Stainless Steel Media Testimonials

I'm new to the stainless steel method of cleaning, and just had a quick question. What would be the best micron size for use as a media? I see places that sell pins that are as small as 355 microns wide, and I'm just trying to figure if that might be too small for cleaning applications or if it would work just fine.

Thanks
 
Any tips on brass drying? I am using tap water (CIty water not well and septic) and the cases are like 95% perfect when they are done drying but some develop some light brown spotting and staining. I know it probably has minimal to no effect on the loads but I am OCD and I want all those bitches looking clean and shiny. Any tips?

I have a read a few people who are using more lemi-shine? Is it advisble to give them a lemi shine bath after the tumble? Using warm/cold water for the bath after the tumble? Any tips are appreciated.
 
I drain off most of the dirty water after a tumbling cycle.
Then I dump my rifle brass, SS pins and remaining dirty water from the tumbler into a basic media separator sitting over a bucket.
media separator.JPG

The bucket sits in a deep utility sink that has a hand sprayer attachment on the faucet (like a kitchen sink)
I spray the brass and SS pins while stirring them around with one hand.
This rinses the brass while washing the SS pins down through the media separator into the bucket.
Once all the SS pins are washed from the brass, I then pick up the rifle brass and tap them neck down on the media separator to knock out any excess water or remaining SS pins. At the same time, I check the flash holes for any stuck SS pins.

The inspected brass gets tossed into a strainer.
Once all the brass from that load is inspected, it gets dumped from the strainer onto an old folded towel.
Spread the brass out to one layer thick, cover with another towel and roll them around a little.
Now the brass is dry on the outside but still damp on the inside.
If I'm not in a hurry, I leave them lay on the folded towel to air dry with a small fan blowing over them.

If I need the brass to dry faster, I next lay them out one layer thick into an old food dehydrator.
Even a large load of brass will only use 2 trays of the dehydrator.

You can often find used food dehydrators at garage sales or on Craigs List for $10 to $20.
I believe using too much Lemi Shine can be a problem. A little goes a long way.
If you use towels and get the outside dry quickly after rinsing, spotting should not be an issue
 
Brass will be dry in 30 second's if you dump them into 90% rubbing alcohol bought at Walmart.
Pour alcohol into a container,dump brass into the container and swish around. Remove brass and pour alcohol back into container. Brass should be dry by the time you pour it back in and put the bottle away.
 
the only issue i have is with 6.5mm brass the rods get stuck across the throat so have to be careful to inspect each one. cleans wonderfully otherwise and takes less time than anything else i have used. need to come up with a good dryer tho. i don't like waiting.

After rinsing with water, drop the cases in some alcohol. Drain the alcohol through a strainer and they'll likely be dry by the time you get the lid back on the can of alcohol. Now if I only were anywhere near the corn belt where they make the methanol for gasoline.
 
I've sifted through all the pages of this thread and still have a couple questions. I am using a home made tumbler drum. It is quite big and only 1/3 full when I have my media and brass in there. After tumbling for 2 hours I have a huge buildup of carbon on all the cases, they are basically gun metal grey. Being from Australia we don't have lemi-shine; I've been using a burnishing compound from a Lapidary supplier.

2 things: What could be causing this carbon build up on my cases? Is my drum not full enough? Too much brass for my media? BTW: i'm using 10lbs of media and about 500 9mm cases, but I have another 10lbs coming if this is the case.
and
For those of you who don't have access to lemi-shine, what are you using? Any aussies out there that have found a good alternative?

Thanks guys,
Jase
 
Have you tried more/less water or more/less detergent?

When I run batches without the lemi-shine they are just a bit more dull I dont see the carbon build-up.



I've sifted through all the pages of this thread and still have a couple questions. I am using a home made tumbler drum. It is quite big and only 1/3 full when I have my media and brass in there. After tumbling for 2 hours I have a huge buildup of carbon on all the cases, they are basically gun metal grey. Being from Australia we don't have lemi-shine; I've been using a burnishing compound from a Lapidary supplier.

2 things: What could be causing this carbon build up on my cases? Is my drum not full enough? Too much brass for my media? BTW: i'm using 10lbs of media and about 500 9mm cases, but I have another 10lbs coming if this is the case.
and
For those of you who don't have access to lemi-shine, what are you using? Any aussies out there that have found a good alternative?

Thanks guys,
Jase
 
Wash your media first without the brass. Same ratios of detergent and water. You'll be surprised how dirty it is. More than likely that's what's causing your dingy brass.
Give the stuff a try that you put in a dishwasher to keep the spots off your glassware instead of lemishine. PM Sustaponte for pointers.
 
I have tried more and less water in different runs and more/less detergent as well. The water is actually coming out fairly clean at the moment. I have also cleaned the media very well, no dirty water at after running the clean twice.

Are you talking about the rinse aid product I put in my dishwasher?
 
I would use dish soap and not the burnishing compound. That's what's giving you the problem. Not the lack of lemishine. The dish soap holds the carbon in suspension and off the brass. The citric acid in the lemishine gives the brass the shine. Also, if you let the brass sit after you tumble, the carbon can rebond back to the brass giving it the gun metal grey look.
 
I have used diluted CLR, etc., to lightly dampen walnut tumbling media for going on a decade. It works analogous to Lemishine, only with a bit more zip. The cases, once separated, get a rinse in rubbing alcohol, and dry quickly with little, if any, residual acidity. I have also deliberately left the 'clean' brass in the media overnight. It acquires an olive green patina that is pretty durable, but comes right off when retumbled with the same technique. I might try augmenting the patina by adding graphite to the media.

I am considering getting this cleaner and stainless media. I intend to use diluted CLR and Dawn as my cleaning agent, with an alcohol rinse.

Greg
 
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These work great as I replaced my old vibratory cleaner with the tumbler and SS Media.I do final rinse with RO water shake off excess water place them on paper towels in a pan and put in a 220F oven. Bag them after in zip-locks. I do deprime first to insure pockets get cleaned also.
 
I am moving away from using heated water, air and heat in general in this process, I think the cases harden quicker using the hot water / oven / and hair dryer in the process, I am starting to use cold water and will try the alchohol to dry them on my next batch of newly annealed brass to see if it makes a diff over the next 5 cycles. Does anyone know if there ios a better SS media available?
 
Quick question- I am just about to take the plunge on stainless pin cleaning for my brass. If i clean down to the bare brass will the rounds tarnish if stored long term. I have several hundred new pieces of lapua brass from a group buy several years ago and they still look new. Am I worrying for nothing?
 
Ok so I just stumbled across the STM website today. The Thumlers Tumbler Model B comes highly recommended but how does the Extreme Tumblers Rebel 7 compare? I like the idea of the inside being powder coated vs unpainted on the Model B. I see they have a combo pack with the Rebel 7 but not with the Model B. for those thatbhavebused both which o you prefer and why.
 
on the "patina" problem...sometimes I get it and sometimes I don't. I have the cheap dual drum from harbor freight. I split my brass into the two drums. dawn, pinch of lemi, 1-1.5 lbs pin media. Sometimes both batches come out brilliant, sometimes they have the patina. Sometimes one drum is shiny and the other isn't. If it comes out with patina I can re-run it and then it will be bright, or it might be worse. I can't figure out what variable is causing it. It's on a 3-hour timer and sometimes I don't get back to it until the following day so it sits, but I've had them sit and still be pretty. The water can be really dirty and the brass will be bright, or the water can be fairly clean but I'll have the patina. I read the earlier posts about carbon in suspension, I wondered if it was caused by the rubber interior of the drum? help!


Sorry if this was covered in earlier pages.

Thanks for any advice
 
I just picked up two lortone qt12 tumblers, I have lemi shine and stainless media on the way. Does anyone have a general idea as to how much water, brass and media to run? It's a 12 lb tumbler vs the 15 of the thumler. I'm thinking 3lbs brass, 5lbs media, half a gallon of water(about 3.5 lbs), 9mm case of lemi shine, a few drops of dawn, and tumble for 3-4 hours. I'll run just the media through two cycles without brass when they show up. I already have the rcbs media separator and a stainless colander to rinse the brass in. And I'm looking for a food dehydrator now for drying. Am I missing anything? The media should be here Thursday, so I have a few days.
 
Not sure where you live but in the summer I just put the brass in the sun for an hour and its almost to hot to the touch. If you wash your new pins once you schuld be good. I didn't even do mine once and I was fine . I would also fill the water to just below full. I think more water helps the brass get cleaner.
 
Not sure where you live but in the summer I just put the brass in the sun for an hour and its almost to hot to the touch. If you wash your new pins once you schuld be good. I didn't even do mine once and I was fine . I would also fill the water to just below full. I think more water helps the brass get cleaner.

I'm in Oregon, so dry and warm weather is not to be depended on. I think I'll get out my postage scale and zero it out with the tub on it. Then add 5 lbs of media, 2 lbs of brass, and fill it up like you said. Then if I'm not at 12 lbs, I'll know how much more brass I can add. I don't want to overload it.
 
If it was me I would try 4lbs of brass with 5lbs of media. I have tried equal amounts of brass and media with no issues and I have done hundreds of thousands of round with good results.