Wet tumbling on the cheap? Yes! It can be done!

[rondog]

OK, I'm going big here. I just bought one of these today at Harbor Freight, on sale for $139.99 + a 20% off coupon, knocked the price down to $117.59. Item #91907. http://www.harborfreight.com/1-1-4-quarter-cubic-ft-compact-cement-mixer-91907.html



It's a 1.25 cu. ft. mixer, supposedly will handle mixing 80 lb. bags of Quikrete easily according to the comments, so I'm thinking 25/30 lbs. brass and 25/30 lbs. media should be dandy. Cute little thing, it's only about waist-high and about 63 lbs. I figure I'll have to modify the mixing paddles or make some different ones to agitate the brass and media correctly. We'll see.

If this works well, I'm thinking about offering a brass cleaning/polishing service locally (shipping the stuff would just be too cost-prohibitive) here in Denver. Not planning to get rich, but if I could make enough to pay for the mixer and media I'd be happy.

I figure that several calibers could be done at the same time, just as long as none of them will fit into each other (nesting), it should work fine. Like .45acp/.45 Colt/.44 Mag/.44 Special/.41 Mag/.44-40/.45-70etc. should all get along well.

Same with most all rifle calibers in the 6mm-8mm range and all .30 calibers. Should be able to do from .30 carbine to .300 Win Mags all together. .223/5.56 would have to be segregated or done with similar sizes. As long as the necks of one size won't fit into the necks of any others, should be OK.

.38 Special/.357 Mag/9mm Luger/9mm Makarov/.380acp, those should all work together. And so on.....

Now, does anyone have any good sources for about 25-30 lbs. of SS media for a civilized price? Or any specific suggestions about the media?

Thanks!!!

 

[mookiie]

Ok so I tried this method yesterday. One thing I noticed is my brass seems to be coming out dull.


After reading through again I believe I am using to much Lemishine. Can anyone using this system let me know how much Lemishine you find to be effective?

 

[TexasShooter59]

Ok so I tried this method yesterday. One thing I noticed is my brass seems to be coming out dull.


After reading through again I believe I am using to much Lemishine. Can anyone using this system let me know how much Lemishine you find to be effective?

Post the dimensions of your container, please.

 

[mookiie]

I was using a full 9mm case.

 

[jjjitters]

I put pins in my Lyman Twin vibratory, work good. The lemonshine I use just a dash and rinse very very thorough to stop any tarnishing.

 

[rondog]

I bought 25# of SS pins from Pellets LLC, so now I can use that mixer up above in post #76 when warm weather comes. I'll be sure to post my results.

 

[robbieg19]

Ok so I tried this method yesterday. One thing I noticed is my brass seems to be coming out dull.


After reading through again I believe I am using to much Lemishine. Can anyone using this system let me know how much Lemishine you find to be effective?

1/4 teaspoon Lemi Shine, 2 tablespoons Dawn per gallon of water.

Too little Lemi shine won't get as much shine, too much and brass comes out shiny but darker colored.

 

[fields]

rondog keep us posted on how it works, and any modifications you make.

 

[mookiie]

Thanks robbieg19!

By the way great thread PapGeno21!

How does everyone go about drying the shells, just lay them out on a towel or?

 

[Twmaster]

That's what I do. Lay them out to dry on a towel.

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

How does everyone go about drying the shells, just lay them out on a towel or?

i've tried all sorts of ways. the quickest way i've found is to pour them on a towel and roll them around, then put the brass in a mesh lingerie bag and close one end of the bag in the clothes dryer door (throw that towel in the dryer while you're at it). run it on delicate (lower temps) for 20 minutes or so. quicker than the oven, sun, or any other method i've found. takes very minimal effort.

 

[jmorris]

The Sun in TX does a fine job but when it's cold and wet a blower with a heating element works.

 

[mookiie]

Hey, those shells I mentioned earlier that I used to much Lemi-shin and turned dull. They are still safe to fire correct?

 

[Nappers]

I hate all of you!

Now I have to get a tumbler and SS media!

Great write up!

When I washed my brass after tumbling, I would bounce them in terry cloth and I use wood loading trays. I used plywood, drilled out with an 1/8" hole in the bottom for air and place the shells in upside down. The wood and the slight air draft would dry them pretty quick. I put them outside in the sun on the porch rails. The self made one is about 2' long and about 8" wide or bigger. Fits about 250 .45 shells or that many '06 or .270.

 

[codedragon]

Just started reloading recently. I decided to purchase a 3lb Harbor Freight tumbler. Tried walnut media but just did not work well in the tumbler. Bought some SS pins and the results are awesome.

All told I have less than $50 in the setup including the SS pins.

 

[mookiie]

I ran some brass through and it came out very dingy, what is the best way to shine it up again? My plan is to tumble with some Flitz in media.

 

[rondog]

I've found that if I don't dry them off right away with absorbent cotton bath towels, the cases will spot and tarnish very quickly. I just dumped them on a nylon blanket in the sun once and they looked terrible. They need to have the water blotted off first.

 

[TexasShooter59]

Ditto rondog's statement. I found out the hard way they need to be blotted. I have a dedicated hand towel to do it, then they lay on a small section of window screen material in the sun or wind so that air can circulate around and in the cases.

 

[mookiie]

Thanks for the input guys!

I made some improvements to my drums that others maybe interested in. I cut 4 " diameter PVC pipe to 9 and 1/2" than I used pipe cement and a knot out plug to cap one end. I then got a 4" adjustable plug for one end. Now I can process almost twice the amount of brass that would fit into the standard rubber drums. I will post some pictures after I get home tonight to give you a better idea of what I did.

 

[Stangs55]

Thanks for the input guys!

I made some improvements to my drums that others maybe interested in. I cut 4 " diameter PVC pipe to 9 and 1/2" than I used pipe cement and a knot out plug to cap one end. I then got a 4" adjustable plug for one end. Now I can process almost twice the amount of brass that would fit into the standard rubber drums. I will post some pictures after I get home tonight to give you a better idea of what I did.

How did this turn out? Pics?

 

[Arizona_Mike]

My late wife used to use the same tumbler for rock polishing. Only problem is that the drive belts has a short life and were hard to find replacement.

Mike

 

[rondog]

Did I ever post a report about my mixer mentioned above? I can't remember.....

Anyway, it works great! No modifications, assembled it per instructions. I can run approx. 20-25 lbs. of brass, with 25 lbs. of SS pins. I have to put a piece of plastic (large trash bag, folded flat) over the mouth and tie it on to contain the splashing. The motor can overheat and pop the breaker, but a fan on the motor stops that. Same recipe of water, Dawn and Lemishine crystals.

I run it about 1-2 hours, that's all it needs. I use a plastic "mortar mixing tub" from Home Depot, put that on a 4-wheeled flat dolly, roll that under the mixer, and dump the whole load into it.

Those little pins will bounce and scatter, so I do this on my large concrete patio. I dump the mixer slowly to get the water out first, then dump the brass & pins into the tub. Wash out the mixer into the tub to get all the pins and brass out. From there I run a coffee can full of material through my Frankford Arsenal media seperator, full to the top with water.

Works great, but you need a large flat conctrete surface to catch the pins that get loose. A couple of plastic folding tables come in real handy too for working on. Gotta blot the water off the brass immediately after rinsing, then spread them out on a large COTTON towel or movers blanket in the sun.

Cotton is important, because it will absorb the water. Synthetic fabrics won't, and the brass will be laying in water. This will give you spotting and tarnish.

Oh, get a magnet on a stick from Harbor Freight, or make one. That's invaluable for picking up the stray pins off the concrete! Even though they're "stainless", they're not pure and are slightly attracted to magnets, enough that you can pick 'em up.

 

[heycods]

The lemishine in the LSD formula makes the pink color, its chemical reaction to the lemishine to the brass. run longer the pinker they will be. In the end they will look like copper instead of brass. It dosent hurt them they load fine. I am on my 4th loading of some copper colored 9mms

 

[BrianC636]

Go to lowes and get a magnetic broom. It'll make picking up those pins a snap!

 

[RussellC]

Looking at the reviews on Harbor freight site, it seems the drive belts are the weak link, and unfortunately, the replacements are said to be junk and only last a day or 2.

Others have suggested hair rubber bands, the kind with cloth covering the rubber part. Some mention a belt made by Lortone.

What are people doing here? I suppose we should find some alternative.
I just downloaded a 20% coupon and an headed to HF after work.

Russellc