Any Great Tricks to Drying Cases After Wet tumbling?

[Silver Jack Hammer]

Santa brought me a rotary tumbler for use with ceramic media and liquid. First time using it today I ended up with a big pile of wet brass and ceramic media. I’ve got it spread out on a few towels and on a few small screens.

What do you do? After you tumble and rinse, do you spread the brass and media out on a big towel? On an old window screen? I live on the precipitation side of the Pacific Northwet. I could turn on a room fan.

What has your experience shown you?

[Dieselhorses]

That is exactly what I do-spread media and brass out on towel(s). Get you an old pillow sham (slip) and throw only the brass in it, keep one end closed and shake around. This dries a good part of the water off. I'm finicky with mine and after drying in pillow slip I place on towel standing straight up or you can just let em fall where they may. I use stainless steel pins, this gets the primer pocket good and clean providing you de-prime brass beforehand. What solution are you using to clean?

[retread]

I used to lay them on a towel and dry them on the outside with a second towel on top using a back and forth rolling action, then let them dry overnight. I now have changed direction. I bought the large Oster convection oven at Wally World for PCing. Now I put my cleaned cases in a mesh pan and pop them into the Oster at the lowest temperature setting which I believe is 200F. for 30 minutes. Take them out and let cool for 30 minute and they are dry and ready to store or load. That size oven will handle whatever amount you can fit in you tumbler (unless you are using something like a cement mixer).

[Dieselhorses]

I used to lay them on a towel and dry them on the outside with a second towel on top using a back and forth rolling action, then let them dry overnight. I now have changed direction. I bought the large Oster convection oven at Wally World for PCing. Now I put my cleaned cases in a mesh pan and pop them into the Oster at the lowest temperature setting which I believe is 200F. for 30 minutes. Take them out and let cool for 30 minute and they are dry and ready to store or load. That size oven will handle whatever amount you can fit in you tumbler (unless you are using something like a cement mixer).

Retread- if you can send me that part# of the Oster, you just reminded me of what I've been wanting to buy. TY

[poppy42]

Go to walmart and get a delicate mesh laundry bag. Put the cases in it and swing it over your head to get the heavy water out then hang it in front of a fan till it dries. Trust me don’t put it in the dryer

[RobS]

My dad uses a food dehydrator that he found at a garage sale. Works very well.

[CamoWhamo]

I use a cheap food dehydrator from the discount store.

30 mins at the lowest setting (70c or 158f) and the brass is dry.

I see now that Lyman and Hornady are now marketing re-badged food dehydrators as brass driers and asking 4 times what you'd pay in a discount store.

[25ring]

Just pick up an old cookie sheet,dump the brass on it,pre heat your oven on the low setting usually 200.The brass will be dry in about 15min or there about.No muss no fuss.

[jmort]

I use the FA case dryer
Works perfectly like the FART
https://ads.midwayusa.com/product/304424/frankford-arsenal-platinum-series-brass-dryer?utm_medium=shopping&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Reloading+-+Metallic+Reloading+Equipment+(Not+Presses)&utm_content=304424&cm_mmc=pf_ci_google-_-Reloading+-+Metallic+Reloading+Equipment+(Not+Presses)-_-Frankford+Arsenal-_-304424&gclid=Cj0KCQiA6ozhBRC8ARIsAIh_VC1CjyZ9TldmJ-bf6cY6CHc405dGdSHnvLwebMiwzKR2vnD0I_K9LxsaAgXvEALw _wcB

[Roy Acuffff]

I have been drying washed cases for over 30 years. Have tries all the methods mentioned already and have settled on the food dehydrator as the absolute BEST way to dry the cases. Best of luck, you will have the hang of it soon and many clean cases.

Roy

[Butler Ford]

Just pick up an old cookie sheet,dump the brass on it,pre heat your oven on the low setting usually 200.The brass will be dry in about 15min or there about.No muss no fuss.

This is what I've been doing for several years but on bottleneck cases, I put a cooling rack on the cookie sheet and stand the brass up. By skipping every other hole, I can get a few over 250 per sheet. My oven's low temp is 170 and I fold a towel to keep the door open. At least it makes me believe it causes an air flow.

[Flailguy]

I'm the oddball here I guess. After wet tumbling I get as much water out as possible, then throw them in a f.a. vibratory tumbler with walnut media without the lid for a couple hours works very well for me.

[Silver Jack Hammer]

This is all really helpful information, thanks guys!

Dieselhorses I’m using the solution sold at Shiloh, and I bought the ceramic media from them too.

[georgerkahn]

I use a window screen. Kept after window replacement, it works well. After several years using it, though, with me living in a high-precipitation locale in East ;) -- I impulse-bought a Frankfort dryer -- now a few pennies under $44.00 at Amazon -- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RPABBG0/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=175145624762&hvpos=1t1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17106187596031007669&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9005342&hvtargid=kwd-139137634851&ref=pd_sl_44n1vfxmax_e -- and have yet to have any regrets making this purchase.
geo

[jmort]

That is a good price for a good tool.
Food dehydrators work well as noted above.

[Randy Bohannon]

Hair dryer, brass lightly tumbled on a clean towel here’s on high, works perfectly.

[MrWolf]

Another food dehydrator here. From memory I set mine around 100 degrees and leave em overnight. Good luck

[Tom Herman]

I mainly dry tumble, with corn cob and Dillon Rapid Polish, but smaller, more stubborn lots (read: large, black powder cartridges) go into my little *** Harbor Freight rock tumbler with stainless steel pins, LemiShine, and a bit of detergent... Works GREAT!
I would be leery of ceramic media, and it possibly spalling, and contaminating the brass. I've had cross contamination from Silicon Carbide dust a decade ago that ruined brass and dies. Anything used for brass is ONLY used for brass, and the rock tumbling stuff is used and stored separately from brass processing. Everything is marked with a Sharpie...
Drying is simple: After washing off the brass, it goes onto an old cookie sheet, and into a WARM oven, about 160 degrees... Nowhere near hot enough to alter the molecular structure of the brass.
I'm in SW Washington, fully understand about rain... Hoping for a break in the weather so I can cast a bit.
Best of Luck!

-Tom

[Markopolo]

Lots of good ideas here.... this is what I do... cuz I love cooking on my wood stove.

Brass, it’s whats for dinner.

232734

Marko

[greenjoytj]

After tumbling with SS pins (Cascade dishwashing machine powdered detergent + Tablespoon of TSP + ½ teaspoon of lemi-shine) for 3 hrs I twist a half sheet of paper towel into each case. The paper towel still shows a little fouling coming out on the paper towel + the water. I snip off ½” off twisted wet & dirty towel every 2 cases. Maybe I need more time in the tumbler?

[country gent]

I wonder how a light tumble in alcohol or heat ( the fuel dryer used in cars) would work displacing water and speeding drying time

[Conditor22]

I use a media separator to remove the excess water and the pins.
then I dump them on a towel folding it over and rolling the bras between the towel
then I grab both ends of the towel forming a hammock and rock the brass back and forth making doubly sure the outside is dry to prevent water spots
finally, like others I use a food dehydrator to complete the drying.

[725]

Depends on the weather / season. First I shake them out & toss on a towel. Gather the four corners when they are all shaken and rub the mass together. Spill them out on a cookie sheet and then either put in the stove for 1/2 hour @ 180 degrees, next to the coal stove, or out on the picnic table in the sun. It's not a job to do when in a hurry. I usually let 'em hang around a few days before use, just to ensure every last bit of moisture is gone. So far - so good. ps; when wet is a good time to use a Q-tip to clean primer pockets.

[John Boy]

Coffee can with hole cut in plastic lid for hair dryer - insert dryer on high - 2 minutes = Done

[rfd]

i u/s clean brass only, and the wet cases are towel dried and then go into a corn media vibrator (with its top off) for 15 minutes. this is particularly important for u/s cleaners as there's very fine particles that need to wiped off. this entire case cleaning process is perfect for me and bp rifle cartridges. pistol brass is only cleaned via the corn meal media in a vibratory, with its top closed.

[Don McDowell]

Harlan Sage sells a case drying rack. After you get the media separated from the cases, put the cases in the rack either on top of a towel or a sink, and let them hang and dry.
http://www.sageoutfitters.com/catalog/item/7209324/7455410.htm

[Kraschenbirn]

I only wash brass that's been loaded/fired with BP and, for those, I use racks intended for storing spools of sewing thread. Mine hold 40 cases each and can be picked up at any fabric or crafts shop.

Bill

[brettstanding]

I rinse mine in hot water and dry them with a hair dryer.


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[BrentD]

Buy one of those bicycle wind trainers that you mount your bike in and turns a large fan for resistance. Wash your brass, then spread them on a towel next to the fan. Get on the bike and ride until dry. Your brass will be dry and you will be in better shape for the exercise. :)

More seriously, I just put them in an old bath towel and shake a bit to get the excess water out of them, then dump them on a table in the basement and walk away. They will be dry tomorrow.

[Hawks Feather]

I think I have tried about everything mentioned: towel in the basement (winter), towel in the back yard (summer), hair dryer, oven, and the Frankford Arsenal brass dryer. They all work, but obviously different amounts of time. I finally saved enough to purchase the STM stainless steel pin reloading kit with their media separator. It does a nice job and I am pleased with it. I am on my second Frankford Arsenal brass dryer and had hopes that this one would actually have a temperature knob that worked, but neither of mine has – there is high and high, but it does dry the brass. The unit is made from fairly thin plastic and when I dropped the top (heater) layer from about two feet it broke into many pieces. My fault, but lesson learned about holding on to it tightly. One of the supply places had the Hornady on sale for half price so I have that as a backup. I haven’t used it yet, but will give it a try at some point in the future.

Probably the biggest factor in your drying method will be the amount you are willing to spend and then the number of cases you are cleaning. If it were 50 or so at a time I would not have the equipment that I do. Several hundred at a time and wanting it to look like new brass changed that for me.

[Tom Herman]

[QUOTE=Hawks Feather;4534522]I think I have tried about everything mentioned: towel in the back yard (summer), hair dryer, oven, and the Frankford Arsenal brass dryer. /QUOTE]

I would be leerey of drying the brass outside in the sun: I occasionally have to do this with electronics, and usually have to wipe off a small amount of very fine dust.
From my gemological training, 80% of dust typically consists of Quartz particles, which have a Mohs hardness (resistance to scratching) that is greater than that of Brass, so I would be worried about it sticking to the brass and contaminating it and the reloading dies. Once a particle embeds itself into a die, it's toast.

-Tom

[Smoke4320]

In the summer I lay them out and let the sun do the work .. In the winter a dehydrator is the ticket

[Tom Trevor]

Just shake off and go out in the garage and use the air compressor to blow dry.

[NyFirefighter357]

Dump the water out and tumble it for a few minutes with a couple of strips of car chamois. Drys it 99% I use 2 strips about 2"x6". My F.A.R.T has a strainer cover and I can shake most of the water & media out first. You may need more strips. Then you can lay it out on a towel where it drys much faster because it's pretty much dry to begin with.

[greenjoytj]

I don’t like water spots so I often add a dish washing machine rinse aid “Jet Dry Ultra Finish” in a final deep rinse of fifty 45 Colt cases in a 2 pound margarine tube.
Sometimes distilled water or 99% alcohol subs for the rinse aid.

[Meatpuppet]

I put them in a wire basket and set them on top of the exhaust fan of my A/C unit outside. They dry off lickety-split. But then again, I live in Florida.

[EDG]

I rinse in clean hot water and then drain the water off. Then rinse in isopropyl alcohol. The alcohol absorbs the water and evaporates in about 15 mins when placed in front of a fan. You can reuse the alcohol.

[725]

After washing, I "rack" them on a chunk of wood that I've filled with finishing nails. Mark a grid, pilot drill with a drill press for vertical nailing and uniform depth. Looks like the proverbial bed of nails. Rack 'em mouth down and sick 'em next to the stove, out in the sun , etc.

[DerekP Houston]

In the summer, a big beach towel and spreading em out in the sun is all i need. Winter I towel em off and dump on a cookie sheet, toss in the oven for awhile on low heat. Sometimes I get waterspots on em but it doesn't bug me much

[Whiterabbit]

I just plan to load 2 days or more after I wet tumble. I don;t like the other methods.

just a single layer on a towel for 48 hours. I work during the day.

[labradigger1]

Lots of good ideas here.... this is what I do... cuz I love cooking on my wood stove.

Brass, it’s whats for dinner.

232734

Marko

That’s how I USED to do it, that is until there was a live one mixed in. Scared the heck out of my chihuahua.
I don’t do the wood stove drying now.

[b2lee]

De-prime and run through the Hornady tumbler for 2 hours with a squirt of Dawn and a teaspoon of Lemi-Shine. When done I pour off the excess water and then pour the brass and steel pins into the Hornady tumbler with the plastic shield so pins don't go flying everywhere. When I'm done 20 seconds later, I put the brass in a food dehydrator that may have cost $10 new a wally world. After 30mins of doing something else I come along and the brass is dry as a bone. If I get water spots...and if I really want pretty brass that day...I'll soak a towel in alcohol and wipe down...but I rarely do that.

The only time I really make the brass as super shiny as possible is when I go shoot ELR...and people ask what ammo I have...I say it's some stuff I bought at the store that says it is supposed to be great...they shake their head and walk away. Later they wonder how I shot so well with factory ammo....heh

[salpal48]

Cheap Food Dehydrator works the beast