Thanks! Great video, didn't realize that dry tumbling produced lead dust. So from this video dry is out. Now to decide between wet tumble or ultrasonic. Much appreciated and gave the video a like. 🌊🤙🎨
Wet will likely be significantly cheaper and allow for greater volume than ultrasonic, but if you plan to clean parts and aren't a high-volume shooter ultrasonic can still be a solid choice.
Used to shake the pins out of each case. Now I use a $1 colander from Dollar Tree. Just dump the pins and cases in (over a bucket) and shake the colander. The pins let go and fall into the bucket. Slowly pour the water in the bucket out and then dry the cases and pins in the sun on separate towels (or on a cookie sheet in the oven at the lowest setting). Stir them around on the towels occasionally. Works like a charm. Dry clean cases and pins in an hour.
Have a old Dillion Vibratory tumbler and a couple of rock tumblers. Use pins and Lemi Shine in the rock tumblers to clean then toss into the Dillion with clean media and blue case polish to dry and shine. Get the good clean up and trap lead in the water of the tumblers and get a good polish and dry with the media tumbler. Biggest question is how long till the pins and brass chew through the plastic buckets in the wet tumblers?
I do the two cycle two stage method. Step one start one cycle with wet tumbler. Step two put in media vibrating tumbler. Then repeat again. Tip: Pre-Soak overnight to help loosen up deposits. Always wear gloves..... Wash well when done.
I have indeed! I bought one a couple years ago and while it works fine for large mouth, shallow cases like 45ACP, or 44M I still find it frustrating when it comes to 223, 38S or 308.
Used Lyman tumblers for 20 years. The treated walnut shells last a long time/ years and is easily revived with Flitz metal polish. Keep the dust / noise to a minimum by placing a cardboard box over the tumbler. After seeing the mess involved with wet tumblers, I have no desire to switch. Extremely corroded cases belong in the garbage. My 2 Cents. : )
Honestly I do it mostly for cosmetic reasons; I like that the slugs look more like factory. It does also smooth out any sprue lines, but those are pretty minimal.
I separate the SS media from cases in my Frankford Arsenal media separator. It can separate both wet or dry media. Just fill it with enough water that the bottom of the rotating container is about 2 inches under the water. Pins fall out into the bowl easily, not a problem or hassle at all
I have the FA separator as well and while it works *pretty good*, pretty good isn't good enough for me when I have to pay $15 for shipping from the US to replace a deprimer that breaks off on a pin stuck in a 223 casing.
TATV Canada I guess I don’t get it, I deprime before tumbling and primer pockets get clean, then drain in a sieve before putting it in my separator and separating pins from brass. Never broke a decapping pin. Inspect before sizing and remove any pins then, not sure what you are saying here, anyway, happy loading, we all live and learn.
just bought the wet tumbler.....and i think im going to throw it all in the oven and then shake out the media AFTER the water is gone. but im sure everyone looks at the inside of their brass before reloading anyways while on the press.
If you're using lead bullets and standard primers (which contain lead) there will be lead dust in there. With the price of ground corncob or walnut being as cheap as it is at pet stores or paint shops, I just can't see bothering with reusing it for long.
Not sure what media you use, for your vibratory cleaner but it looks like it does a terrible job, I have never had cases come out of mine looking that dirty. Other than primer pocket and inside mine are considerably brighter and cleaner than what yours look like
Works good with new brass as you just wash it in the tumbler(no need for the tumbler as its chemical cleaning). I bought a rotary tumbler after this review and for older heavily tarnished and scratched brass you have to leave it longer and then it comes out with a brushed look. Looks terrible, worse then just leaving it tarnished and scratched. I ended up having to machine buff each shell. Annoyed me so much threw the rest of the brass out! Haven't found anything apart from hand or machine buffing that makes older scratched up brass look like new!
Separating the pins is absolutely the main downside of wet tumbling (to me, anyway). The most effective approach I've found is to use a salad spinner. I dump about 75 - 100 cases into the basket of the spinner and shake it over the spinner's bowl. This separates 99% of the pins and removes much of the water. Then I spin the basket for about 30 seconds and that separates any remaining pins and almost all of the water. The brass is spread out in a paper towel lined disposable aluminum roaster pan and left overnight to dry. It is still more work than dry tumbling, but I prefer the results that wet tumbling gives.
Adding a sheet of clothes softener (Bounce) removes a LOT of dust and keeps the media cleaner - replac the pieces of Bounce. Not everyone melts their own bullets, I don't see how jacketted bullets produce lead. Also, the primer pockets don't get blocked if you decap after cleaning. So there are options available to remove the CONs for dry tumbling.
A few folks have mentioned that, and I do not doubt it to be true. What turned me off of it was the relatively low capacity in the units I could find here.
if you want to clean dust up from the room where you vibrated the brass for the next two weeks then use the vibrator type cleaner are do is I did set it outside
Pardon my ignorance please.... with dry vibratory tumbling - where does all this lead come from if your not shooting cast lead bullets? Theres no lead in the brass? The projectiles you fire are copper jacketed, so non of that lead is exposed, there's no lead in the double based nitrocellular gun powder, just like theres no lead in the primer compound. I am at a loss to understand where this lead danger comes from please? The walnut media has no lead in it. The nulon polish if added likewise has no lead. The plastic vibrating tub has no lead. So wouldn't the dangers from lead dust ONLY apply to those who shoot cast lead projectiles? In that case likely they are inhaling the lead vapors when casting their lead projectiles anyway?. I've never fired cast lead projectiles - so I am trying to choose between dry vibratory and wet tumbling and this video has me questioning the lead risk comments is all. Many thanks in advance!.
A vibratory tumbler with a solid or completely closed lid can also wet tumble, just add your stainless media, your soap , and brass cleaner such as lemi shine. Just use common sense and don't overfill with water ( doesn't take much ) as you would with a rotary tumbler, unplug it or remove the bowl when emptying, every bit as effective !
Having tried both, Im back in the camp of “dry” media vibratory. Here’s my thoughts. At first I dry tumbled. I very quickly went to lizard bedding from the pet store as it is cheap, add to that a big fat squirt of cheap wet car polish from the auto parts store and results we’re fair. I got tired of the dust, so I got a wet tumbler, a big one, it cleans ok but can be kinda of picky about how much media to brass there is. Add in the fact that Im on a septic and didn’t want to be dumping lead riddle water into my septic. Then there is, as the video mentioned, drying the brass. A hand full of squibs due to wet primer pockets and I was frustrated. Then, separating the SS pins, pain, a magnet was a joke, trying to use a media roller/separator just send SS pins all over my garage. Nice results but that was enough. I went back to “dry” media vibratory. Now I say dry in quote because of this reason, I had been told by several old scuts to put in a heavy splash of mineral spirits ti my dry media. Well I did and the results have been great. Wet SS pins still have the edge on getting all the soot out of cases but thats it. The dry media with a bit of polish and a splash of mineral spirits works great. It cleans ALMOST as good as SS pins, it is 10 times easier to separate, it polished the brass like SS pins do and the moisture of the mineral spirits puts a end to the nasty dust. It also makes the dry media last alot longer. Hope this helps someone.
baymeo split also, if you use liquid car polish, put your media in the tumbler, squirt in a healthy squeeze of polish into the media, pit the lid on and let that run on its own for about an hour. This will distribute the polish in the media and prevent clumping.
Hi Carl, that's a great question. Unfortunately, I've never used an ultrasonic cleaning system before. I've seen them used in workshops for cleaning gun parts and they seemed to work very well for that, but I've never tried one on brass nor do I have access to one to attempt it. Anecdotally I've heard they work fairly well but are very expensive, but I'm afraid beyond that I can't offer much insight into them. Sorry!
I don't think it's the device itself so much as the cleaning solution. The ultrasonic's also don't process nearly as much brass as a rotary will. I'd still be interested in trying one some day but it's not in the budget for now.
@@Crlarl I own all three systems. The vibratory sits in the corner collecting dust, not sure what I will ever use it for again. The ultrasonic cleaner is only used to clean gun parts, mainly suppressor parts. It works great for that. The wet tumbler gets used and abused. It's fantastic! I dip the brass in a tarnish inhibitor then dry it with a food dehydrator.
I've never used one personally nor do I have access to one to say. Just in chatting with other folks who do, I'm told they work fairly well but are expensive.
For a good sonic cleaner, such as the RCBS one, You pay maybe 2/3 to 3/4 the cost of a wet tumbler. With wet tumbling, no other method gets you results that are 100% on par with wet tumbling. I've found sonic cleaners can get you maybe 80 to 90% towards the wet tumbling results, depending on how dirty the cases are. A couple things I've observed: -Sonic cleaner can be easily over burdened with too much brass, making cleaning less effective -sonic cleaners are time sensitive in that once you run a 30 minute batch, you can't really do another 30 minutes without new cleaning solution, and the effects aren't going to make much od a difference it seems. -sonic cleaners running for 30 minutes is a HELL of a lot quicker than 2-4 hours in a wet tumbler -Cleanup with a sonic cleaner is so simple compared to wet tumbling, having to separate stainless media adds an entire element of work and headache to the labor process -it's much cheaper to utilize wet tumbling cleaning supplies than it is sonic cleaning specific solutions -a sonic cleaner you can still use for things other than brass, such as cleaning dies, gun parts, tools, etc -wet tumbling definitely allows you to process larger quantities of brass in the same amount of space without sacrificing quality
If your going to buy an ultrasonic cleaner avoid any from “gun” brands - buy one from a tool shop, they’re just as good (if not better) and are cheaper to boot. As for the cleaning solution, there are plenty of home brew solutions out there, again just as effective and a hell of a lot cheaper
Water tight container, some lemishine and dish soap, stainless steel pins, and your arms to shake the hell out of it for a few minutes. You have now turned yourself into a brass cleaning machine and gotten a good arm workout.
@TATVCanada naw, it only takes about 5 minutes or so if vigorous shaking. You gotta remember how slowly the wet tumbler agitation is. Obviously, if you can afford to have a machine that will do it for you it is very convenient. I have a big ass wet tumbler and use it a lot. For quite a while I just used a plastic coffee can, about a pound of stainless steel pins, and the water with generic dish soap and lemishine.
I'm not sure I agree on the cost of media - you can buy giant bags of the stuff at big box pet stores for just a few bucks. Treat it yourself. Also, most tumblers have a lid these days to the dust issue is WAY overblown. How about, some people just like shiny brass? If that's you, go with the wet system.
Totally biased against dry tumbling. I disagree. You say dry is less effective - yes the inside of the cases are not as clean as wet tumbling as if this makes a difference to anybody. You say media produces lead dust - use a different media and keep the lid on. And, disposing of the media is a problem because of lead - but putting the dirty lead filled water into the sewer system is the way to go? You say you must replace the media - I use mine many all year without a problem and it only costs a few dollars to replace. Also, your dry tumbled cases shown are horrible - did you only tumble for 30 min? Change your media to fine corn cob and add small amount of Nu Finish to the batch, tumble for a few hours and they will come out spotless. Mine has a discharge chute so no separating is needed. You say tumbling in the garage is just not practical for some - really? why not? Ask the wife if she will allow you to use the kitchen sink for your wet cleaning routine - good luck with that. Dry tumbling is way cheaper, less complicated, way less cleanup, does not require drying of cases, and can be done anywhere with equally good results.
I stated much the same to the guy - he didn't take kindly to it. I've been trying to find a reason to make the move to wet tumbling, but as of yet can't seem to come up with any real reasons to.
The depictions of vibratory cleaned brass in this video isn't accurate - my cases come out considerably cleaner and brighter that what was shown in this video. It seems that this video is biased toward wet tumbling.
The footage in this video is exactly what was recorded. I buy all my own equipment, and don't produce, sell, or receive any money from any of the manufacturers who's products are shown. Use whatever method you like, I couldn't care less.
@@TATVCanada Nice attitude. If you couldn't care less, why bother responding at all? The point that I'm making, for those who may come across my comment, is simply what I stated above - your depictions aren't indicative of what is possible with vibratory tumbling. I have no doubt it's what you recorded, but I'd venture to guess you may not have used any media additive, and you may not have allowed for enough time in the vibratory tumbler. I literally, just today, dry tumbled some pretty gnarly looking 223 in corn cob with Flitz additive, and they came out looking shiny new so either I'm doing something right, you're doing something wrong, or possibly a combination of both.
@@TATVCanada I dont understand your reply. Isn't dumping the water full of lead down the drain a Con of wet tumbling? Touching and handling all that lead water and wet brass probably a con as well.
@@TATVCanada That's great maybe point that out in the video because all your brass handling in the video is done barehanded. The issue of dumping all that leaded water into the public water supply is still not addressed.
The dangers of lead are addressed in my very first video on casting as well as several subsequent ones on reloading and cleaning brass; I'm not going to cover it over and over. As far dumping it down the drain; your municipality has lead remediation processes in place to handle the miles of lead solder and pipes in your city, as well as the runoff from lead paint, shingles, eavestrough, roof flashing and wheel weights. The amount added from reloaders would be beyond infinitesimal.
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EXCELLENT Video! Great explanation for a process I never, until now really understood. A HUGE thank-you!
Happy to help, friend.
Thanks! Great video, didn't realize that dry tumbling produced lead dust. So from this video dry is out. Now to decide between wet tumble or ultrasonic. Much appreciated and gave the video a like. 🌊🤙🎨
Wet will likely be significantly cheaper and allow for greater volume than ultrasonic, but if you plan to clean parts and aren't a high-volume shooter ultrasonic can still be a solid choice.
Nice video...Right to the point and a good comparison.
Thanks very much.
Used to shake the pins out of each case. Now I use a $1 colander from Dollar Tree. Just dump the pins and cases in (over a bucket) and shake the colander. The pins let go and fall into the bucket. Slowly pour the water in the bucket out and then dry the cases and pins in the sun on separate towels (or on a cookie sheet in the oven at the lowest setting). Stir them around on the towels occasionally. Works like a charm. Dry clean cases and pins in an hour.
Great video, thanks
My pleasure, thanks for watching.
Have a old Dillion Vibratory tumbler and a couple of rock tumblers. Use pins and Lemi Shine in the rock tumblers to clean then toss into the Dillion with clean media and blue case polish to dry and shine. Get the good clean up and trap lead in the water of the tumblers and get a good polish and dry with the media tumbler.
Biggest question is how long till the pins and brass chew through the plastic buckets in the wet tumblers?
I do the two cycle two stage method. Step one start one cycle with wet tumbler. Step two put in media vibrating tumbler. Then repeat again. Tip: Pre-Soak overnight to help loosen up deposits. Always wear gloves..... Wash well when done.
Have you tried the frankford arsenal media seperator....works great for me
I have indeed! I bought one a couple years ago and while it works fine for large mouth, shallow cases like 45ACP, or 44M I still find it frustrating when it comes to 223, 38S or 308.
Used Lyman tumblers for 20 years. The treated walnut shells last a long time/ years and is easily revived with Flitz metal polish. Keep the dust / noise to a minimum by placing a cardboard box over the tumbler. After seeing the mess involved with wet tumblers, I have no desire to switch. Extremely corroded cases belong in the garbage. My 2 Cents. : )
The Frankford Arsenal media separator works very well with the Wet Tumbling
I've got one and it just never gets *all* the pins for me.
Just curious why do you tumble lead, I personally only tumble brass?
Honestly I do it mostly for cosmetic reasons; I like that the slugs look more like factory. It does also smooth out any sprue lines, but those are pretty minimal.
I separate the SS media from cases in my Frankford Arsenal media separator. It can separate both wet or dry media. Just fill it with enough water that the bottom of the rotating container is about 2 inches under the water. Pins fall out into the bowl easily, not a problem or hassle at all
I have the FA separator as well and while it works *pretty good*, pretty good isn't good enough for me when I have to pay $15 for shipping from the US to replace a deprimer that breaks off on a pin stuck in a 223 casing.
TATV Canada I guess I don’t get it, I deprime before tumbling and primer pockets get clean, then drain in a sieve before putting it in my separator and separating pins from brass. Never broke a decapping pin. Inspect before sizing and remove any pins then, not sure what you are saying here, anyway, happy loading, we all live and learn.
just bought the wet tumbler.....and i think im going to throw it all in the oven and then shake out the media AFTER the water is gone. but im sure everyone looks at the inside of their brass before reloading anyways while on the press.
You can also wet clean on a vibratory machine. Use the same components and don’t overfill.
Never tried that, but I could see it working.
Never had lead dust, they come with a solid cover. I had one jug of media last 3 years and 7,000 rounds
If you're using lead bullets and standard primers (which contain lead) there will be lead dust in there. With the price of ground corncob or walnut being as cheap as it is at pet stores or paint shops, I just can't see bothering with reusing it for long.
Im the same way the bag of corn cob media I bought with my tumbler was the same media I was still using years and thousands of rounds later
Question,Will stainless media work in a dry tumbler?
It's pretty heavy so I don't imagine it would circulate very well.
Wondered the same thing. Maybe a mixture?
Not sure what media you use, for your vibratory cleaner but it looks like it does a terrible job, I have never had cases come out of mine looking that dirty. Other than primer pocket and inside mine are considerably brighter and cleaner than what yours look like
Works good with new brass as you just wash it in the tumbler(no need for the tumbler as its chemical cleaning). I bought a rotary tumbler after this review and for older heavily tarnished and scratched brass you have to leave it longer and then it comes out with a brushed look. Looks terrible, worse then just leaving it tarnished and scratched. I ended up having to machine buff each shell. Annoyed me so much threw the rest of the brass out! Haven't found anything apart from hand or machine buffing that makes older scratched up brass look like new!
Sorry to hear that; mine comes out like factory new. Love it
Some tumblers have closed top, so dust isn't a problem for them.
I've had a Berry's for about 17 years it has a solid lid and works like a charm.
Separating the pins is absolutely the main downside of wet tumbling (to me, anyway).
The most effective approach I've found is to use a salad spinner. I dump about 75 - 100 cases into the basket of the spinner and shake it over the spinner's bowl. This separates 99% of the pins and removes much of the water. Then I spin the basket for about 30 seconds and that separates any remaining pins and almost all of the water. The brass is spread out in a paper towel lined disposable aluminum roaster pan and left overnight to dry.
It is still more work than dry tumbling, but I prefer the results that wet tumbling gives.
One advantage of a vibratory tumbler over a wet tumbler is that one can clean old, surplus, loaded rounds in a vibratory cleaner.
Adding a sheet of clothes softener (Bounce) removes a LOT of dust and keeps the media cleaner - replac the pieces of Bounce.
Not everyone melts their own bullets, I don't see how jacketted bullets produce lead.
Also, the primer pockets don't get blocked if you decap after cleaning.
So there are options available to remove the CONs for dry tumbling.
Ultra sonic is a great method too.
A few folks have mentioned that, and I do not doubt it to be true. What turned me off of it was the relatively low capacity in the units I could find here.
if you want to clean dust up from the room where you vibrated the brass for the next two weeks then use the vibrator type cleaner are do is I did set it outside
Get one with a solid lid. I have a Berry's with solid lid and I put brass cleaner in also so there is no dust at all.
So if I wet tumble do I need to worry about lead contamination in my sink I pour the water down?
Not if you flush it down the toilet.
Jay Hutchins broooo😂 I should’ve thought of that
Your municipality already does lead remediation due to the lead from old plumbing.
Pardon my ignorance please.... with dry vibratory tumbling - where does all this lead come from if your not shooting cast lead bullets?
Theres no lead in the brass? The projectiles you fire are copper jacketed, so non of that lead is exposed, there's no lead in the double based nitrocellular gun powder, just like theres no lead in the primer compound.
I am at a loss to understand where this lead danger comes from please?
The walnut media has no lead in it.
The nulon polish if added likewise has no lead.
The plastic vibrating tub has no lead.
So wouldn't the dangers from lead dust ONLY apply to those who shoot cast lead projectiles? In that case likely they are inhaling the lead vapors when casting their lead projectiles anyway?.
I've never fired cast lead projectiles - so I am trying to choose between dry vibratory and wet tumbling and this video has me questioning the lead risk comments is all.
Many thanks in advance!.
Most primers are lead based
A vibratory tumbler with a solid or completely closed lid can also wet tumble, just add your stainless media, your soap , and brass cleaner such as lemi shine. Just use common sense and don't overfill with water ( doesn't take much ) as you would with a rotary tumbler, unplug it or remove the bowl when emptying, every bit as effective !
Interesting... Going to have to try that.
Which is louder?
Vibratory for sure.
I figured its not hard to clean the brass before i tumble it. I mean just washing it with hot water and vinegar.
Put a 5 gallon bucket over your vibratory unit while it’s running to keep the dust down.
That's exactly what I do.
Having tried both, Im back in the camp of “dry” media vibratory. Here’s my thoughts. At first I dry tumbled. I very quickly went to lizard bedding from the pet store as it is cheap, add to that a big fat squirt of cheap wet car polish from the auto parts store and results we’re fair. I got tired of the dust, so I got a wet tumbler, a big one, it cleans ok but can be kinda of picky about how much media to brass there is. Add in the fact that Im on a septic and didn’t want to be dumping lead riddle water into my septic. Then there is, as the video mentioned, drying the brass. A hand full of squibs due to wet primer pockets and I was frustrated. Then, separating the SS pins, pain, a magnet was a joke, trying to use a media roller/separator just send SS pins all over my garage. Nice results but that was enough. I went back to “dry” media vibratory. Now I say dry in quote because of this reason, I had been told by several old scuts to put in a heavy splash of mineral spirits ti my dry media. Well I did and the results have been great. Wet SS pins still have the edge on getting all the soot out of cases but thats it. The dry media with a bit of polish and a splash of mineral spirits works great. It cleans ALMOST as good as SS pins, it is 10 times easier to separate, it polished the brass like SS pins do and the moisture of the mineral spirits puts a end to the nasty dust. It also makes the dry media last alot longer.
Hope this helps someone.
Hello. I plan on buying the Hornady M1 and your advice is appreciated. I think I will try your method. What kind of media do you use?
baymeo split I buy the 20 pound bag of walnut shell “lizard bedding” from petco. Its cheap, works great and it lasts a long time.
baymeo split also, if you use liquid car polish, put your media in the tumbler, squirt in a healthy squeeze of polish into the media, pit the lid on and let that run on its own for about an hour. This will distribute the polish in the media and prevent clumping.
@@theeasternfront6436 thank you very much.
That's a really interesting idea with the mineral spirits; never thought of/heard of that. Going to have to try it for sure-- thanks for sharing!
Harbor freight tumbler $35
That's what I use. Works just as good and no lead dust because its sealed.
the 5lb?
How about ultrasonic cleaning?
Hi Carl, that's a great question. Unfortunately, I've never used an ultrasonic cleaning system before. I've seen them used in workshops for cleaning gun parts and they seemed to work very well for that, but I've never tried one on brass nor do I have access to one to attempt it. Anecdotally I've heard they work fairly well but are very expensive, but I'm afraid beyond that I can't offer much insight into them. Sorry!
Compared to tumblers, they don't seem too expensive: www.cabelas.ca/product/61214/lyman-turbo-sonic-2500-case-cleaner
I don't think it's the device itself so much as the cleaning solution. The ultrasonic's also don't process nearly as much brass as a rotary will. I'd still be interested in trying one some day but it's not in the budget for now.
@@Crlarl I own all three systems. The vibratory sits in the corner collecting dust, not sure what I will ever use it for again. The ultrasonic cleaner is only used to clean gun parts, mainly suppressor parts. It works great for that. The wet tumbler gets used and abused. It's fantastic! I dip the brass in a tarnish inhibitor then dry it with a food dehydrator.
What about the ultra sonic cleaners?
I've never used one personally nor do I have access to one to say. Just in chatting with other folks who do, I'm told they work fairly well but are expensive.
For a good sonic cleaner, such as the RCBS one, You pay maybe 2/3 to 3/4 the cost of a wet tumbler.
With wet tumbling, no other method gets you results that are 100% on par with wet tumbling. I've found sonic cleaners can get you maybe 80 to 90% towards the wet tumbling results, depending on how dirty the cases are.
A couple things I've observed:
-Sonic cleaner can be easily over burdened with too much brass, making cleaning less effective
-sonic cleaners are time sensitive in that once you run a 30 minute batch, you can't really do another 30 minutes without new cleaning solution, and the effects aren't going to make much od a difference it seems.
-sonic cleaners running for 30 minutes is a HELL of a lot quicker than 2-4 hours in a wet tumbler
-Cleanup with a sonic cleaner is so simple compared to wet tumbling, having to separate stainless media adds an entire element of work and headache to the labor process
-it's much cheaper to utilize wet tumbling cleaning supplies than it is sonic cleaning specific solutions
-a sonic cleaner you can still use for things other than brass, such as cleaning dies, gun parts, tools, etc
-wet tumbling definitely allows you to process larger quantities of brass in the same amount of space without sacrificing quality
If your going to buy an ultrasonic cleaner avoid any from “gun” brands - buy one from a tool shop, they’re just as good (if not better) and are cheaper to boot.
As for the cleaning solution, there are plenty of home brew solutions out there, again just as effective and a hell of a lot cheaper
I searched for Ultrasonic cleaners on line & there R many out there I pd $145.00 for mine 6 Liter
Water tight container, some lemishine and dish soap, stainless steel pins, and your arms to shake the hell out of it for a few minutes. You have now turned yourself into a brass cleaning machine and gotten a good arm workout.
I'm sure that'll work, but you're going to be shaking for a lot more than a few minutes. This is one job I'm happy to let the machines have.
@TATVCanada naw, it only takes about 5 minutes or so if vigorous shaking. You gotta remember how slowly the wet tumbler agitation is. Obviously, if you can afford to have a machine that will do it for you it is very convenient. I have a big ass wet tumbler and use it a lot. For quite a while I just used a plastic coffee can, about a pound of stainless steel pins, and the water with generic dish soap and lemishine.
@@thatoneguy454c maybe you've got bigger arms than I do ha ha.
can i use sand in vibratory thumbler
Never tried it, but I imagine it would be extremely hard on the brass.
Sand would be less harsh in a wet system.
I'm not sure I agree on the cost of media - you can buy giant bags of the stuff at big box pet stores for just a few bucks. Treat it yourself. Also, most tumblers have a lid these days to the dust issue is WAY overblown. How about, some people just like shiny brass? If that's you, go with the wet system.
Guys get a sonic cleaner .
I got one from Amazon for 35 .00 and it takes less time and effort to use with better results IMHO.
Thanks for the idea I have one and will try that.
@@RDreamz20022 Try some Lemi Shine with a little Dawn , works Great for me !
A magnet media separator only cost $20, what r u talking about...lol
Sometimes you say cases and sometimes you say casings. Despite what crime shows would have you believe, cases is the correct term.
I've seen both in the manuals but to each their own.
@@TATVCanada To each *his* own. Lol
@@TATVCanada The first I remember somebody saying casing instead of case was in the book "Helter Skelter" written about 1975, by a non-shooter.
Totally biased against dry tumbling. I disagree. You say dry is less effective - yes the inside of the cases are not as clean as wet tumbling as if this makes a difference to anybody. You say media produces lead dust - use a different media and keep the lid on. And, disposing of the media is a problem because of lead - but putting the dirty lead filled water into the sewer system is the way to go? You say you must replace the media - I use mine many all year without a problem and it only costs a few dollars to replace. Also, your dry tumbled cases shown are horrible - did you only tumble for 30 min? Change your media to fine corn cob and add small amount of Nu Finish to the batch, tumble for a few hours and they will come out spotless. Mine has a discharge chute so no separating is needed. You say tumbling in the garage is just not practical for some - really? why not? Ask the wife if she will allow you to use the kitchen sink for your wet cleaning routine - good luck with that. Dry tumbling is way cheaper, less complicated, way less cleanup, does not require drying of cases, and can be done anywhere with equally good results.
I stated much the same to the guy - he didn't take kindly to it. I've been trying to find a reason to make the move to wet tumbling, but as of yet can't seem to come up with any real reasons to.
The depictions of vibratory cleaned brass in this video isn't accurate - my cases come out considerably cleaner and brighter that what was shown in this video. It seems that this video is biased toward wet tumbling.
The footage in this video is exactly what was recorded. I buy all my own equipment, and don't produce, sell, or receive any money from any of the manufacturers who's products are shown. Use whatever method you like, I couldn't care less.
@@TATVCanada Nice attitude. If you couldn't care less, why bother responding at all? The point that I'm making, for those who may come across my comment, is simply what I stated above - your depictions aren't indicative of what is possible with vibratory tumbling. I have no doubt it's what you recorded, but I'd venture to guess you may not have used any media additive, and you may not have allowed for enough time in the vibratory tumbler. I literally, just today, dry tumbled some pretty gnarly looking 223 in corn cob with Flitz additive, and they came out looking shiny new so either I'm doing something right, you're doing something wrong, or possibly a combination of both.
Without a doubt wet Tumblr is the best
And let's just dump all that lead water down the drain.
If you want to post your address I'll be happy to mail it to you.
@@TATVCanada
I dont understand your reply. Isn't dumping the water full of lead down the drain a Con of wet tumbling? Touching and handling all that lead water and wet brass probably a con as well.
I wear nitrile gloves any time I'm handling lead/Reloading, and wash my hands afterwards.
@@TATVCanada
That's great maybe point that out in the video because all your brass handling in the video is done barehanded. The issue of dumping all that leaded water into the public water supply is still not addressed.
The dangers of lead are addressed in my very first video on casting as well as several subsequent ones on reloading and cleaning brass; I'm not going to cover it over and over. As far dumping it down the drain; your municipality has lead remediation processes in place to handle the miles of lead solder and pipes in your city, as well as the runoff from lead paint, shingles, eavestrough, roof flashing and wheel weights. The amount added from reloaders would be beyond infinitesimal.