shinzen wrote:pdoggeth wrote:
My routine now consists of stainless steel wet tumbling, and I actually prefer that to the ultrasonic cleaner or any acid baths.
I keep wondering if it's worth getting a rock tumbler. Did you just get the HF version or something else?
Hey Shinzen
Yup I just picked up the HF version -- though they have two, a single drum spinner, and a dual drum spinner (I have the dual -- twice the brass to clean). You'll probably find cheaper tumblers on craigslist or ebay, but I don't regret my HF purchase either =).
Depending on how picky you are with wanting shiny-clean brass, it may be worth it to try stainless tumbling. If you go this route, you probably will have to change your routine for prepping the brass. My routine is very similar to beaurr's .
The only other thing I may have to opine about stainless tumbling is that it's not quite a true "set it and forget it" type deal that you may get with the other dry media tumbling. I think for the others, you truly could set it to tumble for 6 hours, and if you come back in 9 hours, no big deal. The wet tumbling, at least from what I heard, if you don't stop the tumbling after the alotted time and dry your brass, there's risk to have your brass come out weird colors. I haven't ever tried it so I don't know how weird the colors are, or if this damage is permanent. Maybe beaurr has an answer to this.
So my routine requires me to tumble at certain times because after 3 hours of tumbling, the brass has to be rinsed out and baked (or air-dried if you prefer), so I don't just set it at 10pm and come back in the morning. Maybe I should try tumbling a small batch of brass overnight to see what happens to it. It'll be interesting =).