FART or Thumbler?

[amlevin]

I rise mine in cold water and leave wet in tumbler ..haven't gone rusty yet

Same here and no rust after almost 5 years.

 

[ericbc7]

my only issue with wet pin tumbling is how to find a strainer that will keep the pins from going into my p-trap. Does anyone have a lead to a good strong kitchen strainer that will keep pins from my drain? I vote for FART as best value for wet tumbling.

 

[Bayou]

my only issue with wet pin tumbling is how to find a strainer that will keep the f-ing pins from going into my p-trap. Does anyone have a lead to a good strong kitchen strainer that will keep pins from my drain? I vote for FART as best value for wet tumbling.

I use a Home Depot mesh paint strainer. It's like a fine nylon mesh that will catch piins but allow small particles of dirt to pass through. You can put it over a bucket. Works best after the pins have been separated by using a media separator. Here's the link:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Trimaco-5-gal-Elastic-Top-Strainers-2-Pack-11573-36WF/202061360

Also, Walmart has those little strainers that go into the drain as well. Like this one:

http://store.worldstart.com/product/6865

Bayou

 

[amlevin]

my only issue with wet pin tumbling is how to find a strainer that will keep the f-ing pins from going into my p-trap. Does anyone have a lead to a good strong kitchen strainer that will keep pins from my drain? I vote for FART as best value for wet tumbling.

I use an old t-shirt. Pour the case/pin/sludge mix through an old t-shirt first, rinsing several times, then just dump pins and cases into my rotary media separator. Half a dozen turns and the pins are out of the cases as well as a good amount of water.

Take an empty coffee container, line it with the t-shirt material, pour "mix" into it. Excess liquid will overflow. Lift the t-shirt, dump dirty water out, refill with hot water, repeat.

The t-shirt has yet to lose a pin.

 

[mr45man]

http://www.blackcatmining.com/mining-equipment/jobe-classifiers.cfm
Out here in AZ we have these at most hardware stores.
But the coffee can/T shirt sounds like a plan.
John H.

 

[Dos XX]

I run 100 .308 case at a time. I reach my hand in and pull them out 5 or 8 at a time, turn them over and shake the pins out of the cases back into the tumbler, put them in a colander and rinse them. The pins don't leave the tumbler.

I then turn the tumbler media container on it's side on the divider between my kitchen sinks and start shooting water in there with the hose. You can rinse like this and never move the pins to the mouth of the tumbler. You can rotate it a few times so you are rinsing a new set of pins. I do this until no more soap runs out. I then store them wet in the tumbler.

I do have a wire mesh colander with a black handle on it that is fine enough to not let pins through. Once or twice I have dumped the pins in there to rinse them. I quit doing that. I think it is this one. It likely came from Bed Bath and Beyond or some place like that. The wife has no idea I use the colander for this, and I intend to keep it that way.

http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Grips-8-Inch-Double-Strainer/dp/B00004OCLX/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422492810&sr=8-2&keywords=fine+wire+

 

[Pres100]

The easiest way that I have found is to take my rcbs rotary media separator, fill the bottom with water, dump the tumbler contents in the basket, turn for 1 minute and the pins are all at the bottom of the tub. Also does the rinsing of the brass in clean water.
Dump the water out, dump the pins back in the tumbler and dry. takes about 3-4 minutes and never have any pins in the cases (with the very few exception of some 308 cases).

A rotary separator for the 5 gallon bucket does the same thing. Super fast and easy. Handles large loads of brass.

 

[Dos XX]

Pres,
Are you dumping the dirty tumbler water into the media separator?

 

[C Valentine]

I run 100 .308 case at a time. I reach my hand in and pull them out 5 or 8 at a time, turn them over and shake the pins out of the cases back into the tumbler, put them in a colander and rinse them. The pins don't leave the tumbler.

I then turn the tumbler media container on it's side on the divider between my kitchen sinks and start shooting water in there with the hose. You can rinse like this and never move the pins to the mouth of the tumbler. You can rotate it a few times so you are rinsing a new set of pins. I do this until no more soap runs out. I then store them wet in the tumbler.

I do have a wire mesh colander with a black handle on it that is fine enough to not let pins through. Once or twice I have dumped the pins in there to rinse them. I quit doing that. I think it is this one. It likely came from Bed Bath and Beyond or some place like that. The wife has no idea I use the colander for this, and I intend to keep it that way.

http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Grips-8-Inch-Double-Strainer/dp/B00004OCLX/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422492810&sr=8-2&keywords=fine+wire+

Exactly what I do. Have the same strainer which I only use now when draining the tank just in case I tip it too far and release some pins. I don't worry about draining the last bit of water from the tank. If I didn't clean cases but once a month I might. On small cases like the .223, sometimes it is a little hard to shake the pins out, but I have found that if you leave about 3 or 4 inches of rinse water in the tumbler and shake the case back and forth once or twice under water, the pins slide right out. As I remove them from the drum I put them in a bowl of hot water as a final rinse, roll them in towel and bake them on a cookie sheet lined with foil at 170 for 30 minutes or so. the whole process really goes very quickly.

 

[savageshooter86]

Anyone tell difference between rinsing with hot vs cold water? Or tumbling with hot vs cold?

Thanks

 

[C Valentine]

I feel like hot water loosens the crud better, but can't prove it. Many times I write info on my cases with a sharpie when working up loads and the hot water (plus Lemishine) seems to do a better job of removing the marker. Probably not enough difference to justify the hot water use when I think about it.

 

[Bayou]

Anyone tell difference between rinsing with hot vs cold water? Or tumbling with hot vs cold?

Thanks

I've done it both ways - no discernable difference in my experience.

Bayou

 

[amlevin]

Anyone tell difference between rinsing with hot vs cold water? Or tumbling with hot vs cold?

Thanks

The cases I rinse with hot water dry faster if I shake off most of the excess first 8)

As for tumbling with hot water, unless you have a heated tumbler the water is cold long before the tumbling process is finished.

 

[Pres100]

Pres,
Are you dumping the dirty tumbler water into the media separator?

No. I dump it out in mud sink, rinse a few times to remove the soap. I then put clean water in the media separator bottom for rinse and pin separation.

I started out leaving the tumbler 2/3 full of water and dumping the pins out under water, but it really started making a mess and takes a lot of time. I found the separator 10x faster.

There's no right or wrong way to do it, that's just what worked best for me when processing a lot of brass at once.

 

[Dos XX]

Pres,
Are you dumping the dirty tumbler water into the media separator?

No. I dump it out in mud sink, rinse a few times to remove the soap. I then put clean water in the media separator bottom for rinse and pin separation.

I started out leaving the tumbler 2/3 full of water and dumping the pins out under water, but it really started making a mess and takes a lot of time. I found the separator 10x faster.

There's no right or wrong way to do it, that's just what worked best for me when processing a lot of brass at once.

I need to try that. I have a separator. Always looking for a better way.

 

[savageshooter86]

Amount of water??

If you only do say 60-100 rounds of 308 do you fill water all the way up or just enough to cover pins?

 

[Joe R]

savageshooter86 said:

If you only do say 60-100 rounds of 308 do you fill water all the way up or just enough to cover pins?

I do 100-150 308 cases at the time (I've been known to go as high as 200), but I have 10 pounds of pins. Don't forget the FART has a 33 (?) pound capacity and even when full of water mine is only about 28-29 pounds. The instruction manual says to fill the tumbler right to the bottom of the neck, and that is what I do. And it works for me.

Don't forget to rinse the brass after you are finished tumbling to get all the citric acid (Lemi Shine) off. If you don't it will continue working and after a couple of days you'll wonder what happened to your pretty brass.

Joe

 

[savageshooter86]

Thanks Joe. I have done about 1500 5.56 pieces total so far and they came out awesome. Max per cleaning was about 450 and worked great

So moving on to my 308 brass. Cleaning before I run them through the Benchsource



I rinse several times with hot water and then put in oven for 15-20 min at 200F and they come out ready to go

 

[Joe R]

savageshooter86
I have done about 1500 5.56 pieces total so far and they came out awesome. Max per cleaning was about 450 and worked great

Andrew,
You are now a professional tumbler and the latest convert to the "Society of the Spotless Brass" it is now your duty to go forth and spread the gospel to all those savages still using corn cob or walnut media . ;D

 

[savageshooter86]

Funny you said that. I'm getting my F&I manager into reloading. He is never seen it or heard of it. And was going to sell him my old tumbler and corn cob. Until I did the brass the other day with my FART. And he said forget that old tumbler you had we using stainless media and I'll help you recoup your cost of buying it

And just took my second batch of 308 brass in there now. First one turned out great. So tom night is the annealing party and range session on Sunday