Armory Sponsor
Posted: 2/2/2010 5:30:30 PM EDT
|
I picked up two bottles of Lemi Shine. Not sure if I'm using it right.
I did a quick tumble in Walnut before lubing with Dillon spray lube and resizing. I soaked some of the brass in Lemi Shine mixed 3 teaspoons to a quart of water. One batch for 12 hours, the other for 48 hours. I noticed the brass came out sticky like the Dillon lube was still on it. The 12 hour soaked brass was then tumbled for 4 hours and it is no shiner than the brass I didn't soak. The only difference I see is the primer pockets are cleaner in the soaked brass. The 48 hour soaked brass looks no different, but I have not tumbled that brass yet. Is it possible the lube was not removed by Lemi Shine? Or did I mix it wrong? |
|
Use Lemishine to pre-treat brass that is really ugly, before tumbling. This is the brass you picked off a random range, with lots of corrosion.
Then tumble in walnut to clean. After sizing, tumble the lubed brass in corn cob or walnut to remove the lube. Corn cob needs about 8 or 10 minutes and clean unadulterated walnut requires about 14 or 15 minutes to completely remove the lube. Double the concentration of Lemishine. I add the powder to hot water in quantities that "look about right"; as long as it all goes into solution, that's as close as I get to measuring the amount I of Lemishine I use. |
|
I use Lemishine to remove the stains from very tarnished brass before tumbling.
I have never tried it to remove lube. I tumble in plain corn cob to remove lube. I suspect the lube had an effect on the cleaning. Your mix is fine. My method, Soak tarnished brass in Lemishine overnight. Some will have pink spots that will tumble off. Dry cases, then tumble in walnut with brass polish. (Without polish walnut will not get brass shinny) Lube and size, tumble in plain corn cob to remove lube and shine the brass. |
|
The Lemi Shine idea is a great one and I brought some today and it worked great.
As for the problem that Garandboy had, I am pretty sure it was caused by the Lub. Lub by definition is an oily substance which is used to lubricate. You cannot remove this from the surface of the casing with water – it’s a little like trying to wash grease off with water, it is not going to work. Worse still, the lub basically “protected” the surface of the casing from the Lemi Shine which is a little like grease prevent water getting on the casing so that it cannot oxidize (rust) its surface. So if the Lemi Shine cannot get into direct contact with the casing, it is not going to be able to de-oxidize it and make it come out shiny. So AeroE’s suggestion which is to use Lemi Shine first BEFORE you lub is the way to go. BTW, for those who wants Lemi Shine to work faster, you can put it in a pot of hot water and boil it with the Lemi Shine and the brass. The “cleaning” action of Lemi Shine is a chemical reaction, and all chemical reactions work much much faster at high temperatures. My was done in about 5 min max. Of course, try not to get it on your skin when it is hot like that! |
| Hey, I checked out this “stainless steel media” and that sounds like a great idea, I bet you that stuff pretty much never wears out, the Dawn should also remove any lube. Can I ask you which size media are you using and the source? Also which rolling tumbler are you using? |
|
FWIW, I tumble the brass in walnut for a while, then lube and resize (either Hornady one-shot or homemade Lanolin lube), then dump it into an old dishpan with a few tablespoons of Lemishine (been using the same mixture for a few months now, it's nice and green!) and let it soak for 24-48 hours. Then rinse with warm water, shake off, and tumble in corn cob for 1-2 hours. Brass comes out nice and shiny. I can see the Lanolin floating on the surface of the mixture, so I'm guessing Lemishine cleans off the Lanolin pretty well... Soaking before resizing is probably a good idea if it's not cutting through your lube. |
Armory Sponsor