Brass cleaning

Status
Not open for further replies.

marchboom

Member
Joined
May 8, 2008
Messages
136
Location
North Idaho
Just started to use Lemishine prior to putting my brass into a tumbler with walnut shells. Lemishine works great to get the brass shiny prior to the tumbler.

Just wondering. How much Lemishine do you use in, say, a half gallon of water? Do you use this solution more than once? Some people also add Dawn soap to the water. What does the soap do?

Thanks
 
I use Lime shine during wet tumbling w/SS pins and Armor All wash & wax. I use 1/2 tsp per load, 1gal. The soap is used to suspened the carbon and dirt removed during the process. The AA W&W also lives a protective coating on the brass to retard tarnishing.
 
Just wondering. How much Lemishine do you use in, say, a half gallon of water? Do you use this solution more than once? Some people also add Dawn soap to the water. What does the soap do?

Soap gets off the grease and crud and Lemishine helps make the cases more shiney.

My proprietary technique, scientifically proven (LOL), is to put 2 or 3 dashes of Dawn in a Thumler's tumbler that's about half full or a little more with water and then add a dash of Lemishine. I then tumble for 2 hours more or less, remove the then black water and tumble again for a couple of hours with just Dawn (2 or 3 dashes).
 
There are a lot of ways to clean brass and you see some very cool ones. I use 1/2 gallon of Hot water, 1 cup of Vinegar, 1 spoon of salt, and a small amount of dawn. 15 to 20 minutes and the inside and out side are clean. I rinse with a tad of baking soda to kill any unwanted effects. Dry it. Then tumble with corncob with any decent polish and I get better than new looking brass. This is usually after depriming so the primer pockets get clean too. I started doing this for rounds that would be stored maybe long term.
I do all the sizing between the wet and dry cleaning. Some never clean brass and some go crazy. I was in trucking for the last 32 years and have plenty of polish left for chrome and aluminum. It works nice for brass also. Never use anything that has Ammonia in it as it will weaken brass. It makes it hard. It cleans it nice but turns brass hard.
I have heard of the steel pin thing and would like to try it but, I buy corn cob in 50lb bags and won't run out anytime soon. A 50lb bag cost me $26.00. Way cheaper than the stuff on the market. Walnut works but is dusty. I use that only when I have very dirty brass. Not often anymore. Lots of ways to do it. Have fun with it.
 
I tumble with walnut to start, then run them in a 2nd tumbler with corn and brass polish... saweeet..

Thewelshm
 
I'm behind the times i guess. I dump my brass in the tumbler with some corn cob and a little Nu-Finish, 2 hours or so later I take it out and load it. I'll run the same media until it's way past green. No wet brass or crazy soup concoctions. My brass might not be as shiny as some but it's pretty shinny and in the end it's just brass. I've had to run some nasty range brass for 4 hours a time or two but it still cleans up just fine.
 
I use Lemishine in an ultrasonic cleaner before vibratory tumbling in walnut with Nu-Finish. Very nice looking brass.

For people that say shiny brass isn't needed, neither is a nice walnut stock. I like to wash my car too, even though it doesn't improve the MPG.

Be careful with Lemishine - a little goes a LONG way. Too much and your brass suffers. It's an acid.
 
One thing I have found when wet tumbling (using canning citric acid instead of Lemishine) is that I use more than what some others do. The PH of my tap water runs on the basic side so it takes more to make the solution slightly acidic. (Also a pain changing water in the fish tank, have to balance PH first)
Since the outdoor range I shoot at is sandy I always do a pre wash / soak in a bucket of water with dish washing soap. Wet tumble for about an hour or so, then change water/soap mixture and run it for about another 1/2 hour.

As a side note if you shoot at an indoor range and haven't had your lead levels checked it's probably a good idea to have it done. Most medical insurance will cover the test.
I felt fine but had mine checked because of something I saw here.
 
Last edited:
For me, it's 1/4 TSP of Lemi-Shine, 1 ounce auto wash and wax, and just enough water to cover the brass plus an inch or so. Using a Thumler's high speed model B and 5 pounds of SS pins. Typical results:


IMG_20160617_091504_zpsjxf3vrvz.jpg


IMG_20160401_141930_zpsbhbdu1fp.jpg





IMG_20150514_131144_zps9lgzf4t9.jpg
 
Be careful with Lemishine - a little goes a LONG way.

Earlier threads recommended a 9MM case of Lemishine in a full tumbler with a dollop of Armorall Wash & Wax.
 
I wash my brass with a vinegar, salt & dish soap solution in a tub with water. After its dry I tumble in corn cob media with a bit of NuFinish car polish mixed in. The brass looks like new when done. I also take a used dryer sheet cut into 4 pieces and put that in my tumbler. The pieces end up black as coal
 
For me, it's 1/4 TSP of Lemi-Shine, 1 ounce auto wash and wax, and just enough water to cover the brass plus an inch or so. Using a Thumler's high speed model B and 5 pounds of SS pins. Typical results:

That is some sexy brass. I do the same thing with the same stuff but I use the Extreme 17 or whatever it's called tumbler.
 
"I use the Extreme 17 or whatever it's called tumbler."

Dentite -

About how many pounds of brass per batch do you run in the Rebel 17?

I typically run 5 pounds per batch in the Thumler's tumbler...
 
I'm with Muddydogs on this. All I'm interested in is clean. I have switched to walnut hulls as they are quicker than corncob. Can't tell a bit of difference in how shiny brass shoots vs clean brass when I'm doing load development.
 
Yes, I did mention the baking soda. I do like what I see with the SS pins. It may be a toss up from what I get now, but still like that brass.
 
Vinegar & salt mixed removes zinc so it keeps becoming less like brass & more like copper.
 
I never use the corn cob media on dirty brass. I use a sonic cleaner and then a dehydrator. I need to dehydrate to avoid waiting for drying to preclude corn cob media getting caked inside cases. Dehydrator not necessary, if I have other cases or not in a hurry to reload.
 
My process for "polishing" brass is:
  • 1 teaspoon of Lemishine to a quart of hot water with a squirt of detergent.
  • Note that this is a VERY high concentration of citric acid.
  • I do not use Dawn particularly, although it is probably the most efficient detergent for removing the carbon and dirt that gets on once-fired brass.
  • I put decapped brass in the solution for no more that fifteen minutes, agitating it for about 30 seconds every three to five minutes.
  • If you go much longer, the brass will turn "tan" or "pink" depending on the acid you're using and with continued exposure, eventually "black". Avoid this if you can. If you mess up, you can tumble the black, tan or pink color off in corn or walnut media but it may take a while (i.e. as much as 24 hours).
  • The action of weak acids like Lemishine or Vinegar is dependent upon exposure. Once the acid molecule encounters the brass, it "does its thing" chemically and then is done. You can use low concentrations and long exposure times as most do or high concentrations and short exposure times and the portion of the results that the acid can deliver will be about the same.
  • Agitation is just that; shaking the container. I am not tumbling at this point. I just pick the container up and shake it.
  • The agitation is merely to ensure the brass pieces don't remain in contact at the same point throughout the process and thus allows the acid an opportunity to reach every part of the case.
  • I drain the container and then wash the brass three times in hot water. The solution is NOT reused.
  • I spread the brass out on a towel and let it dry overnight.
  • I then lubricate and resize the brass.
  • I then tumble for between one and two hours in walnut media (time is dependent upon how many times the media has been used) to remove the lubricant and provide a final polish to the brass.
I then trim, deburr, chamfer, remove the primer pocket crimp if needed and proceed with reloading them.

The results are clean and uniformly shiny. Let me be clear here, my results are NOT as striking as what Bayou5252 gets with his process. But I dare say that my process is quicker and doesn't require the same investment in equipment or media (I doubt anyone else uses a tumbler built from a 1980's vintage dot matrix printer).

A friend from church who is a veteran and so is familiar with what ammunition looks like, but is not into reloading, came by the other day and could not tell the difference between reloads in one magazine that had been made up using my cases and the American Eagle cartridges in another magazine.

I consider that "good enough".
 
Last edited:
For me, it's 1/4 TSP of Lemi-Shine, 1 ounce auto wash and wax, and just enough water to cover the brass plus an inch or so. Using a Thumler's high speed model B and 5 pounds of SS pins. Typical results:


IMG_20160617_091504_zpsjxf3vrvz.jpg


IMG_20160401_141930_zpsbhbdu1fp.jpg





IMG_20150514_131144_zps9lgzf4t9.jpg

My hat is off to you. I think those cases are more uniformly shiny than they were when they were in the factory.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top