Sorry for the simple question, guys, but I'm just getting started. After running the brass through the tumbler, how do you get all the polishing compound dust out of the cases?

I use walnut hull media and don't have a dust problem if I keep it changed regularly, I also don't de-prime the brass till I tumble it, save picking the primer holes clean!

Right on .Just use a rag to wipe it off

If you're using straight walnut, you might try dumping in a couple of capfuls of mineral spirits. Also, invest in a birdcage type of separatar.

+1 on the walnut.
Use of a good separator also helps, I find.

I had problems with that when I first started cause I didn't know better.

I started out with that Lyman Walnut media. That always coated my cases.

Since then I've gone to a 50/50 mix of plain corncob and plain ol' crushed up walnut with a [b][color:#3333FF]capfull of Flitz[/color][/b] every once in a while.

If you are using corn media it can get stuck in the flash hole and be a problem. Each case gets the neck cleaned with a bronze brush. After the cases are cleaned, tumbled in your media, then and only then deprime inspecting each case for this problem. BTW, I ad, to my corn media, in a small amount of case polish. Case polish actually being Turtle Wax cleaning polish. Same stuff that you pay extra for at Midway for a much smaller bottle. $3.00 at Walmart for good old green Turtle Wax. I have been doing this for yrs. now with no found problems other than media has to be changed out more frequent. I do wipe all cases on a rough terry cloth towel for piece of mind after depriming and inspection for obstuction in the flash hole. Good luck and good shooting. MTG

What MTG said,..very important. Always check the flash hole for media before you prime.

What everyone else said plus I run a nylon cleaning brush of the appropriate size through the neck to remove the dust from it.

Tumbling? What's this tumbling stuff I'm hearing about?

If I want shiny brass, I buy new stuff.

I found that the primer pocket cleaning tool would often remove the piece of media from the flash hole. If it did not a small drill bit would handle it.

Now I use a RCBS case prep station and the flash hole deburring tool does it nicely.

Build a tool that fits the flash hole and pick it out.
I used a piece of welding rod ground down to fit,then put a wooden file handle I had laying around.

I use a lot finer mesh ground cob that is sold as a polishing media and used by the plastic industry, works great and doesn't stick in the flash holes. Can buy from several sources online...Russ

Try throwing some used dryer sheets in while they tumble. The sheets will collect lots of the trash.

I use corncob with A LITTLE polish added (happens to be Midway's). Too much polish and the mix clumps up in the case. Then maybe 20 minutes in untreated corncob which removes all traces of polish. I have a small compressor in the garage so it's quick and painless to blast any pieces of corncob from the flash hole. Kinda fun really.

Obviously I resize first so resizing lube gets polished away. Cases never have gotten so gritty that I had to worry about damaging a die, at least after a quick roll in an old towel.

Toothpicks are cheap and plentiful.

But yet another excuse for picking up a compressor for the garage. I got mine just for convenience and it turned out to be one of the most used power tools in the garage. I don't remember the CFM but besides keeping tires round it's big enough to run lower volume air tools continuously and the high volume ones if I'm a little bit patient.

I do and have one of the separators.

Ask your wife or mother to save the used dryer sheets. When you throw the brass in throw a couple used used dry sheets.
Dust and such are on the dryer sheet.

Jim

The dryer things work. I was amazed the first time I tried it.

I don't think most people worry about the inside, as far as dust goes. Wipe down the outside before sizing. For bottleneck cases I also lube the inside of the case neck before resizing (lube the case body too of course). After resizing and depriming I run my cases through the tumbler again to remove the case lube. I check the flash holes to make sure that none of the media is lodged in them.

Ernie

I don't have a problem with dust from walnut media from Pet Smart as long as I run the cleaner long enough to get the cases slick and clean. I only have a problem when I don't run it long enough. I use a small Allen wrench to pick out the media stuck in the flash holes.

Another toothpick man here

+1 to the dryer sheets.

Make sure to use the used ones, they have much more porosity to collect dust. I cut mine up into 1-2" squares for better distribution.

I also "recharge" my media with a capful of Nu-Finish, the car stuff, every other load or so.

This makes tumbling sound like a whole lot of work just to have pretty cases. I couldn't care less how pretty they are as long as the bullet comes out of the barrel straight.

I tumble mine to get the case lube off of the cases. I put a little media polish in the corn cob media and don't have a dust problem. A straightened out paper clip works great for a flash hole pick to get the stuck media out.

yep.

and het a neck brush for the inside


Snake

Ok, guys, thanks for the info. I happen to like pretty brass, and I don't like having that little case lube film, so I tumble them for those two reasons. I use a short length of copper wire to clean the flash hole. I figured the copper was soft enough to not ding the pocket, but sturdier than a toothpick! I am using a nylon brush on the neck, but one day I used some q-tips to clean out the inside and there was a lot of red dust in there! Nobody does anything crazy like running them through the dishwasher, right?

Have any of you guys used a shaker in lieu of a tumbler?

Opinions?

Not really. I use a Thumler's Model "B", loaded with lizard litter and white rice, and can put a BUNCH of brass in at one time. Load it up and walk away. I tumble it to get it clean, not to make it look new, as my dies like it better clean. If I want to let it run for a while, I can make it look almost new, but I don't mess with that usually. I put the polish in to make it clean faster, as it has a mild solvent in it, as well as to control dusting.

Makes a lot of sense.

That would be the vibratory instead of the tumblatory method. (I love awkward words.)

A shot of compressed air removes most of that.




I don't use a dishwasher, but I do wash out my brass. I don't want lube residue, media dust or polish additive hanging around inside my cases.

I use a shaker instead of a tumbler. It works fine for me. I care less about a shiny case than I do about a clean case. I use a vibrating cleaner with walnut media as the last step in my case prep. It seems to do a good job getting any remaining unwanted residue off the cases.

I haven't tumbled brass ever. It's a waste of time.


Travis

I use both a tumbler and shaker. Tumbler to get them clean, then put them in a shaker (OLD Midway one) to polish them so they look factory new. Might not need them that way, but like them that way, and the tumbler gets the dirt off so they don't scratch my dies. A friend of mine puts theirs in a thumblers tumbler, with hot water, and uses soap as a case lube, so the cases actually "washed". After washing, changes the water twice to get the soap out/off, then dries them in the sun (he lives in Arizona). This guy a top competitive shooter, and loads 12-15,000 rounds at a time. Washing them, doesn't leave any media in any place, and cleans the primer pocket too.