Good Methods to Remove Dust from Media?

[FredHammer]

Got some Graf & Sons walnut media and it's the dustiest media I've used in 25yrs of using others. I've added Flitz to the media, but still get the fine dust. Acetone soaked paper towel pieces tumbled in the media? I'm open to suggestions.

 

[Seth W]

Pour the media out of a pail 2 feet or so into another pail. Do this in a slight breeze, or set up a fan, a lot of the dust should blow away.

 

[Hoser]

Dryer sheets.

I use NuFinish car polish and a handful of brass shavings from trimming brass to help scrub off the big chunks.

 

[rustyinbend]

Two words to solve all your dust problems ... "Wet Tumble" !!!

 

[FredHammer]

Pour the media out of a pail 2 feet or so into another pail. Do this in a slight breeze, or set up a fan, a lot of the dust should blow away.

and I'll stay up wind because this shit makes me sneeze like a motherfucker!

Is this a one time operation or do you find the dust returns after use?

 

[DHDeal]

I run my vibratory tumbler outside when I change to fresh walnut. Depending on how sporty I want to be, I have put my shop fan about 12" away from the tumbler to speed up the dedusting. I usually run it without an additive or brass when I do this.

 

[spife7980]

and I'll stay up wind because this shit makes me sneeze like a motherfucker!

Is this a one time operation or do you find the dust returns after use?

I do the high pour back and forth a few times when I first put the media in so the dust and chaff blows out. It will be sorta dusty the next couple still but you can pour more if you like. After the lube starts to saturate the media it gets progressively much less.
I use corn cob though

 

[FredHammer]

Two words to solve all your dust problems ... "Wet Tumble" !!!

That has its merits, but I moved everything out the house and centralized all gun related things to the backyard shop/cabin = shabin! (No water, oven to dry, etc.)

 

[Rover31]

dryer sheets

 

[CaptNemo]

The dryer sheets will collect some of the carbon that tumbles off as well.
They make my reloads smell nice & fresh as an added bonus.

 

[rweaver00geo]

the used dryer sheet works well as long as you use them all along but if your media gets real dirty and dusty throwing in a few in isnt going to fix it

 

[Cascade Hemi]

Got some Graf & Sons walnut media and it's the dustiest media I've used in 25yrs of using others. I've added Flitz to the media, but still get the fine dust. Acetone soaked paper towel pieces tumbled in the media? I'm open to suggestions.

Throw it away and get corn cob. Your dust problem will only get worse.

 

[tinker]

The dryer sheets will collect some of the carbon that tumbles off as well.
They make my reloads smell nice & fresh as an added bonus.

Yup. Same here. Wife gives me about 6-8 of them every week so I just toss them in a ziplock bag and use a fresh one each tumble.

 

[rustyinbend]

That has its merits, but I moved everything out the house and centralized all gun related things to the backyard shop/cabin = shabin! (No water, oven to dry, etc.)

I fill my wet tumbler in the mud-room, and walk it to the back porch to run ... then dump and rinse back in the mud room. And if you have electricity in your Shabin" ... then buying a dehydrator or brass dryer like the one from Frankford Arsenal is a good choice. Bottom line, as long as you have electricity and you can walk to and from a deep sink or kitchen sink ... these are solvable problems. And well worth solving to avoid the mess of dry tumbling. All IMHO of course.

I had an old boss that had a great line. He used to say ... "It's not a 'problem' if you can solve it with money. It's an 'expense' that becomes a 'prioritization' decision."

 

[Big Phish]

I use a small shop vac with a hoes nylon over the end on a stand next to tumbler. Fill up the tumbler and turn it on and let it run for awhile. I save all used dryer sheets when I tumble the brass and i put a dampened soft flannel cut sheet on top of my tumbler if its has holes on top. Works great but I have been gradually switching over to sonic cleaner since last year and ain't looking back!

 

[FredHammer]

I use a small shop vac with a hoes nylon over the end on a stand next to tumbler. Fill up the tumbler and turn it on and let it run for awhile. I save all used dryer sheets when I tumble the brass and i put a dampened soft flannel cut sheet on top of my tumbler if its has holes on top. Works great but I have been gradually switching over to sonic cleaner since last year and ain't looking back!

I like that vacuum idea. Thanks.

 

[FredHammer]

I fill my wet tumbler in the mud-room, and walk it to the back porch to run ... then dump and rinse back in the mud room. And if you have electricity in your Shabin" ... then buying a dehydrator or brass dryer like the one from Frankford Arsenal is a good choice. Bottom line, as long as you have electricity and you can walk to and from a deep sink or kitchen sink ... these are solvable problems. And well worth solving to avoid the mess of dry tumbling. All IMHO of course.

I had an old boss that had a great line. He used to say ... "It's not a 'problem' if you can solve it with money. It's an 'expense' that becomes a 'prioritization' decision."

I've decided I'm not wet cleaning. This isn't a wet vs dry tumbling thread.
This is the fist time in 25yrs I've had walnut media with this type of dust. When this problem is solved with the batch of dusty media I'm going back to the stuff that doesn't have dust. Easy enough.

 

[Rover31]

Throw it away and get corn cob. Your dust problem will only get worse.

as an FYI corn cob media is much softer than the nut variety thus it does not last as long. I do not think corn cob is is as effective. Now for the argument that neither of these are expensive and they can be changed often.

 

[FredHammer]

as an FYI corn cob media is much softer than the nut variety thus it does not last as long. I do not think corn cob is is as effective. Now for the argument that neither of these are expensive and they can be changed often.

I used to use corn cob to put a super duper shine on the brass. Now I am satisfied with the walnut cleaning and luster provided by Flitz combined in the walnut. I remember starting out with only corn cob and then when I switched to walnut I saw a dramatic difference in cleaning times. Much shorter clean times with walnut.

 

[Rover31]

I used to use corn cob to put a super duper shine on the brass. Now I am satisfied with the walnut cleaning and luster provided by Flitz combined in the walnut. I remember starting out with only corn cob and then when I switched to walnut I saw a dramatic difference in cleaning times. Much shorter clean times with walnut.

If only you added a couple of used dryer sheets, I would then be able to be your best friend. Until then we are just acquaintances...

 

[Cascade Hemi]

as an FYI corn cob media is much softer than the nut variety thus it does not last as long. I do not think corn cob is is as effective. Now for the argument that neither of these are expensive and they can be changed often.

Ever noticed the media dust threads start with "so I bought walnut media"? Crazy, right? Walnut media is dusty. It will only get worse as the media breaks down. All media types break down but Walnut starts out worse than corn cob. Both walnut and corn cob media are in fact cheap and should not be lifetime investments. Enjoy your dust and your used dryer sheets.

 

[FredHammer]

If only you added a couple of used dryer sheets, I would then be able to be your best friend. Until then we are just acquaintances...

I've used dryer sheets in the past to clean the media of black shit, but I wasn't sure just how viable they would be for dust. I think I've made my mind up with pouring the media from one bowl to the next in a slight breeze, then vacuum whatever might be left.

 

[Raffy]

Has anyone had any experience with using rice? I have the same problem with the dust and am sure it's not good to breathe.

 

[FredHammer]

Has anyone had any experience with using rice? I have the same problem with the dust and am sure it's not good to breathe.

I bought the long grained rice from Aldi and it worked with no dust. I tried some cheap IGA white rice and it was white dust galore! Mixing Flitz or anything with rice takes away from the hardness of the kernels though. Rice definitely absorbs more than walnut hulls and shits out much sooner. You can get away with the right kind of rice for a few bowls of cleaning.

 

[308pirate]

Got some Graf & Sons walnut media and it's the dustiest media I've used in 25yrs of using others. I've added Flitz to the media, but still get the fine dust. Acetone soaked paper towel pieces tumbled in the media? I'm open to suggestions.

Throw it away and wet tumble your brass

 

[CaptNemo]

I buy the cheap pet reptile bedding walnut shell media on amazon, a couple of squirts of Blue Magic, Dillon or whatever metal polish I have on hand at the time, a NEW Dryer Sheet cut into 3 or 4 strips ( we don't use them for the laundry, it's bad for the dryer and deposits wax on your clothes ) so I don't have used ones and I don't have a excessive dust problem.
Right now, I'm exclusively using walnut media, the extra shine that corn cob gives doesn't make anything fly better, so no longer needed.
Once I start loading with the Dillon more, the finished rounds may get a trip thru the corn cob tumbler to clean the case lube off before going into storage.

 

[FredHammer]

I buy the cheap pet reptile bedding walnut shell media on amazon, a couple of squirts of Blue Magic, Dillon or whatever metal polish I have on hand at the time, a NEW Dryer Sheet cut into 3 or 4 strips ( we don't use them for the laundry, it's bad for the dryer and deposits wax on your clothes ) so I don't have used ones and I don't have a excessive dust problem.
Right now, I'm exclusively using walnut media, the extra shine that corn cob gives doesn't make anything fly better, so no longer needed.
Once I start loading with the Dillon more, the finished rounds may get a trip thru the corn cob tumbler to clean the case lube off before going into storage.

I did the lizard bedding and will go back to it. I just saw where Grafs was cheaper per lbs and decided to give it a go.

 

[Big Phish]

I bought my Walnut media years ago from Harbor Freight and thought it was cheap but still have plenty for at least 5 years yet so have no idea how much things cost now. If you have a CO-OP farm and feed store they may have ground corn cob by the sack . You just have to strain it to clean unwanted junk out of it.

 

[hlee]

My experience has been that the “lizard litter” crushed walnut is much dustier than the reloading specific walnut media. And, it seems to break down faster. But, it is MUCH cheaper so IDGAF. And, the lizard litter starts finer than the other. It doesn’t get stuck in flash holes like the reloading specific stuff, which I find to be annoying AF.

I burned up my tumbler, but I think I’m going to start tumbling on the back porch, so as to keep some of the dust out of the garage…

 

[Ghogs Nightmare]

I've been using the bigger tumbler from Harb Fre as well as their walnut media. Mix in some of the Nufinishh and it works well. If the cases aren't dirty usually less than 2hrs and they are ready.

If you buy it during the 25/30% off its an even better deal. At the volume I clean at times the wet dry magnetic cooking brass aint for me. Good Luck.... I've tried the sheets its a pia. Just my .02