Thought I would share my home made media separator. This is very easy to make, very cheap, and works very well.
First, get yourself a 5 gallon bucket. Cut out 4 notches in the top. I used tin snips to cut this one from Menards.
Then find a wire, office size waste basket. I got this one at one of the dollar stores along 96th Street.
Hook up 4 "S" hooks to large wire at the top of the trash can. There may be something else you can use, but I already had these laying around.
Now hang the basket in the bucket using the "S" hooks inserted in the notches that you previously cut into the bucket.
You can probably guess where this is going. Pour your media and brass into the basket.
Now put a lid onto the 5 gallon bucket. The notches cut in previous steps will allow the lid to stay on securely.
You can now shake it gently to loosen the rest of the media. Don't get too aggressive here. Your waste basket isn't meant for industrial uses and if you get too aggressive, you will tear the mesh. It's best to combine some gentle shakes with a little bit of rolling action. It will only take 30-45 seconds. Then remove the lid.
As you can see, it does a pretty good job of separating the media and having it fall into the bucket. You are now left with a bucket of media and a small wire basket of clean brass. Just pour the brass into your favorite container, pour the media from the bucket back into your tumbler, and go onto the next batch.
This was a small load of brass just for demo purposes. This can handle much larger quantities.
My total investment in this was about $5. The bucket and lid from Menards was $4 and the trash can was $1. I already had the "S" hooks laying around.
2 years ago, I owned nothing firearms related. Now I have this in my garage. I built this bench over last winter, have 5 sets of reloading dies, a RCBS rockchucker, and various other equipment as you can see.
Hope this helps someone else.
First, get yourself a 5 gallon bucket. Cut out 4 notches in the top. I used tin snips to cut this one from Menards.
Then find a wire, office size waste basket. I got this one at one of the dollar stores along 96th Street.
Hook up 4 "S" hooks to large wire at the top of the trash can. There may be something else you can use, but I already had these laying around.
Now hang the basket in the bucket using the "S" hooks inserted in the notches that you previously cut into the bucket.
You can probably guess where this is going. Pour your media and brass into the basket.
Now put a lid onto the 5 gallon bucket. The notches cut in previous steps will allow the lid to stay on securely.
You can now shake it gently to loosen the rest of the media. Don't get too aggressive here. Your waste basket isn't meant for industrial uses and if you get too aggressive, you will tear the mesh. It's best to combine some gentle shakes with a little bit of rolling action. It will only take 30-45 seconds. Then remove the lid.
As you can see, it does a pretty good job of separating the media and having it fall into the bucket. You are now left with a bucket of media and a small wire basket of clean brass. Just pour the brass into your favorite container, pour the media from the bucket back into your tumbler, and go onto the next batch.
This was a small load of brass just for demo purposes. This can handle much larger quantities.
My total investment in this was about $5. The bucket and lid from Menards was $4 and the trash can was $1. I already had the "S" hooks laying around.
2 years ago, I owned nothing firearms related. Now I have this in my garage. I built this bench over last winter, have 5 sets of reloading dies, a RCBS rockchucker, and various other equipment as you can see.
Hope this helps someone else.
