Brass case dryer

[Major Tom]

I just started to use wet media cleaning using a Franklin Arsenal wet media rotary tumbler and stainless steel pins. This thing holds 5 pounds of pins and up to 600 .223 brass cases. I also have their media/case separater and magnet. I'm looking at their case dryer which looks good, but wondering if a food dehydrator would do the same job. Opinions?

[Sunray]

Cookie sheet and your oven. 15 minutes set on 'warm' or whatever the lowest setting is will work as well as any dehydrator. That'll probably be too small anyway.

[leftyo]

you can use an oven, the hot sun, or any kind of food dehydrator. i have a big excalibur unti i dont use for food anymore, and it dries very well, and has many trays left if i ever got a bigger tumbler than the frankford arsenal unit i use.

[S.A. Boggs]

Pick up a cheap table top electric oven @ a thrift store.
Sam

[Major Tom]

Pick up a cheap table top electric oven @ a thrift store.
Sam

You mean like a toaster oven? That would be too small.

[nf1e]

I use cookie sheet in the oven at 240 for 30 min. Hornady had a really nice looking food dryer on display at Camp Perry this year that was converted for case drying. Almost had one follow me home but I was stubborn. Now I wish I had. They were cheap too.

[S.A. Boggs]

You mean like a toaster oven? That would be too small.
Mine is large, can bake a dozen good sized cookies @ a time...I know.:eusa_shhh::icon_lol: Not being used for the purpose now and if the brass is dumped into an old large towel and given a good shake a majority of the water comes out, then put into a 250 degree preheated oven for 30 minutes. Sounds like I am back in the kitchen baking my wife gluten free sugar cookies.
Sam

[Major Tom]

Well I bought the Frankfort Arsenal case dryer. Very nice product that holds hundreds of cases and has adjustable heat ranges. The blower sends warm air thru out the unit. Worth the money!

[nf1e]

Well I bought the Frankfort Arsenal case dryer. Very nice product that holds hundreds of cases and has adjustable heat ranges. The blower sends warm air thru out the unit. Worth the money!

After this thread, I did the same. Frankford case dryer. Looked at some of the others but the 500w Frankford sounded better to me than Hornady's 400w. Haven't used it yet but the wife will be happy to keep me out of the kitchen.

[Major Tom]

I used mine once so far. Several hundred handgun cases fresh out of the rotary tumbler (also Frankfort Arsenal), set temp control at 165 degrees and they were bone dry in about an hour with no water marks.

[p246]

I bought a used food dehydrator. Was using oven till wife caught me. Apparently it was an issue, who knew.

[RED]

I need help here... why in the world would you need a case dryer?

I tumble my brass and they come out just as dry or dryer than they were before I tumbled them? Why would you want to get your brass wet????

Walnut media with a bit of red polishing rouge added turn out beautiful, clean, shiny, and dry brass. Why do you require stainless steel pins and why do you want to wash your brass with water?

Sorry, I just don't get it.

[nf1e]

I need help here... why in the world would you need a case dryer?

I tumble my brass and they come out just as dry or dryer than they were before I tumbled them? Why would you want to get your brass wet????

Walnut media with a bit of red polishing rouge added turn out beautiful, clean, shiny, and dry brass. Why do you require stainless steel pins and why do you want to wash your brass with water?

Sorry, I just don't get it.

Wet tumbling with SS media tends to get the cases wet therefore the need to dry them.

[Allen]

I need help here... why in the world would you need a case dryer?

I tumble my brass and they come out just as dry or dryer than they were before I tumbled them? Why would you want to get your brass wet????

Walnut media with a bit of red polishing rouge added turn out beautiful, clean, shiny, and dry brass. Why do you require stainless steel pins and why do you want to wash your brass with water?

Sorry, I just don't get it.

Have used both and prefer the pins (used with water and a little detergent). The pins clean faster and better. The pins are permanent and don't clog the primer pocket and flash hole like walnut and corn cob media. The only downside is you have to use a rotary tumbler not a vibrator type tumbler for this.

[Major Tom]

I've used a dry media tumbler for years using walnut media and a polishing liquid. Getting the walnut media out of cases like .223 was a pain and the red dust was all over the cases plus the cases still looked ratty. With SS pins, the cases look brand new and a dryer of some sort is needed to get rid of the water inside the cases. Yes, it is a bit more expensive but IMHO is worth the cost as I usually clean hundreds of cases per session. I bought Frankfort Arsenal equipment because of their reputation plus they were lower cost. I never have to replace SS pins like I did with a dry media.

[leftyo]

wet with pins is so superior to any dry method. besides the fact they clean way better and faster, the real winning point is the elimination of the lead dust. found from reloading my lead levels were vary high when i started working in the lead plant of an ammo factory. after a few years of working around raw, and molten lead for 12hrs a day and not reloading, my lead levels had dropped quite a bit. only thing my dry set ups get used for any more is removing lube from sized cases that were previously cleaned.

[Fred Pillot]

Before drying the brass, rinse them in distilled water and you won't get water spots on your cases.

[nf1e]

Before drying the brass, rinse them in distilled water and you won't get water spots on your cases.

Using lemonshine and dawn, I haven't had any waterspots in years. I must admit though, I have my own well water so no city water contamination to deal with.

[Major Tom]

Before drying the brass, rinse them in distilled water and you won't get water spots on your cases.

Good idea! So, instead of using tap water I will use distilled water in the rotary tumbler! Thanks!

[Varmintpopper]

Water turns to a gas at 212 degrees ( at sea level),Throw them in the oven until they reach the boiling point of water , Take them out and let them cool. Done deal !

42647


Good Shooting

Lindy

[Major Tom]

I need help here... why in the world would you need a case dryer?

I tumble my brass and they come out just as dry or dryer than they were before I tumbled them? Why would you want to get your brass wet????

Walnut media with a bit of red polishing rouge added turn out beautiful, clean, shiny, and dry brass. Why do you require stainless steel pins and why do you want to wash your brass with water?

Sorry, I just don't get it.

Well Red, I used to tumble my brass using walnut media with a polish compound added. They did come out fairly nice except some still had spots of corrosion on them. Plus the media was dickens to get out of 223 cases and they were all covered in a reddish powder. So, I tried a wet tumbler with pins and the brass came out looking brand new, even the primer pockets. The reason for a casr dryer is because this process is a WET media tumbler. I use a case/pin separator to get the pins out of the cases and most of the water. Then into a case dryer set at 160 degrees for about an hour. All my equipment is made by Frankfort Arsenal.

[AZshooter]

Humidity in my kitchen is around 4% at the moment, so I need only give my tumbled brass a soak in BOILING water with a couple of drops of Jet Dry - type spot free dishwasher rinsing agent. Drain & either shake out in a thick towel, or colander, then an optional quick bake in a toaster oven & they're ready to go.

Darned if I'll pay $59 for a plastic brass dryer or jerkey-maker. You can get a convection toaster oven and make a ventilated tray for less.

- - - Updated - - -

I recently got the Lyman tumbler on sale. It works great! Faster and much more thorough cleaning than with the vibratory cleaner & no residual polishing powder or walnut hulls in the flash holes. Wish I would have gotten the wet tumbler years ago.