Wet tumbling trick

[Smalltruck]

My biggest problem is how to dry the brass so I have no water residue inside. My water here is high gunk content. Today I had one of those ah ha moments.

Grab a handful of brass and get them all pointing in one direction. Wrap a rubber band or elastic hair tie around them. Stand them upside down to drain. Can't believe how easy this trick is...

 

[ShootDots]

I line them up (all pointed in the same direction) 3 levels high (25pcs at a time) and about 3 minutes with a hair-dryer (blowing in to the case mouth) and they are bone dry.. I do this from annealing.. The brass gets hot enough where you can not hold them when just finishing up drying. I can do a hundred pieces in about a 20 minute time span..

 

[Immike]

Ah ha, put them on a screen and prop up a hair dryer under them. Or any box fan. Sounds better than putting them on nails.

 

[aj300mag]

I've made drying racks for my brass. They look like test tube racks though instead of wire mess I made the rack out of plexiglass. Brass is placed into the rack neck down...

 

[Jeff Von Rosenberg]

Buy a food dehydrator for about $40.00 mine has about 6 levels will hold about 50+ pcs per level. Takes about 20 min. To completely dry! Works great!!!

 

[jweb308]

After they come out of the SS media they get rinsed in clean water then rinsed again in 91% isopropyl alcohol. Then I hang them upside down on a homemade rack consisting of a styrofoam base with bamboo skewers stuck in it. If you cut the skewers in half you expose the hollow channels of the wood. Draws the moisture out like a syphon.

Stay safe,
WEB

 

[Area Man]

When the wife is away, stand them up in one of her baking dishes and cook them in the oven at 200 degrees for 30 minutes or so.

 

[Area Man]

I might also suggest buying distilled water to be sure there will be no left over residue from the rinse water. Nothing kills accuracy like water spots. Or you can build your own still and make your own distilled water.

That's what I would do if the residue from evaporated tap water left in my cases bothered me.

 

[bigedp51]

Five gallon bucket, hair dryer, 10 minutes tops.
(sooner if you smell plastic burning)

 

[Terry]

Why are you getting them wet?

 

[dickn52]

Florida. Put them in a bath towel roll them back and forth. Spread them on patio table for 30 minutes in the sun and use asbestos gloves to handle them after that. Talk about getting hot.

 

[Catskinner]

what he said in Florida in Arizona in 10 min 8)

 

[spclark]

I might also suggest buying distilled water to be sure there will be no left over residue from the rinse water. Or you can build your own still and make your own distilled water.

If you run a dehumidifier you can catch the water discharge in anything clean then use that for a final rinse, over & over if you're careful.

My well water's hard & I was buying a gallon of denatured alcohol every season until this idea popped into my head.

 

[BaconFat]

I might also suggest buying distilled water to be sure there will be no left over residue from the rinse water. Or you can build your own still and make your own distilled water.

If you run a dehumidifier you can catch the water discharge in anything clean then use that for a final rinse, over & over if you're careful.

My well water's hard & I was buying a gallon of denatured alcohol every season until this idea popped into my head.

You could save a little money on the denatured alcohol by adding a few sacks of ground corn to your homemade water distiller and make your own. If anyone says anything about the end product you can always say with a bit of a slur, "It's for drying my brass."

 

[racesnake]

Go to WallyWorld and buy a cheap slow-cooker. Think mine cost $11.99. Remove the liner, turn it on, add the wet brass, and in an hour your brass is dry. Is that simple or what!

 

[thefitter]

...Nothing kills accuracy like water spots...

 

[1shot]

As someone else said, the brass comes out of the tumbler, dumped into a cheese cloth bag for a good hot water rinse, them placed on the plastic mesh racks of an old food dryer. Any stray pins that were stuck in the cases are now free to be picked up with a magnet.
I hope this helps,
Lloyd

 

[Bayou]

I get all of the pins out of the cases by using a rotary media separator filled wth water. After a few seconds of rotating, all pins are separated and lying comfortably at the bottom of the water.

After the pins are separated, I drain the water, remove the pins, and while the brass is still in the squirrel cage, throw a dry towel in it, and then rotate the brass with the dry towel. This removes 90% + of all remaining water from the brass.

I then let the brass lay out for 10-15 minutes to complete drying out.

No heaters, dehydrators, hair dryers, ovens, heat lamps, or anything else - ever.



Bayou

 

[stubbicatt]

Bayou, could you post a photo of your setup as I can't envision it.

Thanks.

 

[Erik Cortina]

Here's the easiest way ever to do this.

I use MTM 100 ammo boxes like these:
http://www.sinclairintl.com/shooting-accessories/ammo-boxes-bags/rifle-boxes/mtm-100-round-ammo-box-for-wssm-wsm-and-short-ultra-mags-prod33894.aspx

I take the black insert out of the box, when I take brass out of the tumbler I put the brass in the insert with the necks down which helps them drain (bottom of the insert is open). I then take them outside and set them on top of the AC condensing unit and the big fan will blow hot air through them as well as vibrate them. In the summer it takes less than 10 minutes and they are completely dry.

Sometimes I will simply put them in the insert and leave them in my reloading room overnight. My reloading room stays at 64°F, so they are dry when I get back to them. If there is any moisture left in them, annealing dries them up completely.

In the winter, they go directly from the tumbler onto a baking sheet and they go in the oven at 225°F. I put a small water puddle on the baking sheet so I can monitor progress through the oven window. When the water puddle is gone, brass is dry. It usually takes 15-20 minutes.