New wet tumbler making brass look sandblasted

[JeepsAndGuns]

So I finally joined the club of wet tumblers and bought a new frankford arsenal tumbler. I deliberated for a long time over getting one, reading lots of the pros and cons. My dry tumbler with green corncob has served me well for years, but some heavily tarnished cases it just will not get as clean as I would like.
So I get the tumbler in and read the instructions. I add about 100 6.5x55 cases, the pins, and their sample packet of cleaning solution. I run them for 2 hours.
I rinse and separate. The brass looks great. There was 20 pieces of brass I had about 3-4 firings on that still had just a tiny bit of carbon still inside the cases, but all the others were once fired and look great. Except the cases have a "metallic paint" type of luster to them. Kinda like they have been sand blasted with rough grit sand. Not the shiny smooth and brand new looking brass I keep seeing pictures of online.
Now don't get me wrong, they are clean and all traces of tarnish is gone, but I did not think it was going to sandblast my cases. I do not think I left them in too long as the 20 shells I had in there with a few firings on them still had a tiny bit of carbon inside them.
I tried searching online and found pretty much nothing about this issue anywhere except one older post on ar15.com where someone had the exact same issue. Most people said it is from the pins being "new and sharp" and to tumble them by themselves for about 4 hours to smooth out the sharp cut ends. Just like the poster, I found super fine brass dust in the bottom of the bucket as well.
Really? It sure would have been nice to know this from the start. Has anyone else had this same issue? Do I need to tumble just the pins for a few hours, or are there better quality pins to be had than the ones I got with the tumbler?

[Ted_Feasel]

So I finally joined the club of wet tumblers and bought a new frankford arsenal tumbler. I deliberated for a long time over getting one, reading lots of the pros and cons. My dry tumbler with green corncob has served me well for years, but some heavily tarnished cases it just will not get as clean as I would like.
So I get the tumbler in and read the instructions. I add about 100 6.5x55 cases, the pins, and their sample packet of cleaning solution. I run them for 2 hours.
I rinse and separate. The brass looks great. There was 20 pieces of brass I had about 3-4 firings on that still had just a tiny bit of carbon still inside the cases, but all the others were once fired and look great. Except the cases have a "metallic paint" type of luster to them. Kinda like they have been sand blasted with rough grit sand. Not the shiny smooth and brand new looking brass I keep seeing pictures of online.
Now don't get me wrong, they are clean and all traces of tarnish is gone, but I did not think it was going to sandblast my cases. I do not think I left them in too long as the 20 shells I had in there with a few firings on them still had a tiny bit of carbon inside them.
I tried searching online and found pretty much nothing about this issue anywhere except one older post on ar15.com where someone had the exact same issue. Most people said it is from the pins being "new and sharp" and to tumble them by themselves for about 4 hours to smooth out the sharp cut ends. Just like the poster, I found super fine brass dust in the bottom of the bucket as well.
Really? It sure would have been nice to know this from the start. Has anyone else had this same issue? Do I need to tumble just the pins for a few hours, or are there better quality pins to be had than the ones I got with the tumbler?I ultrasonic then dry tumble.. I had similar experience with wet tumble. I found lots of fine brass particles. I didnt really search for answers I just put 2+2 together knowing if its removing brass noticeably then probably wasnt a good thing. I have read some people say it wears primer pockets faster, personally I can't say since I use rice. I do know a couple of friends of mine love the cleanliness that wet tumble gives although I've seen as good of results going ultrasonic then dry tumble

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[OldDog]

It could be bleeding the zinc out of your brass especially if you went a little rich on cleaning solution.I made the mistake of mixing up a batch of vinegar and salt solution from a recipe that I was gulible enough to try from a Youtube video,and it turned my water yellow,and the brass dried to a streaky tan color.I shot them one last time and trashed them.Zinc is water solibule.Brass plumbing fixtures,and such are not bright yellow,but redish brown,because of the lack of zinc.

[Robinhood]

Consider reducing your Lemishine.

Bleeding Zink Out?

[CFJunkie]

I use the same tumbler and only tumble the dirty brass for an hour.
I figure there is no use beating the brass to death when it gets clean in an hour or less.

A little 'Dawn' dishwashing liquid and a bit of Lemi-shine and they come out fine.
If I use too much Lemi-shine, the brass doesn't come out as shiny.

[jpx2rk]

There are numerous receipes for the cleaning solution, especially the Lemishine. I've read some use a 45 case to measure, or a "pinch" of Lemishine. I use a small "pinch" and dawn dish soap in hot water, run the tumbler for 2-3 hrs and rinse in cold water since I do my tumbling out in the garage. Wife's new kitchen sinks are off limits to me now. :brick:.

New pins do have sharp edges, etc., and there are "better" SS pins out there. Just google SS pins and see what ya get. I use the ones provided with the FART and have them seasoned now (if that is a good way to describe it). If you don't have the right mix of pins and brass, it doesn't do as good of a job, and if you let the FART run too long, it will beat up the edges of the necks pretty good. It's a trial and error sort of thing to some extent. Dry the brass asap so it won't stain or discolor as much, laying it out in the sun on the driveway or a food dehydrator work great.

[JeepsAndGuns]

The issue is not chemical, it is abrasion. I used the solution that came with the tumbler, not dawn/lemi shine. It was a sample packet and the instructions said to add the whole packet.

The brass looks good as far as cleanliness, they just has thousands of tiny marks all over them. I will try and take a picture when I get home. Not sure if my camera will be able to pick up the detail, but I will try.

[Ted_Feasel]

The issue is not chemical, it is abrasion. I used the solution that came with the tumbler, not dawn/lemi shine. It was a sample packet and the instructions said to add the whole packet.

The brass looks good as far as cleanliness, they just has thousands of tiny marks all over them. I will try and take a picture when I get home. Not sure if my camera will be able to pick up the detail, but I will try.Steel is harder than brass (unless it's a steel alloy made to be soft) it only stands to reason there will be abrasion.

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[Texas10]

Could be your pins being new and "sharp" as you mention. Personally I did not have that issue using pins, but did with a new shipment of Sleeping Giant SS media that had sharp edges. Took several hours of running before they were "seasoned" as you put it very well.

Increasing the ratio of media to cases will help, as will adding more water and perhaps soap. There are also some other shapes of media available that will lessen the abrasion issues. One thing to remember is that the media will migrate into the cases during tumble and therefore not be available to cushion and polish the case exteriors. When in doubt, add media.

[JeepsAndGuns]

Ok, here are a couple pictures I took. Hopefully it comes through in the pictures. The center case is a once fired (from a AR10) 308 I ran through my old vibratory tumbler with green corncob. The ones on each side are a couple 6.5x55 I ran through the wet tumbler.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/46775088905_0c193138a2_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/40724676903_4e48cb25e6_b.jpg

Now the brass is not ruined, it is just not the result I was expecting based on the hundreds of raving reviews I read everywhere online about wet tumbling with ss pins. I never saw one review mentioning this.

I will try running just the pins with dawn and lemi shine and no brass for several hours this weekend, then I will dig some brass out of my scrap bucket and do a test run and see how they turn out.

[bigedp51]

My STM wet tumbler instructions tells me to wet tumble the pins with soap "without any brass" to break in the pins and wear down the sharp ends.

Your pins were stabbing your brass with their sharp ends, simple fix let your pins tumble over night and wear down the tips. That way you brass will not look like a herd of beavers were chewing on your cases.

[Robinhood]

Ok, here are a couple pictures I took. Hopefully it comes through in the pictures. The center case is a once fired (from a AR10) 308 I ran through my old vibratory tumbler with green corncob. The ones on each side are a couple 6.5x55 I ran through the wet tumbler.



Now the brass is not ruined, it is just not the result I was expecting based on the hundreds of raving reviews I read everywhere online about wet tumbling with ss pins. I never saw one review mentioning this.

I will try running just the pins with dawn and lemi shine and no brass for several hours this weekend, then I will dig some brass out of my scrap bucket and do a test run and see how they turn out.

Put some sand in there to round those edges. Those marks would upset me too. I have not seen pins that will do that. I like the idea that more pins may dampen the harshness. Bigger drum harder fall for the pins and cases.

[Philf]

My STM wet tumbler instructions tells me to wet tumble the pins with soap "without any brass" to break in the pins and wear down the sharp ends.

Your pins were stabbing your brass with their sharp ends, simple fix let your pins tumble over night and wear down the tips. That way you brass will not look like a herd of beavers were chewing on your cases.

i agree with Big Ed that if you would run your new pins in the tumbler and put some old brass in that you don’t care for to work the sharp areas off of them.

[JeepsAndGuns]

Ok, I had some time this weekend to fiddle around with it. I filled it with just the pins, no brass, with water and some dawn and lemi shine. I ran it 3 hours like this. I then drained the water, refilled about half way with water/dawn/lemi shine, then run for another 3 hours. I then filled it the rest of the way up with water than ran another 2 hours, then drained off the water.
So in total I ran it 8 hours with just the pins.
I load it up with about 50 30-06 cases and another 20 6.5x55 cases. I ran it for a hour but the cases were not clean enough, so I put them back on for another hour.
Very little if any change. Brass still pretty much looks the same as the above pictures. I also noticed the dawn/lemi shine did not seem to work as well as the cleaner that came with the tumbler. So I will probably get some of that if/when I run it again.
I thought bout trying to find some steel cases to run through it thinking maybe they might be hard enough to help smooth out the pins.

[Robinhood]

You never stated the brand of tumbler. If it is not homemade I would change the pin manufacturer and try again.

[Orezona]

I'm very interested in the brand of your tumbler and SS pins. I have the Frankford Arsenal and my brass turns out amazing with one hour of cleaning. I use a cap full of the cleaning solution that came with the tumbler.

[jpx2rk]

I have a FART and usually have to run mine about 2 or 2.5hrs with about 300 223 cases, some pockets don't come as clean as unfired brass nor are the insides "brand new" either but definitely cleaner than with dry media.

[JeepsAndGuns]

You never stated the brand of tumbler. If it is not homemade I would change the pin manufacturer and try again.

It is in the very first sentence of my first post.


So I finally joined the club of wet tumblers and bought a new frankford arsenal tumbler.

But in case more specifics are needed, see here:

https://www.amazon.com/Frankford-Arsenal-Separator-Polishing-Reloading/dp/B00HTN4R6O/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2DM5BJ3Q7Q07L&keywords=brass+tumbler&qid=1556640774&s=gateway&sprefix=BRASS+TUMBLER%2Caps%2C167&sr=8-4

[Robinhood]

It is in the very first sentence of my first post.

Just seeing if you were paying attention...............
Obviously I was not. I believe your pins were not designed for optimal performance.

[want2ride]

I use a Frankfort arsenal tumbler and have run thousands of brass through there. I run mine about 1 hour 20 minutes with more media than I am supposed to and have never run less than 100 brass in a batch.
I have not seen that kind of damage, it is shocking to see. I am not even sure what I would recommend. I have never used the sample pack either. All I have used is Dawn and either a little lemishine or jet dry so it doesn't get water spots. Then I set in front of a box fan over night. Running for such a short time I still have a tiny amount of carbon in the primer pocket, but the inside and outside of the rest of the case looks fantastic.

I hope you get it figured out.