Guys I just stainless tumbles some brass and to accelerate drying I put it in the oven at 200 for 30 mins. It's very dry but also incredibly hot to the touch. I just don't know what 200 feels like but also assume that my oven is not so far off that 200 on the dial is hot enou to actually change the molecular structure of the brass which I assume would have to get up over 500. Am I reasonably safe in this assumption is there a way to test it? Any other thoughts or comments on using this method to accelerate drying?
Baking brass to dry
- Thread starter djtjr
- Start date
You are OK at 200F. The oven should cycle about 20F above and below the set temp. You need to get up to around 700F+ to start getting annealing. I put my cases in a Pyrex dish at 180F for a couple hours. I think the lower temp may reduce oxidation and make the brass brighter colored. I shake the Pyrex dish a couple times about a half hour apart to spread out any possible water. Let cool about an hour outside of the oven. Roll in sizing lube as soon as possible to help reduce oxidation and keep the cases nice looking.
bigedp51
1. Hair dryer
2. Five gallon bucket
3. And five minutes on the hi setting and 100% dry.
4. Screw up your wife's oven and "YOU" will feel the heat.
2. Five gallon bucket
3. And five minutes on the hi setting and 100% dry.
4. Screw up your wife's oven and "YOU" will feel the heat.
A dehydrator for drying food works very well.
that sucker gets hot.I put mine in the oven at 275 for 90 minutes with no issues....moisture is forbidden! ;D
Your brass is fine. Depending on your wife's feelings about "brass in the oven", on the other hand, you may be in trouble.
Better buy your own cookie sheet….
Better buy your own cookie sheet….
+1 for the dehydrator, 45 min and 100 pcs, bone dry !
nicholst55
Brass Whore
I use the Arizona sun; ambient temp of 110+, the brass will easily reach 180-200 degrees. And its free.
djtjr, I do not want to hijack your thread but will offer a recommendation that you did not ask for. You say you are tumbling with pins and a lot of folks do that and get good results. I tried pins to see if they would clean the primer pockets and they did somewhat but not enough to make it worthwhile for the extra effort with the pins. I have been using the Thumblers Tumbler for about 100 years and have tumbled about a billion pieces of brass and I have tried everything imaginable but the best and simplest thing I have found is to tumble in a 7 to 1 mix of water and Simple Green cleaning solution available at most hardware stores plus Home Depot, Lowes and Wal-Mart. I have found that two hours gets the job done with good looking brass and most of the carbon gone from inside the cases. You have been given some good recomendations on drying brass but I think my recommendation for 30 minutes in the toaster oven on warm is the simplest since you and I do not have the free AZ sun option.
T-Rex you must be doing something wrong with the SS pins. My brass comes out looking better than new brass inside and primer pockets. The little 3 pronged star is not even vid able, cleaner and shiney.
JVON said:
First my apology to djtjr for hijacking his thread. But to respectfully respond to JVON, I can make the pins work, and they do work well just as you say but I do not like the extra effort and time using them. I prefer the Simple Green cleaning and detailing the primer pocket as a separate step. I am simply offering folks another option and they can try it if they choose. Most experienced folks have tried many options and have settled on the one that they prefer. New folks have the advantage of a lot of recommendations but they have to sort thru them and will eventually settle on what suits them best. I do not want to be put in the category of one of our forum bullies; I am just offering another option for anyone that would like to consider trying it. Take care, Clyde.
bigedp51
Wet tumbling involves "WATER" and not everyone has the same "TYPE" water, you have water hardness to deal with, minerals in the water and water treated by municipalities and what they add to it. I have well water and a water softener and my results will be different than the water you have. What T-REX brought up is like a bunch of women getting together and talking about what gets the grass stains out of their kids cloths.
On a washing machine on the regular cycle "YOU" get to set the time the washing machine runs to get the laundry clean and YOU get to pick the laundry detergent. And my next door neighbor on city water sets their wash cycle time differently and does not use the same detergent.
Its YOUR water and YOUR brass and you have to find out what works best for YOU and not someone thousands of miles away.
Its your brass, clean it the way you like, and the way that makes you happy. All these posts with recipes for cleaning brass are worthless, if my water softener runs out of salt MY tumbling time changes. So who cares and what is so hard about follow directions.
On top of this not everyone has the same type pins sold by the cheapest vendor in China, sharp ends, dull ends, different diameters, different lengths................
and on top of this you wash your cloths until the grass stains come out, end of story.
Below Chinese pins and uniformed flash holes.
On a washing machine on the regular cycle "YOU" get to set the time the washing machine runs to get the laundry clean and YOU get to pick the laundry detergent. And my next door neighbor on city water sets their wash cycle time differently and does not use the same detergent.
Its YOUR water and YOUR brass and you have to find out what works best for YOU and not someone thousands of miles away.
Its your brass, clean it the way you like, and the way that makes you happy. All these posts with recipes for cleaning brass are worthless, if my water softener runs out of salt MY tumbling time changes. So who cares and what is so hard about follow directions.
On top of this not everyone has the same type pins sold by the cheapest vendor in China, sharp ends, dull ends, different diameters, different lengths................
and on top of this you wash your cloths until the grass stains come out, end of story.
Below Chinese pins and uniformed flash holes.
bigedp51 said:Wet tumbling involves "WATER" and not everyone has the same "TYPE" water, you have water hardness to deal with, minerals in the water and water treated by municipalities and what they add to it. I have well water and a water softener and my results will be different than the water you have. What T-REX brought up is like a bunch of women getting together and talking about what gets the grass stains out of their kids cloths.
On a washing machine on the regular cycle "YOU" get to set the time the washing machine runs to get the laundry clean and YOU get to pick the laundry detergent. And my next door neighbor on city water sets their wash cycle time differently and does not use the same detergent.
Its YOUR water and YOUR brass and you have to find out what works best for YOU and not someone thousands of miles away.
Its your brass, clean it the way you like, and the way that makes you happy. All these posts with recipes for cleaning brass are worthless, if my water softener runs out of salt MY tumbling time changes. So who cares and what is so hard about follow directions.
On top of this not everyone has the same type pins sold by the cheapest vendor in China, sharp ends, dull ends, different diameters, different lengths................
and on top of this you wash your cloths until the grass stains come out, end of story.
Below Chinese pins and uniformed flash holes.
Man, I really hate those uninformed flash holes!
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