Stainless Steel Media and the Grendel

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  • bwaites
    Moderator
    • Mar 2011
    • 4445

    Stainless Steel Media and the Grendel

    I know there are a fair number of members using stainless steel media for cleaning and polishing brass.

    Are there any problems you've found with media sticking in the small flash holes of Grendel brass?

    Thanks!

  • #2
    Bill, I've done enough brass now that my memory fails me, but I believe I had stainless media stuck in only one Grendel case, so it is a possibility. On the contrary, I have seen several instances of two pieces of media get stuck in the larger flash holes of 45 and 308 brass. In either case, the media comes out easily with a pair of needlenose pliers or tweezers.

    The only downside to wet tumbling with stainless is that I have to handle each piece of brass to rinse it to make sure there's no stainless media left in the case. (When I do that, it's easy to check for stuck pins in the flash holes.) I haven't come up with a better alternative for separating the media from the brass. Maybe one could use one of those tubmbler-type separators for pistol brass, but for rifle brass I don't think that would be a reliable method.

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    • #3
      If you start with a new batch of media, you may get a few stuck in the flash holes and a few stuck sideways in the neck. Just throw those pieces of media away. I no longer get any stuck but I did the first one or two batches I did. Also use a lot of brass and a little media, it works better than the other way around.
      Bob

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      • bwaites
        Moderator
        • Mar 2011
        • 4445

        #4
        Thanks guys! Are you using the magnetic or nonmagnetic media?

        Where have you found the best price on the media, as several buddies and I are about to do this at the same time?

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        • COTNTOP
          Warrior
          • Mar 2011
          • 168

          #5
          Ordered mine from STM. ARFCOM has a thread telling about places to buy Thumblers B at a really cheap price, if I can find it I will post.

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          • #6
            Here is a thread from some of my high power competitor friends that has a lot of information on stainless tumbling.

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            • #7
              ss medi

              Call these people and ask the lady on the phone for scw-41/.255 or just tell her you need ss media and they'll take care of you

              From cut wire shot to stainless steel powder, Pellets LLC manufactures and distributes all forms of peening, tumbling and blasting media.




              Ph: (716) 693-1750

              Fx: (716) 693-1880

              Em: dpieri@pelletsllc.com

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              • rasp65
                Warrior
                • Mar 2011
                • 660

                #8
                Bill This is where I got mine http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubb...513345&page=45 You have to join the forum and PM suasponte. He will give you contact info for Mark. He is a competitive shooter, was on the US Palma team a few years ago. Just getting to talk to Mark is worth the $50 he charges for the media. The media he sells is magnetic.
                Last edited by rasp65; 02-09-2012, 02:19 PM.

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                • #9
                  You can build 2 or 3 tumblers and buy about 50 pounds of media for the cost of one thumber tumbler ...... and, they just aren't that great a tumbler (although they are decent). The reason I say this is because i've been a flint knapper and have had many friends that tumble rocks for many years before I ever heard of stainless media. Non of them use thumblers because they just don't hold up. It's easier to make one than you think.

                  I ordered four pillow bearings for about 14 bucks and got two pieces of 1/2 round bar at lowes for about 14 bucks. Any 1/3 horse, 1/2 horse or 1 horse motor will work, and you can find them for free. You can easily find a motor in old wash machines etc. Or, go to your local pawn shop and buy a small 30 dollar table saw, take off the table and put a v pully on the motor instead of a saw blade and mount your rollers on top.

                  There are several industrial places out there that sell stainless media.

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                  • #10
                    Mutt,

                    A couple of questions. What do you use for a drum? What Drum rpm seems to work best?

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                    • #11
                      vfr, your question about what to use for a drum is the chief reason I went with the Thumler's Tumbler (the model B). Though I thought about going the route Mutt suggested for building my own drive system and roller setup, I couldn't come up with a good alternative for a drum. I will say that the Thumler model B drum is sturdy, seals perfectly, and is relatively quiet because it's rubber lined. Thumler doesn't list the model B drum as available separately on their website, but the paperwork that came with the tumbler included a spare parts list and the drum might have been on that list (or maybe it was only the drum liner; CRS).

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                      • #12
                        You can make decent drum from 6 inch PVC. You cap one end permanent and you put a sewer clean out type cap on the other end. Wrap some kind of rubber around the ends to allow it to grip the bars on the drive unit.

                        Low speed on a thumblers in 20 rpm and high speed is 40 rpm. I've seen where people run thier tumblers anywhere from 40 to 100 rpm. I don't think the speed is that big of a deal. Slower is probably more productive than fast. I have a local store here that sells electric motors. They also sell v belt pullies at this store. If I take the rpm off the label of the motor and tell the guy I want to run at such and such speed, he'll give me the right combination of pullies to get the speed right.

                        Here's a good example of how to make one.

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                        • #13
                          mutt,

                          thanks for the link. good info

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