Parts tumblers, anybody use them...???

[CharlieLed]

I have a bunch of small parts that need to be cleaned and even more cans of nuts, bolts, and washers that are rusty and need of a good cleaning. I have seen both rotating tumblers and vibrating tumblers on the market and I have seen them in use in machine shops...they really work great for de-burring and de-scaling parts.
Any recommendations for brands or models that any of you have used and are happy with?

[Tman]

Just started to play with one at the shop. We have the Eastwood version. So far, it has done well with small rusty bolts.

[ELpolacko]

When I was at Rod Factory we sort of made our own.

We bought one of those cheap assed electric cement mixers, bought a bag of tumbling stones and some of the acid and nuetrualizer. The drum would last about a year with nearly constant use.

When we first started we took a squirrel cage from an evaporative cooler and had a steel ring rolled to weld around it. Made a removeable door in the outer ring part and welded plate to the sides to seal it up. Next we mounted it on an angle iron frame and had a gear reductin motor turn it. It worked well but was a bit small and complicated to build compared to the cememt mixer.

cheap mixer (http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=6970&langId=-1&catalogId=4006970&PHOTOS=on&TEST=Y&productId=219 14&categoryId=149)

[geemann51]

Chuck, when I was younger my Pops and I used to reload our own ammo and used a vibratory polisher for the casings and it worked amazingly.

At the time I was restoring alot of antiques furniture and started cleaning many smal parts with one with exceptional results.

You can get carried away with the mediums but I would recycle alot of the old media by adding a shot of brasso or a dollup of flitz. I have no reason to believe that you wouldn't get similar results on auto parts.

I wish I still had the one I had, but I lost it and my progressive loader in the divorce (don't ask). http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

[burndup]

I got a $19 HF rock tumbler, I plan on putting all the rusty bolts from the outside of my A engine in there to brighten them up... haven't got around to playing with it yet. I must try some "contemporary" hardware in there first, to make sure the threads don't get killed from clanking against each other...

-J

[geemann51]

[ QUOTE ]
I must try some "contemporary" hardware in there first, to make sure the threads don't get killed from clanking against each other...

-J

[/ QUOTE ]

Might I suggest using a walnut husk media? It keeps the metal from hitting each other too bad...

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Maybe your post was motivated by my earlier one. But if not you might find some more info:

Tumbler Update post... (http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB1&Number=312670&page=6& view=collapsed&sb=5&o=14&fpart=1)

[CharlieLed]

I found a couple of the vibratory tumblers on ebay, most are targeted (no pun intended) at the gun/ammo reloaders. The vibrating units are touted to produce similar results as the rotating tumblers in less that half the time. One of the issues that I ran into was size...most of these units are made to handle pieces less than 2" in length. Soooo...while I was researching how to handle some of these larger rusty pieces, I found some info on building an electrolysis unit to remove rust by electricity rather than abrasion.
All that's needed is a plastic bucket, water, laundry soda, a battery charger, and a couple of pieces of rebar. I am going to try it out on some larger pieces like my axle stubs then I'll put together a tech-post with some pics. Sounds simple enough and it's CHEAP...simple and cheap, made to order for any HAMBer... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Fastsporty]

Burndup, I bought the same one for the same reason...I took it back, with the whole sand bolt mixture, it was to heavy to keep rolling for that little motor, I only ran it while I was in the garage cause I had to keep on walking over there and restarting it. I am going to try all my bolts in a two gallon bucket with mollasses.
FS