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Wet Tumbling


Frontier Lone Rider

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I got a wet tumbler for Christmas to better clean my black powder cartridges and was looking up the recommended formulas to use.

 

Lots of folks suggested Lemi Shine, but when I went to purchase this, it comes as a Rinse or a Dishwasher Detergent.  Which do you use or does it make any difference.

 

Frontier Lone Rider

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Looked at a lot, tried some, and found I like the following.

big glug of Dawn dish detergent

1/4- 1/2 tsp of citric acid (the kind you use for canning) 

SS pins.   
 

the citric acid is what’s in the Lemi-shine.  
 

simple mix and inexpensive too.  

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Yep, that's what I use, but with ceramic media in a Thumbler's Tumbler.

--Dawg

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My formula is to fill the container with the recommended amount of brass and fill with water a couple of inches above the level of the brass.  I then add a squirt of Dawn, a small sprinkle of Lemi-Shine, and about a tablespoon of Strat-O-Sheen.  I quit using steel pins (thank you Yul Lose) because they are a PITA and my brass was just as shiny.  You may need SS pins or ceramic media for BP brass.  A BP shooter needs to chime in here.

 

Do not wet tumble nickel plated brass with Lemi-Shine or your brass will come out discolored.  

 

www.target.com/p/lemi-shine-dish-detergent-booster-24oz/-/A-49155581#lnk=sametab

 

Strat-O-Sheen Powder Burnishing Compounds - RioGrande

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3 minutes ago, TN Mongo, SASS #61450 said:

My formula is to fill the container with the recommended amount of brass and fill with water a couple of inches above the level of the brass.  I then add a squirt of Dawn, a small sprinkle of Lemi-Shine, and about a tablespoon of Strat-O-Sheen.  I quit using steel pins (thank you Yul Lose) because they are a PITA and my brass was just as shiny.  Do not wet tumble nickel plated brass with Lemi-Shine or your brass will come out discolored.  

 

www.amazon.com/Lemi-Shine-Dishwasher-Detergent-Glassware/dp/B07CMTVH38/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3KN56CQ901ODJ&keywords=lemi%2Bshine&qid=1673202713&sprefix=lemi%2Caps%2C88&sr=8-1-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzRU1DOE5SQVYwRDZVJmV

 

Strat-O-Sheen Powder Burnishing Compounds - RioGrande

 

So you use no tumbling media whatsoever?

 

Just the brass, water, and cleaning fluid/powder?

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I have been using a 45acp case full of lemishine, and scrubbing bubbles shower automatic shower cleaning liquid (though I think it might be discontinued now), with SS pins in my tumbler for 90s mins.  Then I change out the water and go another 60mins with wash & wax car wash liquid I got at Autozone.

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Yes, no tumbling media at all.  I normally run the tumbler 3 hours, but they have come out just as shiny after 2 hours.  The Strato-Sheen is a jewelry polishing compound and is fabulous stuff.  The five pound box will last for years.

 

 

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52 minutes ago, Frontier Lone Rider said:

I got a wet tumbler for Christmas to better clean my black powder cartridges and was looking up the recommended formulas to use.

 

Lots of folks suggested Lemi Shine, but when I went to purchase this, it comes as a Rinse or a Dishwasher Detergent.  Which do you use or does it make any difference.

 

Frontier Lone Rider

Lemon Shine is the expensive (packaging) version of citric acid.

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27 minutes ago, TN Mongo, SASS #61450 said:

My formula is to fill the container with the recommended amount of brass and fill with water a couple of inches above the level of the brass.  I then add a squirt of Dawn, a small sprinkle of Lemi-Shine, and about a tablespoon of Strat-O-Sheen.  I quit using steel pins (thank you Yul Lose) because they are a PITA and my brass was just as shiny.  You may need SS pins or ceramic media for BP brass.  A BP shooter needs to chime in here.

 

Do not wet tumble nickel plated brass with Lemi-Shine or your brass will come out discolored.  

 

www.target.com/p/lemi-shine-dish-detergent-booster-24oz/-/A-49155581#lnk=sametab

 

Strat-O-Sheen Powder Burnishing Compounds - RioGrande

Are talking about all nickel or just a couple in with yellow? I just ran my first batch of brass in my new tumbler with 2 nickel 45c and although they are very clean, all the brass is yellow like it had been sitting around for a while compared to bright and polished looking from corn cob with turtle wax polish.

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I do like a couple other parts do, dawn dish soap(my preferance) lemi-shine and no media.

 

I have decided to start depriming my brass before I tumb, no particular  reason just want to

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another receipe:

 

Lemi-shine (generic citric acid) ¼ teaspoon

1 oz cheap car wash and wax\

SS chips (think tiny fingernail clipping)  they don't hang up in brass and do a quicker job

 

can be separated using kitchen strainer

 

Just happy customer:  went with 5 lbs:  

https://tbbullets.com/southern-shine-media-2/?fbclid=IwAR0t8Yigy-ez9IVlZvg2O_0WYsN03F16EV4-eGmRpiNeWZxmAq03m6w9CWI 

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Thank you all for that helpful information.  I will be putting your suggestions to work soon.

 

FLR

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5 minutes ago, Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L said:

another receipe:

 

Lemi-shine (generic citric acid) ¼ teaspoon

1 oz cheap car wash and wax\

SS chips (think tiny fingernail clipping)  they don't hang up in brass and do a quicker job

 

can be separated using kitchen strainer

 

Just happy customer:  went with 5 lbs:  

https://tbbullets.com/southern-shine-media-2/?fbclid=IwAR0t8Yigy-ez9IVlZvg2O_0WYsN03F16EV4-eGmRpiNeWZxmAq03m6w9CWI 

 

I ordered 10lbs of their SS Pins.

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Spray scrubbing bubbles on the brass and let stand for 5 minutes.

Then put brass filling container (2/3 full), fill with water and 1-2 tbs of dawn and SS pins. Leave some but not much air.

I rarely spin for more than 60 minutes.

Dump dirty water and most pins into bucket.

Rinse and redump with most pins in bucket.

Pour brass into bucket after water and pins removed, start drying process.

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13 hours ago, Frontier Lone Rider said:

 

I ordered 10lbs of their SS Pins.

The only way to clean all the gunk from the inside is to use media either ceramic or SS pins. 

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17 minutes ago, Sixgun Seamus said:

The only way to clean all the gunk from the inside is to use media either ceramic or SS pins. 

 

I also ordered some smaller jewelers ss pins, hopefully to help clean the inside.

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What folks don't realize is Lemi Shine isn't an absolute necessity.  It's not a detergent, it's a booster for detergent. If you have hard water Lemi Shine softens it.  That helps whatever soap you're using work better and it also helps prevent water spots.  So if you already have relatively soft water the Lemi Shine isn't doing anything for you.  

 

 

Lemi Shine.webp

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I too was gifted a wet tumbler for Christmas. Ran the first batch using the supplied cleaner and some dawn with pins, deprimed brass, came out nice and clean. Second batch deprimed, lemi-shine, dawn and pins, spectacular. Next I tried strato-sheen, dawn, lemi-shine. Result is super shiny, but did not clean the insides or primer pockets as well as the pins did. Tumbling times was 2 hours. Gonna try 3 hours to see if the strato-sheen can clean the inside and primer pockets as well as the pins, if it can't, I might order some chips, as the pins separation is the one part that is a pain.

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IMO, separating pins or chips are both going to be equally problematic.  One of my acquisitions a few years ago was a Frankfort Arsenal media separator, basically a bucket with a cage to dump brass into and spin so whatever media you're using falls out of the cases into the bucket.  I got this so I wouldn't have to handle the brass in the media, getting the dust all over my hands.   I could just dump the vibratory cleaner out into the cage, spin, and never have to handle the media.  Works the same way with the pins.  Sometimes a simple piece of the right equipment does actually make the job easier.

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I de-prime brass before tumbling.  I agree that SS pins do clean the inside of the brass better, but I grew tired of the aggravation of finding the pins everywhere.  A good magnet with a release device helped, but SS pins weren't worth the hassle for me.  

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3 hours ago, Ranger Dan said:

Next I tried strato-sheen, dawn, lemi-shine. Result is super shiny, but did not clean the insides or primer pockets as well as the pins did. 

 

 

My question to most folks who make this observation is, how clean do you need them to be?  If you want the inside of your brass to look like factory new then by all means use some sort of media.  But again, is that really necessary?  Totally your call.  You set your own priorities. 

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19 minutes ago, Shooting Bull said:

My question to most folks who make this observation is, how clean do you need them to be?  If you want the inside of your brass to look like factory new then by all means use some sort of media.  But again, is that really necessary?  Totally your call.  You set your own priorities. 

 

Cleanliness is next to Godliness, or that is what my ma told me!

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21 minutes ago, Shooting Bull said:

 

 

My question to most folks who make this observation is, how clean do you need them to be?  If you want the inside of your brass to look like factory new then by all means use some sort of media.  But again, is that really necessary?  Totally your call.  You set your own priorities. 

 

Just now, Itchy Trigger said:

 

Cleanliness is next to Godliness, or that is what my ma told me!

I was skeptical when @Yul Lose told me to try wet tumbling without the pins, but it is so much easier and the cases are certainly clean enough to run through my Dillon perfectly.

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18 hours ago, Shooting Bull said:

 

 

My question to most folks who make this observation is, how clean do you need them to be?  If you want the inside of your brass to look like factory new then by all means use some sort of media.  But again, is that really necessary?  Totally your call.  You set your own priorities. standards.

Clean as they can be using the easiest methods available. I'm just getting started with wet tumbling. I tried strato-sheen after reading other threads indicating that it could replace the pins as a media with same result. I'm just pointing out, and you confirmed, that this is not the case.

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Personally I like using the pins as I like the inside to be shiny too, as it is easier to check powder level. I use a Frankfort Arsenal media separator as it makes the job easy. As for the Lemi-shine, my cases get clean without it, but they get shiny with it, so I will continue to use it. It seems to cut down on tumbling time also. I mostly shoot BP, so YMMV.

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Can't wait to have more dirty brass so I can try mine again! Almost hard to believe that only 2 nickel out of over 500 would have made them come out yellow aged looking. But, dang they are clean in and out! Just so used to the bright shiny I got with corn cob and polish. Time will tell, but after the investment, I gotta use the wet! 

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7 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said:

Can't wait to have more dirty brass so I can try mine again! Almost hard to believe that only 2 nickel out of over 500 would have made them come out yellow aged looking. But, dang they are clean in and out! Just so used to the bright shiny I got with corn cob and polish. Time will tell, but after the investment, I gotta use the wet! 

I tumble brass & nickel all together, but never saw any aging.   However, the citric acid/ lemi- shine if left running for a while might be affected.  I find 45 mins gets everything shiny.  

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27 minutes ago, Not Dead Ed said:

I tumble brass & nickel all together, but never saw any aging.   However, the citric acid/ lemi- shine if left running for a while might be affected.  I find 45 mins gets everything shiny.  

I used the pins, Strato Sheen and a smidge of Lemi shine with 3 tablespoons of carwash with wax. They came out clean, but very yellow like brass laying around in the open for months. A post above indicated it was from the 2 nickel 45c cases. I ran it for 3 hours.

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13 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said:

I used the pins, Strato Sheen and a smidge of Lemi shine with 3 tablespoons of carwash with wax. They came out clean, but very yellow like brass laying around in the open for months. A post above indicated it was from the 2 nickel 45c cases. I ran it for 3 hours.

Interesting.   Hadn’t seen that, but maybe it was the 3 hour tour…. 

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5 hours ago, Ranger Dan said:

Clean as they can be using the easiest methods available. I'm just getting started with wet tumbling. I tried strato-sheen after reading other threads indicating that it could replace the pins as a media with same result. I'm just pointing out, and you confirmed, that this is not the case.

 

If I was ever one of the folks that indicated “same results” I sincerely apologize. The outside of the cases do get every bit as clean and shiny as with pins. The inside and primer pockets get clean, but not as shiny. 

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I started the ‘Strato Sheen  and no pins or ceramic media craze a few years ago AND I’ve maintained all along that the inside of the case and primer pockets do not get as clean as using steel pins or ceramic media, for my needs Strato Sheen works perfect. I don’t shoot black powder and I don’t look inside every case to see how much powder is in it. I don’t deprime the brass because I’ve got sizing dies with decapping pins in them and I’m lazy by nature and hate decapping brass. I really hate taking the time to rinse out the cases and get the pins and ceramic media out. My brass is shiny enough for me and unless SASS starts a shiny brass requirement and starts making us unload cases to prove that the insides of our brass is shiny I see no need on a personal basis to go to all the trouble, your mileage may vary. You want to decap your brass and check the insides of shiny brass knock yourselves out, it’s not for me, I’ve got better things to do.

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So then, am I expecting to much? I deprimed this time because my brass has been reloaded at least 10 or more times and never deprimed. That yellow, I can get used to, it just looks like brass that was cleaned a year ago and stored in an open container compared to a light bright polished shine. I think the depriming exposed me to more lead than my previous method as I my left hand was black afterwards. I always wash up with D Lead.

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