Got me a new brass tumbler.

[Dick Dastardly]

The ol RCBS Sidewinder bucket has more or less failed.  A new bucket costs near $90 delivered.  So, I got me a brand new Thumlers A12R (model from memory, rusty hard drive full).  Came last Friday.  So, I put in some brass, Ceramic Porcelain media and some tumbling solution and let 'er roll.  Three hours later, hazy looking brass with a grey finish.  Turns out that the hard rubber barrel needs some breakin' in.  I'll report back, but I expect sparkling results from the next batch.

FWIW, I use an old orange shaker with corncob media for a dryer.  60 minutes in there and I had nice shiny new looking brass.  Apparently the rubber dust just wipes off.

Anyway, this new unit is so quiet that my bride even asked if it was running.  Domestic tranquility is a blessing.

I got it from Lock Stock and Barrel for $105 and actual shipping.  Great delivery, fine product.

DD-DLoS

[hellgate]

I have a small one that uses 1 qt paint cans as the barrel. The Thumblers are basically a rock polisher that will go on and on and on and one etc. etc. etc. for danged near eternity. They are used to handling huge loads of heavy rock. The paint can full of brass (50 - 75 357s) is pretty noisy though.

[Red Creek Robert]

I went Blue and love it. Great Results  :-)

[Dick Dastardly]

This Thumlers unit has a hard rubber barrel.  It's very quiet.  Compared to the RCBS Sidewinder, it's not even there for noise.  The barrel is Six sided and has a WIDE opening.

I still have my orange shaker and it does a fine job of drying a wet load of brass.  I still have to pick out some corncob here and there tho.

I'll report on the new Thumlers unit again when I get more experience with it.

DD-DLoS

[Mason Stillwell]

Hey Dick

I have tried for a few days now to E Mail you and cannot get thru.

I gave Larsen back his EPPUG mould and now I am in need of one.

Can we do some traiding on the Magma mould for one of the new EPPUG moulds<

Mason

[Dick Dastardly]

Ho Mason,

Email sent.  I clicked on your email envelope and sent it along with the electronic horseman.  We'll get this handled Monday.

DD-DLoS

[grymster2007]

I'm a not rollin' my own yet, but plan to. Couple years ago I bought Mrs. Grymster a small rock/gem tumbler. She's never used it so NIB. Might that work fur tumblin' my brass?

If yes; what kind o media might I use?

You fellers ever git tired of all these questions from a newbie?

grym

[Red Creek Robert]

You could use walnut first; this will remove the soot and give you a nice clean finish. Then for a real SHINE use some corn media with Dillon Rapid Polish.
Your brass looks better than new. 

Ask all the questions you want, all of us here are more than welcome to help

[Dick Dastardly]

The longest lasting and most thorough cleaning media in the industry is Ceramic Porcelain.  The stuff used for cleaning brass is 1/8" angle cut rod 11/32" long.  This stuff is near hard as diamonds and lasts indefinitely.  You put into your tumbler or shaker (capable of running a wet load) one part brass, one part ceramic porcelain media and one part tumbling fluid, each by equal volume.  I like just a little more fluid than that.

Then, tumble even your worse case brass and expect cleaner than new shiny outside and in, sparkling clean brass.

It's that simple.  The Ceramic Porcelain is used over and over.  It doesn't wear out.

DD-DLoS

[Red Creek Robert]

DD-DLoS

Were can one pick up some Ceramic Porcelain for tumbling,
and will it work OK in a in a Vibratory Case Cleaner?

Red Creek

[grymster2007]

Checked out Mrs. Grymster's rock tumbler last night. It's pretty small so with 1/3 each brass, media and liquid, might not get more than a few handfuls of brass per load. I think I'll try it anyway. Her's employs a rubber can, so might not be so loud as hellgate's paint cans. Going in the garage anyway. Thanks for the suggestions on media. Looks like it can all be found online.

If Santa brings me the basics for loading, I'll go ahead and buy something like Dick's set-up.

Were can one pick up some Ceramic Porcelain for tumbling,
and will it work OK in a in a Vibratory Case Cleaner?

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/standard-pod.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/pod-link.jsp_A&_DAV=netcon&rid=&indexId=cat20853&navAction=push&masterpathid=&navCount=0&parentType=index&parentId=cat20853&id=0024108

We use similar in our large vibratory tumbles at work, so should be fine.

grym

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Howdy!

Red Creek Robert - (any relation to Dread Pirate Robert?  ) I'll help answer here. 

I hope I don't chime in on top of DD, but ...

In addition to Cabelas, our own Dick Dastardly is a dealer of, among other things, the ceramic media.  He lives approximately 2-3 blocks from the factory that makes the stuff, and has a pretty sweet deal ($$) with them, shipping-wise.  As I understand it, you MUST have a tumbler/vibratory machine that is safe with liquids, as this stuff is used in a cleaning fluid.  SOME vibratory cleaners have solid bowls (my Dillon 500 DOESN'T - the hold-down bolts go 'thru the bottom of the bowl) and will work, sorta OK, with the cer. media.  The TRUE tumblers, like the Thumlers and another company that starts with the letter"L" (not Lyman ... I just forget their name  ) and the afore mentioned RCBS Sidewinder, work BEST since they actually rotate like a clothes dryer.  If you deprime the brass, this stuff will actually scrub out the primer pockets!  (Not the flash-hole itself, but the pocket.)

Hope this helps.

Uhhh ... Robert - NO I don't work for DD, he's just a friend with whom I've dealt with for a while now.  I've bought the special order PRS 250 BigLube bullet mould for 45 Colt from him and he's a stand-up guy to do bu$ine$$ with.  You can access his website by clicking on the banner at the bottom of his posts, or ... www.biglube.com will get you there, too.

[grymster2007]

Well darn! Ifin' I'd a known, I'd a given DD the plug instead o Cabelas!

[Dick Dastardly]

I can beat Cabelas cuz I pick it up at the dock in person.  No shipping.  Shipping is getting to be a major player in my business.

DD-DLoS

[Dick Dastardly]

Another report on the Thumlers AR-12 unit.  I just ran another batch of brass.  No evidence whatsoever of the gray haze on stuff in my first batch.  The brass is nice and bright and shiny inside and out.

So, there is a break in period with these rubber barreled units.  You can expect a new unit to leave some gray haze on stuff.  Since I dry my brass in an old Orange shaker with well used corncob media, the haze came right off.  My last batch was every bit as good as I was getting with the much more expensive (and now broken) RCBS Sidwinder.  It runs a LOT quieter too.

So, for around $105 and shipping there's a fine 12 pound load unit readily available from Lock Stock and Barrel.  I'm proud to give them a plug because their service was absolutely tops.

DD-DLoS

[Deadeye Don]

There appear to be at least a few websites called "lock stock and barrel"   I believe this is the correct one.   Please correct me if I am wrong DD.

http://www.lockstock.com/

[Dick Dastardly]

Yup, that's the one.  They are a great outfit to do business with.

DD-DLoS