brass polishing compound dried up

[murf205]

I was going through my stash of questionable value and found a bottle of Frankford Arsenal brass polishing liquid that is not quite liquid any more. It has not completely dried and is a heavy slush. Any suggestion as to what to re-liquify it with? I'm not too cheap (well maybe) to buy another bottle but in my area, there are no LSG stores that carry it and I'd have to order it.
Murf

[swamp]

You could try a little mineral sprirts. That is what I do. Check the ingredients. Try on a small sample.
swamp

[country gent]

Maybe you can use it as is. the thinner is a carrier is all. a little less each use to account for the lost solvent.

[USSR]

I would use mineral spirits/paint thinner.

Don

[lightman]

I'll 2nd the mineral spirits.

[Wayne Smith]

Mineral Spirits, not that white water based 'paint thinner'.

[dale2242]

Let us know what works.
I have some polish in the same condition....dale

[Larry Gibson]

I had some Frankford Arsenal brass polishing liquid that almost dried up a couple years back. I used mineral spirits in it and a sturdy stirring stick to mix it back up. Then shook it up well each time before using some in cleaning media. It then worked fine as new when cleaning/polishing cases.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

If your container claims "No petroleum distillates",
Then I'd use 91% Isopropyl Alcohol to dilute it.
That is what I use to thin out the Automotive polishing compound that I use with tumbling media. I've found thinning it helps getting the media evenly coated and the alcohol component dries faster than MS.

[murf205]

Thanks for the responses. You made me think. In the past I have bought some new brass that had a slightly, very slightly, oily feel and I would think that the factory might have used that. Or...it could have been from the drawing process to form the brass.
I didn't have any mineral spirits but I did have some charcoal starter liquid that is a first cousin to ms so I added enough to get a slurry after much stirring and shaking. It is still a bit thick so I added some to my corn cob media and ran it for about 10 min. I seemed to mix as well as it did before it dried up. While that was going on I went to the brass stash and found some assorted 44 mag brass that was in the medium dirty range and dumped about 40-50 in the Lyman Turbo tumbler. It's working now and I am going to give it about 1 1/2 hrs and take a peek. We'll see.
BTW JonB, the bottle did say that it contained NO petroleum distillates--but it does now.

[murf205]

Here are the before and after pics of the brass after an hr and 15 min in the tumbler. No great revelation, just got the liquid on the corncob media and made it useful again. I would go liquid cleaning if they were not quite so expensive. I looked at the Harbor Freight rig but not impressed.250877250878250879
I did find a build up of crud in the bottom of the bowl. I think it is time to clean the tumbler!

[kevin c]

Was that media already used with the polish on prior runs of brass? I ask because I'd get the same heavy build up in my tumbler when I over charged and overused my walnut media. The crud seemed to be a combination of dirt, walnut hull dust and dried polishing compound, and would only come loose after using something like orange oil based grease cutting spray, and even then it would take soaking after spraying, a plastic scouring pad and a generous helping of elbow grease.

[murf205]

It has had the residue there for a while. Since I started this little project with the liquid , I have the feeling that the crud build up is restricting the media action??? At any rate, it will not hurt to clean it out. That's my project for today. I can't cast because I can't stand up. I'm in a wheel chair until the 26th of this month when I get my cast off a broken ankle. Don't want the silver stream on my toes!!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

While I use Iso Alc for thinning the polish that I use, I do get the same looking crud on the bottom of the tumbler (I have the same tumbler, two of them actually). I tried cleaning the bowl with Iso alc, and it would hardly touch that crud. So I tried a few other things...Mineral Spirits and a plastic bristled brush was the only thing that cut the crud easily.

[murf205]

I can see where mineral spirits is what it is going to take. I have some warm water in the tub right now and it is still pretty well entrenched.

[Hanzy4200]

As said, mineral spirits. Goo Gone works wonders on that tumbler bowl buildup. For future purposes, save your $. NuFinish car polish works just as good at 1/3 the price. There's another even cheaper but I can't recall the brand.

[USSR]

Glad to see Hanzy4200 bring up NuFinish. I add a capful of that and a capful of mineral spirits to my walnut media and it works well.

Don

[murf205]

I've heard of new finish before and I am going to try a bottle when I get the goodie out of this batch of corn cob media.
I saw a Frankford arsenal rotary wet set up for $100 on Amazon the other day. The reviews said that it needed to be almost full to get the brass to tumble. Anybody have experience with the small FA rig?250991
Here is the next batch that I ran for about 2 1/2 hrs. Much better when I allowed it to run longer--duh

[kevin c]

I have gone to wet tumbling, using the FA set up minus the pins, and using a mix of car wash and wax and citric acid. A ninety minute run gets me very clean and shiny brass, but it does mean time afterwards drying the brass.

I tend to overfill the wet tumbler if anything (the extra brass and water is no strain if the weight of the pins is not there). But small loads still tumble, as best I can see through the clear end caps. I think that it helps to use enough water to cover the brass, but not much more.

[murf205]

I have gone to wet tumbling, using the FA set up minus the pins, and using a mix of car wash and wax and citric acid. A ninety minute run gets me very clean and shiny brass, but it does mean time afterwards drying the brass.

I tend to overfill the wet tumbler if anything (the extra brass and water is no strain if the weight of the pins is not there). But small loads still tumble, as best I can see through the clear end caps. I think that it helps to use enough water to cover the brass, but not much more.
Are you using the smaller FA tumbler? If so, how many, say 308, size cases will it clean?

[kevin c]

I have the Platinum series tumbler that has a 7 liter capacity versus the Lite Version's 3.3 liters (I don't think the smaller version was available when I bought it). I've never put 308 or 223 into it, but, without the pins, I can do 1200 or so 9mm cases in 90 minutes and get very clean brass with a good, bright exterior polish. The case interiors and primer pockets, that'd need decapping and the pins to get spotless, matter less to me; I'd rather be able to clean more brass per run.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012721373?pid=713881

[USSR]

murf205,

Suggest you check the reviews - not exactly glowing. I've got the original and larger FART, and it does a great job in all cases.

Don

[murf205]

Yep, I have read the reviews and strangely enough, several said that the tumbler drum needed to be almost full to work well. It is starting to sound like the old saying that you get what you pay for. I have read some pretty glowing reports of the ice cream mixer tumbler conversion. However, no one wants to make a youtube video of a failure. That's why I trust the opinion of yo guys here.