I have read several posts on adding Nu Finish Car Polish to the fine crushed walnut shells in a vibratory tumbler. Question: How much Nu Finish per hopper and how often to add more?
John

I usually use Dillon Rapid Polish to clean & polish cases.
3 or 4 cap fulls, per instructions. ( less than a half a shot glass)

But if I run out , I've used Nu Finish cut 25% to 50% with odorless mineral spirits. Shake well.
I put less than half a shot glass in with the walnut hulls, let it mix for about 5 mins. then add the brass.
If you throw in the brass to soon before it has mixed, it can get inside the brass and cause some additional work getting it out .
Let it run for about 2 or so hours. It does a good job of cleaning & ploishing cases.

Don't use anything with ammonia in it !!

I've seen others say they use a capful of NuFinish every few loads. Put it in and let it tumble for a few minutes before adding brass.

Does it also work with corn cobb media?

Yes it works very well.

Doyle

You really need to try the stainless media.
It makes old dirty brass look new, and never needs replacing
like the other media.

1 cap of NuFinish with walnet media makes the brass all sparkly.

I haven' tried the stainless steel media as I am too cheap to buy it and the required new tumbler.

For anything larger than 9mm cases, I add 1 cap of mineral spirits, run the tumbler for 2 minutes, add 1 cap of Nu Finish or a healthy squirt of Flitz media additive, run 1 minute, add brass, tumble 4-6 hours, remove and it looks like new. As long as the media stays wet, I don't add mineral spirits and the brass stays dust free. I add 1/2 cap of polish every load and I pre wash muddy or gritty brass in hot soapy water prior to tumbling. 9mm and smaller will cake with media.

I've always used Brasso in walnut media. I add a teaspoon full every couple of runs. Been doing this for about 40 years. 1 can lasts a long time. But, I never entered any brass in a beauty contest. Functionality and longevity have always been the criteria. I've reloaded a lot of really old (1870's) and rare brass as well as the thousands of rounds run through full auto guns with no problems or complaints from onlookers.

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Randy
Provenance nerd

Brasso is a fine polish, but it does contain ammonia. Some folks really hate the idea of using ammonia based polish on brass cases. I don't do it based on what I have read.

I must be the odd guy out .Nu Finish did nothing for my brass .

Well, I took the advice (mostly) and went to Harbor freight and purchased the 5# vibrator tumbler for $55 and 25 lbs of fine walnut media for $24. Then to Wal-Mart for the Nu-Finish for $7.50. I had some old 38 spl brass that was military ball from 1966 that was super dark and dull.
I put 2 1/2 lbs of the walnut and one cap of Nu-Finish and 1/2 drier towel. I ran it 10 minutes then added 250 rounds of the old brass. I checked it after 2 hours and it looked really bright and clean. I decided to let it go for 2 more hours to see what would happen. 4 Hours total and I really couldn't see much improvement over the first 2 hours. It really shines!
I removed the brass and shook it out over a bucket with a large strainer and then packaged it.
I added 1/2 cap of Nu-Finish and 1/2 cap of mineral spirits and after operating for 5 minutes I added another 250 rounds of brass.
Thanks for all of the advice. Y'all are great!
John

Just remember that if you are using part of a dryer sheet (which I do), make it a used one. New dryer sheets can leave residue on your brass.

Chubbs

Instead of a used dryer sheet I use about 1/4 of a sheet of the blue paper shop towels that I buy at Costco.
Works good and always on hand.

Take care R.J.

Two things... Have momma save the used dryer sheets and cut them in four strips, before you toss them in the tumbler. Also, somebody here turned me onto the crushed walnut shells sold in pet stores to line cages. Very cheap and works well, and because it's cheap you can change it out more often. To the original question, Nu Finish works great.

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50/50 walnut and corncob, a capful of new finish, two hours later clean and sparkling brass.

What's the dryer sheet/shop towel stuff do?

Manages the dust.


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Nu Finish is not for cleaning brass, rather it leaves a fine wax on the brass to keep if from tarnishing

That's what I do. And I throw in 1/2 of a used dryer sheet (that's how my wife uses them - 1/2 sheet at time)...

We have a winner and the best answer!

You must be almost as smart, good looking and modest as I am.

I used to use Walnut Shells with a dash of Dillon's blue liquid polish (30 years) but about 5 years ago one of my friends turned me on to the Lyman GREEN media for tumbling. It needs NO ADDITIVES and works far better than what I was using. It also lasts quite a while and I would highly recommend it. I just throw some used dryer sheets in when I am near the end of the cycle. GREAT results!

Other than the fact that Nu Finish contains "no wax" (according to the label), it does exactly that--prevents tarnishing.


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I've been using Flitz polish in my corn cob media, a couple squirts and, brass comes out as new.

I’m curious about Brasso. I have used Nu Finish and Brasso. I’m up in the air with anything that’s put in there. The whole thing is cause medic any way, like finger nail polish for the ladies. You pull the trigger and bullet goes away and the brass stays, and you are back to square one. What is the percentage of ammonia in Brasso anyway and what’s the percentage of Brasso we’re putting in. Can’t be much. So what’s the down side?

I won't use Brasso for cleaning firearm brass for the same reason, ammonia.

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I use almost any pure car polish. Not the stuff with cleaning agents in it. I no longer do a lot of car cleaning and polishing in my old age since I pay for it with stiff joints and aching muscles. By stopping that, I have a large supply of polish for my tumbler. Works great.

Works well for me, but I put it in lizard litter found at the pet store. You can get a great big bag of it cheaper than a small container marketed as tumbler media.

The stories of embrittlement of brass in an ammonia-rich environment is called "season cracking" and has to do with the storage of brass-cased ammuniton above stables in wet weather in India during the late-19th and early-20th Centuries.

If you consult the MSDS on Brasso, you will see that the concentrration of ammonia is not the same as a 19th Century British stable during a summer during the Raj, nor is the time of exposure in any way comparable (i.e. minutes versus months).

Brasso contains somewhere from 5% to 10% Ammonia. In the tumbler it would be like .0001 of volume. The brass that was cracking was caused by stress in production by pounding it to the thickness needed for production for clock works and ammo cases. Brass today is rolled to thickness with much less stress. The stress today in ammo comes from firing guns, with or without Brasso. With all the handling it takes to make and use reloads not much ammonia would be left and reloads don’t have a long life expectance anyway. I am not saying any one should use Brasso. The hardening and cracking in reloads will happen with use. And all the people said “Who cares?”

FYI , I was using Mother's mag polish on my brass and it was working outstanding until I started noticing black carbon specs all over my tumbled brass. Turns out there was a thick crusted buildup in the bottom of my tumbler. What a ROYAL PIA chipping off the crusted carbon/polish residue. So now i'm back to good old treated corn cob media, NO additives.

I agree. The paranoia about Brasso is out of proportion. Actually the current ammonia in Brasso is only 2-3% by weight. A small amount dispersed in a tumbler of dry media would be negligible.

The majority of it is mineral spirits ( Stoddard)

No I would not leave brass soaking in ammonia but the tiny amount in a tumbler I doubt would do anything.

https://www.conncoll.edu/media/websi...lish_-MSDS.pdf


And there we have another Zombie media cleaning thread!

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Still Running Against the Wind

I've found that Turtle Wax Metal Polish from WalMart works good with corn cob. I drizzle a little in and it speeds cleaning. Basically, all the tumbler specific polish is is rebranded metal polishes. Just be sure yours doesn't contain ammonia like Brasso does.

Catches the dirt, too!

I simply pour a little NU Fnish onto a used dryer sheet, wad it up and poke it down into the media and cover over with media. I then pour the brass on top of the media and go from there. Spin for 4 hours and have nice clean and shiny brass.

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I have a plastic bottle that looks like a ketchup dispenser you might see at a restaurant. Mine came from a beauty supply store. I fill it with 50% low odor mineral spirits and 50% Nu-Finish and drizzle a circle on top of the media before each batch (about a cap full, maybe a little less). When you see what looks like condensation on the lid, don't add any for the next batch or two. It keeps the brass from tarnishing and puts a slick finish on them so the go through the sizing die easier. I use Berry's untreated corn cob because the pieces are smaller, so I get less stuck in primer holes.

Mike

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Over 40 yers ago I started with a Thumblers Tumbler and corn cob media and two tablespoons of brasso. Graduated to a Lyman vibrator with the same media and Brasso. Now I have the two old ones and a Dillon 1000 I gat at a gun show 12-14 years age. Use the same media and three tablespoons of Brasso. Never had any problems at all and clean brass every time and use the stuff for several years before changing.