What cleans faster???

[abunaitoo]

What cleans cases faster, tumbler or vibrator??????
I use a vibrator. I like my cases clean and shiny.
The way I clean is to first soak in phosphoric acid for an hour. Rinse and dry in a toster oven. Vibrate for about an hour with orange peels in the tub.
Anyone have both a tumbler and vibrator???? Which is more quiet??????

[missionary5155]

I started my brass cleaning with a Tumble Roller model . It is a large tub.. easily holds 200 357 cases. 10 years ago I bought a Lyman Vibrator that easily holds 400 357 cases... The lyman will clean in one hour what my Roller model will take to do in 4 hours using the same media. Plus when the BIG rubber drive belt on the tumbler wears out you are done. The roller were meant to polish rocks in a slurry.. and they do a GREAT job .. But in my experience If you have to BUY a case cleaner use the Vibrators...

[WildmanJack]

+1 on what missionary said. I use a lyman vibrator, crushed walnut shells, and some flitz or nu-finish the brass comes out looking like new. Plus it only takes an hour or so..
Jack

[shotman]

miss 5155 if you have a thumbler the belt is a up right sweeper belt. they do good if you want to clean in a brass cleaner. Cleans the inside like new . shotman

[bobthenailer]

i have 2 lorton tumblers and 1 dillon vibrator , i my opinion the tumblers are faster than the vibrator and alot quieter . the lorton tumblers are made to use a liquid or meida, i use water , bb gun bbs and a few squirts of joy dish washing soap and tumbel for about 1 hour, the cases are very clean but not quite as a high polish as the corn cob with flitz added.

[GP100man]

i use lizzard bedding (crushed walnut hulls) & a good dash of mineral spirits , let the vibrator run until clean .
mostly about 2 hrs
plus i like the smell of mineral spirits.
when i have corn cob i put a shot of frankford arsenal brass cleaner in & the same thing , couple hrs.

GP100man :cbpour:

[rugerdude]

I have used my Midway tumbler for 6-7 years now and have found that it does its best work with the bowl so full that it seems like it might quit working. If the brass is very dirty, I put some Frankford Arsenal brass cleaner in before tumbling.

[HeavyMetal]

Rice and Comet in a Dillon Vibrator! This will clean the worst case's picked up off the range in a few hours!

Do not use for small rifle case's! Real hard to get the rice out of the case. Great for regular pistol stuff and any case over 30 cal.

To cut down the noise put it outside and or cover it with a big box!

[dromia]

Can't give you a speed comparison but I run three roller tumblers and they are quiet fast enough for me, an hour for my own brass does the job fine.

They are definitely quieter than the vibratory ones and you can run them wet for BP cartridges if you need to.

My oldest is a Thumlers Thumbler and it went twenty years before it needed a new belt, they are only thirty bob or so to replace.

The roller probably last longer just because the opearting mechanism is a less aggressive action on the moving and bearing parts.

You pays your money and you takes your choice, both types will clean cases well, a clean case is a clean case. :-D

[abunaitoo]

When wet tumbling, do you add anything besides soap and water?????
Will tumbling with soap build up pressure from the bubbles?????
I've been using a vibrator. Kind of old and I'm thinking it's going to die soon. I was thinking of making a tumbler. Never used on before.

[dromia]

I use ceramic media for wet tumbling, I only do this with my BP cartridge cases it really cleans the insides. This is an issue with BP cartridges as fouling build up can seriously reduce case capacity.

I used to clean the insides with a bronze bristle brush but arthritic hands made this increasingly difficult so I went wet and ceramic, very gald I did too.

[clodhopper]

I have used a frankford 1292 vibrator for 14 years. Thought it was good. Then I ended up with a lyman turbo tumbler. The lyman is much faster than the frankford. It moves the media around faster and the cases get clean sooner. They make about the same amount of noise.
Still use them both.

[rbstern]

I've used a Harbor Freight rock tumbler for about 5 years. With water, two teaspoons of lemon juice, and one or two drops of Ajax dish soap, tumbled for about 60 minutes in cold water, the brass comes out very shiny. Just lay it out to dry.

I have a Lyman tumbler and find that the brass doesn't come out quite as clean as when it is wet tumbled, and find the media is a bit more of a hassle to deal with than just rinsing off the soap and water.