SS Tumbling Media

[no4mk1t]

Are you filling the Thumler barrel full to the top?

No. I use the Model B drum for small batches of brass. In addition to the 5lbs. of pins, I'll fill it no more than 85%-90% full. When loaded in this manner, I'll run it 1.5 hours and pour off the dirty water and refill/dump the water until it's fairly clean. Then recharge with soap/Lemishine and go another 1.5 hours. If I only have enough to half fill the drum, then a straight 3-4 hours with no refresh.

All of the lapidary and metal finishing resources I've seen suggest best tumbling results are achieved by filling the barrel to about half it's capacity by volume.

I've found that if you follow the above procedure, the results are the same. I believe the soap and water can only clean so many cases effectively. So either half full with no refresh, or almost full and refresh at the half way point.

It seems like you could significantly increase the capacity of your Model B by trading some water weight for brass weight. I tumble 500 cases (about 5lb carbine/38spl) at a time with mine and I could do, maybe, 50% more, but I don't use steel.

I built the PVC drum for large batches of brass. It will hold 1500 223's, or 1000 308's. It is basically 3.5X the size of the Model B drum.
The Model B's limitation is the small motor. The recommended max weight is 15lbs., which is typically about half full of brass.

As I understand it, the pins are about 1/2" long. Would 1/4" pieces work better? 3" pieces? ...

The pins pictured are .041 X .265. They have since introduced alternate sizes both in length and diameter. The idea is to select a length that will not lodge in the I.D. of your case necks. They also off a slightly larger diameter so two pins cannot get stuck in a flash hole, but a single pin will still pass through.