I just got a Lyman wet tumbler and ran about 300 cases through it. I used the case cleaner solution that was supplied by Lyman but the results were not the best. The brass is clean but not shiny like I’ve seen other’s. What do you guys put in with the water and stainless media to get the brass looking new?
Recipe for stainless wet tumbling?
- Thread starter Timgunner
- Start date
tnshootist
New member
I just use a little Dawn and brass is new looking but it is not very mangy to start with.
How long did you run it? I use a 12 pound Thumblers with two TLBS of Dawn and 1/16 TSP of Lemishine. 5 Pounds of pins and about 3/4 gallon of H2O. Mine is the slow old motor so I go 4 hours. The new ones get it down to under three as I understand. Too much LS will leach the brass, no harm BTW, and turn it a rosy pink. Cool for a S&W auto but not for your brass.
It cleans in and out very well.
Greg
It cleans in and out very well.
Greg
Smokin Barrel
Active member
300 cases?....of what? My guess is you had it a bit overloaded.
Plant.One
Well-known member
squirt of dawn (tsp or so) and a 0.5cc lee powder scoop of lemi shine is my recipe.
with the lemi shine - LESS IS MORE! you do NOT need a lot and when i first started i was using around a teaspoon since i'm on hard well water.
my cases were clean but not shiny. come to find out when you use to much it darkens the brass up on you - its not harmful to it, just discoloration.
also make sure you're using enough dawn so that when you open the tumbler up there is suds left. the soap emulsify's the crap the pins are removing for you, and if you dont have enough soap in there, the carbon will be redeposited and leave your brass looking super grey and dingy.
as noted try using about a 9mm or 380 case full of Lemi shine and see if you get a different result. Feel free to expierement and cut the quantity down by half each batch until it stops giving you the result you want, and then come back up one step.
with the lemi shine - LESS IS MORE! you do NOT need a lot and when i first started i was using around a teaspoon since i'm on hard well water.
my cases were clean but not shiny. come to find out when you use to much it darkens the brass up on you - its not harmful to it, just discoloration.
also make sure you're using enough dawn so that when you open the tumbler up there is suds left. the soap emulsify's the crap the pins are removing for you, and if you dont have enough soap in there, the carbon will be redeposited and leave your brass looking super grey and dingy.
as noted try using about a 9mm or 380 case full of Lemi shine and see if you get a different result. Feel free to expierement and cut the quantity down by half each batch until it stops giving you the result you want, and then come back up one step.
I ran the tumbler for 2.5 hours. It seemed to be turning faster than I expected, my buddy has one of the all steel thumblers tumbler model B and mine seems to be spinning 50% faster. I assumed it would take less time spinning faster. It also feels like there is a film on the cases after drying? I followed the Lyman instructions filling the tub 3/4 Full with brass then covering the top with water and adding an ounce of their solution. It was just a 2 oz squeeze packet of Lyman cleaner, so I could have gone more than an ounce.
Plant.One
Well-known member
the lyman cyclone tumbler is rated for 1000 223 cases, or right around 13 lbs of brass.
so as long as you're obeying their suggested volume in the tumbler (no more than 3/4 full) and you stay under that weight you should be fine .
one thing to consider when mixing brass is that SOME types will nest in others. this is problematic for straight walled cases when mixed -so something to be aware of. this applies to dry tumbling too, but still worth noting.
my thumblers tumbler is rated for 12 lbs in the barrel, so with 5 lbs of pins, i use 2 lbs (1 quart) of water, and 5 lbs batches of brass.
get some lemi shine, forget whatever's in that OEM packet, and steal use some liquid dish soap off the kitchen sink. $5 of lemi shine and a $2 bottle of dawn will last you for *YEARS* of cleaning.
when you use lemi-shine, rinse very well in cold water when you're done, and with any wet cleaning method a good drying process will help reduce water spots.
I shake mine off first in the media seperator, then lightly towel dry to get the big drops off, and then put them in an old (yard sale special) food dehydrator to finish drying the insides of the cases thoroughly. this takes ~2 hrs.
probably one of the best $5 i've spent recently on reloading stuff when i found this dehydrator
HTH
so as long as you're obeying their suggested volume in the tumbler (no more than 3/4 full) and you stay under that weight you should be fine .
one thing to consider when mixing brass is that SOME types will nest in others. this is problematic for straight walled cases when mixed -so something to be aware of. this applies to dry tumbling too, but still worth noting.
my thumblers tumbler is rated for 12 lbs in the barrel, so with 5 lbs of pins, i use 2 lbs (1 quart) of water, and 5 lbs batches of brass.
get some lemi shine, forget whatever's in that OEM packet, and steal use some liquid dish soap off the kitchen sink. $5 of lemi shine and a $2 bottle of dawn will last you for *YEARS* of cleaning.
when you use lemi-shine, rinse very well in cold water when you're done, and with any wet cleaning method a good drying process will help reduce water spots.
I shake mine off first in the media seperator, then lightly towel dry to get the big drops off, and then put them in an old (yard sale special) food dehydrator to finish drying the insides of the cases thoroughly. this takes ~2 hrs.
probably one of the best $5 i've spent recently on reloading stuff when i found this dehydrator
HTH
chz
New member
Lemi-shine and Dawn works well for me. Like an idiot I threw out an old food dehydrator when I was getting rid of stuff from a flood. I knew I should keep it to dry brass but at the time was just trying to get everything out of the basement and didn’t want to deal with finding it a temporary home. Regret. After thoroughly rinsing the brass and separating the media I dump the brass onto a couple of towels and roll them around a bunch to get most of the water. Then grab a hair dryer in one hand and a glove on the other (brass gets hot) and work it around with the hair dryer in close for 5-10 minutes. Works really well and I never have water spots. However, there is still possibly a little water in the primer pocket/ flash hole in some cases so I usually let them air dry overnight at least before I prime them. If I need to prime them sooner I just put them in a reloading tray and hit them with the hair dryer from the top so it blows down inside the cases..
yotekiller47
Member
One thing I do is use Hot water to tumble in and cold water to rinse in. Make sure to rinse well. Like the others said ,less LS is better unless you like copper colored brass.
ThatguySHM
New member
I use Dawn and a 380 case of Lemishine, tumble for two hours, dump the water, get the pins out and then do cold water and half a 380 case of Lemishine for final polish. Usually only do 30-45 minutes. Gets soap spots to go away with the final soak and drops any pins I may miss. I use the Frankford Arsenal set up.
Originally Posted By: TimgunnerI’ll have to try the lemon-shine and start experimenting.
A squirt of Dawn and a measured 1/8 tsp of Lemi-Shine in cold water works great for me.
I run it 3 hours, rinse in cold water, and do the “hammock” thing in a big bath towel for 5 minutes or so.
Then I run it through the Giraud annealer and it’s dried inside and out.
A squirt of Dawn and a measured 1/8 tsp of Lemi-Shine in cold water works great for me.
I run it 3 hours, rinse in cold water, and do the “hammock” thing in a big bath towel for 5 minutes or so.
Then I run it through the Giraud annealer and it’s dried inside and out.
Plant.One
Well-known member
Originally Posted By: chzLemi-shine and Dawn works well for me. Like an idiot I threw out an old food dehydrator when I was getting rid of stuff from a flood. I knew I should keep it to dry brass but at the time was just trying to get everything out of the basement and didn’t want to deal with finding it a temporary home. Regret.
thankfully thousands and thousands of dehydrators are sold as christmas and fathers day presents every year - and as you recall, fairly bulky to store - so they're not hard to find once yard sale season kicks off.
good luck with the hunt
thankfully thousands and thousands of dehydrators are sold as christmas and fathers day presents every year - and as you recall, fairly bulky to store - so they're not hard to find once yard sale season kicks off.
good luck with the hunt