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Posted: 7/31/2009 1:23:38 PM EDT
I clean all my brass with a rotary tumbler from Harbor Freight. It's the single drum 3lb model, but they sell a double drum. The single is $32 on the website. I've been using it for almost three years with no complaints. It's even got a cooling fan built in. They designed it to run for days at a time tumbling rocks. Looks like this:
Here's some brass I found today at the range: 
Here's what the drum looks like with that brass. Barely has the bottom coated. It'll hold 200 9mm, 100 .223, or 50 .30-06 at a time. 
All you have to do is fill it with water to the level of the cases. Add a tablespoon of real lemon juice and a small squirt of dish soap. I like Ajax brand. Cork it and let it tumble for a half hour. A half hour is all you need, but letting it go for an hour will get the cases extra nice. If you're gonna do bottleneck cases, it's important that you use a universal decapper on them first so the water can drain. Also, for best results, don't tumble any brass that can get stuck inside something smaller or bigger. No .40 and 9mm at the same time. Here's the water once the tumbling is done. I've seen a lot worse. 
And here's the final product. Just rinse the soap and residue off and roll them around on a towel to get mostly dry and them transfer to another dry towel. Pistol cases can usually be loaded in 24 hours, but I like to wait a little longer for bottleneck. They dry quicker in front of a fan of dehumidifier. Best part is, no media to buy and you never have to clean media out of flash holes. 
Nice and clean and ready to load. Hope this inspires somebody else to try it. It may not be better than a standard tumbler, but it's quicker and with no dust. |
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Posted: 7/31/2009 2:05:15 PM EDT
[#1]
i like it.
lemme ask ya this. i am new to reloading, and havent gotten a tumbler yet. do you think this is a sufficient way for a beginner to tumble brass, or is it better to use the 50-60 dollar tumblers with media? |
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Posted: 7/31/2009 2:26:44 PM EDT
[#2]
badfishy,
IF you're just trying to save $. You don't absolutely need a tumbler........just wash the cases with soapy hot water w/ some vinegar added. After washing, throughly dry them before loading. It may not glint in the sun but it'll be clean enough. IF, you want a little shine.....try Birchwood Casey Case Cleaner.......or a soak in some other commercial product (check to see if it's safe with brass). Aloha, Mark PS..........as for straight walled pistol cases......just load them with carbide dies. 
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Posted: 7/31/2009 4:05:59 PM EDT
[#3]
I use the same wet tumble technique but with a Thumbler Model B rotary. The lack of dust is definitely the best part of it. You can get ceramic media to tumble with straight cases but I haven't tried that yet. Just the liquid mixture works well enough for me on them.
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Posted: 7/31/2009 4:46:44 PM EDT
[#4]
The lemon juice and the dish soap are what do the work, and the rotary tumbler agitates the brass in the water to let the stuff get to every part of the brass. Very nice. I may wind up getting a rotary tumbler for this purpose. I'll bet lemon juice and dish soap take care of sizing lube pretty well too.
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Posted: 7/31/2009 5:19:57 PM EDT
[#5]
Quoted:
I'll bet lemon juice and dish soap take care of sizing lube pretty well too. I use LEE case lube(water based) and that tumbler cleans it off like there's no tomorrow. |
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Posted: 7/31/2009 5:25:32 PM EDT
[#6]
By the way, here's the link to the tumbler:
Single drum Double drum If you get American Rifleman, the August issue has a 20% off coupon for any item at Harbor Freight. |
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Posted: 7/31/2009 7:43:06 PM EDT
[#7]
Good thread and pics.
That's some clean brass. 
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Posted: 8/1/2009 2:36:40 AM EDT
[#8]
Awesome thread
I may have to change over from my walnut media cleaning method. I like the shorter times and no dust issue...where do you dump the nasty water? Sink? Seems like a very cost effective way to clean brass. Thanks for taking the time to post your method..
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Posted: 8/1/2009 2:36:45 AM EDT
[#9]
Awesome thread
I may have to change over from my walnut media cleaning method. I like the shorter times and no dust issue...where do you dump the nasty water? Sink? Seems like a very cost effective way to clean brass. Thanks for taking the time to post your method..
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Posted: 8/1/2009 6:16:29 AM EDT
[#10]
Quoted:
Awesome thread I may have to change over from my walnut media cleaning method. I like the shorter times and no dust issue...where do you dump the nasty water? Sink? Seems like a very cost effective way to clean brass. Thanks for taking the time to post your method..Yeah, I just put it down the sink. It all gets treated. The only thing to note if you switch is that you can't really clean heavily tarnished black cases too well like this. There's no real abrasive action. For cleaning case lube and fouling though, it's damn good. |
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Posted: 8/1/2009 2:40:38 PM EDT
[#11]
I almost bought one of these at Harbor Freight today but bought a new Hornady tumbler thinking it may be better than the Lyman I have, but so far the only points it gets are it's quite, has a better bowl design, and doesn't try to move around on you, it doesn't seem near as strong as the Lyman though. I'll see in about an hour if the brass blinds you in the light like the Lyman tumbler does in a couple hr's with some corncob treated with Nu Finish car wax/scratch remover.
I took the Hornady tumbler back as it didn't agitate as good as the Lyman 1200 I already have, so I picked up the RCBS tumbler instead and it looks to be doing a better job than the Lyman, and the Hornady for sure. So anyone looking at tumblers I have tried a few and so far the RCBS is best (also most expensive or the plain tumblers) and then the Lyman Pro 1200 comes in second with Hornady following in third. |
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Posted: 8/1/2009 3:25:39 PM EDT
[#12]
That looks great!
One thing you guys can do about dusty walnut media: Get a couple old, worn out pairs of panty hose. Fill the nylons with your old media, tie off the tops, and soak them in a 5 gallon bucket with water and a little dish soap for an hour or so. Then cut open the panty hose and dry the wet media out on a flat surface. I use a 4'x4' tin sheet for this. A few hours in the sun, turning your media every half hour or so, and it's almost as good as new––-> NO DUST! I did this to some media that i've had + used forever about a month ago and it works great and no dust to speak of. I wouldn't recommend using this method with corn cob media though. The people that told me this method say corn media gets moldy once it's wet, no matter how dry you get it. |
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Posted: 8/2/2009 9:08:18 PM EDT
[#13]
Quoted:
The only thing to note if you switch is that you can't really clean heavily tarnished black cases too well like this. There's no real abrasive action. For cleaning case lube and fouling though, it's damn good. That's what the ceramic media is for. |
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Posted: 8/3/2009 5:58:24 AM EDT
[#14]
Quoted:
By the way, here's the link to the tumbler: Single drum Double drum If you get American Rifleman, the August issue has a 20% off coupon for any item at Harbor Freight. I'm tempted to try one out . Thanks for the link. |
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Posted: 8/3/2009 9:06:47 AM EDT
[#15]
I just ran some "not so ugly" cases I'd sized through the lemon juice/dish soap treatment-but without a rotary tumbler 'cause I don't have one right now. And I got great results; the brass is VERY clean and shiny, even inside, and the primer pockets are a lot cleaner, if not "clean." I'm going to look at hitting Harbor Freight sometime soon and getting one of the single-drum tumblers for this.
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Posted: 8/3/2009 3:28:36 PM EDT
[#16]
i just got back from harbor freight.they were sold out of the single drum tumbler. the double drum tumbler was on sale for 39.99 , and i used a 20% off coupon....was like 35 bucks and change.
got the 20 grubbiest 9mm cases i could find tumbling right now....to see how it works. thanks for the tip. |
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Posted: 8/3/2009 5:07:31 PM EDT
[#17]
Very interesting....
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Posted: 8/3/2009 6:28:23 PM EDT
[#18]
Quoted:
i just got back from harbor freight.they were sold out of the single drum tumbler. the double drum tumbler was on sale for 39.99 , and i used a 20% off coupon....was like 35 bucks and change. got the 20 grubbiest 9mm cases i could find tumbling right now....to see how it works. thanks for the tip. If they're really grubby, give them an hour and use two tablespoons of lemon juice and a little extra soap. Just to see, I did a few of the grubbiest cases I had in the scrap bucket like this and they actually shine and are usable. I was just gonna scrap them because they looked so bad, but they're perfectly good now. |
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Posted: 8/3/2009 7:31:14 PM EDT
[#19]
Quoted:
Quoted:
i just got back from harbor freight.they were sold out of the single drum tumbler. the double drum tumbler was on sale for 39.99 , and i used a 20% off coupon....was like 35 bucks and change. got the 20 grubbiest 9mm cases i could find tumbling right now....to see how it works. thanks for the tip. If they're really grubby, give them an hour and use two tablespoons of lemon juice and a little extra soap. Just to see, I did a few of the grubbiest cases I had in the scrap bucket like this and they actually shine and are usable. I was just gonna scrap them because they looked so bad, but they're perfectly good now. i didnt have any lemon juice around for the test run...i just had dish soap. i am gonna grab some lemon juice tomorrow, and retry the grubby cases again. if that doesnt work on the really bad ones, would traditional media work in this rotary type tumbler? |
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Posted: 8/3/2009 8:05:49 PM EDT
[#20]
Since im a poor redneck i also use white rice to clean cases.
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Posted: 8/4/2009 5:32:18 AM EDT
[#21]
Quoted:
The lemon juice is what makes the cases shiny, while the soap cleans the gunk out of the insides and buffers the acid of the juice so the cases don't tarnish immediately on hitting the air. Lemon juice is the most important ingredient.
Quoted:
Quoted:
i just got back from harbor freight.they were sold out of the single drum tumbler. the double drum tumbler was on sale for 39.99 , and i used a 20% off coupon....was like 35 bucks and change. got the 20 grubbiest 9mm cases i could find tumbling right now....to see how it works. thanks for the tip. If they're really grubby, give them an hour and use two tablespoons of lemon juice and a little extra soap. Just to see, I did a few of the grubbiest cases I had in the scrap bucket like this and they actually shine and are usable. I was just gonna scrap them because they looked so bad, but they're perfectly good now. i didnt have any lemon juice around for the test run...i just had dish soap. i am gonna grab some lemon juice tomorrow, and retry the grubby cases again. if that doesnt work on the really bad ones, would traditional media work in this rotary type tumbler? But a rotary tumbler WILL work with traditional media. Just not nearly as quickly as a vibratory tumbler. |
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Posted: 8/4/2009 7:53:02 AM EDT
[#22]
Quoted:
Since im a poor redneck i also use white rice to clean cases. How do they turn out? |
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Posted: 8/4/2009 8:46:07 AM EDT
[#23]
with rice supper clean and polished is a really good cleaner
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Posted: 8/4/2009 1:59:48 PM EDT
[#24]
I just now peeked in this thread. That brass looks great, as clean as brass coming out of ultrasonic cleaners.
Last winter I noticed that the Lemishine treatment softens the carbon in cases to a point where it will easily wipe off. I considered running a batch in my vibratory tumbler to add agitation to find out whether that will finish the job without handling the cases. I'll try to remember to try a batch tonight. ETA: There's a batch in the tumbler right now. It soaked from just after 7 and I started the motor about 10 to 9. The cases I'm running weren't deprimed, so I'll have to go on the results in the interiors. |
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Posted: 8/4/2009 2:53:03 PM EDT
[#25]
Wish I had found this thread on my search. I did a sample with Dawn and hot water in a "slush it around" container, got acceptable results. Not bright and shiny but clean outside. Then I bought the Harbor Freight tumbler to use with media (they sell a huge amount for a great price, too much actually).
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Posted: 8/4/2009 4:03:00 PM EDT
[#26]
Some people also use this method as a pre-wash before using a tumbler. Fill a plastic container with the cleaning mixture and take it to the range. Dump your collected brass in there. During the drive home, the brass gets sloshed around and most of the gunk is removed. Dump the brass out to dry and then you deprime. Throw the brass in the rotary tumbler and get it nice and shiny. It'll save your depriming setup from all that gunk.
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Posted: 8/4/2009 7:56:38 PM EDT
[#27]
I stopped the tumbler at about 10 or shortly after. The Lemishine solution is dirty, but these cases weren't in horrible condition when I started. The interiors are definitely cleaner than I've seen from simply soaking for a day or two along with shaking the container. I wish I had deprimed a few first, but I got in a hurry tonight. Plus, I found some Berdan primed 9mm Luger brass in the batch I ran in the tumbler.
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Posted: 8/5/2009 11:49:47 PM EDT
[#28]
I still use an old kids rock tumbler i got at a garage sale for less than 1.00.i use a metal coffe can with a couple rubber bands on it.works great.been using it for the last 17 years.
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Posted: 8/6/2009 8:21:35 AM EDT
[#29]
Quoted: Please explain the Lemishine treatment. Do you add Lemishine to the dish soap?I just now peeked in this thread. That brass looks great, as clean as brass coming out of ultrasonic cleaners. Last winter I noticed that the Lemishine treatment softens the carbon in cases to a point where it will easily wipe off. I considered running a batch in my vibratory tumbler to add agitation to find out whether that will finish the job without handling the cases. I'll try to remember to try a batch tonight. ETA: There's a batch in the tumbler right now. It soaked from just after 7 and I started the motor about 10 to 9. The cases I'm running weren't deprimed, so I'll have to go on the results in the interiors. No source of Lemishine here in town, but taking a short road trip next week, where there is a Harbor Freight and stores that have Lemishine. Also I think the dish soaps that are lemon scented will still need lemon juice added. |
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Posted: 8/6/2009 8:40:42 AM EDT
[#30]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Please explain the Lemishine treatment. Do you add Lemishine to the dish soap?
I just now peeked in this thread. That brass looks great, as clean as brass coming out of ultrasonic cleaners. Last winter I noticed that the Lemishine treatment softens the carbon in cases to a point where it will easily wipe off. I considered running a batch in my vibratory tumbler to add agitation to find out whether that will finish the job without handling the cases. I'll try to remember to try a batch tonight. ETA: There's a batch in the tumbler right now. It soaked from just after 7 and I started the motor about 10 to 9. The cases I'm running weren't deprimed, so I'll have to go on the results in the interiors. No source of Lemishine here in town, but taking a short road trip next week, where there is a Harbor Freight and stores that have Lemishine. Also I think the dish soaps that are lemon scented will still need lemon juice added. Lemishine is sold in Walmart with the dish washing soaps. The container is a lime green cylinder. I don't mix mine with soap, but the folks that were using this with ultrasonic cleaners did. I only use it to get the corrosion off and dissolve the calcium carbonate from the inside of cases that have laying in chat rock a while. The really dirty muddy brass I wash in a 5 gallon bucket with hot water and dish soap, but I try to avoid this step as I see it as a pain in the neck. Lemishine is partly citric acid. Another source for citric acid is the grocery store, either in the section for canning supplies or the section with baking and cooking spices and so on. With the recent popularity of canning, I've been seeing canning supplies in the farm supply and some hardware stores, too. |
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Posted: 8/6/2009 8:51:45 AM EDT
[#31]
Quoted: Thanks I will check it out.Quoted: Quoted: Please explain the Lemishine treatment. Do you add Lemishine to the dish soap?I just now peeked in this thread. That brass looks great, as clean as brass coming out of ultrasonic cleaners. Last winter I noticed that the Lemishine treatment softens the carbon in cases to a point where it will easily wipe off. I considered running a batch in my vibratory tumbler to add agitation to find out whether that will finish the job without handling the cases. I'll try to remember to try a batch tonight. ETA: There's a batch in the tumbler right now. It soaked from just after 7 and I started the motor about 10 to 9. The cases I'm running weren't deprimed, so I'll have to go on the results in the interiors. No source of Lemishine here in town, but taking a short road trip next week, where there is a Harbor Freight and stores that have Lemishine. Also I think the dish soaps that are lemon scented will still need lemon juice added. Lemishine is sold in Walmart with the dish washing soaps. The container is a lime green cylinder. I don't mix mine with soap, but the folks that were using this with ultrasonic cleaners did. I only use it to get the corrosion off and dissolve the calcium carbonate from the inside of cases that have laying in chat rock a while. The really dirty muddy brass I wash in a 5 gallon bucket with hot water and dish soap, but I try to avoid this step as I see it as a pain in the neck. Lemishine is partly citric acid. Another source for citric acid is the grocery store, either in the section for canning supplies or the section with baking and cooking spices and so on. With the recent popularity of canning, I've been seeing canning supplies in the farm supply and some hardware stores, too. Yes CITRIC ACID is the key to the shine!!!! The soap just does the cleaning to get rid of the grime. We use to use Critic Acid to clean stainless before we polished it. Critic acid can be very aggressive. I have been in bottling plants where it has etch the concrete so bad you could see the aggregate. ETA: If using this method to replace a vibratory tumbler, how is case lube being removed? I can't think of putting live rounds in this tumbler with media. |
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Posted: 8/6/2009 9:21:31 AM EDT
[#32]
Case lube can be tumbled off in 15 minutes or less in clean walnut or corn cob. I've never tried to find the shortest time needed.
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Posted: 8/6/2009 10:29:25 AM EDT
[#33]
just wanted to say thanks for the ideas. my new dual drum rotary tumbler + lemon juice/dish soap works great! the cases come out perfect. even the primer pockets are clean.
thanks again. |
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Posted: 11/15/2009 7:06:48 PM EDT
[#34]
are those tumblers water tight? how quiet are they?
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Posted: 11/16/2009 4:30:02 AM EDT
[#35]
Quoted:
are those tumblers water tight? how quiet are they? Yes, they're water tight. The canisters are made of thick rubber. They're very quiet - when I have mine running I can hardly hear it at all. |
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Posted: 11/16/2009 5:39:20 AM EDT
[#36]
Quoted:
are those tumblers water tight? how quiet are they? It's completely watertight. Without anything in it, it's pretty quiet, but loaded, the noise level depends on how full it is. The less room they have to bang around, the quieter it'll be. It's totally rubber on the inside, so that does help with noise and keeps the cases from getting bashed up. |
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Posted: 11/16/2009 6:05:41 AM EDT
[#37]
This may be a silly question but has anyone tried the water/lemon juice in normal vibrating tumbler? Not sure if the lid would be watertight enough.
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Posted: 11/16/2009 6:08:27 AM EDT
[#38]
I like the way it appears to have cleaned the 'inside' of the cases.
See how it does the inside of .223 cases. Thanks for your post |
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Posted: 11/16/2009 7:13:58 AM EDT
[#39]
Quoted:
This may be a silly question but has anyone tried the water/lemon juice in normal vibrating tumbler? Not sure if the lid would be watertight enough. That's what I posted about above. The solution level has to be lower than the top of the center post inside the bowl. I screwed the lid down tight and had no trouble with leakage. If the solution is too high it will probably leak through the center screw and kill the motor; that might depend on the tumbler design. I'm not going to do that again as it made a mess inside the bowl. I also don't recommend tumbling in shredded newspaper as it leaves an incredible mess. |
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Posted: 11/16/2009 8:20:39 AM EDT
[#40]
This is a subject that I've been doing a lot of research on (more then the subject probably warrants!
 ) but from what I've seen and read, rotary tumblers with some type of liquid cleaner is the really the way to go for cleaning your brass. If you want to kick it up a notch from what's posted here, try using SS media in a rotary tumbler with the liquid cleaner (Lemishine maybe?). For more info, check out this thread...
Media for tumbling I'm been saving up for a Thumler's Tumbler Model B but may pickup one of these HF models temporarily just to mess around with? |
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Posted: 11/16/2009 11:04:22 AM EDT
[#41]
As the residual primer ash leaches out into the liquid solution, it makes quite an interesting soup. Question is, what do you do with the soup?
Fertilize the lawn?
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Posted: 11/16/2009 2:38:57 PM EDT
[#42]
If anyone is looking for a great source of walnut media try Pet Smart. They carry 25 Lb bags for $16.00
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Posted: 11/16/2009 5:02:02 PM EDT
[#43]
Quoted:
If anyone is looking for a great source of walnut media try Pet Smart. They carry 25 Lb bags for $16.00 Some folks complain that walnut litter is too fine-it will indeed be dustier than coarser stuff-but the finer walnut stuff should also be a bit more effective than coarser media. And since walnut litter isn't treated with polishing agents, you can either go without or choose your own agent. Flexibility is good. |
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Posted: 11/18/2009 12:49:17 PM EDT
[#44]
How many 223 brass cases could you fit in the HB Freight 3 & 6 pound tumblers?
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Posted: 11/18/2009 2:37:38 PM EDT
[#45]
Hi all. I have been using this same method and equipment for 3+ years and love the results.Ran a batch of old range pick-ups for 4 hours one time and my wife thought I had found gold.
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Posted: 11/21/2009 4:23:23 PM EDT
[#46]
this thread sent me there and that setup looks like a reasonable solution
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Posted: 11/21/2009 4:32:09 PM EDT
[#47]
Quoted:
How many 223 brass cases could you fit in the HB Freight 3 & 6 pound tumblers? A 3lb drum will hold 100 .223 cases. It'll do 200 9mm, and 50 .30-06. Double that for the 6lb drum. If you're using a double drum, be careful on the weight because I've read that the drive belt on these can snap if you overload them. Mine is fine after three years, but it's just something to be aware of. |
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Posted: 11/21/2009 4:41:45 PM EDT
[#48]
Quoted:
Quoted:
How many 223 brass cases could you fit in the HB Freight 3 & 6 pound tumblers? A 3lb drum will hold 100 .223 cases. It'll do 200 9mm, and 50 .30-06. Double that for the 6lb drum. If you're using a double drum, be careful on the weight because I've read that the drive belt on these can snap if you overload them. Mine is fine after three years, but it's just something to be aware of. They had two at the store today, both boxes opened. There was a 'giant' o-ring in there. A spare belt for the drive. It was about the diameter of a Medium size cover for a McDonalds cup. |
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Posted: 11/21/2009 5:16:33 PM EDT
[#49]
Wow!! That's some sweet looking brass.... I have to try this. I like the idea of putting your brass in a bucket right at the range to be cleaned on the ride home. Maybe I will put a bucket on top of the washer and drier, wonder if the vibration from the washer or drier will have the same effect...????
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Posted: 11/21/2009 10:01:42 PM EDT
[#50]
I checked out the ones that Harbor Freight has. I can not use them.
I have arthritis in my hands and the soft rubber containers made it hard for me to get the lid on and off. More so on. I am going to go with a Thumler tumbler because of the way the lid is attached. Going to try to use a colander to separate the liquid from the cases. Anyone know where I can find a clean 5 gal metal bucket to make a dryer out of? This way I can set the colander on top of bucket. |
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