Why wet tumble when a vibrating tumbler gets brass clean? Good question, as wet tumbling is really not needed.



The advantages are sparkling clean cases inside and out, and clean primer pockets. Even with many times fired range brass.

No dust is maybe the greatest advantage, worst thing about wet tumbling is waiting for the brass to dry.

Depriming before tumbling speeds up drying. More on drying later.



Get a Thumblers model B. Be sure to get the high speed model, as there is also a slow speed one. About $ 169 ish

I changed the washers and wing nuts to a heavier style I like better than the original ones.



SS media, I got mine at Buffalo Arms. Get 5 pounds, $35 + 11 shipping.

Yes it's magnetic, and can be picked up with a magnet if you spill some.



Last 2 things you need are the cleaners. Dawn and Lemishine. Get Lemishine at Walmart in with the dish washing soaps.

I use a 2 second squirt of Dawn, and a 45 ACP case full of Lemishine. I tried a 9mm case, but found that amount didn't clean as well as the 45 case full.

I soldered a 223 case to the 45 case for a handle. Kind of looks like a crack pipe I was told. Don't care, I like it.



2 liter pop bottle cut about 6 inches. That's my brass measure. I don't always fill it to the top.

Loading the Tumbler,

To the brass, add the 5 pounds of media, and 1 gallon of water. Then add the dawn and Lemishine.

I don't have a sink in my work shop (no hot water) so I use water from the hose.

Many posts say to use hot water, but I've been getting good results with cold water. Go ahead and experiment with this.

The water level in the drum when loaded is about 1 to 1 1/2 inches from the top.



Drum should look like this when it's opened after tumbling cycle.

If it's not sudsy like this, you didn't use enough Dawn.

The high speed model need to run 4 hours. The low speed model needs to run 8 hours. Edited run time now that I have more experience.



I use my old Midway (1997) dry media separator and 2 buckets to separate media-water-cases.

Gently shake blue part of separator, will get 90% of the media out of the cases.



Dump cases in white bucket, slowly dump out sudsy water from gray bucket. You can see when the media will start to spill out.



Stop dumping before you get to this point. A little water will still be in bucket, that's ok.

Put some water in bucket, and slowly dump out, stop before media spill out. Repeat until suds are gone. For me, 3 rinses.



I don't put a strainer below the bucket when I dump the water out.

Not needed, you can see when the media is ready to come out and you can stop pouring out the water before that happens. Not hard.

Put about 3 inches of water in white bucket with brass/media mixture. Stir it around and dump out water. Stop before cases start to come out. Set aside for now.



Dump rinsed brass/water/media back through separator. Gently shake separator, 99% of media is now in bucket.



Place brass on an old towel and rub the water off, dump in a drying pan.



I dry on top of a wood stove, takes about 15 minutes. Keep temp at 200 degrees if you use a stove in the house.

In my unheated workshop, brass dries in 2 days. I use old roasting pans for drying.



Just dump media back into bucket and reload tumbler for the next batch.

The media won't rust, so if you are not going to do another batch, leave top off of drum and just let it sit until the next batch.



Now a before pic. Brass score on some Norma 6mm unfired cases that were a little green, and a few 7mm mag.



After pic. Can't do this with a vibrating tumbler.

edit to add more pics

Edit, here is what I saved this spot for;

Here is something you might want to do to your tumbler before you use it.



This the inside of the tumbler where the rubber drum goes into.

It's not painted, and other posters said their tumblers were rusting, and they cleaned out the rust and painted the metal.

So I decided to paint mine while I was waiting for the media to arrive.



I wiped down the metal with a clean rag and alcohol (rubbing alcohol___this is arfcom) so the paint would stick, and masked off the outside from over spray.



Looks like this when finished and tape removed. I let it dry overnight.



Here is the spray paint I used. Rust-oleum Painter Touch #1966 Apple Red. Don't remember where I bought it from.



After using the tumbler a while, I changed the wing nuts to the solid type and replaced the 5/16 washers with 1/4 washers that were a little thicker.

I'm not a fan of cheap hardware, and these wing nuts are easier on the fingers.



edit 2. Then I found these knobs at Mc Feelys. $1.10 each (current price 12/24/2016), order 6. Shipping is $1. I like this site's shipping price and they ship fast.

They just clear the drive shaft. I don't use a washer, just these knobs.



Group pic, after trying the knobs on my first tumbler, I ordered more for all of my tumblers. I also put timers on all of the tumblers.

I now run the low speed Tumbler Model B for 8 hours, also the old tumbler for 8 hours. The high speed runs for 4 hours.

Using rubber cement, I glued the rubber gasket to the removable lid, also glued the washers to the lid.

The black sharpie line is my index mark to get the lid on the same place so the glued washers line up correctly.

I use the dummy 7.62x39 round to pry up the lid when removing the cover. Saves on the fingers. No longer needed

I have 2 more tumblers since I first posted this thread. The second model B came from Buffalo arms and it's the high speed model in the center.

Link to my funshow score thread where I got the old tumbler for $15.

The drum is half the size of the Model B, so I use 2 1/2 pounds of media in it.



As mentioned later in this thread, the high speed Model B's motor shakes a lot when running.

So added a bracket to the back side of the motor studs and painted it. Thanks jlow.

end of edit 2

edit 3

Links to "Build it yourself wet tumblers threads".

BIGDAWG's thread

Nicholastheczar's thread

edit 4

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/367311_Wet_tumbling_on_the_cheap___Yes___It_can_be_done_.html

Low budget wet tumbling thread.
 


Edit 5




Here is how I process my cases.


Deprime dirty cases with a Lee Universal decapper.

Wet tumble, rinse in cold clean water. Hot water is not needed. Dry outside of cases with a towel. Place in a cooking pan/sheet and let air dry overnight.

Lube (*homemade lanolin spray lube) and size (rifle), no lube for pistol cases. Not needed.

Dry tumble in plain corn cob for 1/2 hour to remove lube. (I don't see why people would use a wet method here, takes more drying time.)

Trim and deburr, chamfer case mouths.

Remove crimp if needed, Uniform primer pockets depending on load/use of the cases.

Cases ready to load.

 

*http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/305174_Case_Lube_for_cheap_bastards.html

It takes me about 6 to 10 minutes to unload tumbler and load a new batch for the next run.

Advantage is no dust, and look at the before and after pic. Can't do that with a vibrating tumbler.

If you are good with your present tumbling, stay with it.

I posted this thread to answer questions for people who are considering wet tumbling.

1k of 223 0r 45 ACP would take me 4 runs to do.

Vibrating tumbler = don't use it with water.

Rotary tumbler + wet media.

Show off.  

That's some really nasty looking brass at the bottom.

Was your motor moving around?

Mine seems pretty solid as is.

I can figure out the first and last pic, but what does the middle pic mean?

Guessing brass was run 2 cycles, and second pic was after 1 cycle?

Another convert. That was me 2 months ago.

Did you get the high or low speed model?

I should have guessed that. I do the same.

Just a bad guesser tonight.

I know how you feel, when these threads about wet tumbling started appearing here, I was . I don't need that.

I get my brass plenty clean with dry tumbling.

Then the brass swap thread came along and TGrant sent me some 7.62x39 brass he had wet tumbled.

That tipped me over the edge, and I thank him for that.

Everyone has different ways of doing things, and I separate the media and brass without a sink and reaching into the nasty water to separate brass from media.

So I posted this thread to try to help others, and get out my method.

I also have a thread I can refer others to when they ask wet tumbling questions.

Not everyone hangs out in the forum every night, and they can miss some threads.

Save up, it's worth it.

The instructions tell you how to assemble tumbler (mount motor and rollers, very easy) but not how to wet tumble brass.

Remember they think they are making a rock tumbler.


15 pounds is what the contents of the drum is rated at.

So the following can only weigh 15 pounds, water, media, brass.

1 gallon of water = 8 pounds

SS media = 5 pounds

Brass = 2 pounds

Total = 15 pounds



I use a 2 liter pop bottle cut to about 6 inches as my brass measure.

When drum is full of water, media, and brass there should be about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of empty space left in the drum.



In the gray drum, I have a black line drawn at the 1 gallon level. That's my way of measuring water.

How I came up with the line, dumped in exactly 1 gallon of water. ( Used an old 1 gallon milk jug.)

Measured to the top of the water with a metal ruler. Think it was around 1 3/4 inches.

Dumped out water and dried bucket. Cut a block of wood 1 3/4 high.

Used the block as a guide and traced a line with a sharpie.

Instant 1 gallon line, no need to measure water again.

Is 5 pounds about the right weight for a Thumbler's, or is a little more needed?  I'm weakening.

5 pounds is what was recommended by the guys from sniper hide that started this.

5 pounds is what I use, and it works great.

I might try a little less media, like a poster mentioned.

I wouldn't use any more than 5 pounds because it would take away from the weight of brass you can clean.

Tumbler model B.

Mentioned in the first post.





I also finished the second post in this thread I had reserved.

It's about mods I did to my tumbler.

Thanks for the kind words, the real devolpement work was done by others, I'm just a guy that takes a lot of pics and posts them.

I tried 4-5 hours and didn't get the results I wanted.

No' I haven't tried less water. I am going to try less media with todays load.

You have to shop around for the best price. I happened on a sale.

Just Google Thumbler model B. Lots of places come up. (include the h)