scooter123
Member
I have the Thumler's Tumbler.
Thumler's Tumbler Model B High Speed Rotary Case Tumbler 110 Volt
While it isn't cheap and the stainless steel pins cost another 45 bucks once you see the results you won't ever use any other method. I've tried the vibrator and wore one out in 6 months. I then tried an Ultrasonic and didn't like the red tinge on the brass caused by the vinegar/soap/salt mix mentioned previously. That red tinge is cause by the zinc being leached out of the brass. Read up on Dezincification of brass and you'll understand my concern.
The formula used for wet tumbling with stainless steel pins is chemically near inert, in 2 gallons of warm or hot water you add 2 tablespoons of dishwashing soap and 1/4 teaspoon of Lemishine. For your 40 caliber brass a 1 hour bath will leave you with brass that looks nearly new.
However, it will be so clean and dust free that you will find flaring the cases becomes a real pain in the shoulder. Because as the flaring punch is drawn out of the case the case acts a bit like a chinese thumb cuff and really grabs on to the case. Because of this my preparation has evolved to take this into account.
Step one is to lube the cases lightly. What works for me is to use the rubber pad for the RCBS Lube pad and place the wet pad on top of a full tray of cases. This leaves a rather tiny ring of lube on the mouth of each case.
Step two is to size and de-prime all the cases. The only special aspect here is that after running a batch of brass through the die it should be cleaned so it won't corrode.
Step three is to then flare all the cases. Again, after a batch of brass you will want to clean your flare die, not only is corrosion a potential issue the flaring die also gets pretty crudded up after 3 or 4 hundred cases.
Step four is into the tumbler. Depending on the caliber the run time can range between 1 hour and about 3 hours with bottle neck rifle cases taking the longest time in the cleaning cycle. The reason for this is the bottleneck impedes the circulation of the stainless pins in and out of the cases as they are tumbled. 38 special and 357 Magnum cases generally come out good after about 1 hour 45 minutes, again due to the depth of the case impeding pin circulation.
Step five is to separate out the media and a tumbling media basket can make quick work of that. After that I like to give the cases a good rinsing in plain water. Don't know if that is really needed but why risk contaminating the powder with left over soap or Lemishine residue.
Step six is to dry the brass and I've worked out an effective method that won't harm the brass and insures it's bone dry. What I do is put the brass into a warm oven pre-heated to 135 degrees for exactly 24 minutes. After that the trays are set on top of the stove to cool down and finish drying any traces of water that may be left. The reason for this is I found leaving the brass in the oven for too long will allow it to start to tarnish and I like my brass to look new. After the complete drying and cooling cycle the cases then go into 1 quart ziplock bags so they will stay nice and shiny.
Now, there is one critical limitation to the wet tumblers that you need to pay attention to. It's also probably a limitation for the vibrators and may be in part due to my wearing my vibrator out. That is the maximum weight capacity. With 2 gallons of water and 5 lbs. of stainless steel pins the remaining weight capacity of my tumbler is just 2 lbs. For 45 ACP at 75 grains per case that means 185 cases. To determine the max count is pretty simple, you take 1400 and divide that by the weight for one case.
Thumler's Tumbler Model B High Speed Rotary Case Tumbler 110 Volt
While it isn't cheap and the stainless steel pins cost another 45 bucks once you see the results you won't ever use any other method. I've tried the vibrator and wore one out in 6 months. I then tried an Ultrasonic and didn't like the red tinge on the brass caused by the vinegar/soap/salt mix mentioned previously. That red tinge is cause by the zinc being leached out of the brass. Read up on Dezincification of brass and you'll understand my concern.
The formula used for wet tumbling with stainless steel pins is chemically near inert, in 2 gallons of warm or hot water you add 2 tablespoons of dishwashing soap and 1/4 teaspoon of Lemishine. For your 40 caliber brass a 1 hour bath will leave you with brass that looks nearly new.
However, it will be so clean and dust free that you will find flaring the cases becomes a real pain in the shoulder. Because as the flaring punch is drawn out of the case the case acts a bit like a chinese thumb cuff and really grabs on to the case. Because of this my preparation has evolved to take this into account.
Step one is to lube the cases lightly. What works for me is to use the rubber pad for the RCBS Lube pad and place the wet pad on top of a full tray of cases. This leaves a rather tiny ring of lube on the mouth of each case.
Step two is to size and de-prime all the cases. The only special aspect here is that after running a batch of brass through the die it should be cleaned so it won't corrode.
Step three is to then flare all the cases. Again, after a batch of brass you will want to clean your flare die, not only is corrosion a potential issue the flaring die also gets pretty crudded up after 3 or 4 hundred cases.
Step four is into the tumbler. Depending on the caliber the run time can range between 1 hour and about 3 hours with bottle neck rifle cases taking the longest time in the cleaning cycle. The reason for this is the bottleneck impedes the circulation of the stainless pins in and out of the cases as they are tumbled. 38 special and 357 Magnum cases generally come out good after about 1 hour 45 minutes, again due to the depth of the case impeding pin circulation.
Step five is to separate out the media and a tumbling media basket can make quick work of that. After that I like to give the cases a good rinsing in plain water. Don't know if that is really needed but why risk contaminating the powder with left over soap or Lemishine residue.
Step six is to dry the brass and I've worked out an effective method that won't harm the brass and insures it's bone dry. What I do is put the brass into a warm oven pre-heated to 135 degrees for exactly 24 minutes. After that the trays are set on top of the stove to cool down and finish drying any traces of water that may be left. The reason for this is I found leaving the brass in the oven for too long will allow it to start to tarnish and I like my brass to look new. After the complete drying and cooling cycle the cases then go into 1 quart ziplock bags so they will stay nice and shiny.
Now, there is one critical limitation to the wet tumblers that you need to pay attention to. It's also probably a limitation for the vibrators and may be in part due to my wearing my vibrator out. That is the maximum weight capacity. With 2 gallons of water and 5 lbs. of stainless steel pins the remaining weight capacity of my tumbler is just 2 lbs. For 45 ACP at 75 grains per case that means 185 cases. To determine the max count is pretty simple, you take 1400 and divide that by the weight for one case.
Heck, might as well start off with buying a couple models, as they are cheap enough and can always find a good use, and might get lucky and find perfection.
