cost about $100/shipped, and the large box I have barely put a dent into since I got it in 2011 is likely a lifetime supply. My goal is not to polish and make brass shiny and bright--my goal is to clean it thoroughly to preserve my dies' interiors.

I pour the empty tumbler hopper about half-full of media--add brass to within 1" of the hopper's top--and secure the lid and its gasket in place. The fast machine cleans brass in about 6-8 hours, the slow roller I let run overnight. The fast model I have had for close to 30 years; its motor is fine, the unit is on its third set of drive and idler axles and its second hopper liner. The slow dude I bought used, and its axles were long in the tooth--I replaced those and it runs well. I recommend the Thumler Model "B" without reservation, mindful that I don't wet-tumble and am not uber-fastidious about mirror finishes on my cartridges.

[wv109323]

There is a difference between the two models of ultra vibe 18s. The rock tumbler has ball bearings in the motor. The standard has bushings. The bushings are not designed to take any thrust on the motor shaft. With the motor shaft mounted vertically the weight of the armature applies thrust on the bushings. With that said my motor with bushings lasted about 25 years. The bushings wore allowing the rotor to hit the motor end. The motor is proprietary to TT. A regular replacement motor cost me around $80.00 a few years back.

[NyFirefighter357]

I wet tumble with a Frankford Arsenal tumbler. After I remove the water and pins I add a couple of strips from a car drying chamois and let it tumble for a few minutes this almost completely dries them. I then can just dump them out on a towel to finish drying. You will also want the media magnet to pick up the pins $14. I will be making another one like this, uses a wiper motor and can be made cheap. https://youtu.be/9bXLq_9CW4c This is another one https://youtu.be/osJtcATcIwg This is the instructions in building one with a wiper motor. https://youtu.be/MchjmCIvzlY

[winelover]

That sounds like a plan. I was told that 12 pounds was a more realistic load for the model B. Would that be 5 lbs of pins and 7 lbs brass for wet tumbling?

There was a sweet spot, brass/media with the RCBS. How do you load the model B wet and dry?

And who has the best deal on Pins?

Thanks!

Never bothered with SS pins. PITA for my needs.

Normally, I use walnut media @ half the drum, add < cap full of NuFinish auto polish. I don't bother with the Mineral Spirits.............read the ingredients in the polish = petroleum distillates. Add a reasonable amount of brass. Never weighed anything.

Wet tumbling is just cold water, Lemi-shine and dab of Dawn, like others have recommended. Dry cases in the sun.

Winelover

[Mal Paso]

Thank All of you Very Much!

This is exactly the info I needed!

[W.R.Buchanan]

Mal: You can't go wrong with a Thumlers machine. My ultra vibe 18 is over 30 years old and I run it for 24 hours with walnut hulls each time. I got it in a trade from a machine shop in the early 90's and it was well used then.

I also got a Ultra 45 which is a larger version. I hardly ever use it. I'd make you a deal on that one? It will hold alot of brass!

You can get the crushed Walnut Hulls from Petco or Pet Smart for about $10-12 for a 25 lb bag which will last for a long time.

Randy