Drying brass after wet tumbling

[cognac jack]

Has anyone used a food dehydrator to dry their brass and how does it work.

 

[CatShooter]

Has anyone used a food dehydrator to dry their brass and how does it work.

It should work (if your wifie doesn't kill you)... I use the oven set at 230°.

 

[Immike]

Has anyone used a food dehydrator to dry their brass and how does it work.

This was talked about not long ago and a fellow said the dehydrator works real well.

 

[jlow]

I belong to the KISS and cheaper is better approach group.

What gstsaylord described in terms of using a towel to remove most of the water on the outside of the case is a good start. If you flick most of the water out of the inside of the case is also another good start.

After that, I put the brass in a wire basket and put the whole thing either on top of a heat register where the warm air dries the brass for free (winter) or over a dehumidifier in the basement again for free (summer). I figure why spend money buying extra stuff and paying extra on the electric bill to power unnecessary devices to dry your brass if you are already paying for something that will already do the job.

If you are really in a hurry, blow the water out with an air compressor before the above drying procedure and the brass will be dry in less than an hour.

I should tell you that I have been using SS media wet method for more than 3 years.

 

[Bayou]

Has anyone used a food dehydrator to dry their brass and how does it work.

I prefer to use a different approach of drying wet brass altogether. That is one which does not need hair dryers, dehydrators, heaters, blowers, clothes dryers or any other type of heating device.

This technique requires only the use of the rotary media separator. Simply, the rotary media serves as the "spin cycle" for the brass. Once the media is separated and the water removed from the separator, the wet brass is remaining in the inside squirrel cage. Put a medium sized dry towel in the squirrel cage with the wet brass and spin vigorously for 20-30 seconds. This first spin cycle will remove 90+ % of the retained water/moisture.

Then, repeat this spin cycle a second time with a new, dry towel or a bunch of paper towels. One again, spin vigorously for about 20 seconds. This second spin cycle will remove almost all remaining moisture from the brasses.

Simply let the brasses lay out exposed to open air, and in about 10 minutes, all traces of dampness wiil be gone.

RESULT - Completely dry brasses in a little over 10 or so minutes of finishing wet tumbling with no heating devices or blowers of any sort needed or used.

I hope this technique is helpful. I've been using it for over a year. Very simple but very effective.

Bayou

 

[jlow]

Seems to be a good method for straight wall pistol cases, but I wonder how well it would work for bottle neck cases that has a shape that would trap water even in a spin cycle unless the case was standing verticle which would be unlikely?

 

[Bayou]

Seems to be a good method for straight wall pistol cases, but I wonder how well it would work for bottle neck cases that has a shape that would trap water even in a spin cycle unless the case was standing verticle which would be unlikely?

jlow - just FYI -

I routinely use this drying technique for both 223 and 30-06 rifle cases. The result is as described in my post. The use of two spin cycles, as described in my post, removes nearly all residual moisture from the wet tumbled brasses.

I will add that since the brasses are all decapped for wet tumbling, the open flash holes act as ports, and this further facilitates the removal of the moisture from the brasses.

Thanks, jlow -

Bayou

 

[savagedasher]

My self I would try a bucket of boiling water and a strainer. Larry

 

[masterblaster1]

I pulled the inner shell holder from a MTM box, actually 5 of them, I dump the whole container of shells into a strainer on top of a deep Tupperware bucket then rinse each one. As I rinse them I Sort into the shell rack upside down. I bring them out to garage and use my compressor to blow off the major water, keep the air flow at 40 psi, then I put a empty shell rack on top of the full one and flip it then blow out the insides all while sitting on top of a Army towel to keep the water from flying all over. Then I put them in the shade in the garage and aim a garage fan downward on top of the shells for final drying cycle. I dont like using heat as I feel it hardens the brass (YMMV).

 

[GarethMarijt]

Something like http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shef-Premium-Halogen-Cooker-complete/dp/B0070WSILO/ref=pd_cp_kh_3 this on the lowest setting.

Wife doesn't mind, as I have a dedicated, separate one in my man cave

Gareth

 

[tom h]

here in arizona, we just set them out in the sun. Dry shortly thereafter.

 

[BaconFat]

.... I don't like using heat as I feel it hardens the brass (YMMV).

If that was true then why would we anneal our cases? :

What I'm wondering is, how many people actually immediately reload these freshly washed cases? If I had to do that, it seems the fastest way

would be to do a final rinse in alcohol. The alcohol will displace all of the water and then flash off almost as soon as you removed the cases from

the alcohol bath leaving you with a nice dry case. For me I just do a final rinse in full hot tap water, shake them off as I pull them from the water,

lay them on a towel and rub them around to finish drying the outside and them place them neck down in a loading block. By the time I'm ready to

reload them, what ever water was left, has evaporated.

 

[guidom]

it works great. got mine at harbor freight, for around 20.00. only goes to around 140 degrees.

 

[hogpatrol]

I blow mine out with compressed air & then just let them sit overnight.

 

[CJ6]

Hood style hair dryer and a mesh bag, although a friend converted a boot dryer.

 

[memilanuk]

Been using the one I got from the SS tumbling media site - probably could have found one cheaper, but it was convenient and I was ordering some extra pins anyway... and it works great. Throw them in overnight, not a problem. Absolutely bone-dry inside by morning, and no nagging doubts about whether they are or not.

 

[5spd]

If you have a clothes dryer with the shoe rack in it that works perfectly also, set your brass on it in a bra bag and let it go.

 

[xdeano]

I rinse with water that is hotter then hell. Evaporation is faster when the water molecules are moving faster. I toss them from the hot water to a big beach towel and grab two corners in each hand and roll them back and forth in the towel. They'll be 95% dry in 5 min.

Then I'll let them sit over night and get to them the next day.

xdeano

 

[Bayou]

This is all good stuff!

Bayou

 

[wlsnmike]

I use mine all the time. Works great. I also use it when I use spray lube.