Thread: case tumbler

Originally Posted by stub

how much did u use and what form did u buy it in

Try super market (baking/spice section).....

Cheaper to buy in bulk from the likes of Bulk Barn. Supermarkets only have it in 80gram boxes that are a ripoff in price.
Trade Me has listings for 1kg, or more, of citric acid (approx $6-8/kg)

Also helps if you use a squirt of dishwasher rinse aid in the mix

Originally Posted by 300CALMAN

Ok so I didn't make my tumbler but I did find the secret ingredient to make cases shine. OK not so secret ingredient of lemi shine is CITRIC ACID. yep that's right.

Found this a while back and had to laugh at his efferts to identify what Lemi Shine really consists of.
What’s in Lemi Shine? – UPDATED » Chemistry Blog
I just use Hansells Citric Acid from the supermarket, cheap as.
For my Ultrasonic tank which holds 5 litres water I use 1 teaspoon of Hansells and a couple of squirts of dishwash liquid.
For my SS tumbler, 7 litres water, I use 1/2 teaspoon of Hansells and a couple of overflowing caps of car wash liquid.
For either method you don't need to add much. The big mistake, certainly with the Ultrasonic is adding too much citric acid which attacks the brass alloy.

How long is everyone tumbling with stainless media?

Two to three hours.

Going to try regular auto dishwasher powder (and Palmolive) and see if it does much different. Free sacrificial .223 range brass of course

Originally Posted by Beetroot

How long is everyone tumbling with stainless media?

Depends how clean u want your primer pocket brass is clean inside outside in about 25 mins 3 hours for almost perfect primer pockets

Originally Posted by Beetroot

How long is everyone tumbling with stainless media?

I've got one of these:
Jewelry Polishing Tools 5kg Capacity Rotary Tumbler Rock Tumbler Polishing Machine Jewelry-in Jewelry Tools & Equipments from Jewelry on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

With 9mm I'll tumble for 1 hour with @150 in the container, fill with water to cover, drop of dish washing liquid and a sprinkle of citric acid powder. Same time for 223 but I do less in one run, prob @60 at a time.

2-3 hours is fine.

Originally Posted by stub

Depends how clean u want your primer pocket brass is clean inside outside in about 25 mins 3 hours for almost perfect primer pockets

2 to 3 hours seems a lot, I think I'd try cleaning primer pockets by conventional methods before tumbling to try save time/power bill.
I wouldn't be doing huge volumes, so wouldn't be a huge head ache.

Does everyone rinse their brass thoroughly after tumbling to stop the citric acid leaving marks/stains on the brass.

Originally Posted by Beetroot

2 to 3 hours seems a lot, I think I'd try cleaning primer pockets by conventional methods before tumbling to try save time/power bill.
I wouldn't be doing huge volumes, so wouldn't be a huge head ache.

Does everyone rinse their brass thoroughly after tumbling to stop the citric acid leaving marks/stains on the brass.

Don't get marking with SS process as the amount of citric acid I use is far less than with the ultra sonic process. With ultra sonic I used to do a neutralisation step after the citric acid step where I rinsed the hell out of the cases in a bucket of water with a teaspoon of baking soda added. With SS tumbling again I use less citric acid and the brass gets a good rinse after in water as part of the flushing out the little mongrel pins - but no baking soda. And yes I clean primer pockets b4 tumbling. If you want clean primer pockets as part of SS tumbling that is what takes a lot of extra time.

The other thing I do which may prevent water staining is fairly quickly dry the outside of the brass by rolling them around on an old towel, blow out the inside using compressed air (and check for any stuck pins at the same time) and then they go straight into a food dehydrator.

Well 2-3 hours cleans the pocket out fine for me. They get a quick rinse and then a rinse in meths and a quick dry in the small oven at 120C. They come out just perfect.

Originally Posted by Beetroot

2 to 3 hours seems a lot, I think I'd try cleaning primer pockets by conventional methods before tumbling to try save time/power bill.
I wouldn't be doing huge volumes, so wouldn't be a huge head ache.

Does everyone rinse their brass thoroughly after tumbling to stop the citric acid leaving marks/stains on the brass.

I give them a couple of rinses, last one in hot water and it all air dries relatively quick

Originally Posted by Beetroot

Does everyone rinse their brass thoroughly after tumbling to stop the citric acid leaving marks/stains on the brass.

Put into a media separator filled with water, turn a couple of times and it'll separate the pins from the cases (they'll fall to the bottom)...

I've been thinking about making a rangi separator out of a shopping basket and a chopped off 20l square plastic container. That would complement my current level of rangi-ness, and better still, cost $0.00