Questions about "wet tumbling"

[BobW.]

I recently purchased a Frankford Arsenal wet tumbler. I am using tap water, about 1/2 teaspoon of Dawn soap and a pinch of Lemishine. A drum load is about 550 pcs. of .38 brass and 5 lbs. of pins. I rinse in tap water and dry in an oven at 200 degrees for about 20 minutes. After drying and sitting several days on the bench the brass gets rather "dull, tarnished". Over all I am happy with the results but have several questions.....

I have read that users add car wax to each load of brass. What type and how much??

Will I get better results, if I use other than tap water in the drum?

Thanks for your comments.......

[casac47]

I have the same unit and I think you will get better results if you use more cleaner and Lemshine. Try doubling your amount. Try air drying using a drying rack. It's basically a screen on legs. Your 200 degree drying is probably removing any wax left from the Lemshine. If kept around long enough, all brass will start to tarnish. but the additives in car washing soap and Lemshine retard the process.

[sukivel]

I use dry dishwasher detergent and lemishine, but not much at all. Afterwards I rinse well and air dry with no tarnish.


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[pete501]

double post

[pete501]

First tumble with dawn dish soap & lemishine . Second tumble I use a cap full of Armorall Wash and Wax & lemishine. Stopped my tarnish problems and makes the cases slide through your sizing die easier.

[Nueces]

A lot of us have attacked the tarnish problem by finishing with something like ArmorAll Wash'n'Wax liquid instead of Dawn. It provides a micro thin coating of hard wax, not visible, nor can you feel it. No tarnish either.

I have always used a two step wet tumble process, possibly because of my horrible well water. First hour with Dawn, second (after a good rinse) with ArmorAll. With better water, some just use the ArmorAll, as it does incorporate a soap.

[LabGuy]

I use 1/4 teaspoon of Lemi Shine and about 40 mL of Armor All Ultra Shine Wash and Wax per gallon of tap water.

[mold maker]

If you're on well water that is laden with iron, you might try Walmarts distilled water at .89/gal.
Making sure there are no steel cases involved, and no iron used in the processing will help.
I use citric acid with Dawn and SS pins to clean. Rinse really well and dry quickly. For long term stored brass, a turn in cob with Nu Finish car wax leaves a bright polish that retards tarnish for years.

[Bayou52]

Recommend using 1/4 TSP of Lemi-Shine, 1 ounce of auto wash and wax and just enough water to cover the brasses plus an inch or so over.

Brasses with mostly carbon from firing get a high, shiny finish with 2 hours of tumbling. For heavily tarnished and/or weather brass, 4 hours of tumbling time is needed to get impeccably shiny brass, including primer pockets.

Dry quickly so as not to enable water spotting on the surface of the brass.

After wet tumbling, I almost need to reach for the "sunglasses" to look at the brasses...

[mdi]

The brass tarnished quickly because wet tumbling removes everything down to nekkid brass (BTDT). I think one of the auto polished noted above would leave a light wax coating to protect the bare metal from tarnishing, mebbe a rinse after cleaning; cleaning, rinsing, then another "wax & water rinse"?...

[Bayou52]

The brass tarnished quickly because wet tumbling removes everything down to nekkid brass (BTDT). I think one of the auto polished noted above would leave a light wax coating to protect the bare metal from tarnishing, mebbe a rinse after cleaning; cleaning, rinsing, then another "wax & water rinse"?...

Hi, mdi -

You were questioning whether a final "wash and wax rinse" would be needed after the initial rinse. In my practice, after the brass and pins get dumped out of the tumbler barrel, they all go into a rotary media separator that is filled with water. This is the final rinse for my brasses, in essence.

Once the pins are separated, the brasses are dried and that's it. I've had brasses wet tumbled like this in storage for several years. Over time, that high, polished brassy shine dissipates into a dull shine, and the brasses become a more dullish yellow, but tarnish never returned.

[dudel]

I'm on well water (with a softener). I use the FART with 1/4 tsp of Lemishine plus one capful of Blue Coral car wash and wax.

Brass comes out shiny, and seems to stay that way (at least until I load and shoot it).

The wax keeps it shiny; but I was under the impression that the citric acid (Lemishine) passivates the brass, and that's what keeps the tarnish away.

I only do one cycle with my brass.

[BobW.]

Thanks to all. I appreciate all of your comments....Bob

[Walter Laich]

Some of us started were there when this started and have seen several 'breakthroughs' as more and more people got with the program and continued to experiment.

for me that's part of the fun--messing with it to see if it can be improved upon.

[John Boy]

Tumbler capacity is a function of the size of the drum, and the amount of weight that the tumbler motor and drive mechanism can reliably rotate. Tumbler capacity is usually specified in pounds. The Thumler's Model B tumbler in Figure 1 has a 15 pound capacity. This might sound like a lot, but the 15 pound capacity includes everything - water, media, and brass - that goes into the tumbler. With a gallon of water (8 pounds) and 5 pounds of media, there is room for only 2 pounds of brass. This translates to about 140 .223 cases.

http://www.massreloading.com/reloadi..._tumbling.html

[Bayou52]

Hi, John -

What you quote as the capacity for the Thumler's tumbler is the same as contained in my product insert when I bought my Thumler's over 4 years ago.

Over the years, however, I've experimented a lot and have significantly changed the standard capacities. Here's how I have changed them:

Instead of 2 pounds of brass per batch, I've increased to 5 pounds. Instead of a gallon of water (8 lbs), I use only enough water to cover the brasses and over about an inch or so. This is about 5 lbs of water. I have found, in my experience, that reducing the volume of water increases tumbling efficiency in terms of cleaning and tumbling time. This still meets up with the 15 pound tumbler capacity.

However, on occasion, I've tumbled up to 8 pounds of brass giving a 18 pound capacity. Even at this level, the Thumler's showed zero signs of stress and worked perfectly.

Typical tumbling results:








Bayou52

[John Boy]

Bayou ... Great looking brass! Good possibility if the pins weight was decreased, the cases would clean faster

[Nueces]

I've also found the total weight number to be conservative, in the case of the Thumler Model B High Speed. I often go over, as does Bayou52. My first motor belt has 4 years on it.

[Bayou52]

Bayou ... Great looking brass! Good possibility if the pins weight was decreased, the cases would clean faster

Thanks for tip, John. I never thought about reducing the volume of pins. May have to experiment some more....

[Bayou52]

My first motor belt has 4 years on it.

Hi, Nueces -

You've had a better experience than myself with your Thumler's belts. Mine were breaking every 20 tumbling hours or so. Never could figure out why. I switched to a same size o-ring. My very first one is still on the motor. It's been 3 years now and heaven knows how many tumbling hours...

All the Best -

Bayou52