Dusty walnut shells in tumbler

[charles p]

Cleaning some brass today and notices a lot of dust coming fomr my walnut shell media.  Threw it out and refilled.  Just wondering, was there something like a dryer sheet, that I could have put in the tumbler to reduce the dust?

[jim36]

+1 on the dryer sheets. They do the trick for me.

[KansasPaul]

My wife saves all of the used dryer sheets for me - i usually add 3 or 4 to my tumbler and toss them away when I remove the tumbled brass - works great!

[necchi]

I put a little of that Lyman polish liquid in there, It doesn't hurt anything and does keep the dust at bay.
Folks use all manner of liquid additives to the compound,,,

[Land_Owner]

I started using dryer lint when I didn't have used dryer sheets.  Some of the link breaks up into clumps but keeps dust under control.  The lint clumps can be picked out of the walnut shells, eventually, or just throw it all away after 6 to 8 (or more) uses. 

[tacklebury]

I tried drier sheets, but found that just taking a sheet of paper towel and loosely rolling it up and making a ring around the center bolt of my tumbler works best.  It sits on top of the walnut media and grabs most of the dusty stuff.  I put a new one in each batch or 2x for one long batch if I have some really grubby stuff to clean. 

[stimpylu32]

I started using dryer lint when I didn't have used dryer sheets.  Some of the link breaks up into clumps but keeps dust under control.  The lint clumps can be picked out of the walnut shells, eventually, or just throw it all away after 6 to 8 (or more) uses.

LO

Have you had any issues with the lint coming apart and getting down into the case's , I know that if I use the wrong size CC they do tend to plug the bottlenecked case's badly . 

stimpy

[mtbugle]

I recently tried the drier sheets added to walnut media and works great. For old stuff that had done many batches, I tore 3 sheets in thirds and ran them with brass. After that I just use one sheet with each batch and have not had much dust to speek of. I always tear into thirds though.  Great idea, glad some one thought it up and shared.
Thanks Don.

[Land_Owner]

LO

Have you had any issues with the lint coming apart and getting down into the case's , I know that if I use the wrong size CC they do tend to plug the bottlenecked case's badly . 

stimpy

Stimpylu

So far so good with 45 Colt and 223.  There were some cases with clumps of lint in the 45 Colts. The clumps were easy to remove and fell right out.  I suppose the mouth of the 223 cases is too small and the lint clumps do not fit.  That may be different with the bigger mouths of the larger cases though.  I have not tried with 30-30 or 270 yet.  I will have to wait and see when I get closer to hunting season.  A little vacuuming or compressed air would be good removal tools I suppose, after the primer is removed, and if it isn't blocked by the lint clump.  I bet the deprimer pin would punch through.  My case tumbling issues has been self inflicted, not following the directions by putting the liquid polish in the media then turning it on for 10 minutes prior to introducing the cases.  The wet polish then coats primer holes, binds media together, and when it runs wet into a case, particularly a small necked 223 case, it bind the media therein and the whole case up.  You have to dig it out at the end and it isn't pretty.  I won't do that again.

[Blackhawker]

I've been using walnut for years and got tired of the dust.  Even with paper towels etc, the dust still keeps coming.  It raises hell with my sinus issues too.  With that, I decided to try corn cob media.  Talk about SHINE!  I wish I would have made this switch years and years ago!

The only problem that I have with corn cob media is that it builds a lot of static in the tumbler and when I dump it out for sifting, the heavily static charged particles tend to go where they want, which means there is a bit of sweeping to be done afterward, however, it's MUCH better than breathing all of that dust from the walnut media.
....just my thoughts and comparison of the two media.

[tacklebury]

Yah, I'm forced to use walnut, however, because my wife's really allergic to corn tassle, corn cob and corn leaves.  8(

[shakey]

You can completely eliminate walnut shell dust by adding a little mineral spirits to the tub. Sprinkle in a teaspoon or so at a time with the unit running. Allow it to distribute a bit between doses so it doesn't clump. If you add it slowly enough it is surprising how "wet" you can make it without problems.

Then, add strips of paper towel to collect the crud that would have been dust.

Seems to help the cleaning action but not the polishing.

By the way, if you use fine ground walnut shells, they will clean primer pockets and not pack up in inconvenient places.

[JeffG]

I use a few drops of Brasso.....it just kind of made sense.

[gypsyman]

If you don't have any additive from Lyman.Dillion,Lee,etc. You can go to a local auto store,PEP Boys,Auto Zone, NAPA store, and look for a product for polishing out paint. I've used a product from Turtle Wax, called Scratch and Swirl remover. It contains amonia by the smell. If you want to stay away from amonia, Kit, makes a product called Scratch Out, which, by the smell, doesn't contain amonia. gypsyman

[victorcharlie]

I set the tumbler out on the back porch.   No dust in the house, problem solved.