Wet tumbler deal

I have been thinking about wet tumbling for a year. I like the results I have seen, but the cost seemed high. Last weekend I had a chance to examine a Frankford arsenal wet tumbler. Tonight I found it on sale with media included at cabelas for $149 with an available coupon for 10% off and free shipping. The total price was $135 shipped. 

I figured that I would let the rest of you know. The tumbler will hold 500 45 cases and cleans them in about 3 hours. It has a timer built in to the unit.


Mike

Do you use a magnet to remove the media from the brass or is that done by the separator?

You need both, though you can we just a magnet,.  So you don't pour the media down the drain.  I picked mine up from my local Cabelas last week.

Yep, use both. It looks like 3 hours may be overkill from what I am seeing online. 

My friend decapped  and cleaned 10,000 cases in a couple of days, he's retired. I bought 48 lbs of cases last week from an estate that will need cleaning. This should get them done pretty quick, compared to my vibratory cleaner that only holds 350 and takes 6 hours to clean. 

I will let people know how it works

My buddy has that unit and he loves it.  I'm still wet tumbling my SS pins in a 2 gallon weed sprayer tank that I roll on my treadmill.  It's not as convenient as the Frankfurt....

Rob, that definitely wins for creativity and cost effectiveness. Unless you bought a treadmill for tumbling. :-)

I don't use the magnet. I use a media separator. Pour dirty water, clean brass, pins and all in it. Fill to the rim (in the sink). Roll and carefully pour the dirty water out without letting the pins go down the drain. Works fine.

I'm cheap! I bought a wire wastepaper basket at the Dollar store that fits inside a 5 gallon bucket. I pour the brass pins, water and all into the wire basket when it's inside the bucket, shake and the pins fall into the bucket and out of the brass. Rinse the pins with clean water and pour the water off, pour pins into my Thumblers Tumbler drum and I'm all set for the next batch. Rinse brass with cold water, shake and spread out on towel while in the sunlight and they are dry in an hour ready to reload.

I went to wet tumbling 4 years ago and never looked back.

BTW I can tumble 500 45 ACP cases in my Thumblers Tumbler when I only fill 1/2 way with water/soap mixture. Tumble for 4 hours and PRESTO, clean brass.



Virgil

Thanks Virgil, that kind of answers a question that I have. How.much above the brass does the water need to be.

I only fill the tumbler 1/2 way. Even if the brass is sticking somewhat out of the water when I fill it I know that most of the brass will be under the soap/water solution when the barrel of the tumbler is horizontal and rotating. I'm no expert but IMO it's the pins that clean the brass and the soap water solution is mostly to carry away the debris and make sure it doesn't stick back on the brass once removed.  

I have run 500 pieces of 45 ACP with less than 1/2 of the tumbler barrel filled. I usually just eyeball it but if I had to guess I would say that I use between 1/2 and 3/4 of a gallon of water, one tablespoon Lemi-Shine and one squirt of Dawn dish soap. My concern is the weight of the barrel and when it's filled with 500 pieces of brass and to the top with water/soap solution it's really putting a strain on the motor. If I only use 1/2 gallon that's 4 pounds less that the motor has to rotate compared to a whole gallon (8.43 pounds). When running I can hear the water and brass splashing in the barrel as it turns. I'm sure the wave action helps clean also.


I experimented some when I first got the pins and thought I had to follow strict guidelines to get results. I found out that a scosh  of this and a bit of that  were all the science I needed. Close is good enough to get fantastic results

[img][/img]


This Federal brass has been cleaned and loaded about 20 times and still looks new.


Virgil

I've noticed clean times can be shortened quite a bit.  Check the brass after 1.5 hours...you might be shocked!..Mine is always spotless after 1.5 hours

I run 30 minutes and get similar results.  I find that a tablespoon of lemishine is way too much and I get pink discoloration if I use that much.  I find the soap to be very helpful.

I use yellow car soap with carnauba wax in it.  It leaves a waxy residue which makes reloading smoother.  The cases washed in the wax soap feel more like new starline brass does.  If I use dawn and lemishine the brass is so clean that the expander "grabs" the inside of the case and the sizer "grabs" the outside.  It really makes reloading harder when that happens.

Rob Kovach wrote:I run 30 minutes and get similar results.  I find that a tablespoon of lemishine is way too much and I get pink discoloration if I use that much.  I find the soap to be very helpful.

I use yellow car soap with carnauba wax in it.  It leaves a waxy residue which makes reloading smoother.  The cases washed in the wax soap feel more like new starline brass does.  If I use dawn and lemishine the brass is so clean that the expander "grabs" the inside of the case and the sizer "grabs" the outside.  It really makes reloading harder when that happens.

I use 1/4 tsp of lemishine and its more than enough.

I like that car wax idea.  May have to try that

Car wax is a GREAT idea.

Try headlight lenses polish also... actually, most anything on the garage shelf will work

Headlight polish might work, but I like the carwash soap with the wax already in it because I don't have to measure or worry about compatibility, or do additional steps.  I just use the carwash soap instead of the dawn dish soap.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/16550244?reviews_limit=7&

I'll try that.

I run mine until the primer pockets are clean of debris. Maybe it's my water here but there is no way my brass primer pockets are clean in 1/2 hour. If there is debris left in the primer pockets and carbon deposits inside, it takes it longer  to dry out than it does to be totally clean and tumbled longer.

YMMV


Virgil

My first batch of 400 federal cases is tumbling now. This batch was fairly clean, since all had been tumbled in media before.  But the primer pickets were dirty and there was still carbon in the cases. The next 5000 are mostly WCC and WCC Match from the late 70s and early 80s. They are DIRTY and Dark. They should give the tumbler a workout. Photos will follow.

I have to ask. Stainless steel pins and magnets??

Len

OldMaster65 wrote:I have to ask. Stainless steel pins and magnets??

Len

Yes SS and magnets. Some SS are attracted to magnets and these pins are of that variety.


Virgil

Dirty

}" />




Clean
}" />

Works for me. I might have run it a little longer, but I'm happy.

Virgil Kane wrote:

OldMaster65 wrote:I have to ask. Stainless steel pins and magnets??

Len

Yes SS and magnets. Some SS are attracted to magnets and these pins are of that variety.


Virgil

Austenitic stainless steel (300 series) becomes magnetic, through cold working, as it is extruded in the wire making process. I learned this from an engineer while trying to comply with aerospace welding requirements for stainless wire cleaning brushes.
Wes

Has anyone done a test to show if there is any accuracy difference between equal reloads using brass deprimed and cleaned in a stainless pin wet tumbler versus fired primer-in brass cleaned with a dry media tumbler?
Al