Polish brass with corn cob

[JonB]

I like the Frankford arsenal corn cob media, it is quite small, small enough to not stick in the flash hole.

For treating cob media, I use automotive polishing compound that is diluted in 91% Iso Alc. I also treat the media with Liquid automotive wax, like NuFinish or whatever is on sale (or free at the household hazardous waste collection site), I also dilute the wax with 91% Iso Alc. The Alc content speeds the dispersion in the media (my mix is about 50-50 for both products). I use about a teaspoon of each in every other batch of brass.

 

[462]

A few weeks ago, I replaced the tumbler's corn cob media, drizzle d in a looks-about-right amount of Nu-Finish (been using it for many years), and let the tumbler run for about half-an-hour. Ran a small batch of .223, yesterday, and they came out clean and shiny like always.

Typing as Jon posted.
I bought the seven-pound Frankford Arsenal bag, from Amazon.

 

[358156 hp]

I mix NuFinish 50/50 with mineral spirits anymore. I waited until my first bottle was half empty, then I topped it off with solvent and shook the hell out of it. When that was gone I took a new bottle and poured half of the polish into the old one, then topped both off with solvent and mixed well. I'm not using anywhere near as much as I used to so two bottles last a really long time. Wet tumbling extends that interval even farther.

 

[waco]

For real dirty brass I’ll wet tumble with Dawn and a bit of citric acid. For really grungy stuff I’ll add SS pins.
Normal brass just get put in The Lyman turbo tumbler with crushed walnut treated with mineral spirits and NuFinish.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

I use both Walnut and Corn. I prefer Corn but Walnut is more aggressive and used for range pickups or bulk HD cleaning. (I dont use often)

I like corn I use for 15 min removing sizing lube or overnite / all day for a hibrite polish.

I use two big big tumblers tumblers and one small Lyman for lil jobs.

CW

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

Question... Anyone find a good method to clean this media???

I once rinsed in Kerosene fuel a few times, then set out to dry and it worked but didnt seem worth while. But I have quite a bunch I have t tossed thats pretty dirty.
CW

 

[RBHarter]

I saw someone once tried CC as a saw dust replacement . I don't recall results but I don't think the burn off would be good to get down wind of .....

 

[Wallyl]

Any suggestions as to how to grind up the 0.2" corn cob media to a finer granualtion...surely someone has tried and succeeded. As previously mentioned...next time I'll buy the correct size in the first place, but I'd like to use up what I already have.

 

[fiver]

give it a run in the blender you got nothing to lose.[like a cup at a time]

probably don't use the already treated stuff though.

 

[Wallyl]

fiver...will try that....have you ever done so?

 

[fiver]

nope.
I'd have tossed it out in the garden recycle bin as soon as I seen it not work, so I'm just making suggestions at this point.

 

[CZ93X62]

I like that idea posted by Fiver a few days back--a strip of dryer sheet in the media to de-grunge the media a bit. I'll be trying that shortly.

"Clean" is more important than "shiny" for me. I have gotten by with untreated corn cob grit for 10 years or so. It does a decent job, but 4-6 hour run time is needed. I am seldom in a hurry these days, unlike the days when I was working and everything was GO-GO-GO-DO-DO-DO. Insanity, really. I am SO GLAD those days are in the past for me.