Tumbler leaving dust on brass.

[Bazoo]

I bought some ground walnut zilla lizard bedding from the pet store and its real dusty. It doesn't appear dusty when pouring but leaves a coats of dust all over the brass inside and out. Using a berrys vibratory tumbler.

I have run 4 or 5 batches changing the drier sheet each time(cut into thirds). I've run two sheets a few times. Anyone else having this problem?

I'm going to run the brass through my cob media to remove the dust on what I've tumbled. I've run dry and with cabelas polish added with the same results. Guess I'll have to buy actual media.

Thoughts appreciated.

[The Dar]

I use walnut media from Harbor Freight (similar to Zilla). My media is also "dusty". I fill the tumbler with new media, add 3-4 tablespoons of Frankford brass polish, run the tumbler for at least 20 minutes to work the polish in. Then I fill the tumbler with brass. Let it run at least three hours. I have no dust--I run the tumbler outdoors without the lid on. The slightest breeze will blow the dust away. Give it a try.

[tashaner1123]

Not much help here I suppose. I wet-tumble with steel pins and water with dawn soap and lemi-shine. Only issue is drying time and that's not a big thing for me.

[BigAlofPa.]

I mix some mothers polish and mineral spirits in. It helps with the dust a lot.

[JBinMN]

Put some Mineral Spirits on a paper towel or maybe a shop towel(paper but thicker) and put that in your tumbler with the brass next time. That will help, or at least it has for me.
https://images.homedepot-static.com/productImages/962436a2-f2f8-4cb9-a1d2-3ae1a52d093e/svn/scott-cleaning-wipes-kcc75130-64_1000.jpg

I use about a Tablespoon of minerals spirits + a cap full of Nu Finish in my tumbler every time,( no paper towel) but when I first use new media I add the MS soaked paper towel the first couple of times until the mix of the MS & NuFinish get well mixed into the media.

One quick fix for ya right now is to use the hotwater, dish soap with a dash or two of a citrus powder used for canning, with amounts depending on the amount of water & brass you use( I use about a quart I reckon.) & put it all ( brass & mixture)in a tupperware like container with a lid & shake over the sink, let it set 5-10 minutes & shake it again, then pour all into a colander to strain it all & rinse like with pasta. Put into a towel & grab the long ends of the towel with the brass inside like a hammock & rock it back & forth to get most of the water out & then put it on another dry towel ( or T shirt) to fully dry. Then load at your convenience. That should take care of all the media dust.

G'Luck! whatever ya decide to do.
;)

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[Bazoo]

I'd like to get into wet tumbling. Bout tired of the problems I've been having.

[Bazoo]

Thanks for the advice JB.

[JBinMN]

Thanks for the advice JB.

You are welcome.
:)

I use that mixture with the hot water soap & citrus before I even tumble & you would be surprised how clean the brass is even without the tumbling. Makes your media last a bit longer as well. At least I think so.
;)

You would be surprised how long all of the ingredients mentioned last & are not all that expensive either.

Check it out.

BTW, if ya go to the water & steel pins, G'Luck! with that as well, but until then, you can get by with what ya have & once ya get it working the way ya like, you always have it as a backup if ya do go to the steel pins deal.
:)

[NyFirefighter357]

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https://youtu.be/nJb-0ukMIII

[nun2kute]

Funny you should mention that. I was in my storage shed yesterday and had to move two new and one used bottles of walnut media out of the way to stash some lumber that I scrounged out of a dumpster, now you got me thinking.

I've seen that dust recently too. Not sure that it is really a detriment to reloading. I Loaded up a bunch of 44 mag several weeks ago, dust on the inside some of the cases. Haven't noticed any difference in accuracy though. And it's on the inside of some of the 9mm cases I'm turning into 308 jackets. There shouldn't be very much of that dust kicking around anymore, been so long since I used it last I'd forgot I even had it in storage. Maybe its time to join the S&S crowd.

Good luck with your case cleaning.

[6bg6ga]

Love that Lizard litter. Every tumbling media like the lizard or walnut is going to leave some dust. This is why a lot of us have a air compressor. My solution is to simply use air and blow off the dust or put the brass in the ultrasonic cleaner. Generally in my garage anymore brass cleaning is done in the ultrasonic and once clean the brass is set out on an old beach towel in the sun to dry.

[lightman]

I'm another that puts a cap full of mineral spirits and a cap full of NuFinish in my dry tumbler. If you don't want to go that route you could roll your brass around on a damp towel.

[Burnt Fingers]

That walnut dust is bad for your lungs, really bad.

I've got two batches of Harbor Freight walnut media, couldn't find the original batch after we moved, bought another batch, found the original batch a couple days later. Anyway, one batch is VERY dusty. What I did was to put a bunch of the media in a paint strainer bag then use my air compressor to blow the dust out.

IF YOU DO THIS MAKE SURE YOU'RE WEARING PPE!

[1hole]

You have dust? That's from the media, not the tumbler. I doubt any of the media sellers make up what they sell; the sellers likely get raw media from where ever, then bag it and sell it to retailers. That means what we buy will vary from batch to batch.

Cob or walnut media dust is soft and harmless to to barrels, think of it as baby powder. You'll likely find it disappears from the case exteriors during the loading process with no effort.

I've used dry rollers and vibrators, wet rollers and ultrasonics and find no material advantage to any of them. So, as a matter of worth and simplicity, I always go back to dry viberators and what ever media, without polish; that's simple and quick. My cases come out dry and ready to use and they are as "clean" as need be.

Some guys find tumbling with cob best, some find nut best, some guys use a mix of both; I suppose that's just to make sure they're using the best one (?). I've proven to myself there isn't enough difference between dry medias to make a meaningful difference.

Legal liability being what it is, IF there was any health risk to dry media dust (or pet bedding) there would be hazard warnings all over the containers; there isn't. (But I wouldn't suggest anyone stick their nose into a tumbler bowl and breathe the dust for hours at a time. ;) )

[RED BEAR]

I clean brass with citric acid or vinager and salt then size and deprime then tumble in walnut with a cap full of nufinish that has run for 15 minutes or so then tumble for hour or so then polish in corn cobs with nufinish. A small amount o dust coming out of the walnut goes away in the corn cobs.

[Tom W.]

I just ended up buying corn cob media from Midway and add some NuFinish every so often. Prior to that, like a fool I tried almost everything that was suggested and it was all just a failure for me.
YMMV

[salpal48]

the reason why you have dust is the Pet walnut and HF media is all dust . Basicly the leftovers of good Blast media. . The pet product will work but Breaks down to fast and turns to dust . HF media is all Dust . The bottom of the barrel. If you sift it you will find it's mostly Dust. If you want Good media. Go and get blast media . Or go to Kramer industries.
Cheap you buy Cheap you get.. just plain and simple Cheap junk

[Messy bear]

Maybe you would like to try my simple recipe? This for vibratory cleaner.
Corn cob bird or animal bedding in big bag for cheap. Wet it with mineral spirits to keep dust down.
Pros-
Safer because it keeps priming dust under control
Cuts boolit lube
Doesn't leave rouge on cases that causes hard sizing with carbide dies
Simple and cheap
Leaves a lube type residue on cases probably from dissolved boolit lube so sizing in carbide is easier than sweeky clean brass

Cons-
Gets stuck in small necks
Doesn't shine real well

[JBinMN]

Let us know what ya decide to do & how it works for ya, please.
;)

Maybe it will help someone else down the road.
:)

[Pete44mag]

I don't know if I'm to OCD, but I tumble about an hour in walnut media to clean. Lube with home made one shot case lube. Decap and size. Tumble wet with SS pins about 2 hours using dawn and lemi-shine. Then rinse in fresh water and blow dry with my wife's old hair dryer. My brass comes out looking brand new. I have reloaded and shot brass without cleaning it and there was no difference in accuracy(pistol ammo) but my OCD says the brass has to be shiny. Probably was not much help on this string but had to add my 2¢.

[T_McD]

Yep, you will have dust. Inside the case, it doesn’t matter. For the outside, I wiped the brass in a towel to get most the dust off so it wouldn’t hurt the dies. It never really bothered me, but when my tumbler broke I just started wet tumbling which has its own set of downsides.

[15meter]

Just started using Harbor Freight walnut media last month. Started by loading the media with 1/4 bottle of nufinish polish. I run a dryer sheet and add a capful of nufinish every time I run it. I've polished 2000+ case so far with no complaint. At $20.00 for enough media to refill my tumbler 6 times as opposed to once for Lyman media, I'll try the cheap stuff.

I'm pretty well convinced that Lyman has changed the formula of their polishing additive. My media never got as dusty 20 years ago as the last two batches of Lyman media that was nasty dusty almost from the first brass that I put in it.

[Chainsaw.]

Healthy squirt of cheap liquid car polish and a splash of mineral spirits. Run the cases till desired shine is attained. I will occasionally use a paper towel and wipe the fines that mix with the MS into a paste just above the highest point the media rides. Check that and off to another batch.
I went to this after wet SS pin tumbling and prefer it.

[sghart3578]

I take a regular paper towel and tear it up into 3-4" squares and put that in the tumbler every batch. I replace the paper towel with a new one every time.

I have used my media for quite some time now and no dust ever.

[David2011]

I’m another of the corn cob/mineral spirits/Nu Finish guys. The corn cob is 14/20 grit and unlikely to get stuck in flash holes. I haven’t used walnut media for years. The mineral spirits really helps keep dust down and the corn cob media is cleaner to begin with anyway.

[Bazoo]

Thanks for all the replies. I'll have to do some experimenting. The cob I have doesn't leave any or no dust, but I don't think it cleans as well.

[Blindshooter]

I've had to run the tumblers outside when the wind blows to keep the dust down. Tried all the cheap media with MS and car polish. I think I'm done with walnut, I have developed a mild allergy to it and its not worth the extra precaution I have to take. This thread has helped me decide to go all cob, I don't need perfect brass just clean and I'm lazy, way to lazy to go the wet tumble route.

[Bazoo]

I run my tumbler on the porch. I wonder if running it with the lid off would let the finer dust come out, out in the yard instead of the porch however.

Glad it's helped you make a decision blindshooter.

I'm in the thinking and gathering process of making a wet tumbler.

[725]

I use the Nu-Finish to polish the brass, but I also put in a couple USED drier sheets from the laundry. The drier sheet is a web of some kind of fiber and the dust gets stuck in it. I use a couple every load of brass. Throw 'em out each load and the dust goes with it.

[David2011]

Thanks for all the replies. I'll have to do some experimenting. The cob I have doesn't leave any or no dust, but I don't think it cleans as well.

The Nu-Finish and mineral spirits make the corn cob polish much better. If you've ever rubbed out an automotive paint job with rubbing compound, it's like adding water to the rubbing compound; it just cuts better. Are you using pet bedding or blasting media corn cob? I had very poor results with pet bedding corn cob. To get a like-new polish you can add a teaspoon of Thumbler's liquid jeweler's rouge. (Just let the tumbler run 15-30 minutes without brass after adding any wet additives.)

[Bazoo]

I bought a cabelas tumbler kit, made by berrys. I'm still using the cob that came with it.

[Wag]

Add a teaspoon or so of this to your media along with your brass.

239268

--Wag--

[Taterhead]

I splurge and use the pre-treated Lyman Turbo media. 3/4 corn, 1/4 walnut. Pretty nice results and no fuss. The walnut does have some rouge dust, so I might not use that last little bit that settles in the jug.

[Wag]

I splurge and use the pre-treated Lyman Turbo media. 3/4 corn, 1/4 walnut. Pretty nice results and no fuss. The walnut does have some rouge dust, so I might not use that last little bit that settles in the jug.

That rouge colored dust gets all over everything too. Drove me crazy so now I use the lizard litter and just put a rag over the tumbler while it's running to keep it contained.

--Wag--

[trapper9260]

Years ago I had got Lyman walnut and been use it still. I have wash some that was too dirty . will use some of the what was stated.I run my brass first with that and dryer sheet cut in 3 . and then size and deprime and then run in ground up corn cobs that I had a farmer ground up for me on his feed mill. Do have to clean the inside of the case . But that dose not matter to me. I do not add anything to the corn cobs. Also if the brass is too dirty I will run them in citric acid mix. I get it from the Armish store for less then the regular store.

[waco]

Toss a USED dryer sheet in when you are tumbling. Problem solved.

[RogerDat]

I add a shot of mineral spirits, and a drizzle of NuFinish. Then run media for 15 minutes to mix. Not dusty when damp. I did that and started wearing nitrile gloves when doing brass to avoid the dust from the lead compounds left by the primer. Did drop my lead levels, which while not high enough to worry about did indicate I was getting some exposure that was being absorbed.

I also do soak in plastic bucket with citric acid and water. Drain, rinse, drain, and allow to dry before tumbling in dry media. I do more wet tumbling than dry these days but sometimes still like to hit brass with the dry media and NuFinish to provide a protective polish, especially for storage. Also sometimes the brass doesn't need the whole wet tumble treatment. A quick trip through the dry media is sufficient to "freshen" the brass for reloading.

My walnut media is reptile bedding from Pet store. I think I bought my last batch of corncob at a gun show.

[Mica_Hiebert]

I bought a jug of walnut media from Walmart it looks to have a red dye in it and it leaves a horrid red dust on all the cases I too want to get into stainless wet tumbling but the initial cost is pretty lame.

[Winger Ed.]

Being such a tightwad, I wash my media once in awhile.

I put it in a 5 gal. bucket with dish soap and stir it around.

Then scoop it out with a wire mesh tea strainer, and rinse under slow flowing water.

Throw it out on newspaper or a piece of old bedsheet and let it dry for a day or two.

I also run dryer sheets, or even torn up paper towels, but it still makes some dust and gets sort of a greasy feeling.

[JBinMN]

Being such a tightwad, I wash my media once in awhile.

I put it in a 5 gal. bucket with dish soap and stir it around.

Then scoop it out with a wire mesh tea strainer, and rinse under slow flowing water.

Throw it out on newspaper or a piece of old bedsheet and let it dry for a day or two.

I also run dryer sheets, or even torn up paper towels, but it still makes some dust and gets sort of a greasy feeling.

Whoah! & I thought I was a bit "frugal" about a lot of things, but you topped me there!
;)

No complaints from here though, so don't take it badly.... Ya made me laff! Not just at you & the media thing, but myself as well!! I think it is from being in the Corps & making do with what ya got, as well as, at least for me, having parents who grew up during the Great Depression/Hoover times, & taught me to "make do" & "get it done", as well.
;)

[Conditor22]

Toss a USED dryer sheet in when you are tumbling. Problem solved.

This but better yet go with water and stainless pins or chips and get away from that nasty (toxic) dust

[JBinMN]

Some folks are either too frugal, or don't like the fragrance of dryer sheets. Like me, and maybe another one or two folks, as well, it appears...
;)
LOL

[15meter]

Still like my dry media, I can't see me throwing in 150 loaded carbine rounds in soap and water with stainless steel pins.

Started doing this when I started using spray lube when doing LOTS of rounds, 5-10 minutes cleans the lube off quite nicely.

Haven't blown my self up yet[smilie=w:

[44magLeo]

I can't see cleaning cases with any of the methods, wet or dry.
I use water soluble lube. I then use a gallon of the hottest water my faucet gives me. Some Dawn dish soap and some vinegar. Put all this in a plastic pail through in the brass and stir a bit.
Pour it out through a colander into another pail to separate the bras from cleaner.
While running hot water through brass in colander shaking around to get all the cleaner rinsed off.
One rinsed I pour the brass out on a big bath towel. Fold towel around brass. Grasp ends of towel to seal and shake back and forth a bit to get most of water out of brass. Then pour the brass out of on dry towel, spread around for air flow then let dry.
Brass may not be sparkly like brand new but shoots just fine.
This method is cheap, easy and doesn't take long.
Leo

[RogerDat]

I think there is always a need to at least clean the brass before running it though the reloading process just to keep grime out of the press or primer tool. Nothing wrong with going with more cleaning after the basics have been accomplished. No harm in just getting it cleaned and rinsed.

I like having my stored brass looking "store bought" but don't find trading less shine for less time a bad idea. I do find that it doesn't take all that much more time to do a wet tumble than a dry vibrate. The time spent in the machine doesn't matter as I'm doing something else. After the machine time they both need a tap to clear the inside. Drying time doesn't matter much as again I'm doing something else while wet tumbled or washed brass dries. I suppose if I was in a hurry I could stop at the wash and rinse I do in a bucket before the dry tumble. Just was never recall being in that much of a hurry.

[Bazoo]

Time of the operation doesn't really matter much to me. Clean does though. Carbon build up and tarnish are what I am trying to curtail. Shiny is okay but so is dull shiny. I haven't tried citric acid baths other than once using koolaid. It seemed to do well. I dried my cases in the oven on 150. Course I have a dedicated tray for my stuff.

[Kenstone]

I didn't read thru the 3 pages and has probably drifted into wet tumbling, geezer speak, and other stuff, but here's an answer to the original question...

A capful of OMS drizzled into the dry media with the tumbler running for a few minutes before adding the brass, will "hydrate", either corn or walnut media and collect any/all dust, and stop it's transfer to the brass/the air/your lungs.
:coffeecom

[Winger Ed.]

Corps & making do with what ya got, as well as, at least for me, having parents who grew up during the Great Depression/Hoover times, & taught me to "make do" & "get it done", as well.

I call it recycling--- its for the good of the country ya know.

My parents were little kids during the Great Depression.
Frugal doesn't quite describe it,,, My Mom would gather up and wash plastic spoons & forks.
Nothing got thrown away unless it was beyond any hope of being fixed or reused.

Years ago, I tried making my own media from dried out corn cobs I'd saved from dinner.
That media is just stupid expensive for what it is.
As much corn as gets shelled in the US, and the small demand for the cobs, especially since bathroom tissue came along-
The left over cobs should be about 15 cents a metric ton.

Anyway- I found out that beating dried corn cobs with a hammer won't make them into very good media.

[15meter]

I call it recycling--- its for the good of the country ya know.

My parents were little kids during the Great Depression.
Frugal doesn't quite describe it,,, My Mom would gather up and wash plastic spoons & forks.
Nothing got thrown away unless it was beyond any hope of being fixed or reused.

Years ago, I tried making my own media from dried out corn cobs I'd saved from dinner.
That media is just stupid expensive for what it is.
As much corn as gets shelled in the US, and the small demand for the cobs, especially since bathroom tissue came along-
The left over cobs should be about 15 cents a metric ton.

Anyway- I found out that beating dried corn cobs with a hammer won't make them into very good media.

The left over cobs are chopped and left in the field, they are bulky and a pain to handle. Most cobs come from the few farmers who pick the whole ear of corn either store it until the kernels are dry then "shell" the corn off the cob. Or haul it to the grain elevator and the elevator will shell it. Most elevators (and farmers) couldn't get out of the ear corn business fast enough.
The increase in volume to move ear corn rarely makes it cost justifiable.

We were lucky here, there was a LARGE grain elevator in Toledo that wanted ear corn, they had a contract with the Navy, apparently the Navy used to and may still use ground corn cobs to "grit" blast paint off the ships. I was told it did not work harden or remove metal like regular sandblasting. The paid a nice premium for ear corn. I spent most of every August once I got my license through high school and past college hauling ear corn.

Loaded the two trucks first in the morning, Dad and I drove the 45 miles to the elevator, then sat for 8-10-12 hours waiting our turn in line to get unloaded. Then do it again the next day. And the next. And the next.

That many trucks, that good a premium. Don't miss those days at all. I don't know if they still do that. Probably import them from China.

[Ozark mike]

I used to use a hm tumbler with rice and throw in a piece of beeswax. but now I just wash and sometimes I'll use vinegar if I want shiny I ain't got all day