Tumbling Dust Removal - Any Tips/Tricks?

[picone]

Any tips to getting the tumbling dust out of the cases? I like the polished-up, slick finish, but considering going to an ultrasonic cleaner.

I suppose the bigger questions is - Does it even matter? I usually just load them up with the dust.

 

[Lunchbox27]

I wipe each case down with a cloth. Never bothers me. Just wanna keep the dust/carbon outta the dies and rifle chamber.

 

[Dstoenner]

Take a used dryer sheet, cut in 4 pieces and throw it in. You will be amazed at how much crap comes out on each run

David

 

[picone]

Take a used dryer sheet, cut in 4 pieces and throw it in. You will be amazed at how much crap comes out on each run

David

That sounds ridiculous, but I'm on my way to the garage to try it.

 

[6.5SH]

I use walnut for cleaning and a cut up dryer sheet to reduce dirt/dust. I then polish with corncob treated with a 1/2 cap full of Nu-Finish car polish per batch. That leaves the brass shiny and tarnish resistant and no dust.

IMO the various liquid polishes do not do as well in walnut, the cob is more porous and holds onto it.

 

[E-Tool]

Use water

 

[picone]

That sounds ridiculous, but I'm on my way to the garage to try it.

Well, I’ll be damned! I threw 4 dryer sheets in and they’re not too dusty.

 

[picone]

Use water

I didn’t even think of that, but yeah, that works too.

 

[mr45acp2u]

That sounds ridiculous, but I'm on my way to the garage to try it.

Sounds ridiculous but it works. I heard this trick a while ago. Every few months i gather up the used sheets and cut them up, it’s a great refresher to the media. I run them for about 20 minutes before i put new polishing compound in the media.

 

[Rmdashrf]

I use an air compressor to blow the media and dust out of the cases. I thought that was a pretty standard practice?

 

[atvman400]

Take a used dryer sheet, cut in 4 pieces and throw it in. You will be amazed at how much crap comes out on each run

David

I heard about this several years ago and have been saving my old dryer sheets ever since. I think it works great. I also use a couple cap fulls of mineral spirits with compound before adding brass.

 

[Bullspotter]

I use pet lizard walnut bedding, with some polish in it, When its new, i let it run outside for 30 min or so with the lid off, get most of the new dust out, i Toss in 2 or 3 anti static dryer sheets with brass. They do good at trapping the dust. When i do brass with lube on it, Ill toss in several of the blue shop towels to help absorb the case lube, the towels and the dryer sheets usually come out pretty dirty. Not much dust hardly at all.

 

[Yote Klr]

Not only does the drier sheets collect dust it also prevents any dust from flying around because of the anti static properties.

If I didn't already use them in the dryer I'd buy em for the tumbler.

 

[flyfisher117]

I went to wet tumbling. Havent looked back

Didn't matter how much or often I ran dryer sheets it didn't reduce the dust for me. Still ended up everywhere. I tried a lot of tips tricks and various brands of media and polishes.

 

[Powder_Burns]

Medium grain rice as media, paper towel in 1.5” strips, no dust.

 

[picone]

Hopefully the images are visible. I’m using fairly old walnut media that is “Pre-seasoned” from Bass Pro. It polishes REALLY good. Not the absolute shiniest media I’ve used, but REALLY good. For some reason I prefer the walnut over corn cob but I can’t remember why. It’s clean and slick.

With already polished brass, I tossed 100rds back in with at least 3 used dryer sheets and one new one. The clean shell is the result of using dryer sheets vs. not. I’m really impressed and this is good enough for me. The laundry room will have a box for used dryer sheets from now on.

 

[Huskydriver]

Dryer sheets work great

 

[6.5SH]

Walnut is harder than cob so does a better job cleaning. Corn cob does a better job at polishing or absorbing.

EDIT:
Common media prices are about $1 a pound now. Rather than crap up media with lube I use denatured alcohol to remove case lube. Sorry for the tangent but related to the discussion. Tumbling media can last a very long time with cleaning via straining over a fine screen or even washing. But removing lube from cob isn't that easy.

 

[Huskydriver]

In use medium grit walnut blasting media it's cheap, quiet, doesn't get stuck in flash holes...50lbs lasts allllonnng time

 

[sodakhunter]

In use medium grit walnut blasting media it's cheap, quiet, doesn't get stuck in flash holes...50lbs lasts allllonnng time

I will have to try this. It would be nice not to have to clean each flash hole and if the stuff fits through the hole may even clean it up a bit.

 

[picone]

Hopefully the images are visible. I’m using fairly old walnut media that is “Pre-seasoned” from Bass Pro. It polishes REALLY good. Not the absolute shiniest media I’ve used, but REALLY good. For some reason I prefer the walnut over corn cob but I can’t remember why. It’s clean and slick.

With already polished brass, I tossed 100rds back in with at least 3 used dryer sheets and one new one. The clean shell is the result of using dryer sheets vs. not. I’m really impressed and this is good enough for me. The laundry room will have a box for used dryer sheets from now on.

 

[Joel Danielson]

Medium grain rice as media, paper towel in 1.5” strips, no dust.

No shit, and a 20lb bag of rice at Costco is a lot cheaper than tumbling media...

 

[charliem249]

I knew a guy who used kitty litter for tumbling media. He said it worked great you just had to be sure and pull out the "steamers" first.

 

[Winningdog]

Working in the oil patch, I can get a 50lb bag of walnut hulls for free. Clean out the trash and have enough tumbling media for a very long time. A little bit of wax keeps the dust down.

 

[Vodak]

My recipe for my vibratory tumbler is walnut shell lizard bedding, and approximately 1/2 teaspoon of mineral spirits, 1-2 teaspoons Nu-Finish car polish, and a couple chunks of dryer sheet or even paper towel with each batch. You can buy bigger bags of walnut cat litter, blasting media etc. for less, but I don't feel I personally go through it fast enough to warrant storing the bigger bag.
Start the tumbler, pour the wet components in slowly spreading them out to minimize clumping. let in run a few seconds to spread out and mix in, and then add my brass and dryer sheets. If you dump brass first you occasionally get clumps of media stuck in the necks from the wet stuff.
Cleans about as well as can be expected for dry/vibratory tumbling, and leaves very minimal dust if any.

 

[Barryd]

Walnut shell lizard bedding and dryer sheets has always worked well for me.

 

[Plinker 73]

In my area we can get corn cob for about $15 a fifty pound bag. I just put up with the dust, lazy. Some enviroment friendly solvent takes care of the lube. I will have to try the dryer sheets though.

 

[Powder_Burns]

No shit, and a 20lb bag of rice at Costco is a lot cheaper than tumbling media...

Rice is about a dollar a pound. My tumbler holds a little under 2lbs of media...so $2. Why pay more than double that for walnut media and have to deal with all the dust, I’ll pass.

 

[Austan]

Nu Finish car polish, about a teaspoon worth per hundred cases. No dust.

 

[TxWelder35]

Rice is about a dollar a pound. My tumbler holds a little under 2lbs of media...so $2. Why pay more than double that for walnut media and have to deal with all the dust, I’ll pass.

I’ve been using rice for a while but hate what a PITA it is to get it out of the inside of the cases. Especially 223. Wonder how well it would work if I had my wife run it though the food processor.

 

[Plinker 73]

In my area we can get corn cob for about $15 a fifty pound bag. I just put up with the dust, lazy. Some enviroment friendly solvent takes care of the lube. I will have to try the dryer sheets though.

In all fairness i should tell you my tumbler holds 100# of media. However it will clean fifteen gal of brass at a time in about 20 min.

 

[Powder_Burns]

I’ve been using rice for a while but hate what a PITA it is to get it out of the inside of the cases. Especially 223. Wonder how well it would work if I had my wife run it though the food processor.

What size grain? I’m using medium grain because the ends aren’t pointy enough to get stuck in flash holes. Haven’t tumbled .223, smallest cartridge I’m currently loading is .308 now.

 

[TxWelder35]

What size grain? I’m using medium grain because the ends aren’t pointy enough to get stuck in flash holes. Haven’t tumbled .223, smallest cartridge I’m currently loading is .308 now.

It’s either medium or long. Can’t remember. In my 260 it doesn’t bother me too much but I put like 200 223 cases in there and I wanted to blow my brains out. Every flash hole had a piece in it, and getting all the rice out of the cases was awful. Took me an hour probably.

 

[StopMakingSense]

I haven't really looked back after going to wet tumbling with SS media, Dawn, and Lemi Shine

 

[marchboom]

When the weather is decent put your tumbler outside with the lid off. The dust will make its way out of the bowl and if there is a slight breeze it's gone. After doing this a few times use the dryer sheets to keep it clean. NuFinish helps.

 

[JMGlasgow]

I also put my tumbler outside. It's windy all the time here (Cheyenne).

 

[NoDopes]

I have read that over cleaning the cases as in SS wet, will cause inconsistent neck tensions and higher ES. enough that some people will use a little graphite in the necks after cleaning to resolve it. I bought the pieces, but haven't setup it up yet myself.

 

[Changed]

I hit my brass with air from my compressor or my cordless leaf blower. Works very well.

 

[BullGear]

Got to a pet store that sells bedding for bird. It's called Kaytee Walnut Bedding. I buy it in a very large bag because it never goes bad. Add 1/4 dryer sheet and a dab of liquid Nu Finish car polish. You will be amazed at how your cases come out. You can thank me later.