Brass Cleaning Method

[SharuLady]

Brass Cleaning Method

Cases deprimed but not sized.
Cases first washed and soaked with hot tap water from faucet, Dawn and Lemi-Shine then rinsed and dried.
Then put in dry tumbler with (lizard bedding) walnut media, with added mineral spirits and NuFinish. (As yet, no problem with any media getting stuck in cases.)
Cleaning results and polishing very good outside, but if inside & primer pocket not as good then a longer run in the tumbler gets it better.
But...... Very fine Dust in cases remaining after tumbling all the media out. (I do realize the dust is from the walnut media).
I really like the lasting shine & coating from the NuFinish (all the cases have lasted 3 years in sealed containers with desicant pack with them), but not the dust from the media in the cases.

1) So, can NuFinish be used in rotary tumblers with/without pins in the water along with/without the Dawn soap and/or Lemi-Shine? I know that some others are using a Wash & Wax by I think Armor-All.
2) Will re-washing them in a rotary tumbler with the Dawn, Lemi-Shine & NuFinish work ok in the washing cycle together?
3) Has anyone tried anything like this?

TYIA, SharuLady

[TNsailorman]

I have used a similar method for several years now. The main difference is that I wash my cases in one of the household cleaners (purple power, simple green or a wash of nitric acid and water) and then dry well before tumbling in the Lizzard Litter and a 50/50 mix of Nu Finish car polish and scent free mineral spirits.. Usually tumble about 1 1/2 to 2 hours and they come out bright and shiny inside and out and look great. No problem with walnut in the flash holes either. james

[XDROB]

So for years I have been tumbling with two vibratory tumblers with #5 Franklin arsenal corn media. With two table spoons of Midway polish. Primers in. Was Never happy that primer holes were not cleaned out. So end of summer last year I bought a Franklin Arsenal S/S pin wet tumbler. So after dry tumbling, I Deprime then wet tumble with lemi-shine and Nu-finish. It's unbelievable how dirty the water is, even after they've been cleaned with the dry media. I like my brass Shiny, so I don't mind the xtra work in tumbling with two different systems. Makes keeping my dies a Lot cleaner and making the brass easier to find on the ground.😆😎

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[tigweldit]

XDROB, Totally agree. Shiny brass is so much easier to find.

[Bzcraig]

I deprime using a Lee universal decapper, then wet tumble adding Armour All as you mentioned. I had decided the nasty stuff from tumbling in dry media that got airborne was unwanted​ and took way too much time and wet tumbling gets the brass so much cleaner. I have been using the Harbor Freight rock tumbler for about 3 years without a hiccup so cost to switch over was negligible.

[SharuLady]

Ty one and all for your comments!

So for years I have been tumbling with two vibratory tumblers with #5 Franklin arsenal corn media. With two table spoons of Midway polish. Primers in. Was Never happy that primer holes were not cleaned out. So end of summer last year I bought a Franklin Arsenal S/S pin wet tumbler. So after dry tumbling, I Deprime then wet tumble with lemi-shine and Nu-finish. It's unbelievable how dirty the water is, even after they've been cleaned with the dry media. I like my brass Shiny, so I don't mind the xtra work in tumbling with two different systems. Makes keeping my dies a Lot cleaner and making the brass easier to find on the ground. [UNQUOTE]

Ok, this was one of my questions about continuing to use N-finish, since I really like the shine & the feel on the cases. They just have a more slippery feel to them. But then after thinking about it..... it is a car wax and holds up well with being rained upon on the vehicle. So I guess it should have been a "no - brainer" for me.





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[jmort]

"I deprime using a Lee universal decapper"

I used to until I got a Harvey Deprimer
If necessary I will use a hand press with Squirrel Daddy pins in the Lee die body for military brass.
I tend to keep all dirty brass away from my presses
The Harvey Deprimer works well

[XDROB]

SharuLady: Don't feel bad. Sometimes you dont think about the thing you already know until you see it in print.🤓😣

jmort, I deprime after the first run through the first tumble in dry media. Four hours minimal. If I have a lot do, I just twist out all my dies except the first stage, deprimer/sizer and throw the brass into the feeder and go at it. Don't know what Harvey is, but I'm going to go look now
Thanks, Rob

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[Walter Laich]

Being a lazy person (my best trait) I remove the primer assembly and die head from my Dillon SDB; takes 5 minutes it that.
replace the head with one that just has the primer punch--no dies or anything else

run the dirty brass through the press--I only have to feed the brass in; 4 strokes later it ejects without the primer (this saves me the need to remove brass when deprimed). Air compressor used to blow the press clean of all the dirt and junk that comes from the brass--this does a great job of getting rid of the mess.

brass then goes in wet tumbler with 1/4 teaspoon lemishine and 1 oz of Armor-All Wash and Wax. Tumble for 2 hours max and everything is nice and clean including primer pockets

I do use the SS 'chips' that Southern Shine sells off of Facebook https://www.facebook.com/southernshinetumblers/

I think the chips do a better job than the pins but then it just may be me.

I had some .38 Sp brass that was in an open container after cleaning for 18 months and while the brass darkened a bit they still are shiny.

[KCcactus]

I tumble mine using a little laundry detergent in warm water, baking soda and some strips of cloth. After about 2 hours, the water is black. I dry them on an old towel in the sun. I got the idea when I left an old dirty case in my pocket and it came out of the laundry shiny. Sounds like I need to try some kind of liquid car wax to keep them shiny.

[pjames32]

I deprime with a Harvey deprimer, usually while watching TV. Dump into a bucket with hot water and Dawn. When done depriming I dump the bucket of dirty water/Dawn and brass into a sink. Place in ultrasonic cleaner with 1 tsp LemiShine and a few drops of Dawn per gallon. Run with heat for 1 hour, rinse in the sink and lay out on a towel in the sun to dry (I live in the desert). Once dry I use walnut in a vibratory with Dillon polish or some car shine like Nufinish for a few hours. Add a dryer sheet to pick up the dust. Kind of time consuming but I like clean brass and I am retired so my time is not too valuable.
If you use too much Lemishine or leave it too long your brass turns pink. My wife likes shooting pink brass YMMV
Wet tumbling looks good and if I were younger and still shooting a bunch I'd probably set up a small cement mixer

[mold maker]

LEE Universal deprime and rotary tumble 2 hr in hot water with SS pins, citric acid, and a cap of carwash/wax. Rinse well, and almost dry. An additional hr in cob with NuFinish gives much cleaner/brighter than new brass that will last for years if protected. The little bit of dampness from the "almost dry" brass Keeps the dust to a minimum.
I once had a tumbler catch on fire so no mineral spirits are involved.

[fast ronnie]

universal decapping die, then tumble with ss pins using 1 teaspoon of citric acid (cheaper than lemishine) 1 teaspoon armoral wash and wax with a little over 1 gallon of water for two hours. I've tried nu-finish instead of armorall and have also used dawn. Armorall leaves a wax coating that seems to help lube cases in the sizing die.