Gunk in my tumbler?

D

dangthathurt

New member
Over the last couple of years I've developed a thick layer of gunk in the bowl of my vibratory tumbler. It's gray and a bit greasy, composed of polish and bullet residue. Now it's occasionally sticking to the cases and messing up my dies.

Anyone have an easy way to clean this this stuff out?
 
i would assume boiling water and soap would work it out. elbow grease with S.O.S. pads to get the remainder, much like doing the dishes. Boiling water usually breaks up any kind of grease i come across.
 
Recently cleaned my tumbler with he gunk like yours and I used a rag with odorless mineral spirits, followed by dry rags. Clean and shiny.
 
composed of polish and bullet residue
Click to expand...

I don't know what kind of bullet residue you might be having? In my tumblers, when I start accumulating material in the bottom of the tumbler it means I am adding too much polishing compound. And as mentioned OMS cuts it very quickly. Cut back on how much polishing compound you add in the future.
 
Heh, I just bought a new bowl and media.

But . . .

I'm in the same place again now, and I'm not going to keep buying new bowls.

I was thinking of putting on some rubber gloves and scouring it out with Hoppes #9 and a Scotchbrite pad. I'm guessing the ol' #9 will cut it pretty good.
 
If you add just a little Barkeepers Friend to the media once in a while you won't have that problem. I just sprinkle a little in whenever I notice a little buildup and then it's gone, and it rejuvenates the media as well so cases come out nice and shiny. This stuff is fairly abrasive so a little goes a long way. The crud itself will come out with the drier sheets. I've finally settled on a nice routine for cleaning brass. First deprime them with a universal deprimer, then soak them in a solution of citric acid and hot water(about a tablespoon/gallon), stir them in this solution for about 10-15 minutes, then rinse in cold water and dry them in the oven at 300 deg. for20 minutes, then size the brass and trim if needed, then for rifle brass toss them in the tumbler with a drier sheet for an hour to clean off the case lube, then just add about a capful of Nushine to the media with a new drier sheet and tumble for a couple hours until nice and shiny. I know this sounds like a lot of steps but it really is quite easy and not nearly as big a pain as it sounds and gives really good results.
 
It's composed of polish and carbon from cleaning cases. Shouldn't be any bullets. No need for polish either.
Mineral spirits or any other degreaser like dish soap, will do nicely. Use those rubber gloves just on the principal. snicker.
 
I'm going to agree with mineral spirits. I've been thinking about diatomacious earth to corn media as an experiment.

My process has always included putting my Blass in a heavy canvas bag and sending it through the laundry prior to tumbling. Less gunk on the media and quicker clean times.
 
I am inclined to agree with the too much polish theory. Have you tried fresh walnut media and just letting the tumbler run for a couple of hours?? Might be the simplest way to clean it out.

Jim
 
A green scotch brite, and hot soapy water with a few minutes of scrubbing should get most all of the gunk out. Make sure the bowl dries all the way before adding fresh media.
 
That's something I always try to remember. Twenty bucks here or there over a few years usage is an investment, not an expense. I'm not one to buy Bose,or a camaro, but I buy rcbs or Redding equipment and I never cut corners on safety, or "use up" something just because I don't want to waste it. Suspicious ammo or components are treated like thirty year old spam in rusty cans.
 
I throw in a used dryer sheet with the dirty brass ...... it sucks up all that gunk, throw it out when done ..... never cleaned my tumbler .... ever.
 
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