Has anyone ever used their wet pin tumbling for anything other than brass?
I have a Lyman wet pin tumbler that holds 1,000 9mm per run.

My Grandson and I collected over 200 golf balls from a pond by the golf course in my neighborhood. Area is in a drought so GC is not allowed to pump water to pond and its 4' from normal edge to water line. We brought a bucket and a 3 prong rake with 4' handle and collected the balls. Some of them have been there for years with black gunk (maybe oil seepage into pond over the years) on balls. Cleaned several of them with stainless steel brush (soft bristle brush was not removing the gunk) but its a long process
and thought of using the wet pin tumbler for 10-30 balls at a time.

Thoughts?

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Tim
Um, hmm, yes it is so

Probably would work, and worth a try.
I would probably use some super clean, or purple power in the tumbler.
My Father in Law used to collect and sell balls, for extra spending money.
He had a 5 gallon bucket or two with Bleach and soaked them for several days.
You would not want to mix Super clean and bleach as the two will react and the gasses would be toxic.

Lots of luck!

I'd try putting the golf balls in the tumbler without pins first. I'd use Simple Green or something similar. 2-3 hours of agitation in detergent/water will do wonders. Steel pins might be a bit abrasive on the surface of the golf balls.

Agree, the pins will destroy the soft cover on a golf ball.

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What could possibly go wrong?

Put a bunch of airsoft bb's in there instead of pins.

Tried it with bleach and cleaner without pins and it did a pretty good job. Gave away all my airsoft BB's but that's a great idea.

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Tim
Um, hmm, yes it is so

For those of you who wet tumble your brass, how do you dry it afterwards, if you want to immediately start loading?

I spread them out on a cookie sheet and bake them in the oven at the lowest setting. Takes about 15 minutes. I keep an old cookie sheet just for this purpose to avoid lead contamination.

I use the Hot Cypress TX sun in summertime. Did a 1,000 9 mm's a couple of weeks ago spread them out on a beach towel in direct sun for 2-3 hours.
Pick up towel by both ends so brass goes to center, then invert/funnel the towel into the container for easy transfer.

I do try to make sure every piece of brass is horizontal on the towel.

I have used the sun method in temperatures as low as 70's, takes longer to get all the water out.

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Tim
Um, hmm, yes it is so

Does this work with unsized brass that still has a fired primer?

I spread 'em out on the tailgate of the P/U...even in the winter. We do have a lot of sun here. My father collected golf balls in the past. He bleached them some made pretty good money on 'em

I have used the same method. The humidity here is very low so it works most of the year as long as the temp is above freezing. To answer your question, I wouldn't trust it without decapping first. Decapping allows airflow through the case and the primer itself is very good at holding water. This is just one of many good reasons to decap before tumbling. My primary reason is lead exposure. I use a Lee Universal Decap die. I don't size until after tumbling/drying.

I agree with duman444 and Paul in Nevada. The sun will do the job especially in Central Texas in August.

I did a couple large batches of various cases this week tumbled wet with stainless steel pins. Hot to the touch after an hour in the Texas sunshine.

This may be a no-brainer for experienced wet tumblers but a couple things I've learned over the years.

If one size case can be slipped or fitted inside another size (caliber) case, better to tumble them separately as they, invariably, will cocoon inside one another and the result is the larger one gets clean on the outside and the smaller only on the case head. Lots of your brass WILL find a way to cocoon - .32 S&W Long and .38 Special are a classic match for max cocooning as are 9mm and .45ACP.

If your using a tad of Lemi-Shine in your cleaning mix a decent rinse of fresh water should prevent water spots on your brass. Roll them in a towel and they'll be mostly dry on the outside, then as duman444 suggests, an hour or two in the bright sunshine always seems to do the trick.

As Paul in Nevada suggests it is a good idea to decap prior to wet tumbling. With a universal decapping die this is easily accomplished and the result is you get clean primer pockets as a bonus. It is an extra step if you've a progressive or turret press, or otherwise like to resize commensurate with decapping, but I believe it's worth the result.

The big advantage of wet tumbling is clean primer pockets and clean insides of the case. If these are not important to you corncobs or walnut shells in a vibratory cleaner work pretty well at getting the gunk off the outsides of the cases.

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Ordnung muss sein
SWHF #789

Wet pin tumble brass, shake out pins and water in a home made separator, 50 cases each or so in a old sock. Hang sock(s) over wife's clothes dryer door and close door with sock suspended, not in the drum, a turn dryer on low for a few minutes. Done.

Hint: Best to do above when wife is otherwise occupied.

Yes, anything non-magnetic cleans up nice. Aluminum, stainless steel parts, brass plumbing parts, household hardware, automotive brake caliper SS parts, dirty corroded pennies.

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What is the best pin tumbler going? Saw mixed reviews on the Frankford arsenal

I never cleaned a gold ball in mine, but have done rusted nuts and bolts.

As for drying my brass, a multilevel food dehydrator I got for $15 back in the Craigslist days is still drying mine just fine.

I have 2..one is FA and the other is Lyman. Both work fine As for drying.. I had a food dehydrator but pretty much just put the cases in a plastic box on the tailgate on the back of the P/U..summer or winter..long as the sun shines

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Collecting balls from golf-course ponds is big business here in FL, although a hazardous one. I taught a guy to scuba dive because the ball-collecting company he worked for required it. One week after I certified him, an alligator chomped him while diving on a course. He quit the next day.

Yep

200 degrees for like 15 minutes dry as a bone.

I put about $30 in clad coins (modern) just so they'd go through a coinstar machine at bank. I metal detect a lot with a buddy of mine.

They cleaned up pretty good.

Invest in a universal decapping die. Then your primer pockets are like new.

I found that the wife’s air fryer works great. It has three screen baskets that fit in it at a time. I use low heat at 150 degrees and with the air circulation, it dries them in less than 15 minutes. She came home earlier than I anticipated once and caught me using it and got pretty mad until I pointed out that the brass is nearly surgically clean before it goes in. In fact, I clean all the grease spatters and food debris out of it before use.

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USS Brewton FF1086
SWCA#3597

I use one of these, real nice unit......

Stainless Tumbling Media | Rebel 17 Tumbler

How long do the pins last? Could you use pins and a detergent solution in a conventional vibratory tumbler?

Forever ? I think so.
Conventional vibratory tumbler, you could and the soapy solution would end up bubbling over the top as those tumblers don't have a good seal and they'd leak at the center mounting post.

Until you lose them.

I think all the pins would settle out to the bottom.

SS pins would damage golf ball covers just the same as they are hard on tumbler linings. I use warm water with a squirt of Dawn dish detergent and a dash of Lemi-shine. I have a Frankford Arsenal tumbler that I've been using for several years now, I'm completely satisfied with it especially like the timer.