Shell Drier

[abunaitoo]

This is what I came up with to dry shells after pin cleaning.
No heat, just air blowing down over the shells.
Bucket with lid, old fan I had, old tray for cleaning parts.
All stuff I had taking up space. Free!!!!!!
Tried it out and it did well.
Over 200 shells. 762x39 and 7.5x55.
I was planing to see how long it took, but fell asleep.
So it ran close to two hours.
All came out dry.
Next time I'll try to stay awake, and check it at intervals to see how long it takes.
Pictures not downloading. I'll have to try again later.
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[georgerkahn]

Great ingenuity, abunaitoo! I had tried a similar schema before I bought a Frankfort Brass Dryer (gifted),263695 but the "problem" I had was -- even after a day or two -- every so often there'd be a brass case with a drop or two of water still in it! My set-up was similar, albeit "upside down" of yours: I had a fan at bottom, blowing up, with a similar joint-compound bucket where I drilled for and installed some 1/4-20 nuts and bolts through its sides. I cut some 1/2" mesh hardware cloth to fit -- four pieces -- and I'd put first in, with brass spread upon it; then the 2nd... until all brass was on it. I'd let the fan run for like two days straight -- but :( still would get that occasional drop of water. Necessitated was the running of a wood Q-tip in each case as I took them out, to check.
Again, kudos on your system!
geo

[rswink]

I "upcycled" my wife's old air fryer which was no longer good for food, according to her. I put 3 of the 1/2 sheets of paper towels on it, fill with cleaned brass and put in the oven at 170 to 200 for 30 to 60 minutes, turn off the oven and let it cool. They are bone dry and they cool overnight. I have a good eye for how many cases I can do at a time.

Wonder how long until I can "upcycled" to double the capacity.

Oh, and the paper towels can go about 50 loads before the paper feels bad and becomes kindling in the fireplace.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200616/0769b21818f0380fced6ece5da49cf63.jpg

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[bangerjim]

Here is AZ, I use the sun! Free of cost and is out most days. On a summer day the brass can get to 170°F.

That's why my solar system cranks almost 8KW in the summer....runs the entire house (when I need it most!): 2) heat pumps, VFD pool pump, 3 refrigerators, water heater, dish washer, and everything else.

banger

[abunaitoo]

I did dry in the sun.
We have lots of sun here too.
But I live on the windward side and we get flash rains.
Sun out and it will pour for a short time.
Got tired of that.
I'm looking into putting a heater in it to blow warm air.
Make it dry faster.

[2A-Jay]

I bought a Food Dehydrator from Walmart for $30 it hs 5 trays, I can dry 300 30-06 cases in about an hour no left over moisture in the cases. I dry all my cases using that. Been using the dehydrator for 4 years now.

[TNsailorman]

I have an old meat and fruit dehydrator that my wife and I used in the late 70's to dry fruit and make jerky for the kids. After the kids left home we no longer used it. One day the thought hit me, why not? So for the last 10 years or so I have been using the dehydrator as a case drier and it works great.

[nicholst55]

Here is AZ, I use the sun! Free of cost and is out most days. On a summer day the brass can get to 170°F. banger

When I lived in Yuma, that's all I used. Spread an old bedsheet on the rear patio, and lay the brass out to dry. Leave it for a few hours, and it's done. Not much need to worry about rain there.

[Winger Ed.]

[QUOTE=bangerjim;4924593]Here is AZ, I use the sun! Free of cost and is out most days. On a summer day the brass can get to 170°F. /QUOTE]

Me too.
I always back the truck up near the garage. I drop the tailgate for a handy-dandy work table.
Lay a old towel or 2 out, dump on brass, come back later. It works like a champ.

[Pete44mag]

I put my wife's old blow dryer in the vise at the end of my work bench and spread the brass out on a towel. In 15 to 20 minutes I can have 500 .45ACP cases dried rain or shine.

[SSGOldfart]

Cookie sheet in the oven @250* works if it's to rainy to Sun dry it,with the East Texas heat it doesn't seem to take long outside.

[RKJ]

We use fans for noise when we sleep so I just get a towel and lay the brass out in front of the box fan we use. Wake up and they are all dry.

[Jsm180]

Hard to get 223/556 dry on the inside without some kind of air movement.

[rockrat]

Wife got a new food dehydrator and was ready to stick the old one at a garage sale, but I intercepted it and use it to dry brass

[Slugster]

Sun, wind, time. They all work for me. Set over woodstove in winter. Been looking for a dehydrator at the thrift shops, no luck yet. Thinking maybe a blow dryer set to make a vortex under a screened floor in a steel 5 gallon bucket?

[Winger Ed.]

Cookie sheet in the oven @250*

I used to do that, and it worked real well too.
However: After the second live .45ACP cooked off in the oven-
All reloading related activities have been permanently banned from the kitchen by a higher authority.:bigsmyl2:

[Kevin Rohrer]

Oven set for 325F for 45-minutes. Easy-peasy.

[lightman]

I use the oven in the winter time and the hot Arkansas Sun during the Summer. I set the oven on bake at the lowest temp for 20 minutes or so. I'm fixing to order a food dehydrater just for brass.

There are a lot of methods that work. A guy on the Snipers Hide Forum made a drying box from an ammo can, a axel fan and a heat lamp bulb. Some shooters use a wire basket set on top of the outside AC unit. Some use an alcohol bath to absorb the water.

[abunaitoo]

I was looking for a cheap dehydrator, but this was free made from stuff I had around the house.
I have a broken room heater that I might take the heating element out, and see if I can adapt it to this project.
I enjoy making stuff.

[quack1]

In the summer I dry wet cases in the truck by parking in the sun and rolling up the windows. Only takes a few hours and I don't have to worry about a thunderstorm popping up. In the winter I set them on a furnace duct over night. Completely dry by morning. I like keeping things simple.

[greenjoytj]

I dry over night on a towel.

But there have been times I can’t wait so....

I but the stationary rack into the clothes dryer spread 2 small hand towels to make a double layer so case don’t sag through the holes in the rack. Spread cases evenly across the towels and turn on the dryer to whatever temperature from no heat air fluff to the hottest, I use the permanent press cycle as I don’t want wrinkles in my brass.

[Hawks Feather]

I have the Frankfort like pictured, but before putting the brass in it I place it in a towel, fold it over so that it makes a cocoon, hold it at the ends, and lightly shake it. This gets much of the water that is inside out. After two hours I have never found any moisture inside a case.

[Idz]

With our altitude, sun, and RH about 10% drying isn't a problem here. I do put some Armour-All car wax in my final rinse to prevent water spots and tarnishing.

[Chuck Perry]

20 minutes in the air fryer oven at 200°, cases just dumped in a stainless basket left over from an old electric deep fryer.

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[Conditor22]

I also only use food dehydrators. They can be used year-round and are guaranteed to work. :)

https://i.imgur.com/STHN4tQ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/UVB6vZ6.jpg

[Wolverine19D]

I have another way you guys should try out if you want fast and easy drying. I am really glad I ran across another post from a guy who recommended it and it works great.

Right after separating the pins from the brass most of the water is already out of the cases since I use the frankford tumbler and shake the pins out with the strainer on the end of the rotary tank. Then I dump the still wet brass on a large beach towel and shake them around on it for a few seconds.

Then here comes the part nobody else ever mentions, I put them in a rotary separator with a couple of those cheap microfiber towels. My separator is one of the blue frankford units for like $20 and I cut 2 round notches in a standard 5 gallon bucket to sit the separator in and that allows me to fit another 5 gallon bucket flush on top of the first bucket sot he separator is fully enclosed. I imagine if you have one that is already enclosed that would also work well to keep water from getting on you. But I put the brass & the micro-fiber towels in the spinner and spin them for 30 seconds or a minute or so and when you take them out they are 99.9% dry. You will find it very hard to find any water whatsoever or at least that is the case for me.

At this point I toss them in a regular dry tumbler with some walnut/corn cob media and nu-finish & mineral spirits to polish them up which would also dry them out entirely if there was any water left but if you don't do this they should still be dry just with the micro-fiber towel and spinner. Seriously give it a try, you will be surprised how well it works. Heck even if you still want to use a blow dryer or heater to dry them out even more after that it still only costs you a minute to use the micro-fiber towel in the separator and it gets rid of almost all if not all of the water to start with.

[John Boy]

A bath towel with the corners put together and a hair dryer. Done in under 3 minutes

[Wolverine19D]

A bath towel with the corners put together and a hair dryer. Done in under 3 minutes

In my experience that did work quite well but never got 100% of the water out quite that fast. But I imagine if you did that with a smaller batch of brass it may be that quick. The rotary sifter I use with the microfiber towels works much better for me then the hair dryer. You can do the hair dryer after if you want to be extra sure they are completely dry but either way these methods are quick compared to the others.