This topic seems to have cooled down a bit.  Two of the three threads that I had been watching have dropped into the archives.

I just posted this over at the "Hide" because there is a lot more talk regarding this, but I wanted to share it here for anyone interested.

I have been following along on the "Hide" on this subject for quite a while and decided to take the plunge.  I have an old MidwayUSA vibratory tumbler that I have always used and been happy with, BUT, on the nasty, grungy range brass it left something to be desired.

About six months ago I bought an ultrasonic cleaner from Harbor Freight and it was better, in some ways.  Plus, I like being able to use it for other things; tools, dies, trigger groups, old, greasy military actions.  I have used the vibratory for other things too, but not as much.

But now, "The Model B"!!  I didn't realize how big it was going to be.  I have a small rock tumbler, but the 15 lb capacity wasn't registering.

It seems very well made; solid.  I am sure the drum and base could be made of thinner(cheaper) materials, but they are not.  This thing is built to last!

I have contacted the media supplier and am waiting for his response and looking forward to getting started.

In the mean time, I thought I would let you in on a little secret...

One of the things that I keep seeing on the threads, and indeed was a concern of my own, is the price for the Thumler's Model B.  As many have said it is somewhat, or even quite expensive for what it is.  Solid?  Sure.  Durable?  Sure.  Quality?  Sure.  $170.00?  WHAT??  That's a lot of...(insert favorite food, beverage or bullet)...

BUT- what if I told you you could get it for $120.00??  YEP!  I am not sure how I came across it; I don't believe my google-fu to be any better than anyone elses', but I found these online, brand new, for $120.00!!

This place is in Kansas City- I live in central Iowa.  I placed my order late Monday afternoon(the 21st) got the shipping information Tuesday at 11;am, and the package was sitting at my door when I got home tonight!! That was FAST!!

It came well packed- the motor was tight in a small box, packed inside the drum.  The drum was in the bottom of the box, the base in the top separated by a peice of heavy cardboard with heavy carboard spacers and packing all around.  Not a scratch on it.  Plenty of instructions, parts lists and other literature to go with it.

I am NOT a salesman.  I am NOT affililated with this company.  I just couldn't believe the price, the fast shipping and the quality of packing and product.

I actually found the site a week or so ago but thought I should shop around and saved the link.  When I saw what the prices were everywhere else I tried to go back and it wouldn't come up.  Just a blank page.  When I went to look at their Thumler's tumblers the Model B wasn't listed.  I panicked!  I kept trying for a few days and it finally came back.  I am wondering if they were out of stock or something.

Anyway.......  The link follows- if you have been on the fence becasue of the cost, this might just be what you needed.

http://www.hobbywarehouse.com/Thumlers-Tumblers-Model-B-Rock-Tumbler?sc=75&category=-175

Since this contraption cleans brass so well and fast, what dries it so well and fast?

Great



I bought it from the same place, and paid $159... less than a month ago.



Win some, lose some.

A low humidity, high temp environment.  

Tagscribe.  

I keep telling myself that shinny brass isn't important, but the truth is, I like shinny brass.  I am going to invest in one of these soon.

My very high tech and expensive brass dryer

Dehumidifier running already running in the basement  and blowing cool dry air – check!
Old folding chair – check!
Two surplus 4x4 from building reloading bench – check!
One old plastic open weave basket – check!

Dries any brass overnight without paying a single cent for energy!

No longer available.  

wantone - did you get the high speed or standard version?

That brass looks great.   For those interested I typically tumble 350+ LC cases (.223) in my Thumlers.   I find that is about the limit with 3 qts of hot water, the brass and the ss media.  One could always remove .5lb of the media if it was too close to the max weight....

Nice invention, I have something similar already for wet washed brass, I said Fast  , that ain't fast, I'll come up with something

I bought the standard version, and I worried about it for a while, but 4-5 hours and the brass looks brand new. And It is really quiet, I would think the faster it spun it would make more noise, A quiet tumbler=a happy wife in a small house

Readling some of those SH super long threads, there isn't much difference between the HD and the standards as far as time to make your brass shiny.  
That said I bought the HD for about 150 from a blackpowder shooting supply house.  I always try to up-buy tools.

Looks like its back in stock...

Model B Tumbler $119

http://www.hobbywarehouse.com/Thumlers-Tumblers-Model-B-Rock-Tumbler?sc=75&category=-175

You won't regret it. Mine is going on 34-35 years old and the only maintenence is an occaisonal belt replacement. Runs quiet, the only real noise is the brass clinking together but that varies by amount of brass and media.

This may be a little off topic but the thread does address SS tumbling.
First of all I understand SS tumbling is done in some sort of solution. I read on another thread that if you leave the SS media in the solution for too long it would eventually begin to rust. Is this true? Sounds believable. If you don’t frequently tumble brass do you remove the media and dry it or just let it sit in the “solution”? Is SS geared more toward the daily reloader and not so much toward the weekend reloader?  

My media shows no signs whatsoever of even beginning to rust.  Been using it since April of last year.

I dry mine in the oven for about 20-30 minutes at the lowest heat setting.  I haven't noticed any ill effects from the cleaning or the drying.  





Pictures not showing up?  They're here:

http://www.pbase.com/osucowboy8/image/125752770

http://www.pbase.com/osucowboy8/image/125752784

Lots of guys are using alcahol to dry the brass quickly!  Submers and swish around pull out, shake it off and let it evaporate.

Terry

I use a ammo can with a 67watt light bulb and a axial fan.

The "solution" is hot water, liquid dish soap and a teaspoon of lemi-shine.   It's a "use once" type of thing.  When done tumbling brass the water will be very black from all the dirt.  Rinse everything a few times and separate the brass and the ss media.  You can lay the ss media out to dry but I just drain it well and let it sit in the tumbler until next time.  Never a sign of rust............

Vidoe of Emptying a load of Brass - Black Water

Terry

Also, I have 6-7 years on my media!  It does not RUST, it is STAINLESS Steel.

That sure isn't selling the method. Looks like an enormous pain in the ass.

Looks like this would be pretty challenging if you don't have a large laundry tub.

LOL!  You guys are right, this guy does not do a good job telling the story - don't hire him to sell your cars .  I have now done this about 40 times and it is much easier than what he makes it looks like.

The way I do it is the KISS method, just use the the tap water to rinse any media on the sides back inside the tub and I put on one glove and basically hold the brass and media back on the bucket, pour out the dirty water and refill it with clean water, repeat five times and everything is spotlessly clean.  Pour the whole thing into a media separator (just a regular Cabela’s with just the bottom half fill with water).  Close the lid, turn the thing a few times and all the media falls out leaving just the brass.  The media I pour back into the Tumbler’s rubber tub – you don't have to dry it, it never rusts.  The brass stays inside the basket and over my basement dehumidifier for one day and it is all dry.

This.     For those on a budget, after rinsing as stated above pour everything into a dedicated colander that sits over a 5 gal  bucket.  Stir and toss the brass and media until the ss media falls thru into the bucket.  Takes a minute if that.  Easy peasy......  

Just out of curiosity, has anybody tried any other medias in the rotary tumblers? Glass Beads, Rock tumbling media, etc?

Why? stainless media works amazing.

You're the guy that tries to get chicks to improve a blow job aren't you.

Has anyone ordered stainless media from http://pelletsllc.com/? I am hearing they are offering very good prices on the media...

Read of a guy that used air gun BBs. He spent a lot of time talking about keeping them from rusting.

This!  

Look at it this way, someone has spent a lot of time and effort figuring out the exact material that does not rust, just the right size to get inside the brass to remove all the gunk in a reasonable time without damaging your brass.  It has the capacity of regular media, works just as fast, but cleans much better.  Why try to re-invent the wheel again?

I ended up buying a Thumler's Model B and stainless media from Buffalo Arms.  Their price was better than the "secret contact" or STM, and I didn't have to go through the rigmarole either.  Fast shipping and zero issues... I'd buy from them again.

I've been doing some experimenting with various cases and soaps for the last few days.  I found Lemishine in the dishsoap section at Target for about 1/3 the price that it's selling for on amazon right now.  Just a little bit of Lemishine makes a significant difference in the uniformity of cleanliness, but the brass still gets ridiculously clean without it.






This was after about 3 hours in the tumbler with nothing but the media, water, and Dawn soap.  The cases are still wet in this picture.  About half of this is Berdan primed South African surplus.  I'm just experimenting with it at the moment, and my press is at Dillon getting refurbished, so I didn't decap anything.  I'm very impressed with this method.

Has anybody tried Citranox? It was recommended to me for Ultrasonic cleaning.

Have not used it, but Citranox MSD sheet says it has citric acid which is what is in Lemishine, and it has detergent in it which is what Dawn soap is.  So my guess is it is very close to the Lemishine/Dawn combination.  Hard to evaluate cost since it is in a 1 gallon quantity and I don’t know how much you need relative to the Lemishine/Dawn combo.

Was just looking at Cabelas site and they have a new RCBS rotary tumbler, $300 with a $50 mail in rebate.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/RCBS-Sidewinder-Rotary-Case-Cleaning-Tumbler/1172319.uts?WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

instead of dawn ,try washing machine detergent like tide, and some lemshine, report your results

So if i went out and got a Thumler's Tumblers Model B how much SS media does it take to bring it into production? the Buffalo Arms place above has the media for $7.50/lb.

Five pounds is the recommended amount.

I love the idea of this just hate the fact it is so damn low quantity.   I reload and process pretty large ammounts.   My last run of 45 has been 6k and is still going.    Just trying to figure out how to scale up this process.  

Some folks use cement mixers from Harbor Freight for dry tumbling... maybe you could use one for wet, too.  When they're on sale, they're cheaper than the Thumler's.  Just think.... you might be able to do all 6,000 in a single batch.  

A cement mixer would be my suggestion too. An electric one.



You'd need a bunch of SS media though.....20 lbs or more. You would also need a place to pour off the water, like a floor sink and you'd need to rig up something to seperate the media from the brass.



Let us know if you try it!!

how rusted up is your Thumlers?

kitchen sink / bathub / shower should be sufficient


you can slide the rubber liner up and out and that makes it easier to handle and certainly won't dig a chip out of anything lol

I guess I don't get the fascination with medically clean brass.  

I tumble mine in walnut for a few hours and reload it.  I've never had any problem with dirt/fouling causing inaccuracy, and rifle brass only lasts so long anyway, so it can only get so dirty.  Straight walled pistol brass gets clean inside and out in the vibratory tumbler.  

My brass comes out looking bright and shiny just by using dry walnut media for a few hours.  

What am I missing here?

there is no replacing the media and no media stuck in the flash holes

It’s not easier or faster or slower, but it is more expensive.  Don’t see any way that the bling would affect accuracy except maybe psychologically speaking of course.  

The bling to me is not so important, what is important to me is the ability to completely avoid the lead laden dust from the tumbling media, and from reaming the primer pocket for precision rounds.  All this stuff stays in the water and goes down the drain.  The primer pocket does come out cleaner that any method I know of, so perhaps some effect on accuracy/precision.....LOL!

Ok this may be a dumb question but why wont SS media work in a vibrating tumbler? Does it just not move the media around enough for it to work well?

So you don't want to breathe in the lead primer dust from the primer pocket, but you are willing to simply just wash it all down the drain into the sanitary sewer system and then back out into the environment.  I do like the clean brass, but like others that have posted I don't see the big advantage.  Been using a vibratory cleaner for many years with very good results and zero issues.  I have been thinking about using a dust mask when doing primer pockets but I have yet to implement this in my routine.