I tried a new way to clean used walnut media:
1. Get a womans knee length nylon stocking.
2. Fill it part way with dirty media ( I used
about 24 tablespoons).
3. Hold the open end shut with one hand and lay
it flat on the ground outside. Using an air
hose and blow nozzle,blow through the nylon
hose,then flip it over and hold up the upper
part and blow the length of the hose again.
You will see the dirt come out and the
media will be cleaner, not like new but much
cleaner.

Seems to be a bit of trouble. You can go to Walmart and by walnut media that's used for bird bedding in the pet supplies dept. and a big bag full is cheap!

I run my tumbler with the lid off and most of the dust comes out so the media stays cleaner. It makes a bit of a mess. I have seen industrial rigs that had compressed air blown at the end of the cycle for the same purpose. I have heard of people water washing it but it has to be dried pretty quickly which is a hassle.

I wondered when this would come up...

I recycle my media in a paint strainer bag (5 gal size). I tie off one end like a balloon, fill the sink with soapy water, agitate it by hand for a minute then rinse and let dry spread out on a table for a few days. Works like a charm...haven't bought media for two years.

Here's a hint, if you accidentally mix corn media with walnut, put it in an open topped container in the tub. The corn media will float to the top while the walnut stays in the container. Then strain off the corn media befor draining the tub...

There are some nasty heavy metals in that media. It is cheap, throw it away and replace it. When you run the tumbler with the top off all of that nastiness is floating around your house or whatever.

Doesen't the media break down after awhile?

I think it is probably better to just buy new. Media is cheap and plentiful.

I just wanted to know if it could be done in the event that the supply of media is interrupted. Now that I know it can, I do it because I am a cheap bastage.


...and no, the media I have doesn't seem to be 'breaking down' as I recycle it. If anything, the slight amount of moisture I leave in the media cleans and polishes the brass better/faster.

quote:

Originally posted by Florida Frank:
I run my tumbler with the lid off and most of the dust comes out so the media stays cleaner. It makes a bit of a mess. I have seen industrial rigs that had compressed air blown at the end of the cycle for the same purpose. I have heard of people water washing it but it has to be dried pretty quickly which is a hassle.

Putting in a used dryer sheet with your corn cob or walnut media will keep the media clean also.

With walnut shells being more aggressive than corcob, I suspect it will work when all of the sharp edges are gone. Even though pet supplies media has not been sived to give a constant mesh size. It's better to just throw it out when it starts getting really dirty.

I picked up some corncob media (40# 20/40) from grainger last week. There is very little dust with it, fine enough it will not plug the flash holes. I normally replace the medial every 2-3k rounds, or when it take longer than 3 hrs when using my vibrating tumble.