Rotary Tumbler

[Jackaroo]

Does anyone use one of these rotary tumblers for dry tumbling (NOT wet tumbling) with walnut or corncob media?

What's it like?


https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/22260717990 ... UMDBzNC-Xw

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[No1_49er]

No I don't.
Use it for wet stainless steel pins tumbling only.
Do people still use walnut/corn-cob media ?

[Bugman]

Yes. Run it through my Lyman tumbler. Works for me.

[northdude]

I use a vibrating one with corn media and a splash of brasso in it. Appaerently its a no no but i havnt had any bad effects..

[JimTom]

I use a vibrating one with corn media and a splash of brasso in it. Appaerently its a no no but i havnt had any bad effects..

Why is that a no no mate? I’ve not heard that before.

[straightshooter]

That's because, Oh Shock Oh Horror, brasso contains ammonia. A substance known by some forum posters to LITERALLY make brass crumble and even disappear before your very eyes!

[rc42]

I've heard that wet tumbling with stainless steel pins gets the cleanest brass inside and out but my current method works well enough that it's not worth the cost of changing it. Perhaps if I were cleaning more brass it would be.

I currently de-prime then ultrasonic, dry the brass and then give it several hours in a vibratory tumbler with some sort of walnut style media with added polish.
Brass comes out bright and shiny and doesn't start to tarnish for months, some primer pockets are still dirty but they all get checked to ensure the flash hole is clear of media so the worst ones get a hand clean.

[JimTom]

Hmmmm well I’ve polished heaps of brass (Army) with brasso in my lifetime. Can’t say I witnessed any adverse side effects, after all, it was my understanding that’s what Brasso was for.

[northdude]

Curious about the stainless pins. Would it harden the brass kind of like shot piening?

[No1_49er]

Curious about the stainless pins. Would it harden the brass kind of like shot piening?

Although it's a bit of an unknown re' the work hardening, that's why, with good case prep', that you anneal the brass prior to sizing

[wanneroo]

Curious about the stainless pins. Would it harden the brass kind of like shot piening?

The brass just rolls around with the pins in a water solution so no I don't think it has the same effect of blasting the brass that hard.

[wanneroo]

I've heard that wet tumbling with stainless steel pins gets the cleanest brass inside and out but my current method works well enough that it's not worth the cost of changing it. Perhaps if I were cleaning more brass it would be.

I currently de-prime then ultrasonic, dry the brass and then give it several hours in a vibratory tumbler with some sort of walnut style media with added polish.
Brass comes out bright and shiny and doesn't start to tarnish for months, some primer pockets are still dirty but they all get checked to ensure the flash hole is clear of media so the worst ones get a hand clean.

I've got a two video series on my Youtube channel in regards to wet tumbling and how I do it.

In the end what I like with wet tumbling is it washes everything clean. I find when I have gotten used brass that has been dry tumbled it always has a powdery type residue on it.