Mixing Cob and Walnut

[forty_caliber]

So it is said that corn cob media polishes better, but walnut cleans better in a vibratory tumbler.

Has anyone tried or is there any benefit mixing the two mediums?

.40

 

[buck460XVR]

I've found adding a bit of Nu-Finish to my Walnut works better than mixing. Helps with the dust too. In reality, for my purposes, corn-cob or walnut both work just fine as I don't need my brass looking like factory new.

 

[Walkalong]

Tried walnut, tried corn cob, tried a mixture, use nothing but corncob. I just tumble longer if it needs it.

a bit of Nu-Finish to my Walnut works better than mixing. Helps with the dust too.

Yea, if shine is what you want, use polish, and it does help with dust, even then sometimes I'll add a few drops of water to invigorate the polish/cob if it gets too dry in the heat here.

 

[forty_caliber]

Thanks for the responses. That pretty much answers my question. I've been wet tumbling with pins for the last while, but ran across a new in box Berry's tumbler with separator for $60 and picked it up.

I've found that I really hate dealing with the pins. I'm going to try wet tumbling without pins or ultrasonic bath for an hour to get most of the grime off and then dry tumble after drying to make 'em pretty.

.40

 

[12Bravo20]

I use a 50/50 mix of walnut and corn cob all the time. I do occasionally throw some case polish in. I usually let brass tumble for 2-4 hours depending on how dirty it is.

 

[drband]

Have done CC, walnut, and 50/50 mix, all with NuFinish polish. I bought a 50lb bag of walnut from zoro.com so that's what I like!

Honestly, they all work pretty well if you leave them tumbling long enough. Walnut shells are a little faster.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I have been using a50/50 mix ever since I started using a tumbler. It works well for me.

 

[PWC]

Walnut and/or cob + nu finish + cut up used dryer sheet (dust catcher) + tablespoon of paint thinner ("activator") = run without brass for 3-4 min to prevent clumping. Add brass and run as needed.

Comes out clean and shiny. Throw away dryer sheets.

Note: I run with spent primer in. No media in the primer pocket, if there were, the decap pin would push it out; I scrape residual residue with a small screwdriver. A "polished" pocket is not necessary to functionality.

 

[GoldieMI]

I've found that I really hate dealing with the pins. I'm going to try wet tumbling without pins or ultrasonic bath for an hour to get most of the grime off and then dry tumble after drying to make 'em pretty.

I'm currently doing 1 hour in the Wet Tumbler (no pins- lemishine and armor all car wash solution), dry, throw in vibratory tumbler for 1 hour (lizard litter with nu-finish)
very happy and I don't have to deal with the pins either.

 

[ericuda]

Use all cob in my tumbler. I usually just let a batch run overnight with nufinish. Walnut is just too dirty and leaves a red film inside of brass.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

Has anyone tried or is there any benefit mixing the two mediums?

Yes I have. I couldn't really tell any difference.
I have two tumblers, I use the corncob in the vibratory tumbler and wallnut in the rotary tumbler. If all I need to do is polish I put the cases in the vibratory tumbler. If I need to clean of tarnish, they go in the rotary tumbler with the wallnut Tuff Nut.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I've found that I really hate dealing with the pins. I'm going to try wet tumbling without pins or ultrasonic bath for an hour to get most of the grime off and then dry tumble after drying to make 'em pretty.

You will find out with the ultra sonic cleaning that it will take out 98% of the dirt and what is left is very soft, and then tumbling in a dry tumbler after drying, with either Corncob or Wallnut, will make the brass look like new.
Adding Nufinsh or other polish just make it better.

I would expect that cleaning in a wet tumbler without pins, with the same solution maybe will do the same thing. The difference is you can't heat up your solution in a rotary tumbler like you can in an ultra sonic. It does make a difference.
Just my opinion.

It you dry tumble for an hour or less after drying the brass, it will be polished and the primer pockets will be clean and you will be happy.
It works that way for me anyways.

 

[GravelRider]

I prefer corncob media over walnut. Walnut is faster at getting them to a reloadable state. However, it takes it much longer to get to a high luster shine that I prefer, and never gets it as shiny as corncob can. I got a giant bag of walnut for free last year that I'm almost done with. Once that's out, I'm switching back to corncob.

I like Iosso polish. I add a small amount to every tumbler load for a nice shiny polish.

 

[Blue68f100]

I use a 50/50 mix in my tumbler with the finer 20/40 mesh size cor cob. I also add NuFinish car polish to the mix.

 

[WestKentucky]

I just run walnut because it lasts forever. If it’s something really dirty or the brass is really dirty then I will dump in a shot glass of rubbing alcohol. It breaks down crud well and evaporates easily so I realistically don’t see a change in cleaning between fired but clean cases and extra dirty range pickup. I also just let my tumbler run while I’m at work so 10 hours or so. It’s excessive, but I haven’t seen anything hurt by running that long.

 

[mdi]

With good blast media there may be a difference between corn cob and walnut for cleaning, but slight. But with pet litter, who knows? (pet litter is designed for animals to poop on, blast media is for cleaning. Big difference). I use corn cob blast media, 14-20 and mix in maybe 10% of Harbor Freight hard resin 3/8" pyramid tumbling media. Cleaning is quick and if I want a shine I just leave the machine running longer. Sometimes I'll add about a teaspoon full of Turtle wax for tarnish protection...

FWIW; tumbling, brass cleaning is probably the most talked about but least important aspect of reloading...

 

[egd]

Have done CC, walnut, and 50/50 mix, all with NuFinish polish. I bought a 50lb bag of walnut from zoro.com so that's what I like!

Honestly, they all work pretty well if you leave them tumbling long enough. Walnut shells are a little faster.

Which of the three listed sizes do you buy. I've been using lizard litter from petsmart. Is one of those the same or better than that?

 

[George P]

I'm another who uses a mix 50/50 with a capful of Nu-finish - works great!

 

[GW Staar]

Consider this:

If you are sanding a car and trying to get a smooth surface.....you start with course paper, you end up with smoothness relative and corresponding to the size of the grit.....visible scratches remain but course grit cuts fast so you start with that.

So then you progress to a finer and finer paper, until your scratches from the grit becomes invisible unless you have a magnifier....then you polish to get a mirror finish.....you can't take short cuts. Oh you can start with fine paper, but you'd be sanding for months to smooth the undulations from scrapers and rasps....or longer.

Now, what if you mix the grits and make paper that has both 600 grit particles and 2500 grit particles in it......it would sand faster than 2500, (but not as fast as pure 600)......and it can only be as smooth as 600 since you are going to scratch the finish with the bigger particles.

In the same way, Walnut is course, corncob is fine. Mixing them together only slows down the Walnut, and prevents the higher polish of pure Corncob.

Bottom line: If you don't have time to polish with corncob all day.....and don't mind the semi-gloss finish of Walnut...then using pure Walnut is faster than mixed. If you want higher gloss use pure corncob and be patient....or get a wet tumbler and stainless steel pins.

Before I bought my Thumlers and pins, I used pure corncob only. I started a batch in my garage early in the morning before I go to work......it tumbles all day....@ 5 or 6pm I turn it off and have really polished brass.....just not in the primer pockets or inside the cases.

Wet tumbling gives me the same thing in 3 hours....inside and out and pockets too. Do I need that? Just mentally, emotionally But I never cared for walnut with its outside only clean, and never the sight for sore eyes bling.....need speed?....move up to wet tumbling.

 

[berettaprofessor]

Mix 50-50; it polishes just as well (IMO contrary to GW Starr) as corncob alone and it does it noticeably faster. The combo may slow down the walnut but I don't think it changes the polish of the corncob.

 

[bbqreloader]

I run a 50/50 mixture also and it does clean a little faster. Still use a little of that cleaner that came with the kit every so often to reactivate things. Thought about thinning out the corn mixture a bit with more walnut, still want some shine to it.

 

[drband]

Which of the three listed sizes do you buy. I've been using lizard litter from petsmart. Is one of those the same or better than that?

20-40 screen i believe.

 

[Nature Boy]

Tried walnut, tried corn cob, tried a mixture, use nothing but corncob. I just tumble longer if it needs it.

Ditto

Corn Cob + polish + a room you can close the door on to keep the noise from annoying the family + 2-4 hours = shiny brass

(p.s. forget to turn it off and it runs over night and it’s almost as shinny as wet tumbling)

 

[FROGO207]

Ya know there are as many ways to polish brass as there to make your favorite pizza! And I like a no sauce, garlic, jalapeno, and spinach pizza.
For my part I use SS pins and citric acid in a Thumlers first and then reload. After reloading I run them for 15-20 minutes in corn cob with Nu Finish if the ammo will be stored longer than a month just to stop the brass from tarnishing unless it is HP ammo. Then I polish the brass before I load it. YMMV

 

[VandalBC]

Thanks for the responses. That pretty much answers my question. I've been wet tumbling with pins for the last while, but ran across a new in box Berry's tumbler with separator for $60 and picked it up.

I've found that I really hate dealing with the pins. I'm going to try wet tumbling without pins or ultrasonic bath for an hour to get most of the grime off and then dry tumble after drying to make 'em pretty.

.40

I use both dry and wet depending on what I need to use the brass for but pick up one of those salad spinners for separating the pins from the brass, works great.