Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 Posted May 31 Posted May 31 I'm sure this has been asked before, but I can't find it. I used my new F.A.R.T. today (it replaced the F.A.R.T. Junior) with new stainless steel pins and my usual recipe, a squirt of ArmorAll Wash-And-Wax and 1/8 tsp of citric acid powder. Both the brass and the pins look dull and slightly dark after tumbling and rinsing. I've never seen this before. Cause? Quote
Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 Posted May 31 Author Posted May 31 2 minutes ago, Springfield Slim SASS #24733 said: Oil on the new pins? DING DING DING -- my bad. It appears so. I just ran my hand over the tray of drying pins and it is covered in gray oil. ooops. I guess I need to wash the pins in some good detergent. Quote
Too Tall Bob Posted May 31 Posted May 31 2 things: Were there any nickel cases in the batch? Mixing nickel in with regular brass can cause that to happen. Did you thoroughly wash the tumbler tub out before your first use? good luck. 3 Quote
Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 Posted May 31 Author Posted May 31 (edited) 34 minutes ago, Too Tall Bob said: 2 things: Were there any nickel cases in the batch? Mixing nickel in with regular brass can cause that to happen. Did you thoroughly wash the tumbler tub out before your first use? good luck. There were a couple of nickel cases but that's never caused this before. It was definitely the oil on the pins. They were DISGUSTING, actually; it took several washes and rinses with dishwasher detergent to make them shine. Since the ArmorAll product is not a strong detergent, I guess it had little effect on the oily pins. Next task -- wash the tumbler tub! (I just filled it with very hot very soapy water and put it back on the machine to spin for 15 minutes or so; that ought to do it.) Edited May 31 by Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 1 Quote
Shooting Bull Posted May 31 Posted May 31 Get rid of the pins. Use Strat O Sheen burnishing compound. Brass comes out every bit as shiny without the pain of having to separate pins. https://www.riogrande.com/product/burn-o-sheen-powder-burnishing-compound/339168GP?code=339168&objectID=339169&queryID=2ab05e78544f2a8844288f7e8cbd5a9f 2 Quote
Chas B. Wolfson, SASS #11104 Posted May 31 Posted May 31 29 minutes ago, Shooting Bull said: Get rid of the pins. Use Strat O Sheen burnishing compound. Brass comes out every bit as shiny without the pain of having to separate pins. https://www.riogrande.com/product/burn-o-sheen-powder-burnishing-compound/339168GP?code=339168&objectID=339169&queryID=2ab05e78544f2a8844288f7e8cbd5a9f Ditto! 2 Quote
H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 Posted May 31 Posted May 31 3 hours ago, Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 said: I'm sure this has been asked before, but I can't find it. I used my new F.A.R.T. today (it replaced the F.A.R.T. Junior) with new stainless steel pins and my usual recipe, a squirt of ArmorAll Wash-And-Wax and 1/8 tsp of citric acid powder. Both the brass and the pins look dull and slightly dark after tumbling and rinsing. I've never seen this before. Cause? Oh! Stainless Steel. Putting 2 S's together makes me think of something else... F.A.R.T.? I am a member of POOP. People Offended by Offended People And a of course, PETA. People Eating Tasty Animals 2 Quote
Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 Posted May 31 Author Posted May 31 3 hours ago, Shooting Bull said: Get rid of the pins. Use Strat O Sheen burnishing compound. Brass comes out every bit as shiny without the pain of having to separate pins. https://www.riogrande.com/product/burn-o-sheen-powder-burnishing-compound/339168GP?code=339168&objectID=339169&queryID=2ab05e78544f2a8844288f7e8cbd5a9f I'll have to give that a try. Do you use it with anything else, or by itself? And how much do you add for a load of brass in the regular 7L FART (not the smaller LITE version)? Quote
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted May 31 Posted May 31 If you wet tumble with pins or ceramic, deprime first. Always rinse the pins or ceramic media after use. Quote
Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 Posted May 31 Author Posted May 31 16 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said: If you wet tumble with pins or ceramic, deprime first. Always rinse the pins or ceramic media after use. I always deprime first, and always rinse the pins after use. The problem here was a coating of lubricating oil on the 5 pounds of new pins that I didn't know was there. 1 Quote
Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 Posted May 31 Author Posted May 31 3 hours ago, Shooting Bull said: Get rid of the pins. Use Strat O Sheen burnishing compound. Brass comes out every bit as shiny without the pain of having to separate pins. https://www.riogrande.com/product/burn-o-sheen-powder-burnishing-compound/339168GP?code=339168&objectID=339169&queryID=2ab05e78544f2a8844288f7e8cbd5a9f Does the Stratosheen get the insides of the cases shiny? If not, I'll stick with the pins. Separating them by rotating the media separator in a bucket filled with water is simple and quick. Shiny insides is a requirement with my press set-up because I need to be able to visually (on the inspection camera display screen) tell the difference between case insides that are dark (because there is a powder charge in them) and case insides that are bright shiny brass (because they are empty). 2 Quote
Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L Posted May 31 Posted May 31 sorta off topic I use SS chips rather than pins--much easier to get out of the cases and does a faster job just a happy customer: Southern Shine Media – T&B Bullets Quote
Badlands Bob #61228 Posted June 1 Posted June 1 I use Dawn dishwashing liquid and a 9mm case full of Lemi shine dishwasher boost along with the steel pins. I use my media separator with a water hose to separate the pins from the brass cases. Fill up the tub and rotate the brass in the separator and all the steel pins end up in the tub. Works great. Dawn would have also taken care of that oil problem too. 2 Quote
Kid Rich Posted June 1 Posted June 1 19 hours ago, Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 said: I'm sure this has been asked before, but I can't find it. I used my new F.A.R.T. today (it replaced the F.A.R.T. Junior) with new stainless steel pins and my usual recipe, a squirt of ArmorAll Wash-And-Wax and 1/8 tsp of citric acid powder. Both the brass and the pins look dull and slightly dark after tumbling and rinsing. I've never seen this before. Cause? I just did a load yesterday and they came out not too bright. My fault I do my BP and smokiless loads together and usually rinse them first to get the majority of the fouling out of the BP cases. I did not with these and they weren't too shiny. I clean my brass like Badlands Bob. 19 hours ago, Too Tall Bob said: 2 things: Were there any nickel cases in the batch? Mixing nickel in with regular brass can cause that to happen. Did you thoroughly wash the tumbler tub out before your first use? good luck. I have about 20% nickle brass and never separate them from the regular brass and they have never caused that for me. Just lucky I guess. kR Quote
Sedalia Dave Posted June 1 Posted June 1 36 minutes ago, Kid Rich said: I have about 20% nickle brass and never separate them from the regular brass and they have never caused that for me. Just lucky I guess. It's the Lemi Shine that causes the problem when mixing nickel cases with brass. 1 1 Quote
Kid Rich Posted June 1 Posted June 1 Just now, Sedalia Dave said: It's the Lemi Shine that causes the problem when mixing nickel cases with brass. You are probably right, if you use too much. I use about the same amount that Badlands Bob uses. Less than 1/8 ounce of Lemishine and less than one teaspoon of Dawn, There is always plenty of suds when they are finished tumbling after 3 hours. kR 1 Quote
H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 Posted June 1 Posted June 1 Still wanna know what F.A.R.T. stands for. I assume it's some kind of a brass cleaner? Quote
John Kloehr Posted June 1 Posted June 1 13 minutes ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said: Still wanna know what F.A.R.T. stands for. I assume it's some kind of a brass cleaner? Franklin Arsenal Rotary Tumbler. Also associated with steel pins, hot water, and a squirt each of Dawn and Lemishine 1 Quote
Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 Posted June 1 Author Posted June 1 Lemi-Shine is 100% pure citric acid, in case anyone doesn't know. Any brand of pure citric acid powder is exactly the same thing. I use 1/8 teaspoon of it -- a very small amount is enough. Plus the ArmorAll Wash-N-Wax. Cases always come out super shiny, both brass and nickel, whether mixed or not. Until yesterday. But the amount of lubricating oil on the new 5-lb batch of SS pins was astonishing and not easy to remove due to the massive amount of surface area of 5 pounds of tiny pins. And my "rotate media separator in bucket of water" works perfectly and quickly to separate pins from brass; chips can't really work any better or be separated any more easily or quicky. I've said this before and I'll say it again -- I have NEVER found a stray pin in my brass. I know, never say never, but it is true so far. 3 Quote
Shooting Bull Posted June 1 Posted June 1 20 hours ago, Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 said: I'll have to give that a try. Do you use it with anything else, or by itself? And how much do you add for a load of brass in the regular 7L FART (not the smaller LITE version)? I use the exact same recipe with Strat O Sheen that I used with pins. It’s basically the same as yours. I’ve never measured how much I use but my wild guess is about two tablespoons. The insides of the cases get very clean and shiny. AS clean and shiny as with pins? I’m going to say no, but it’s close. Quote
H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 Posted June 1 Posted June 1 3 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said: I do it the old way, corn cob and Dillon polish. I just bought some new corn cob yesterday. Never used any polish 1 Quote
Sedalia Dave Posted June 1 Posted June 1 (edited) Easiest way to get stray pins in the brass is to overload the media separator with brass. While you can put several hundred cases in the FART. When separating brass from pins limit the total number of pistol cases to no more than 200, have the water level just high enough to submerge the cases, and don't turn the cage too fast. You want the water to flow in and out of the cases as it is turned. Edited June 1 by Sedalia Dave 1 Quote
Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 Posted June 1 Author Posted June 1 58 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said: Easiest way to get stray pins in the brass is to overload the media separator with brass. While you can put several hundred cases in the FART. When separating brass from pins limit the total number of pistol cases to no more than 200, have the water level just high enough to submerge the cases, and don't turn the cage too fast. You want the water to flow in and out of the cases as it is turned. Not in my experience, SD. With the bucket full of water to just below overflowing from the media separator axle-receiving slots, 10 slow turns one way and then 10 slow turns back the other way, and ta-da! Even with a large load of brass. 2 Quote
Kid Rich Posted June 2 Posted June 2 I find that the larger cases are easier to separate the pins from the brass. I will a pin in the 32s once in a while. kR Quote
Texita Draw SASS#77940 Posted June 3 Posted June 3 On 5/31/2026 at 11:33 AM, Shooting Bull said: Get rid of the pins. Use Strat O Sheen burnishing compound. Brass comes out every bit as shiny without the pain of having to separate pins. https://www.riogrande.com/product/burn-o-sheen-powder-burnishing-compound/339168GP?code=339168&objectID=339169&queryID=2ab05e78544f2a8844288f7e8cbd5a9f I’m curious, does this method clean the inside of the brass? Is it shiny? Quote
German Jim Posted June 3 Posted June 3 On 5/31/2026 at 12:46 PM, The Original Lumpy Gritz said: If you wet tumble with pins or ceramic, deprime first. Always rinse the pins or ceramic media after use. This Quote
Shooting Bull Posted June 4 Posted June 4 On 6/2/2026 at 5:04 PM, Texita Draw SASS#77940 said: I’m curious, does this method clean the inside of the brass? Is it shiny? Clean? Absolutely. Shiny? Yes, but not as shiny as if you use pins. Quote
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