Polishing Brass UPDATE

mld · Post by **mld** » Tue Oct 02, 2012 9:23 pm

Has anyone tried the "Thumler's Tumbler" for polishing brass?

There are lots of instructions included with the machine for polishing rocks; not so much for brass.

I'm using the stainless steel pins and wondering how long to leave a batch.

Thanks,

Murray

UPDATE:

I've answered my own question. I put about 400 .45 ACP casings in with 5 pounds of the stainless steel pins and let the machine run for 4 hours.

The casings are perfectly clean, inside and out. Something the walnut shells won't do.

The finish is what I would call "satin" as opposed to the "gloss" finish left by walnut shells and polish.

MLD

paw080 · Post by **paw080** » Thu Oct 04, 2012 11:12 am

Hi Murray, There is something wrong with your process. I always end up with

highly polished brass, whether I tumble 3 hours or 4 hours. If you bought your

Thumbler's Tumbler from STM http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/

there should have been a card provided in their kit that gave # of cases per

2 lb load and instructions on the other side of the card. Well I just re-read your posting

and I see where you went wrong: You used 400 cases instead of the suggested

160-180 cases! So you tried to clean more than twice as many cases as instructed.

This isn't a problem if you like your results. But, I'll bet that your primer pockets

are not polished, nor adequetly cleaned. My 45 acp cases end up looking exactly

like the finished product on STM's website.

Tony

Freepistol · Post by **Freepistol** » Thu Oct 04, 2012 11:39 am

Will the steel wear the brass prematurely?

paw080 · Post by **paw080** » Thu Oct 04, 2012 6:31 pm

Freepistol wrote:Will the steel wear the brass prematurely?

No Free, it will not. Check out the STM website link I posted above; and really

read all the info available. Especialy read the "TIPS" ; you too Murray...

Tony

RandomShotz · Post by **RandomShotz** » Thu Oct 04, 2012 6:42 pm

The steel probably just peens the brass a little which is what is giving it a satin finish.

I have been using a sonic cleaner on brass. I had read about people using commercial brass cleaners in their sonicators with mixed results. I found that by letting the brass soak over night in 1:20 Lyman's brass cleaner, just a couple of minutes in the sonicator left the brass clean inside and out. Even the primer pockets were perfectly clean, which really surprised me given how much complaining has been posted on a number of forums regarding the inability of sonicators to clean primer pockets.

Roger

Richard H · Post by **Richard H** » Thu Oct 04, 2012 6:56 pm

I just use a mixture of corn cob and crushed walnut shells (that I buy from the pet store at a quarter the price its used as bedding) in my Dillion polisher and the stuff comes out like brand new.[/u]

mld · Post by **mld** » Thu Oct 04, 2012 8:57 pm

Tony you're right, I checked your website and I added too much brass.

Next time I'll follow instructions more carefully...:)

Murray

paw080 · Post by **paw080** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 1:38 pm

mld wrote:Tony you're right, I checked your website and I added too much brass.

Next time I'll follow instructions more carefully...:)

Murray

Hi Murray, In case you didin't get the instruction card in your kit,

I think the "Tips" section has the same information as the card, anyway.

Tony

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 2:18 am

RandomShotz wrote:The steel probably just peens the brass a little which is what is giving it a satin finish.

I have been using a sonic cleaner on brass. I had read about people using commercial brass cleaners in their sonicators with mixed results. I found that by letting the brass soak over night in 1:20 Lyman's brass cleaner, just a couple of minutes in the sonicator left the brass clean inside and out. Even the primer pockets were perfectly clean, which really surprised me given how much complaining has been posted on a number of forums regarding the inability of sonicators to clean primer pockets.

Roger

Do you use the same brass cleaner as the medium in the ultrasonic cleaner or someting else?

RandomShotz · Post by **RandomShotz** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 7:39 am

The Lyman brass cleaner is supposed to be used in the ultrasonic bath itself according to the label. Since I was using a benchtop bath at the lab where I work, I wanted to use the plain water that was normally in there. That's why I started soaking the brass overnight first. The Lyman's softens everything up and the sonication just knocks it off in about a minute. I showed the first batch to another shooter at the lab; we were both impressed by the results, especially that the primer pockets were clean and ready to go. Another nice thing about working in a lab is that I have access to de-ionized water. After rinsing the brass clean in tap water, they get one rinse in DI water and dry without spots.

This weekend, I ran a batch through a borrowed $30 unit from Harbor Freight and it worked just as well. It is too small - it only holds ~30 .38 spl casings - but it showed that even a low power unit could do the job. Once I found that out, I scored an inexpensive 2.5 L unit off e-Bay that should work fine.

Roger