Stainless Steel Media

[JeffsSig]

I really look forward to a SS tumbler if it will out do my media and vibrator.

No cleaning the primer pockets by hand would be worth a lot of $$$$ to me.

[giggidy]

Dealing with the wet brass is a problem for me, or I would have already gone that route. I do kinda wonder what a rotary tumbler would do with some kind of dry media.

I've got a small rotary tumbler that I use and it works pretty well for the small amount of cleaning I do. The tumbler is a small one I got from Harbor Freight for about $30 and I run between 80 to 100 9mm through it at a time. I run them first for about an hour with water, lemishine, and a dash of dish soap then spread them out to dry. Later in the day I'll run them for about an hour with some corn cob and nufinish wax. They come out looking new. It works pretty well for me...but I'm only cleaning 200-300 cases on a Saturday and Sunday at the most.

[Sam1]

What's the benefit of using a tumbler over a vibratory polisher? Seems like with a wet ceramic ball media, they would be as clean if not better and 25% of the equipment cost

 

<edit> I looked it up and some are saying that the metal media doesn't work as well in a vibratory bowl, but a large portion of bowls are sealed and set up to use a solution, and it seems to me that it may require an angled cylindrical media to get the primer areas cleaned, and just mix that in with a ball media (2mm or so).

 

Think I'll order some of the cylindrical media from Kramer this week and mix it together with the balls and see how that works

Edited January 1, 2013 by Sam1

[smopoim86]

What's the benefit of using a tumbler over a vibratory polisher? Seems like with a wet ceramic ball media, they would be as clean if not better and 25% of the equipment cost

Most vibratory tumblers can't handle the weight. I think the stainless media would end up the on bottom even if it could handle the weight.

[Sam1]

Most vibratory tumblers can't handle the weight. I think the stainless media would end up the on bottom even if it could handle the weight.

good point, didn't even think of that. Mine can hold 18# total and that much SS media by itself probably wouldn't fill up 15% of the bowl.

[runco]

Does the ss media have to be a certain size and shape to be effective? I notice on eBay there is 0.185" size ss balls, would this work? As a cost per lb basis this is the best price I have found. http://www.ebay.com/itm/410-Stainless-Steel-Tumbling-Media-Sling-Shot-0-185-Ball-Diameter-25-lbs-/140875478264?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20ccd534f8

[jtmaze]

I didn't look at the ad. But I can make one of these fairly cheap with stuff I had around the house.


JTM
Sent from my iPhone

[Sam1]

Am not sure on the SS media itself but what in general for metal polishing we use balls to do anything with an interior surfaces (especially curved ones like brass has). 

 

What is just as important as the shape of the media is the composite it's made from. You can get a HD ball that will cut more metal than a light pyramid cutting media, but you can also get an HD Pyramid that will remove 2-3x the material that same HD ball does. Since I have never worked on brass before, I can't say that A, B or C works better, or if D does a good enough job that A,B and C are not needed.

 

One thing you must do with ceramic is run a solution, it looks like most people are recommending a home-made concoction of some sort, but I recommend Kramco solutions. Again I haven't worked with brass and would have to check with them to see if they are safe to use on ammo, but I use Kramco 1010 and 1510 on a semi-regular basis with ceramic media.

[chances R]

SS balls won't clean in the edges of the base of the case interior.   A little dawn dish washing solution and a little bit of Lemon Shine powder thrown in the water gets the job done.