A new "what are you doing in the loading room today" thread

[SafetyJoe]

I just finished drying 5 gallons of 38/357 mag brass that I wet tumbled clean last night. I'm using a homemade brass dryer I invented that uses stacked plastic tubs and two 100 watt equivalent halogen light bulbs. The top tub that the brass is inside has hundreds of holes I melted in the bottom with a soldering iron. The holes allow the heat from the light bulbs to permeate up and through the brass. The middle tub has a large hole in the center for the heat from the light bulbs to pass through while still shielding the bulbs from any dripping water and the bottom tub allows the room for the light bulbs. The bottom tub and top tub lid also have vent holes to allow the heat and moisture to circulate up and out. All 3 tubs are not the same height. The bottom tub is the deepest to allow extra room for the light bulbs. I was able to dry all 5 gallons of brass in only a few hours. Tumbling clean all 5 gallons of brass took 3 hours to tumble in 3 separate tumblers. Each batch tumbled for 1.5 hours and I ran 6 of those batches. Total hands on time spent loading the tumblers and later rinsing the 5 gallons of brass and dumping them in my homemade dryer was under 1.5 hours. So with this setup I'm able to clean 5 gallons of brass with about 1hr 15 min of actual hands on work and 3 hours total of wet tumbling.

[Bullet45120]

What is the advantage of wet tumbling, what equipment do you wet tumble in and what wet material do you wet tumble with? Tim

[WarEagleEd]

What is the advantage of wet tumbling, what equipment do you wet tumble in and what wet material do you wet tumble with? Tim

I use a Lortone model 33B. I use some Lemi-Shine, non-concentrated Dawn dish detergent, and water. I get my stainless steel pins from Best Byte computers in Katy, TX. The Lortone 33B can't process a lot of brass at a time (just about a pound per barrel, the 33B has two barrels), but it suits my needs. My brass comes out very clean inside and out. Primer pockets usually come out just as clean, but sometimes there is a little residue left inside the pocket. With the vibratory cleaner I had issues with bits of the abrasive getting stuck in flash hole and powder/dust accumulation on brass that then had to be cleaned. I don't know if, generally speaking, there is any significant advantage to wet-tumbling.

As far as reloading related stuff, today I wet-tumbled a batch of .38 special and 9mm brass.