When do you change cleaning medium?
- Thread starter L. Boscoe
- Start date
."How does one decide when to throw it out and put in new?"
If you normally clean your cases for an hour and they look acceptably clean, continue using that media until it is obviously dark AND no longer cleans them to your satisfaction in an hour. You might run them for another 30-60 minutes to find they are once again clean, but that depends on your inventory of media.
I have a one-hour lab timer connected to the vibratory cleaner. When I change the media, I use 3-4 one-pound coffee cans full of corn cob media and I spray the surface with Lemi-Shine All-Purpose cleaner, and I let it run through a 30-minute cycle to be absorbed by the media. If I've used too much Lemi-Shine and I dump the cases in without letting it do a dry run, the media tends to get stuck inside the cases and it's a real pain cleaning out individual cases. This media is stored in its own small bucket with a lid.
Once I've resized rifle cases I change the media to corn cob with Nu-Finish Auto Polish added as was done above with Lemi-Shine. It is stored in another small bucket with a lid. This removes the case lube and replaces it with wax. It is not necessary to do the second mixture with handgun cases as they have not been lubed to resize.
If you normally clean your cases for an hour and they look acceptably clean, continue using that media until it is obviously dark AND no longer cleans them to your satisfaction in an hour. You might run them for another 30-60 minutes to find they are once again clean, but that depends on your inventory of media.
I have a one-hour lab timer connected to the vibratory cleaner. When I change the media, I use 3-4 one-pound coffee cans full of corn cob media and I spray the surface with Lemi-Shine All-Purpose cleaner, and I let it run through a 30-minute cycle to be absorbed by the media. If I've used too much Lemi-Shine and I dump the cases in without letting it do a dry run, the media tends to get stuck inside the cases and it's a real pain cleaning out individual cases. This media is stored in its own small bucket with a lid.
Once I've resized rifle cases I change the media to corn cob with Nu-Finish Auto Polish added as was done above with Lemi-Shine. It is stored in another small bucket with a lid. This removes the case lube and replaces it with wax. It is not necessary to do the second mixture with handgun cases as they have not been lubed to resize.
jetinteriorguy
New member
I’ve run crushed walnut for up to five years, even adding various things to find what worked best for me.
When it gets ugly . I use both wet and dry tumblers depending on what I want . I've even cleaned my corncob media before . 5gal bucket , 5gal paint strainer bag and hot soapy water . swoosh a bunch then rinse a bunch . only problem is spreading it out to dry . It works just fine , doesn't look clean but it was .
Only did it to see if it could be done and to see how much effort it takes . I don't plan on doing that again unless I have to but glad I know the process and that it actually works .
Lots of nasty stuff comes off of that media so handle accordingly .
Only did it to see if it could be done and to see how much effort it takes . I don't plan on doing that again unless I have to but glad I know the process and that it actually works .
Lots of nasty stuff comes off of that media so handle accordingly .
If you let your dies get dirty they will start leaving vertical/inline scratches on the cases. Especially around the case neck. Ultimately you can scratch the dies.
I let that happen a couple of times before i figured it out. Now i change my media more frequently, and clean my dies often.
When in doubt, throw it out. If its in good shape, you know it is!
When i think the media is at the end of the road, i throw dirty range pick up brass in until it is toast. Then i feel good about tossing it.
I let that happen a couple of times before i figured it out. Now i change my media more frequently, and clean my dies often.
When in doubt, throw it out. If its in good shape, you know it is!
When i think the media is at the end of the road, i throw dirty range pick up brass in until it is toast. Then i feel good about tossing it.
Stainless steel pins never need changing out. As you lost 5 or 6 pins ( out of 15000+ ) with each cleaning when they wash down a drain or remain in a case and get tossed elsewhere, you don't really notice the loss until several hundred batches are run.... At 4 or 5 batches a year - that might take a decade or more before I feel the need to buy more. Wet tumbling is the way to go - one reason being your cost of polishing media quite literally evaporates ;-)
The real question is whether it is still cleaning. These days I mostly use wet tumbling and stainless pins, but with the dry media I found that as the media clogged up with dust, the cleaning time stretched, and when it seems to be taking about twice as long (four hours instead of two), I could put a tablespoon of mineral spirits and a cloth rag or a piece cut from a Handi-wipe dampened with some mineral spirits and run it a couple of hours to get some of the grime out, and then it was rejuvenated for a little while. Next slowdown, I replaced it.
My first package of corn cob media had jeweler's rouge in it and that stuff sticks to and stains EVERYTHING so I never went back to it. Then I tried screened walnut shell. Then tried pure corncob, then tried custom mixes with stuff like porcelain polishing media - bamboo - pistachio shell - but dry media never got the insides of the cases the way I liked them. I never got more than 3 loads out of any dry media.
Once I got into wet tumbling with stainless steel media, I tried different cleaning solutions. After spending too much on factory blends, I came across the hot water & lemi-shine with a drop of dawn for dishes blend and have been using that for years now. It's cheap and works amazingly well.
Once I got into wet tumbling with stainless steel media, I tried different cleaning solutions. After spending too much on factory blends, I came across the hot water & lemi-shine with a drop of dawn for dishes blend and have been using that for years now. It's cheap and works amazingly well.
I usually do wet tumbling, especially during the warmer months, and I do all the rinsing, etc., outside with a garden hose. This time of year I use the dry tumbler/vibratory method with some HF media. IIRC, it's this one: https://www.harborfreight.com/25-lbs-fine-grade-walnut-shell-blast-media-92155.html
Read about this on another gun forum and works pretty good. I put a couple pieces of used dryer sheet in the media to help keep the dust down. Stuff seems to work pretty good, but I believe i need to change it out, I can't remember when I started this bowlful of material. I have not had any issues with this media sticking in flash holes, and if it does, it usually falls out when I shake/rattle the cases good when separating the media and brass.
Read about this on another gun forum and works pretty good. I put a couple pieces of used dryer sheet in the media to help keep the dust down. Stuff seems to work pretty good, but I believe i need to change it out, I can't remember when I started this bowlful of material. I have not had any issues with this media sticking in flash holes, and if it does, it usually falls out when I shake/rattle the cases good when separating the media and brass.
Years ago I read a blog where a fellow was placing used dryer sheets in with his walnut medium during cleaning. I tried it and it works remarkably well. When your finished, remove the dryer sheets which now are almost totally black with carbon. The shells and the medium are clean. I’ve been using the same medium for years. Really works…..
That's my experience as well...
I cut the dryer sheets into strips that are roughly 1.5" x 4" and smear a little "Nu Finish" car polish on each piece...it removes the carbon and dust from my media. Three or four pieces to each tumbling batch does the trick.
One to two hours of tumbling with this method equates to good clean brass...not factory new looking but plenty good enough for reloading. Best regards, Rod
kilotanker22
New member
I use walnut media and I change mine when I notice that it takes a considerably increased amount of time to clean the brass