Stainless vs. Ceramic Tumbling Media?

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

If anyone out there has experience using both stainless steel and ceramic media for cleaning your brass, I’d appreciate your opinion. Is ceramic better than stainless?
I was tired of picking the corn cob media out of my 44-40 shells after polishing them in my Lyman vibratory tumbler, so I thought I’d try something different. I almost bought ceramic media when I heard about stainless steel pins and purchase them instead. I was hoping for shiny primer pockets with nothing stuck in the holes. With the stainless steel pins, I only had two out of 100 casings with media stuck in the holes, but after watching the sales video, I thought the primer pockets would be shiny like new. They're clean, but not shiny.
My Thumbler Tumbler can’t handle the entire 5 lbs. of media plus a full tank of water as shown in the video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-6SOiWE8Hc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-6SOiWE8Hc) ). I replaced all the belts, wheels and shafts, along with putting non-skid tape on the tub rims which brought the slipping to a halt, but stopped the motor from rotating too.
The only way I could keep the tub rotating was to use half the media (2.5 lbs) along with about a quart and a half of water + soap, and 100 cartridges. Using half the media, I tumbled for twice the time (about 8 hours).
I don’t mind the water, but when those little pins get loose; my big fingers sometimes have a time picking them up.

[ian45662]

I use the ceramic media and I must say that the entire case comes out looking better than new. Even the primer pockets look great. Plus I can drain the water really easy with a strainer. The stainless stuff would just slide right through the strainer

[bobanderson]

I've used the ceramic media for 5 years or more now. In my mind it far outperforms every other thing I tried to clean brass.

For the gentleman using stainless steel pins, its possible you're using too much water. To use the ceramic correctly, the instructions were to fill water to about 1" over the top of the media, add your brass and solvent and run for about 4-6 hours. I use a Thumler and like it much better than the vibratory cleaners.

[ChrisWBR]

Gary,
I've been using the SS media now for a couple months. I've tumbled 45/70 cases, 44-40's, and Maynard cases with no problems at all. Dumped in 100 45/70 and at least 100 44-40's. Never had any media stuck in the primer holes. I'm using the entire 5 lbs of media in my tumbler. I use a dash of laundry soap and Lemishine and fill the drum to the top. So far no problems with the tumbler. My directions say the weight cannot be greater than 18lbs. The Lemishine makes them shiny. It's amazing the amount of dirt and crud that comes out when you pour the water off. I'm pretty sold on the SS media at this point. Sure cleans the Maynard cases extremely well, inside and out.

Are you sure you are using the right model of Thumlers?

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

Thanks Chris, I think you may have something.

I'm using a Thumbler Tumbler Model B, but it's an older one before they started putting in the highspeed motors. Apparently that matters, see: http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/thumler-s-tumbler-model-b-high-speed-7.html

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

I just replaced the motor on my Model B Thumler Tumbler with a new high-speed one. Boy, what a difference. It turns great now with all the media and a full tub of water. According to the lady I talked to at Thumber, polishing with the low-speed motor is fine, but the one I had was just worn out.

[Lou Lou Lou]

how old was the unit?

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

I don't know the age of the unit. I bought it used.

[Ron/The Old Reb]

Has anyone tried using SS media in the AR6 model Thumblers Tumbler? I bought one over 40 years ago to polish cases and only used it a little before buying a Lyman vibrator tumbler. It has a 9 lb rubber drum.

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

I've only got the Model B, and don't have any experience with model AR6s, but don't see why it wouldn't work as long as you only load it with as much as it can handle. At 40 years old, it's probably going to be the slower motor. Just do smaller batches for longer periods of time. Fill it up with nine pounds of water and rock and see what happens.