No Annointing Allowed!

Sunny is a good protector for the drying brass but Norman, not seen here, is smaller, feisty, and the dominant of the pair. He marks anything of uncertain ownership. Accordingly, this brass went up on the table and out of his “range” immediately after this picture was taken.

The revised cleaning process has four steps.

1. The brass starts by spending two hours in a vibratory case cleaner with crushed walnut shells media (from Harbor Freight).
2. Then, shells and media are dumped into the media separator which, after a minute of cranking, ends up with the walnut shells in a bucket and brass in the basket. The media is poured back into the vibratory case cleaner which is then stored for next time.
3. But the brass, still in the basket of the media separator, is then hosed off while the crank is turned some more to help distribute the water. Thirty seconds is plenty. After the hose is turned off, another couple of turns shakes out most of the water.
4. The brass is then dumped out of the separator’s basket and spread, as you see it here, on a towel and left to dry in the sun. (Those living in cold climates variously report setting them over a heat register, using a space heater or just having them spread out on towels on the floor for a few hours.)

The wet rinse adds, at most, a minute or two of labor to the cleaning process. Of course, there’s also the drying time to be factored in but, other than the occasional jumble and stir, no involvement is needed.

Here in Arizona, I’m expecting the afternoon sun will complete the drying well before dinner.

No more dust!