I want shiny brass. Stainless steel tumbler

[kev77]

What is the best cleaning agent to put into a stainless steel tumbler to get really shiny brass.

The stainless steel pin tumbler works extremely well to get your Cases really clean mine always come out looking a little tarnished

 

[DeadEyeDick45]

I use, in addition to the "wash and wax" auto soap; a tablespoon of LemiShine and hot water. Couple of hrs in this stuff and the brass comes out with a shine and smooth finish.

 

[lawrence97]

I just followed the vendors instructions:

1. Add 5 Lbs (2.27 kg) of SS media into the drum
2. Next fill with 1 gallon (3.78 Liters) of cold water. (One gallon)=8 Lbs/3.63 kg
3. Add your brass into the drum (2-4 Lbs of brass)
4. Add dish soap. 1 -2 Tbs (15-30 mL) of either Dawn, Ivory, or Joy dish soap
(if there are no soap bubbles in the water after you tumble, you need more soap)
5. Add 1/4 Tsp. (1.25 mL) of Lemishine. This is the key to the shine. (Not too much)
6. Tumble 3-4 hours with the Model B High Speed Thumler’s Tumbler
7. Pour out as much water as you can without losing any brass or pins
(The more you rinse the brass and pins the better your results will be next time)
8. Fill drum with water, and separate brass by hand or use an STM Media Separator with water.
9. Rinse your brass off really good with some warm water. (Not getting a good rinse can leave water spots on the brass)
10. Dump brass onto a towel and let dry. If any pins get stuck in the neck of the brass throw those pins away
11. Store Stainless Steel Media either wet or dry in drum

I do not clean my brass more than 45 mins per 100 pieces.

 

[RLP]

Dawn Dish washing detergent and Lemi shine....Mine could not be any shinier. Works every time !!

 

[tjtjwdad]

Dawn Dish washing detergent and Lemi shine....Mine could not be any shinier. Works every time !!

Same here.

To the OP, this works but one must "thoroughly" rinse the brass or it will tarnish. I don't remember who made my pins but they "don't' stick in the flash holes.

HTH,

 

[bullseyeshooter]

Dawn Dish washing detergent and Lemi shine....Mine could not be any shinier. Works every time !!

+1

 

[JohnKielly]

I don't remember who made my pins but they "don't' stick in the flash holes.

A friend told me to take the cases out of the drum filled with rinse water, tipping them down as I went. That way all the pins flow out cleanly.

I also tap each case mouth down on the towel to knock water off, then roll the whole bunch between towels to take them to near dry and store them mouth down in salvaged .40 cal pistol blocks that have nice .35" holes in them unil I think they're totally dry.

Even with our chlorinated town water, I don't get any external staining this way,

 

[kev77]

Thanks will do .

 

[rox]

What is the best cleaning agent to put into a stainless steel tumbler to get really shiny brass.

This gives me super shiny & clean brass with long term tarnish resistance.
The following measures are for a Thumlers Model B tumbler:

• 1 Tablespoon Meguiars Ultimate Wash & Wax
• 1 Teaspoon citric acid powder
• Cold water

Cold rinse.
Final rinse with half a teaspoon of rinse aid in a bowl of water (just enough so there is not much foaming).

Roll the brass in a towel, or use a towel in a media separator, to remove surface water and prevent spotting.
Dry.

 

[Bayou]

It's the Lemi-Shine that gives the brass its high sparkling shine (some use different citric acid based products). I recently wet tumbled a batch and forgot to add the Lemi-Shine. Although the brasses came out clean, they did not spakle with that high brassy shine. I use 1/4 TSP per batch.

I took a snap of the batch with and without Lemi-Shine, below. Batch size and tumbling time were the same. Auto wash & wax is used for the detergent agent.

Happy Tumbling.....

Bayou

 

[calgarycanada]

How long does it take to clean inside of bottle necked cases? I have tried 308 cases upto 3 hours, outside was shiny as it gets but inside was still black(carbon), primer pockets were not bad but not spotless clean either. I'm using thumblers tumbler(slow speed)

 

[padom]

Here's what I do with my Thumblers Tumber B and they come out looking like new jewelry.

100 .308 cases
Fill barrel with HOT water till 1-2" from top
1.5-2 Tablespoons Dawn dish soap
1 Tablespoon Cream of Tarter powder
1/24 Teaspoon Lemishine

Tumbled for 3 hours then rinse thoroughly in cold water. Here's the final result

 

[jr600yd]

Like others I tumble my brass with stainless steel media. Followed the directions, soap, Lime Shine tumble time ect. Brass is clean inside and out but dull. After playing around and much wasted time I gave up. Now after the brass is dried i prime them and toss 'em in the vibrator with some polish = primed polished brass.

I don't believe this is a product failure because I have well water and this could be the culprit. Other than the "shine" this is a great product.

 

[padom]

Like others I tumble my brass with stainless steel media. Followed the directions, soap, Lime Shine tumble time ect. Brass is clean inside and out but dull. After playing around and much wasted time I gave up. Now after the brass is dried i prime them and toss 'em in the vibrator with some polish = primed polished brass.

I don't believe this is a product failure because I have well water and this could be the culprit. Other than the "shine" this is a great product.

I had that problem when I first switched to SS tumbling also. It was the mixture and not using HOT water that was the cause for me.

 

[gilcarleton]

I have a couple of questions about this subject. Do you clean the brass first with walnut shells? I have also been nervous about using any liquid to clean my brass. How to you dry it after cleaning and make sure it is truly dry before you start reloading? Thanks for the help.

 

[Bayou]

I have a couple of questions about this subject. Do you clean the brass first with walnut shells? I have also been nervous about using any liquid to clean my brass. How to you dry it after cleaning and make sure it is truly dry before you start reloading? Thanks for the help.

My comments are:

1. No need to vibratory tumble before wet tumbling. Wet tumbling with SS pins is a process sufficient in and of itself to give the best, sparkling results, as shown from the above photos,

2. For drying, I use no devices such as ovens, heaters, blowers, dryers, dehydrators or anything else. I use the "spin dry" method. Simply, after the pins are separated from the brass using a media separator, I throw a dry rag/towel into the squirrel cage with the wet brass and agitate vigorously back and forth for a minute. I then repeat a second time with another dry rag/towel. The result is that 99.99% of all moisture is removed from the brasses and absorbed by the towels in about a 2 minute process. What very little moisture may be left remaining, and I mean "very" little, will evaporate in 10-15 minutes of simply being left exposed to open air.

Hope this helps....

Happy Tumbling.......

Bayou

 

[Joe R]

gilcarleton said:

I have a couple of questions about this subject. Do you clean the brass first with walnut shells? I have also been nervous about using any liquid to clean my brass. How to you dry it after cleaning and make sure it is truly dry before you start reloading? Thanks for the help.

Gil,
1 tablespoon of Dawn dish washing detergent and 1/4 teaspoon Lemi shine. I didn't use it anymore so I sold my corncob tumbler.

I was hesitant to use water also, but eventually came to the conclusion that it was the only way to get the brass clean. After you do it once you'll be hooked.

Do what Bayou says about the spin/dry method, but I also I dry my brass by putting on my (not the wife's) cookie tray and putting in the oven for 30 minutes on a 150 degree/low. By the way, 3 hours tumbling is way too long, 1 hour does the job. 3 hours will give your brass peening. That is when the cases smash into each other and form a slight ridge at the case mouth. That affect bullet release and accuracy.


Kindest regards,

Joe

 

[people]

Dawn Dish washing detergent and Lemi shine....Mine could not be any shinier. Works every time !!

Same here.

 

[C Valentine]

Just from my own experience: If you use too much LemiShine you can end up with a pink cast to your cases, especially if they are not rinsed really well. If you are using a FART, do not use hot water or you will have a struggle keeping it from leaking. Must have something to do with the plastic tub. No problems with cold water. I only use about a teaspoon of Dawn and a tiny dash of LemiShine. More pins helps to keep the cases from peening each other. Again, just my experience. My brass is shiny inside and out.

 

[dalej]

Avoid detergents that contain "Oxy-Clean". Have 20 liter pail of Sunlight dish detergent, and use more than SST supplier recommends. Separating pins and brass is PIA so I quit using the pins. Increased detergent and Lemi-Shine amounts and now I have clean brass without peened case mouths. Rinse and towel dry, then oven dry at 170 F.