a hypothetical question for you reloaders.....

[rondog]

So, I'm developing a hankering for one of those stainless steel pin wet tumbling kits, with the big Thumbler B tumbler. We've all seen and heard about how well that works, but the kits are pricey. http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/stm-complete-package.html

My question is, if a guy (me) were to buy one of those kits and start polishing his stashes of brass like a madman, do you guys think there would be enough of a market for super-clean, shiny used brass to sell enough to pay for the kit? I'm talking mostly 9mm, .40 S&W, .45acp, .380 acp, .38 SP, maybe some .223 and .30-06 too.

I've got more damned brass than I'll ever be able to load up, let alone shoot them all even once, and every range trip I bring home even more. Never considered selling any, but now I'm wondering.....if it was already cleaned and polished inside and out as shiny as it could be, how marketable would it be? I don't want to make a living at it, I just want to sell enough to pay for the kit, which is about $255 + shipping.

Think there's enough of a market for it?

Thanks!

[Tim K]

Don't know about selling clean brass, but I love mine. Do it regardless of if it will pay for itself.

[Great-Kazoo]

The price of brass would pay for it self. Myself, until i could justify dropping the coin on making it pretty vs buying components, i'll pass. It's a reload not a beauty contest.
NOW if someone were to donate one to me sure, i'm in

[ray1970]

Selling clean used brass should be easy if you price it right. I imagine you could cover the cost of that fancy tumbler.

I say go for it.

I was looking into it until I saw all the extra steps and time for rinsing and drying the brass. I was thinking about maybe trying some shavings from a brake lathe in my normal tumbler and seeing how that worked instead of corn cob or walnut.

[Danimal]

You could also build one, the are not at all complicated. The drum should rotated at 40 - 60 rpm and then but the standard stainless media. I built one way back when and it turned out pretty good. If you have a little motor sitting around that you can use from an old kitchen appliance then you can get the bearings and belt pulley system from ACE or Harbor freight. I think that everything all together with mine was about $60. I used an old hand mixer for the motor so that it had variable speed without having to adjust belt pulley size to get the right final drive speed.

[HBARleatherneck]

see this thread.

Kelly made a tumbler.

http://www.ar-15.co/threads/33194-Stainless-Steel-Media/page2?highlight=tumbler

[Busta Prima]

When you add up the cost a good vibrating system, then consider disposable media, the price difference isn't THAT big. After my move I'm going to buy one of these setups.

I've always done well selling brass. Super clean shiny brass would certainly sell faster, provided you could show that off with your pictures (should be easy!).

The only down sides I see are smaller batches and long dry times. The rest of the whole thing looks awesome.

[XC700116]

You could sell a LOT of brass right now, perfectly clean and shiny or not, but I know for myself, if it doesn't have to go in the tumbler before I load it and especially if it's deprimed before cleaning, I'm buying that brass first, as long as it's still reasonably priced compared to new or other once fired.

I buy quite a bit of 40 cal brass, as well as 223/556

[Marine24]

I've purchased a lot of brass on this site and one of the selling points I always looked for was it had been cleaned. Agree with other statements that you won't have a problem making your money back. I would have been one of your potential customers, if I hadn't just bought and received that same kit.

[gnihcraes]

see this thread.

Kelly made a tumbler.

http://www.ar-15.co/threads/33194-Stainless-Steel-Media/page2?highlight=tumbler

Never have used the tumbler yet. I saw that Midway is carrying the pins now for a reasonable price, so I might order some of those soon.

I've considered the Brass business, but it seems others might already be doing this. I'd build a bigger tumbler though and do really big batches.

[sellersm]

I think right now is the perfect time to go for it!

[Great-Kazoo]

Never have used the tumbler yet. I saw that Midway is carrying the pins now for a reasonable price, so I might order some of those soon.

I've considered the Brass business, but it seems others might already be doing this. I'd build a bigger tumbler though and do really big batches.

here ya go.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/384183_Conversion_of_treadmill_to_ss_media_tumbler ___UPDATE___Finished_and_running.html

[rondog]

here ya go.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/384183_Conversion_of_treadmill_to_ss_media_tumbler ___UPDATE___Finished_and_running.html


Jesus! Now THAT'S what I'M talking about!!! I hate the thought of trying to build one (too many unfinished projects to count already), and I can't cough up the cash to buy one, but DAMN, what a helluva idea! I haven't read that whole thread yet, but watched that video where he did like 2-3 thousand .223's all at one time. Son-of-a........

[clocker]

Dunno if you have seen it, but some of the guys cleaning brass semi-commercially will pick up a small cement mixer for the SS tumbling. I hear it works pretty good. Unless you have a really good stock of brass already and a very good source it would be a tough to do more than break even on your investment. But since that's all you were really asking for in the first post you should be good to go.

[rondog]

Dunno if you have seen it, but some of the guys cleaning brass semi-commercially will pick up a small cement mixer for the SS tumbling. I hear it works pretty good. Unless you have a really good stock of brass already and a very good source it would be a tough to do more than break even on your investment. But since that's all you were really asking for in the first post you should be good to go.

I've actually been researching every tiny cement mixer I can find, they just cost too much and take up a lot of space. I did find a 2 cu. ft. one at Northern Tool that would have been perfect, and was the same price as a Thumlers Model B, but Northern Tool doesn't carry it anymore. I snoozed and I loozed. But even a cement mixer will neer to be modified, the paddles in them are for mixing powder and water, and wouldn't agitate the brass and pins correctly.

[spittoon]

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[Great-Kazoo]

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You need a rock style tumbler not a dry media one. The brass and media need to mix and roll over each other vs. vibrate.

[rondog]

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Thanks, but you can't do the wet process with the stainless steel pins in a vibratory tumbler, won't work. And those rock tumblers are tiny little things - 3 lb. capacity? The Thumlers Model B has a 15 lb. capacity, and that's really too small to do much brass.