Steel media

[jonp]

I am thinking of trying stainless steel media after seeing some of the pictures posted on this site by a member of brass that looks brand new.

Has anyone tried this with a Lyman or a Franklin Arms type brass cleaner? Will it wear one out faster?

On a related note, has anyone used a rock tumbler for a brass cleaner? I read on another forum about a shooter that swore by a metal rock tumbler he bought from Harbor Freight.

[chsparkman]

A rock tumbler is what you want to use with stainless steel media. Check this out.

http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/

[edler7]

If you get a SS media setup, you won't go back to vibe cleaning. It's like getting new brass when you open the lid. Primer pockets are clean, inside of the case is clean...it's amazing.

I use an old rock tumbler I got at a yard sale. Most people say a vibratory type tumbler won't work, the pins and brass are just too heavy for it to tumble properly. A few say it will. I haven't tried it in my old vibratory tumbler, so I can't speak from personal experience- but in a rotary tumbler it's the best thing going. I've seen posts of guys who made a rotary tumbler out of stuff they had laying around the shop/garage, so the $$$ outlay for a tumbler doesn't have to be high if you have some mechanical skill.

[jonp]

stainless tumbling media is a site I've looked at and will probably get my media from. Harbor Freight has a rock tumbler for about $30 so I think I will try it out.

[Randy C]

A rock tumbler is what you want to use with stainless steel media. Check this out.

http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/

They have a video on how the do it I ordered one 3 week wait you can use any rock tumbler with water and lemi shine and dawn dish soap.

[etcher1]

Wanted to try different shining methods so I put them all in one. I have corn cob, walnut, and not stainless steel media but copper wire for media. The copper wire work well. I have other tumbling barrels I will try walnut and bb's. Here is a video of it.



The drum is 4 pvc pipe, and the paddles are 2 pvc pipe split into quarters. They were bolted on.



It was some scrap wire left over from some wire being pulled on a job. Took some bolt cutters and went to clipping,

[Cadillo]

Just curious, what gauge wire, and does it clean the primer pockets if you decap prior to tumbling? I use the SS pins and the primer pocket cleaning is for me the best part.

[Agent1187]

I use a dual rubber drum rock tumbler that I got without motor for like $20. Works like a charm.
I've never though about copper wire - looks like it does a pretty good job!

[220swiftfn]

I use a dual rubber drum rock tumbler that I got without motor for like $20. Works like a charm.
I've never though about copper wire - looks like it does a pretty good job!

just about anything small enough to pass thru the flash hole will work, the only thing the pins are doing is burnishing the brass and helping scrub the loosened fouling off (there have been pictures of brass tumbled in just water, Dawn, and Lemishine while waiting for the SS pins, and the only noticeable difference is that there's till some "stuff" left in the corners.....)




Dan

[prs]

I use a Thumler's Model B with Dawn and citric acid. I fill the tumbler barrel abut 3/4 full of cases with primers still in, add a measuring teaspoon of Dawn and a measuring tablespoon of Citric acid and let it tumble for several hours while I do something else. I see no need for metal pins and even the primer pockets are well cleaned. I am an incessant experimenter, so I might order some pins anyway just to see.

prs

[ACrowe25]

I wish I would have seen these when I was starting up... Would have made it a little easier to purchase a setup like that. I know I'll be looking for a rock tumbler at yard sales

[etcher1]

Just curious, what gauge wire, and does it clean the primer pockets if you decap prior to tumbling? I use the SS pins and the primer pocket cleaning is for me the best part.

Not sure of the wire size. It was a large stranded. I made sure the strands were small enough to go through the flash holes.
I did decap before tumbling and it cleaned it very well.

[220swiftfn]

I use a Thumler's Model B with Dawn and citric acid. I fill the tumbler barrel abut 3/4 full of cases with primers still in, add a measuring teaspoon of Dawn and a measuring tablespoon of Citric acid and let it tumble for several hours while I do something else. I see no need for metal pins and even the primer pockets are well cleaned. I am an incessant experimenter, so I might order some pins anyway just to see.

prs

I've heard of people getting corrosion in the pockets from tumbling with the primers still in (water gets trapped in there....)


Dan

[Stephen Cohen]

the SS pins seem to be an unknown in Australia, maybe I should get the snippers busy on some SS mig wire see if it works.