Folks,
My case cleaner (vibe tumbler) is showing signs of old age. ome of my buddies recommend replacing it with a "sonic cleaner". Can anyone offer pro/cons? I'm totally unfamiliar with the sonic cleaner.
aj
I use a Thumler Tumbler, which uses a reusable stainless steel tumbling media and leaves the cases clean inside and out (and looking like new brass). If you deprime first it even does the primer pockets. MidwayUSA, among others, carries them. A little pricey but you only have to buy it once and the media lasts forever.
Here is a link to the Stainless Steel tumbling: http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=32158.30
There is a person that uses the Sonic cleaner on the top of the second page you could send them a PM.
I'm interested in those using the sonic cleaners. Anyone using the ones from Harbor Freight? They are considerably cheaper than the others.
I've been cleaning on average between 600/1000 lbs of brass a month for years....
I own all types of machinery......tumblers, vibratory, sonic.....
I use water, lemshine, walnut, corncob, stainless, yada yada
They ALL have a place, strength
for thee money, time, completeness.... stainless
<---I am in thee business.... hence why I make thee claim
Good comments, guys. I am not a volume cleaner. I've been quite happy with the vibe tumbler I now have, but I can see that due to wear and tear I'll have to replace it in the near future. The reason I'm considering a "sonic" is that I can probably make it do double duty cleaning handguns and other small parts. Is this viable? Has anyone tried it?
aj
Your idea is viable but in my opinion not practical. I tried it, and to get each properly clean takes different chemical in the sonic cleaner. Too much mess, too much extra work, and the brass wasn't nearly as clean out of the sonic cleaner. Get a stainless tumbler for brass, and a sonic cleaner for guns.
I have and use ultrasonic (Lyman TurboSonic 6000), rotary (home built) w/ STM media, and vibratory tumblers (Lyman 1200 and 2200 Auto-flo) w/ walnut, corn cob, and ceramic media.
First, let's differentiate between "clean" and "shiny". Sonic will get the cases cleaner than any other method I'm aware of, but those processed through a sonic cleaner will not be the shiniest. There have been articles suggesting sonic actually gets the brass too clean, causing other issues. Here's one: http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2013/05/ultrasonic-cleaning-case-neck-friction-and-bullet-seating/ (http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2013/05/ultrasonic-cleaning-case-neck-friction-and-bullet-seating/) Here's one about how to do the process: http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/ultrasonic-case-cleaning/ (http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/ultrasonic-case-cleaning/)
For getting dirty brass looking brand new, I haven't found anything that beats the stainless media in a rotary tumbler. The wet process is slower from start to finish than a traditional vibratory, but it will get stuff off that vibratory won't without the use of ceramic media. The wet method does not do well with case lube or other oils. Dirt, yes. Oils, no.
Nothing puts a final shine on brass like fine corn cob media and a vibratory tumbler. All of the corncob and walnut media I've seen that carried a reloading company's name on it was too large in particle size to work well. The pre-treated medias are a waste of money, in my opinion. I ended up buying walnut sandblasting media from Harbor Freight and 20/40 grit corn cob from Grainger. I used the walnut to get the bulk grime off before I got the rotary tumbler. Now, I mostly use the corn cob. The reason for the 20/40 is it doesn't hang up in the flash holes. I add about three cap fulls of odor-free mineral spirits and a stream of Nu-finish car wax to the corn cob media when fresh and let that run without brass for about 15 minutes the first time. Then add the brass. Future batches get another cap full of mineral spirits and a squirt of the Nu-finish. Those amounts are for the Lyman 2200. Adjust accordingly. The mineral spirits cuts down on the dust, but also cuts the sizing lubricants well. The Nu-finish puts a shine on the cases and keeps them from tarnishing as quickly.
If I had to cut back to one method, mine would be the vibratory tumblers. Others will dispute that, but how clean do you really need the inside of the cases? The sonic cleaner is fragile and easy to overload, but might work well for you if you don't process large volumes of brass and aren't trying to emulate gold. The rotary method works well, but you add drying time to the process. Startup costs for the rotary are higher too.
Thanks Guardian, I now have my answer.
aj
You're more than welcome. PM me if you have other questions about one of the methods.
I'll also plug the Thumblers Tumbler from STM. It is awesome.
When loading .45ACP wet tumbled cases on my Dillon 650, I noticed that cases would stick to the powder funnel. Some wax on the powder funnel cured that for a little while. I'm not overly concerned about it, but it does happen.
Another awesome benefit to wet tumbling, is my brass is brand new clean, to include the primer pockets. Check out the Harvey Deprimer. It is a hand held de-priming tool, $45 or $50 well spent! Divorces you from being attached to the reloading bench, and you can deprime anywhere.
I hand deprime (just did 175+ pieces of 5.56 and 30-06 at lunch time), then wet tumble for about 3.5 hours, rinse clean, and let air dry. Then lube, resize and clean again. I know, sounds a bit overkill, but the lube on the necks tends to catch the powder, so I tumble for another 20 minutes to get the lube out of the necks.
Let em air dry, and load the casefeeder for a session on the Dillon.
The case capacity of the newer (just came out this year), STM tumbler is awesome. I bought once and cried once, cause it is a bit pricey. But have not even thought about corn cob or walnut media since.
R/
Chris