Cleaning brass: Vibratory vs Rotary vs Ultrasonic

[IAM Rand]

I use an old rock tumbler with crushed walnut shells and a little Brasso in the mix. 1 hour later it is good as new. There is powder residue but can easily be wiped off. A brush for the inside as well. If you are that anal you can rinse them off.

 

[hdwhit]

chief38 wrote:
The best method and the cleanest Brass comes from wet tumbling with stainless steel pins IMO.

The "best method" is a matter of opinion. If someone's definition of "best" is cleaning brass with the minimum investment, wet tumbling with steel pins doesn't even come close.

As far as the "cleanest" brass, that will be determined by the acids, detergents and surfactants you choose, not the media.

As far as "shiniest" you would need to use cut bronze wire (85% Cu, 15% Sn) in place of your stainless steel pins.

 

[AZ2VET]

In my experience the least labor intensive method is by far a vibratory tumbler with crushed walnut. Put the media in your tumbler and add the brass,maybe some Mothers metal polish or NuFinish, turn it on and walk away. Come back later and seperate the brass and media with your preferred method; slotted spoon, colander and 5 gallon bucket or a media separator. Takes me less than 30 minutes total.

I have borrowed a friends FA wet rotary tumbler and SS pins which did a great job of cleaning some extremely dirty brass but I spent about an hour or more dealing with each batch and that was not even dealing with drying them which I laid them out in the sun.

Wet tumbling pistol brass gets them squeaky clean and causes them to drag in carbide dies then needing to be lubed.