Forgot to turn off tumbler

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The Intermatic TN311 will cost you only $11 and if you have Amazon Prime S&H is free.
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If you regularly use Amazon, sign up at smile.amazon.com and you can have a small contribution go to one of several pro-gun causes with every purchase -- I signed up for the NRA Firearms Civil Rights Legal Defense Fund.
 
Brass stuck on expander ball...

When FL resizing brass, you always lube the outside of the case, of course. "Everybody knows that."

BUT: how 'bout that expander ball, inside the case neck?

None other than Col. Townsend Whelen covered that, years ago, in his little book, Why not load your own? He said that we want "just a suspicion of lube" inside the case neck, to ease the expander ball in its journey in and out. I really like that phrase. Way to do this, Whelen said, was to put a very little lube on your finger, and scrape it across the case mouth, every 4 or 5 cases.

I have used that advice ever since first reading it, and have never (knock wood!) had a problem with the expander ball getting stuck in the case for lack of lube. New unfired cases (Starline included,) or re-used range pickups, or anything else.
 
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When cleaning dirty rounds I always let the brass tumble for 6+ hours. When I polish loaded rounds I always pour Nu-Finish over them and let them tumble for hours. Either way the brass comes out looking like commercial loads. It feels good.
 
bds said:
To impress our base commander, we quietly brought in a power drill with a buffing wheel then used it to polish everything we could polish for our next inspection.

Can you picture a galvanized trash can shining like it was chrome plated? It was the first thing you saw when you walked into our building and made quite an impression as everyone gasped when they saw their face reflections on it. Yes, the base commander was impressed. :D

I don't think too much shine is a bad thing.
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Hi BDS,

I was thinking more in terms of being able to find the empties in grass but that works too. :)
 
wally said:
If you regularly use Amazon, sign up at smile.amazon.com and you can have a small contribution go to one of several pro-gun causes with every purchase -- I signed up for the NRA Firearms Civil Rights Legal Defense Fund.
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I didn't know about Smile Amazon and I have been buying from them for a VERY LONG time. I even have a Prime membership.

I will shop from the Smile page from now on and I just signed up to support The Wounded Warrior Project. Thank you very much Sir... :)
 
Vibratory polishers tend to use shaded pole motors. They can run for a long time.
Mine even has a cooling fan mounted on it.
 
3-4 hours in the Berry's tumbler gets 9mm very nice and shiny.
I have the cheapy timer that cycles back on the next day if you forget to turn it off.
I've had some very very shiny brass a few times.
I'm on my second Berry's, the first lasted about 4-5 years.
 
A word of warning: the tumbler left unattended could start a fire.
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Maybe my friends and I just enjoy living dangerously, but none of us has ever "attended" to a tumbler in our lives. :)

I've always chosen a spot for mine that's out of earshot, which usually means it's out of sight as well. I generally just set a timer on my phone to remind me when I need to go turn it off.

A few years back I loaded up my Dillon CV2001 with about 700, 30-06 cases and then got an emergency callout to fight a large wildfire in Central Texas. I ended up being gone for 10 days and after I got home I was so tired that I didn't get out to my reloading shack for another 4 days.

My tumbler ended up running for slightly over TWO WEEKS straight!

THAT was some shiny brass! :D
 
I'm a night owl and I start my tumbler before going to bed and the next morning I remove the "jewels" for the tumbler media. Clean cases=clean dies.
Also, if you anneal cases, it is much easier to see the temperature change on the necks of the cases during the annealing process.
 
I used to run my tumbler for 3-6 hours. Now I rinse my brass and tumble it wet. I only ever had to run the tumbler until the brass is dry. About 45 min to an hour. It's always been clean by then. I also never have to change the media, anymore, and hardly have to clean it. Been going on thousands and thousands of cases on the same corn cob. Another thing, the cases come out with much less dust. After loading, my fingers aren't jet black, anymore.
 
zerobarrier said:
Yes it is a risk, but so is ever electrical device that you leave plugged in that is always on, like refrigerator, freezer, fish tank filters and stuff, etc. I put my tumbler in the middle of a concrete floor with nothing within a 15' radius just in case it did catch on fire. Doubt the little thing would make a big enough fire to catch anything else on fire, plus my house is insured for way more then I have into it:)
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I have one of those inexpensive timers with an OFF and an ON plug in "thingy." I remove the ON "thingy" so that when my timer reaches its OFF time it can not turn back ON again since the ON plug is not present.
 
I use a timer on my watch if I step away from my tumbler. Depending on how dirty the brass is (stuff I fire vs range pickup) I will run it for 2-4 hours. My only time I really "forgot" was I was away from the house visiting in laws. Ended up leaving the tumbler running for about 12 hours. Very shiny brass and very dirty media after I came back from that trip.
 
Anyone familiar with the Thumler Tumbler knows they are super quiet. However, my wife always complains about it running, even though it's on the opposite side of the house. Do you have to run that thing all the time, nope just when I need to clean some brass.

GS
 
My timer is broken on my sidewinder so I've left it on by mistake several times already.
 
What is the purpose of tumbling brass, other than cosmetic?

I don't own a tumbler and I shoot blackpowder a lot. Blackened rounds don't hurt anything...
 
Some of us at least?

Like how it looks as good or better then factory loads.

Some of use like to get the grit & grime off grungy cases so we don't scratch or wear out steel sizing dies.

Some of us who shoot auto-loaders like shiny brass because it is very slightly easier to find on the ground.

And some of us are just OCD enough to want to get all the old grime & grunge off, so we can inspect the cases for defects before reloading them!

Thats my #1 reason rat there!

rc
 
rcmodel said:
And some of us are just OCD enough to want to get all the old grime & grunge off, so we can inspect the cases for defects before reloading them!
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That is the added benefit I tell myself. It is easier to see problems with the brass when it is clean. The real reason is I am OCD and like clean brass.
 
I left my Harbor Freight 5 lb tumbler running unattended overnight this last weekend. This was intentional, since figured I would shut it off when I got up in the morning. What I found when I walked in to shut it off was the following: Wing nut and washers that hold the lid on were gone (probably vibrated away and landed someplace around the area), the lid was still on with the center hole wallowed out to several times it's original size. I must not have had the lid on tight enough. Planning on stopping by the hardware store and trying to figure out how to fix the lid. I might need to make a fender washer big enough to cover the hole.

<Update: I found a good-to-go stainless steel 6mm wing nut at the hardware store in the fancy metric fastener drawers and a three pack of fender washers with a 3/16 hole that I will have to wallow out to 6mm. The washer fabrication will require some advanced techniques involving a 15/64 drill bit and a special sloppy drilling technique. Total cost for the fix, including tax was $1.49>
 
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