Vibratory Tubler or Regular Tumbler, Bolt or Hardware Restoration

[rakort]

I have a nice blast cabinet, but looking for options to restore the piles of hardware from my 2 tear downs.

I'm surprised that I can't seem to find much experience on here are tumblers or vibratory tumblers

Seems like that may be a good option to the monotonous glass beading of all that hardware!

I am currently experimenting with soaking hardware in evaporust which actually seems to work pretty well, but doesn't remove paint.

I'm thinking about trying a combo evaporust and vibratory tumbler to get the job done?

Thoughts, experiences, ?

 

[5.7 hemi]

It should work rather well! I'll be following this for sure!

 

[kiwigtx]

I bought one of those vibratory tumblers from Harbor Freight a few years ago to polish diecast pieces. I bought a bag of crushed walnut shells for the media...not really much to talk about....it didn't do much. I guess the media was wrong for the job.

Looks a lot like the picture below;

 

[Daves69]

In the PM business we manufactured ball joints for TRW. Press, sinter, tumble, RP, box, and ship. The media used for vibratory tumble was ceramic "rock" (various shapes and sizes) along with a lite soap, RP, and water solution. The cycle for a load was only 15 to 25 minutes just enough to take the edges off, then into the RP bath.
Took a while longer to clean up car parts though.

 

[flypaper]

the harbor frieght units do not last long
i have a junkyard of them. lol
a friend who polishes brass recommended this unit to me
mine has lasted 3 years so far almost nonstop and it works great.
i do mostly small batches of stuff because
i have everything bagged and tagged and identified
i use the plastic green triangles with a little bit of degreaser and water
and it cleans up most of the stuff i put in it.
i run it a few days and change the water out a few times
then the walnut shells to polish it.
if its really bad and won''t clean up,i will then give it the evaporust treatment.
it also does a great job of taking off paint
i had some rubber seals with alot of overspray on them
and they came back like brand new.


http://www.amazon.com/Tru-square-Me..._UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=0C35VDY36CYGPGCAJZBY

 

[Pistol Pete]

Like Frank I use the green triangles as well. Evaporust in conjunction with the media does a nice job of cleaning the nastier stuff. Walnut shell or corn cob for a final polish.

 

[72Fourspeed]

How small of an item will that clean up ?

 

[flypaper]

I throw anything that can fit in it
From door hinges to small clips
i have even cleaned up latches,rubber seals nuts bolts..ect
when i take the stuff out i will hit it
With a hairdryer to dry it fast so it won't flash rust

 

[Photon440]

I wonder if I should try throwing all my small parts into my cement mixer with some water and sand...

 

[kiwigtx]

I wonder if I should try throwing all my small parts into my cement mixer with some water and sand...

That would probably work fine.

 

[rakort]

OK, I have a fresh batch of nasty stuff in the new tumbler (with green pyramids) and a batch in evaporust. I'll report out on the results! I also have glass bead media and crushed walnut media to experiment with.

 

[rakort]

OK here we go.... tumbler update

here is a before...simply put it in the tumbler with some green pyrmaids




Upper left is evaporust for 24 hours or so, a wire brush job or two, and a few hours in the tumbler with some walnut shells. Basically the only thing left is some of the OEM paint. Front center is some time in the tumbler....this in my extra hardware for an experiment. It had green pyramids plus some other media (which I thin was a mistake)





same note as above, evaorust and some tumbler time








these are waiting for the tumbler......front fender hardware. They are in there now with just the pyramids.

 

[69Runner]

Looking good! Why not try soaking them in brake fluid to remove or soften the paint, then tumble. I always seem to have a bottle of brake fluid left over. It's a good paint remover, as some of us have found out the hard way. DOT 3 or 4.

 

[abodybill]

That would probably work fine.

Now I have to clean Mountain dew off the key board.

 

[ws23jrt]

That would probably work fine.

That does seem at first glance to be funny and even at second glance it is funny.---But being creative and using practical common sense can work just fine.

I have a task that involves removing heavy rust from the inside of an old motorcycle gas tank.

I intend to put "media" inside the tank and wrap the tank in heavy blankets in a secure bundle. --(size and softness of the bundle is important). This will go into my clothes dryer without heat.---(I am single and can do as I please).

This is not new and apparently works quite well.

For those that just have a few small parts to "tumble" Perhaps a small tank of some kind that can contain the parts and the "media" in a sealed unit ---Protected by a soft bundle---and can do what we are looking for on the cheap and be an adventure into creativity at the same time.

 

[ws23jrt]

I wonder if I should try throwing all my small parts into my cement mixer with some water and sand...

Just give it a bit of thought first.--What you want to clean may be destroyed.---Do some tests.

 

[kiwigtx]

That does seem at first glance to be funny and even at second glance it is funny.---But being creative and using practical common sense can work just fine.

I have a task that involves removing heavy rust from the inside of an old motorcycle gas tank.

First of all...thanks
Second - thinking outside the square is what I like to do....it's what we call "No.8 wire mentality". @Photon440 had a great idea there - but I would look at making a bracket to hold that gas tank securely inside the concrete mixer - that way you'll get a better tumble result from the revolutions of the mixer. If you just simply warp it in blankets, the effect of the media would be lessened. Besides, the blades inside the mixer would likely do a lot of damage to your tank. And if you make the bracket so that the tank can be inverted half way through the tumble procedure, you'll also get a more even finish inside the tank.
And remember...

 

[ws23jrt]

First of all...thanks
Second - thinking outside the square is what I like to do....it's what we call "No.8 wire mentality". @Photon440 had a great idea there - but I would look at making a bracket to hold that gas tank securely inside the concrete mixer - that way you'll get a better tumble result from the revolutions of the mixer. If you just simply warp it in blankets, the effect of the media would be lessened. Besides, the blades inside the mixer would likely do a lot of damage to your tank. And if you make the bracket so that the tank can be inverted half way through the tumble procedure, you'll also get a more even finish inside the tank.
And remember...

In my case I would NOT use a cement mixer.---My intent is to use my CLOTHES DRYER.--as a tumbler for my gas tank.
A cement mixer could work as well (I suppose) but I don't have one. --Would have to rent.--eek
I guess I may have miss spoke in my post.

My idea is not new and is not mine. It does work just fine for small parts. In fact an old motorcycle gas tank could be an ideal container to clean small parts at the same time.--That is my intent.
If the soft bundle for the container is well thought out it will not damage the clothes dryer.

 

[kiwigtx]

I guess I may have miss spoke in my post.

No you didn't...I was reading two posts at the same time

Don't go damaging your tumble dryer....you might need it one day. Although a cheap used one could be modified in much the same way as I outlined. And I suspect that Photon was "taking the piss" with his comments

My wife told me off many years ago for baking my brake rotors in the oven. I had had them blasted, and sprayed with POR-15 for preservation, then I placed them on an oven try and slow baked at around 150F for an hour, then turned the oven off and let them sit until cool. POR-15 only cures when heated and then cooled. Our house smelt like jet Fuel for days afterwards.

 

[ws23jrt]

No you didn't...I was reading two posts at the same time

Don't go damaging your tumble dryer....you might need it one day. Although a cheap used one could be modified in much the same way as I outlined. And I suspect that Photon was "taking the piss" with his comments

My wife told me off many years ago for baking my brake rotors in the oven. I had had them blasted, and sprayed with POR-15 for preservation, then I placed them on an oven try and slow baked at around 150F for an hour, then turned the oven off and let them sit until cool. POR-15 only cures when heated and then cooled. Our house smelt like jet Fuel for days afterwards.

Thanks for that---
I am reminded of a time when I was with a good old friend on a motorcycle trip. His bike broke down (honda 305) and we had to make due with being in a strange place to make repairs.
We found a guy that let us use his oven to heat expand the cylinders to install the sleeves needed. His wife was at work and would never know we did this. BTW we did all of this work in an orchard with the tool kits that came with the bikes.
I always wondered if that guys wife spanked him because of the smell in the house.