Drying brass

Natemi

Natemi

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Looking for some advice on drying brass. Anyone ever used a small toaster oven to dry it. Got one I was thinking about using that we don’t use anymore. I read some things that said it will tarnish the brass. I was trying to find a way to dry without losing the shine.
 
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black plastic trash bag on sidewalk. Dump brass . Leave in sun for an hour.
 
id try the oven gto nothing to lose really. Use a wood loading block and the brass wont be touching anything as it dries.
 
Natemi said:
Looking for some advice on drying brass. Anyone ever used a small toaster oven to dry it. Got one I was thinking about using that we don’t use anymore. I read some things that said it will tarnish the brass. I was trying to find a way to dry without losing the shine.
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I put mine in a towel, wrap em up and shake most of the water off. Then put them on a cookie sheet(s). Preheat the oven to its lowest temperature. In my case 170. Once it hits temp turn it off and put the brass in. Let it sit for an hour or however long you want. Temp isn't high enough to tarnish anything.

One other thing to keep in mind is if you're using lemishine use it very sparingly. Too much will discolor your brass no matter how you dry it.

Here's a pic after an hour in the oven after I turned it off at 170. Color looks a little washed out because my flash went off but I assure you these are as "brassy" looking as brass can be. :)

This was only a pre-wash before decapping and sizing. Imagine how nice they'll look after the final wash with SS media in the tumbler.

3UZ9hfr.jpg
 
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You can try it, not much to lose. Just set it to the lowest temp.

I have a framed screen that I place in front of a fan. Two hours is usually enough to dry it. I've also just set the screen outside on a warm sunny day.
 
Shake dry in a towel, place on cookie sheet, place in oven, turn oven to 180 and let it cook for 30 mins after preheat beep goes off, take out and let cool before putting in tupperware container.
 
Gspec said:
$30 food dehydrator will dry more brass than you can tumble at one time. Love mine.
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When it is cold outside, and I have to heat the reloading shack anyway, I will use the dehydrator. Otherwise, I just use a fan. I have been known to set the brass in my screen dryer on top of the outside AC unit. Two birds.
 
I use the RCBS cleaner with distilled water, blow out with air. This method leaves no spots. If in a rush, dry with Hornady dryer. The RCBS solution is the secret to wet tumbling. I pour used solution into a jug and when contaminates settle to bottom syphon the good off the top and use again.
 
I have a box frame I built with a mesh screen in the bottom. I dry about 1200 cases on that screen in maybe 8 minutes with a heat gun.
 
Once I soak mine, I drain them out really good and dump the brass onto a large Towel. I fold up the loose edges of the towel and shake it around really hard for about 5 seconds. This normally gets all the water that’s stuck in the cases with hydraulic tension out. Then I spread the cases out flat on a dry towel and let them air for 24hrs. Works fine and no tarnishing
 
Towels down and right on the kitchen table baby! This is how I know my wife truly loves me.... Turn the ceiling fan on and they are dry in a couple hours.
 
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I deprime before I wet tumble. After tumbling, roll them around in a large towel to dry the outside, then shoot a short blast of compressed air from my compressor up the primer pocket. This causes a puff of moisture to blow out the case mouth. Then just let them sit in a plastic tray overnight on the kitchen counter, and they're ready to reload. No tarnishing.
 
11B CIB said:
Once I soak mine, I drain them out really good and dump the brass onto a large Towel. I fold up the loose edges of the towel and shake it around really hard for about 5 seconds. This normally gets all the water that’s stuck in the cases with hydraulic tension out. Then I spread the cases out flat on a dry towel and let them air for 24hrs. Works fine and no tarnishing
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Same here. On hand towels I keep for this specific purpose on plastic restaurant serving trays. With the lemi added I've never had any issue with tarnishing.
Always thought someday to get a dehydrator but good comments here on a slow low oven I should try.
Do they go above or below the brisket???
 
Don’t tell the wife.....I resorted to the oven method to bulk dry some non-tumbled brass that I had rinsed off. (Filthy range bucket) realized pretty quickly that it’s gonna take forever to tumble in my little Rebel 17 so it’s gonna get sorted and tumbled as needed. 6575C484-E511-49DA-9B3D-5B8DBB54AA56.jpeg
 
Gspec said:
Don’t tell the wife.....I resorted to the oven method to bulk dry some non-tumbled brass that I had rinsed off. (Filthy range bucket) realized pretty quickly that it’s gonna take forever to tumble in my little Rebel 17 so it’s gonna get sorted and tumbled as needed. View attachment 255854
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I've used the shoe rack in the clothes dryer before. Don't tell the wife that I figured out how to use the dryer. ;)
 
I use the plastic trays from ammo that are open on the bottom. I put the brass in mouth down and place the tray(s) on top of my dehumidifier. It creates warm air as the compressor takes the water from the air. After the unit warms up it only takes about 5 minutes to dry cases. During the winter I put the plastic trays on the heat ducts in the floor. Furnace comes on, and in one cycle the cases are dry. I can dry 450 9mm cases at the time. Works equally well on rifle cases.
 
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