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Walnut Media

Eagleclaw026

I used some Red Walnut Media the other day and had a lot of build up in the cases, tumbled them for 3 days straight, still have a lot of build up. Tumbled the brass by itself around 100-150 rounds at a time, didn't shake it out very well.
Anyone have this problem, with some suggestions on mass egress of stuck media?
Also, any good media suggestions to avoid this problem? Not sure about Stainless Steel or other Liquid just yet.
 
Are you using walnut with the red jewelers rouge on it or is it straight walnut?Why 3 days straight,what you have is fine iron oxide in the cases and if the build up is bad enough ,I would wash them in dish soap and a tumbler for an hour and then rinse with hot water and stand them up on towel paper and use a hair dryer to speed the drying process.
 
I have used it for years with rouge mixed in, but in a vibrator not a tumbler. Cases do fill but I take them out while running and just let them rest for a moment against the side of the bin and it all dumps out. Probably good to improve finger dexterity. But it's a vibrator not a tumbler so this probably is no help to you. 3 days!! long time.....maybe I go 3 hours.
 
I had the mindset to start using up some of the stuff I had in my reloading area from various powders to walnut rouged when made at the walnut factory.

After vibrating, I emptied the cases, segregated the ones with clogged pockets, popped out the clogs with the smallest Allen wrench I had, used a nylon brush to clean the insides, especially the necks. I examined carefully with an Optivisor and saw brownish stuff on the inside of the necks. I took a Q-Tip and wiped a few necks on the inside. The amount of brown that came out floored me.

Corn cob or the lizard stuff for me from now on.
 
in 12 years of commercial/retail brass business i never saw anyone use walnut for normal day in day out clean and polish.
the one time walnut is useful is when you have cases from a muddy field.
other than that
fine ground corn cob( blasting media) and nufinish car polish
 
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Sounds like your media is too damp, and clumping in the cases. What cartridge? Bottle necked small caliber?
 
Lizard bedding is walnut. Cost about half of the usual 'tumbling media'. I may drop in two to three drops of Franklin brass polish, run it for 30 minutes to mix. I use a Thumlers tumbler for dry and a separate drum for SS media wet. Heavy dirt goes SS, and light soiling goes walnut. 3 hours is way long enough for my needs. I did leave a tumbler load (dry) running overnight once. So shiny and slick I could hardly hold them. They were purty.
 
I bought some walnut media from Cabela's that was a deeper red than usual. The first time I used it, my cases came out of the vibratory tumbler covered in the red polishing compound. I think the factory put a "little" too much in that batch. I had to use corn cob media to get it off. You may have bought the same batch I had.
 
I have tried it all and here is what works best for me. Wet tumble with seven parts water and one part Simple Green for two hours or less. This is all you need.
 
retired said:
in 12 years of commercial/retail brass business i never saw anyone use walnut for normal day in day out clean and polish.
the one time walnut is useful is when you have cases from a muddy field.
other than that
fine ground corn cob( blasting media) and nufinish car polish
Click to expand...
+1 on the fine ground corn cob and nufinish. Small enough it doesn't clog firing pin holes, shines them up really well.

If I want to really clean cases I use walnut media and a bit of non-flammable paint thinner, plus a few used dryer sheets t catch the dust. I use this for cases that are tarnished, have excessive carbon on the outside, or that are dirty for any other reason. I'll use this method, then throw them in with corncob/nufinish after to polish them.

I used the rouge media in the past. Works great for a few cycles, then starts to break down and leave red film on everything. No more.
 
JaoeyP said:
+1 on the fine ground corn cob and nufinish. Small enough it doesn't clog firing pin holes, shines them up really well.

If I want to really clean cases I use walnut media and a bit of non-flammable paint thinner, plus a few used dryer sheets t catch the dust. I use this for cases that are tarnished, have excessive carbon on the outside, or that are dirty for any other reason. I'll use this method, then throw them in with corncob/nufinish after to polish them.

I used the rouge media in the past. Works great for a few cycles, then starts to break down and leave red film on everything. No more.
Click to expand...
How is this better than water with Simple Green?
 
I use a rotary tumbler with the stainless media now, but growing up, my father use to use ground up walnut shell from the pet shop. We only ran it over night while sleeping,. so from like 10 pm to like 8am. Thats was it, come out nice. I m thinking that the media you use has an additive of some sort, maybe a rouge or polish, but worse case scenario, use a toothpick and go through every case and unclog them. Fill a large glass/pyrex dish with acetone and let the cases soak in that for a bit. Once done, drain the acetone (on cement outside, it evaporates quickly) Toss out the media, go down to the pet shop and buy some ground walnut shells. Its used for lining the bottom bird cage pans. Try it all over again. The acetone reduces the amount of oil/wax/lube and water in cases. I do this after my cases are all prepped and/or before I start priming cases and dropping powder.
 
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"...I used the rouge media in the past. Works great for a few cycles, then starts to break down and leave red film on everything. No more...."

I am with you.
 
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