Nu Finish + Tumbling Brass

Been using Nu Finish in my tumbler for a long time. Did a search here for Nu Finish, with no results.

I add about a capful when I change out the corncob, or when cleaning seems to take longer than expected for the shine I want. But it is so thick, it glogs out, and it's almost impossible to "stream" into the running tumbler. I'd like to thin it out to get better distribution in the tumbler.

You apply Nu Finish with a damp cloth to a car, but it sure won't dilute with water.  Mixed some 50/50 with mineral spirits but it :curdled in the bottle and looked like cheese curds (after being stored for a while).  

I tried to contact Nu Finish online, but couldn't Find a spot, except under "questions?  read the "FAQ's section". Anybody have better luck with a "magic" solvent??  

Retfed

Email  SCLOU171@gmail.com

Nu Finish automotive polish:
For best results: Don't thin nor dilute in any manner.
Drop about 50-60 drops into the media spaced as evenly as possible without any cases in it. Run about 30 mins. Toss the cases in. Return in a few hours.

I just use a cap full and spread it around. Turn the tumbler on for a few minutes prior to dropping in the brass same as Gary..

Just don't dump it all in one place

I use this bottle. Squirts a thin even stream. You still have to let it mix for 15 min or so or it will collect in side the brass. 

https://www.amazon.com/Rehab-Ink-Tattoo-Plastic-Squeeze/dp/B010GJGEBI/ref=sr_1_36?ie=UTF8&qid=1495586052&sr=8-36-spons&keywords=squirt+bottles+for+condiments&psc=1

Been using NuFinish in a vibratory "tumbler" for probably more than a decade...

I take the orange bottle it comes in and transfer that to your typical French's Mustard bottle or similar.  You know the one I mean... with the cone shaped pointy twist cap top?  I shake it vigorously and then squirt a short loop around the loaded bowl... loaded with brass and media.

I start with empty tumbler bowl. Toss in 2-3 squares of cut-up paper towel. Add one Country Crock sized bucket of brass, pour corn media over that and drip a thin circle of NuFinish on every load.  Use the lamp timer to run it for 3 hours.

The paper towel squares come out -FILTHY- and the brass comes out great.

No -- it will never ever EVER look as awesome as brass tumbled with stainless steel pins and won't ever approach sonic cleaned brass, but I'm more than okay with that.  And FWIW, never, will I ever venture in to stainless steel pins or sonic cleaning.  That is never going to happen.

I have all 3 systems and use all 3 when doing a load of .223 bench rest brass but the vibratory is good enough for handgun loads.  I sometimes let it run 8 hours or more and they then are very well polished.  Don

I use dryer sheets instead of the paper towels.. helps with the dust

Dryer sheets or paper towels for dust.  Pretty much interchangeable.  When I tumble in dry media I've used Flitz for years.

Flitz is expensive stuff.  Are we talking the creme-paste in a tube?  Not that NuFinish is cheap, but it must be far less costly than Flitz.

Turtle Wax works for me.  Don

Wobbley wrote:Dryer sheets or paper towels for dust.  Pretty much interchangeable.  When I tumble in dry media I've used Flitz for years.

I bought a large bottle of liquid Flitz many, many years ago. I just polished some really cruddy, old range brass using just a little with ground walnut shells. I left them overnight in my (I'm telling my age) Lortone QT-12 tumbler I bought from Gil Hebard Guns. They came out sparkling. I also use the liquid Flitz to polish my wife's silver coffee and tea service.

I think I have found the correct solvent for Nu-Finish. Lacquer Thinner. 

After reading these and other posts about vibrating tumblers and with the cost of the so called Brass Polishing additives I figured I try Nu Finish at around 9 bucks for 16 oz instead of 13+ for 8oz.
But it is thick. I used a top from a Dawn dish soap bottle and it screwed right on the Nu-Finish bottle.

I tried water No Good then I tried Lacquer Thinner. Put a small amount into a top from a jar and then added some lacquer thinner. It mixed right up. I then put some lac thinner in the bottle and shook it up. That was on Thursday. Today I got back from a shoot and used it in the corn cobb and walnut mix I use. Worked great.

So if you want to thin out Nu-Finish use lacquer thinner.

As the originator of this subject, back in 2017, I was surprised to receive the recent notification from the Bulsleye Forum site, of the additional response.

It was well laid out, and has given me hope that I CAN dilute out older bottles of NuFinish and continue its use.  I tried several attempts on other gun related sites, as well as contacting the manufacturer, with no avail.  This is a very MINOR product for them. Response was minimal at best. "Just shake it up well and use it"  was the basic response.

So, thank you Shootist007, for your response and assistance.

Retfed

You are welcome. Just hope this helps others in the future

I had not thought about lacquer thinner but I have considered trying the 99% isopropyl alcohol with Nufinish.  I have the 99% for making case lube.  I still have a bottle of Flitz liquid media polish to use up.

I find it funny that some folks would balk at liquid Flitz as being expensive. We use so little of it that a small bottle will last years. Over time, one's electric bill from running a brass tumbler and the expense of replacing media will far overshadow the cost of the liquid Flitz. That being said, "There is more than one way to skin a cat!"

I no longer do wet pin tumbling, after suffering a stuck pin inside a case being loaded, and then that round being fired, while leaving behind said pin between the frame and barrel as the case left the pistol, jamming up my gun during P100 this year. (Shout out to Mr. R. Peele for loaning me his backup so I could continue the course of fire.)

Now that I'm back to dry tumbling, I have a question that's been bugging me forever, and seems so basic that I realize I'll get shamed for not knowing: 

What is the proper ratio of brass to media?

Thanks,
Chase

I have never used Nu Finish when polishing brass because I thought part of the process when a round is fired the case had friction against the chamber walls and that was desirable.  I feared Nu Finish would disrupt the process.  Is that not true?

I hope my thought process is wrong (it often is) since I have a couple bottles of Nu Finish I could use.
Phil

Chase Turner wrote:
Now that I'm back to dry tumbling, I have a question that's been bugging me forever, and seems so basic that I realize I'll get shamed for not knowing: 

What is the proper ratio of brass to media?

Thanks,
Chase

I don’t often dry tumble, not a fan of the dust(yes I know their are ways to mitigate, i prefer other methods), however when I do I try to keep enough media in such that I get good flow of the media over the brass.

Chase: Why use pins at all for pistol brass?  They come just as clean without!

Chase Turner wrote:I no longer do wet pin tumbling, after suffering a stuck pin inside a case being loaded, and then that round being fired, while leaving behind said pin between the frame and barrel as the case left the pistol, jamming up my gun during P100 this year. (Shout out to Mr. R. Peele for loaning me his backup so I could continue the course of fire.)

Now that I'm back to dry tumbling, I have a question that's been bugging me forever, and seems so basic that I realize I'll get shamed for not knowing: 

What is the proper ratio of brass to media?

Thanks,
Chase

I wonder if there is a difference if you use a barrel type tumbler or a vibrating one? I use a Lortone QT 12. I fill the barrel about half way up with brass and then put enough media to cover the brass about an inch or so. It's pretty much trial and error and also depends if you are using corn cob or ground walnut, as to how long it takes to polish the brass. Of course, there are successful competitors who don't polish their brass at all! It's probably the least important factor in reloading.

PMcfall wrote:I have never used Nu Finish when polishing brass because I thought part of the process when a round is fired the case had friction against the chamber walls and that was desirable.  I feared Nu Finish would disrupt the process.  Is that not true?

I hope my thought process is wrong (it often is) since I have a couple bottles of Nu Finish I could use.
Phil

Phil,

You'll be happy to know that I too have wondered about this same sort of thing (strength in numbers, all two of us). I plan on testing to see if there is any difference sometime over the winter, and hope to have results back by spring.

One thing we do know: it is clear that (internal case) fired residue does not act like a lubricant. 

Almost done with ball load testing, then more killer bee project work, and then this. I'm also collecting up some sample (de-milled) cases to send to friends in NZ to determine what sort of work hardening is happening to our brass; and of course, if that matters to us at all.

-Chase

BE Mike wrote:I wonder if there is a difference if you use a barrel type tumbler or a vibrating one? I use a Lortone QT 12. I fill the barrel about half way up with brass and then put enough media to cover the brass about an inch or so. It's pretty much trial and error and also depends if you are using corn cob or ground walnut, as to how long it takes to polish the brass. Of course, there are successful competitors who don't polish their brass at all! It's probably the least important factor in reloading.

Great question- I haven't thought about the difference between the two, other than they are different. I've got a vibratory bowl with some other stuff from Dave Salyer, and just ran out of the lizard bedding that came with it. I do have a huge box of corn cob media that I can weigh out and treat with different products (don't like shooting outside in what passes for cold weather in the south, so I occupy my time mostly indoors).

I know that Dillon has instructions for their tumblers (vibratory) that basically say the case capacity limit for each model by caliber. What Dillon goes onto claim is that you can load it all the way up or you can drop just one or two in and get the same results. That just hasn't been my experience.

My query is more rooted in the notion that, say in some big factory where they make hammers. Well, the heads need polishing, and so they throw them in some big vibratory tumbler to deburr or polish (whatever). Only so many can fit in a go, so there probably is a ratio of some sort.

Anyway, that was the thinking, and I agree, it probably is the least important thing regarding reloading. But if there was a way that worked best, I'd love to know it.

-Chase

BE Mike wrote:Of course, there are successful competitors who don't polish their brass at all! It's probably the least important factor in reloading.

Yes but I think it is different for rifle and pistol and rifle full length or just neck sizing.
IMO having clean brass make is easier to size no matter what type or what you are resizing.
Having dirty cases has to wear your resizing die more than having clean cases. Whether the sizing die is steel or carbide.

As for the case sealing against the chamber walls I would think no type of polish would cause the case NOT to seal properly.

I shoot mainly pistol, 9mm, 45ACP, 40S&W and 38/357 and I can tell the difference is the pressure I have to use to resize my brass from clean or not cleaned brass. Less pressure to run clean brass through the resizer die. And even though all my pistol caliber sizing dies are carbide I certainly don't want to wear them out from thousands of rounds of dirty brass.

How much media to use. That is the big question. I have 4 different vibrating tumblers. 3 new ones and one I've had for over 20 years.
The new ones are 1 Franklin and 2 Cabela's which are rebranded Berry's with the removable bowl. The old one is a Lyman Turbo 1200 that just keeps running.
I don't care for the franklin but it does work. The rebranded Berry's (Cabela's) are great. The removable bowl is the best.
With all of them I use about 2.6 LB of media. About 2 pounds of corn cobb and about 10 ounces of walnut. With that much, or that little, media I can turn the tumblers on with the lids off and the media doesn't fly out of it so I can add the polishing stuff. Then I turn it off, add the brass, put the cover on and turn it on. The most brass I add is about 3-4 hundred 9mm and or the same for 40S&W. Less for 45 and 38/357.
I like clean brass.
Haven't shot, cleaned or reloaded any rifle brass in a while.

Chase Turner wrote:What is the proper ratio of brass to media?

Just as a reference: Mine has a 10 quart/35 pound capacity, so I fill it 1/2 full with corn cob, and dump in a 30 cal ammo can full of brass.

It has variable amplitude, so I have the counter weight adjusted so that the media/brass maintains a constant "rolling" motion from the outer to the inner area of the bowl. 

If not adjustable, vary the media/brass weight until a rolling motion is achieved.

I don't have any brass that needs cleaning right now, or I'd post a video of it at work.