MJY65 wrote:Bergie wrote:Thanks everyone on the Reloading bench ideas. Here's another crawl before I walk question- I have a Thumlers Tumbler B, Lemi,shine, stainless pins, and thousands of rounds of empty brass (5.56). So after I deprime some rounds,
A- How many rounds is a good amount for the tumbler? 100? 200? xxx?
You can do about 200 5.56 at a time
B- About a teaspoon of Lemishine right?
I use a little less than that. Maybe 1/2tsp plus a squirt of Dawn dish soap
C- How much water? Cold? Hot? Doesn't matter?
After the brass and pins are in, fill to about 1" from the top. Temp doesn't matter.
D- Use all five pounds of pins?
Yes
E- Tumble for how long?
They will be pretty clean after an hour. Beautiful after 2
F- And the best for last- How best to empty this toxic soup residue from the tumbler without losing pins? Do the pins have to be spread out to dry?
I use a Dillon brass separator. The water and pins go through to the tub and the brass stays in the basket. No need to ever dry the pins, just pour off the water and put them back in the tumbler.
(I'm thinking the best brass drying method then to be putting each one upside down on a bed of nails...seriously.)
A food dehydrator works very well
MJY65 covered it quite well. Don't forget the Dawn Dish Soap (Dawn has worked best for me). I make a circle as I squirt it, and that seems to do well. I let my brass tumble about 2.5-3 hrs and have dound it does great, even with the primer pockets.
I have a sink right next to my tumblers, and I pour off most of the dirty water, refill with clean (1 or 2 times) and slowly pour that out. I then use an RCBS Media Separator (same one as is used for dry tumbled) to separate the pins from the brass. I then rinse the brass one more time while it's in the separator bin (ball with slots).
I then place a towel on my table and dump the clean brass on it, and make it like a hammock and roll the load of brass from side to side to get the majority of water off the outside. The brass then goes into my Frankford Arsenal Brass Drier (Dehydrators work just as well) set at 135° for about 2 hrs (I have it on a timer). I only use Hot Water when I tumble after resizing, to get the homemade spray lube off the cases (1 to 1.5 hrs). I then rinse in cold water.
Once you see how clean the brass is, and how it helps adequately inspect your brass, you'll love it.
Note: I do suggest you run your new pins by themselves with water and some Dawn, to get the manufacturing oils off, before tumbling your brass. I run new pins for about 30 minutes, then dump the water.