glass bead in tumbler

2675 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by glenwolde, Mar 14, 2013

Jeepjunk94

Discussion Starter · Mar 6, 2013

Thought it was a good idea to use fine glass bead abrasive in my rotary tumbler. I had used I kept from blasting some aluminum parts once upon a time. BAD IDEA, I should have known better. Gives a nice dull finish and it's a pain to rid your brass of all the tiny grit. Run my next batch in water with dish liquid, doesn't create a new brass shine but it gets them clean. Not to mention no grit to mess with. Think I will stick with the wash method. Don't know till ya try.

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Fishinkeylargo

· #2 · Mar 6, 2013

Jeepjunk94 said:
Thought it was a good idea to use fine glass bead abrasive in my rotary tumbler. I had used I kept from blasting some aluminum parts once upon a time. BAD IDEA, I should have known better. Gives a nice dull finish and it's a pain to rid your brass of all the tiny grit. Run my next batch in water with dish liquid, doesn't create a new brass shine but it gets them clean. Not to mention no grit to mess with. Think I will stick with the wash method. Don't know till ya try.

How many pounds does your rotary tumbler hold? Mine holds 15 lbs, I use a gallon of water 5#'s of stainless steel pins a little dish soap and a little Lemishine and @ 2 lb's of brass. Brass comes out clean and shines like new. Makes it a lot easier to find your brass at the range. I de-prime first so the primer pockets are clean as well.

The media can be purchased at: Stainless Steel Reloading Supplies | Tumblers, Separators, Media, Brass & More!

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Jeepjunk94

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 8, 2013

My tumbler is a small 3# Harbor Freight rock tumbler. It was cheap compared to the name brand tumblers I have seen on reloading supplies on-line stores. I also de-prime before cleaning. Thank ya for the link on the pins, I will check them out.

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Jeepjunk94

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 14, 2013

Sorry to bring up an old thread but I wanted to thank fishinkeylargo for suggesting the stainless steel pin media, they are great. It might also help some of the other folks new to the forum who might have a question about what works for cleaning their brass. So thank ya fishinkeylargo.

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Fishinkeylargo

· #5 · Mar 14, 2013

Jeepjunk94 said:
Sorry to bring up an old thread but I wanted to thank fishinkeylargo for suggesting the stainless steel pin media, they are great. It might also help some of the other folks new to the forum who might have a question about what works for cleaning their brass. So thank ya fishinkeylargo.

No problem, I got lucky on the tumbler, found one cheap on craigs list that had a bad motor. Got a replacement motor and it has worked like a charm. Expensive start-up, if you are careful you will never need to buy media again, and no media/lead dust to deal with.

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glenwolde

· #6 · Mar 14, 2013

Miller Lite works pretty well as a case cleaner, and what else is it good for?

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