"Wet" tumbling question

[jharry]

So - I have used the little dual cylinder Harbor Freight tumbler with the SS media, Lemishine and Dawn.

Brass comes out looking great.

I get them rinsed, but drying seems to be a problem. Especially on the inside.

Looking to find out what methods seem tried and true with those of you who do this

Thanks

[Bill Steele]

I have not used the SS pin method, but before I gave up on ultrasonic completely, I found decapping the cases before wet cleaning made a difference on how fast they would dry. I always let them dry for at least 24 hours and shot a blast of air from my compressor down the neck of each case to be sure they were dry.

Other things I have read that people do: Allied Armory rigged up a cool bucket, light bulb (for heat) and fan setup. Others put their cases in a 150 degree oven for a time, etc. etc.

[koehn,jim]

De-cap first tumble than lay in sun for a couple of hours.

[lincoln45]

So - I have used the little dual cylinder Harbor Freight tumbler with the SS media, Lemishine and Dawn.

Brass comes out looking great.

I get them rinsed, but drying seems to be a problem. Especially on the inside.

Looking to find out what methods seem tried and true with those of you who do this

Thanks

oven @ 250 on a cookie shett with paper towels on the brass for 20 mins

[dmendoza1779]

OP, I use the same set up as you do but with the single drum. I roughly put 280 grams of brass. Why that weight? I don't know, just trying to keep the weight under 4 lbs. Lol! Anyway, after 2 hrs of tumbling, i usually rinse it under warm running water using a strainer/collander after separating it from the ss pins. Then, I rest the brass onto a towel where it's close to my heater vent. Leave it there over night or I leave it outside under the sun. Hope this helps a little bit.

Btw, I de-cap everything first.

[ChrisGarrett]

I tumble in walnut and CC with polish, so I'm not itching to jump on the SS media bandwagon for obvious reaons, however, in the past, I'd have to rinse off some spray lube and I'd get stuck with wet cases needing to be reloaded sooner, rather than later.

Oven at ~200*. Shake them out in a small bath towel to get any excess water out and then lay them on a wire rack over a cookie sheet, or something similar.

This is after depriming/sizing in my case. Don't go too hot on the temp and keep the time to under 15-20 minutes. You can shut the oven off sooner and let the residual heat do the rest.

Chris

[J-cat]

I tumble 100 cases. I shake the water out of the cases 2 cases at a time using two to three flicks of the wrist. I place the cases on a towel on the floor. I roll the cases as a group on top of the towel with my hand. That dries the outside. I let them dry on the floor for one hour and then size them. By then they are completely dry.

[stilly]

ANY time you WET process you need to have the primers removed because if you do not then the water will stay inside for a while unless you actively tumble and dry them. Yeah you can put them in the oven but I have put mine in an oven at around 200 or so for about 30 minutes and I STILL had water in some of them.

Once you pop out those primers though it makes drying WAY faster because it is like drying pipes vs cups. The air flow goes right therough them and they dry that much faster. PLUS the water does not get stuck inside because there is no vaccum(sp) being being created.

I just got some cool NEW pins to use that are way bigger so when I get things cleared off enough to move around a bit more then I will start cleaning another batch of .45.

[thomashoward]

So - I have used the little dual cylinder Harbor Freight tumbler with the SS media, Lemishine and Dawn.

Brass comes out looking great.

I get them rinsed, but drying seems to be a problem. Especially on the inside.

Looking to find out what methods seem tried and true with those of you who do this

Thanks

when rinsing off I shake them to get pins out and put them on an old bath towel.Grab each end of the towel and run them to the other side several times. After that I lay them flat on a cookie pan and set them on the wood stove until hot to the touch but able to pick up.
i suppose you could use an oven turned low.

[mif_slim]

I hate wet tumbling. Havemt done it for a long time..finally did it monday..my brass didnt fully dry until today..I was lazy and didnt wamt to setuo dryer..I rather dry media tumble

[ERC12]

Ived heard after you Decapped them and wet tumble lay them out and use heating lamps.To dry them.

[jharry]

A lot of good suggestions - thanks!

I have also found that the drying time is much faster if I decap first.

To seperate the pins and water - I am using one of the rotary media tumbler.seperators - works good, but I then deal with the dirty water and pins.

All in all - seems messy.

I think I will try the heat lamp ideas.

Any others, please post!

Thanks

[CEDaytonaRydr]

I seem to be getting discoloration after I do wet tumbling. The cases come out looking clean, and then tarnish after drying. Is that normal?

[fusionstar]

They only tarnish if you have moisture on them for a long time. I wet tumble deprimed. Pour them in a squirrel cage from cabelas and rotate the crap out of them. Pour them on a towel and wipe all the outside dry. Transfer them to another dry towel and allow inside to air dry. But occasionally put them on a baking sheet in the oven for 20 mins at 200. I've been wanting to build a large wet tumbler for a while now. One capable of handling a 5 gallon pickling drum.
But getting those stainless pins for cheap is going to be hard.

[CEDaytonaRydr]

They only tarnish if you have moisture on them for a long time. I wet tumble deprimed. Pour them in a squirrel cage from cabelas and rotate the crap out of them. Pour them on a towel and wipe all the outside dry. Transfer them to another dry towel and allow inside to air dry. But occasionally put them on a baking sheet in the oven for 20 mins at 200. I've been wanting to build a large wet tumbler for a while now. One capable of handling a 5 gallon pickling drum.
But getting those stainless pins for cheap is going to be hard.

No, this is happening within minutes! I thought maybe I was using too much Lemi Shine, or something because I was using cold water like they said to. Suffice it to say that my SS media experience has been off to a rocky start.