Author Topic: Parts Cleaning Tumbler Machine (Read 15303 times)

City Boy · « **on:** April 21, 2008, 08:56:41 PM »

Anyone out there in SOHC land seen,built,or have thoughts on building a tumbler for cleaning purposes.I saw a commercial one once in a alternator rebuilders shop. Large motor driven drum with ribs inside,about 1/3 filled with an abrasive.Starter and alt.housings came out looking like new castings.I'm thinking with the right abrasives many types of parts could be massaged back to life.I believe I already have an unlimited supply of fairly gentle abrasives.I live near Lake Erie,and the beaches near me are covered in pulverized Zebra mussel shells.I think there just right for cleaning stuff without removing surface treatments,especially fasteners for instance.Of course,I may be dreaming in technicolour;that remains to be seen.Any ideas? On a sad note;Sat with a Bruins fan tonight watching his team humiliated.Lots of swearing.I don't have any such pressure,I'm a Leafs fan!

jevfro · « **Reply #1 on:** April 21, 2008, 09:04:00 PM »

buddy of mine made one out of a beer keg for polishing rocks. Works pretty good on parts to.

I seem to remember the part he had trouble with was finding a good rubber to line it w/

City Boy · « **Reply #2 on:** April 21, 2008, 09:14:58 PM »

Tks jevfro,thats got more gears turning!!! Rock On

mystic_1 · « **Reply #3 on:** April 21, 2008, 09:54:38 PM »

Best to get a head start preparing a beer keg.

I don't know if I would do fasteners like this though, may bugger the threads. Guess it depends on the properties of the abrasive.

mystic_1

fuzzybutt · « **Reply #4 on:** April 22, 2008, 04:42:41 PM »

people that reload their own ammo use tumblers for their brass. i think corncobs are the media used in alot of them.

lone*X · « **Reply #5 on:** April 22, 2008, 10:03:02 PM »

Crushed walnut shells. Most reloading suppliers sell it. Works great and is not abrasive.

City Boy · « **Reply #6 on:** April 23, 2008, 04:19:18 AM »

Thanks guys.I have a gun shop nearby,Will see where that leads me.

tbone · « **Reply #7 on:** April 23, 2008, 05:08:10 AM »

You can line the drum with spray on truck bed liner.

City Boy · « **Reply #8 on:** April 23, 2008, 09:10:47 AM »

Thanks tbone. Rock On

Bodi · « **Reply #9 on:** April 28, 2008, 01:53:46 PM »

I think an expired propane tank would work nicely, and they're easy to find for free. Just cut off the top where the valve protector ring sticks up. The bed liner spray sounds pretty good, I hope I can buy a spray can in Canada. I have a couple of possible motors, and plan on just supporting the tank on 3 surplus "razor" scooter wheels and the driving tire from the motor.

tbone · « **Reply #10 on:** April 28, 2008, 04:45:48 PM »

Quote from: Bodi on April 28, 2008, 01:53:46 PM

I think an expired propane tank would work nicely, and they're easy to find for free. Just cut off the top where the valve protector ring sticks up. The bed liner spray sounds pretty good, I hope I can buy a spray can in Canada. I have a couple of possible motors, and plan on just supporting the tank on 3 surplus "razor" scooter wheels and the driving tire from the motor.

Just what do you plan to cut the top off with? You ever see one of them little buggers blow up? They only blow up when they're empty.

alltherightpills · « **Reply #11 on:** April 28, 2008, 05:31:36 PM »

What about a clothes dryer? You could probably find one for dirt cheap on CL. You would already have a rotating drum, it would just be a matter of sealing it up and disconnecting the heat.

Bodi · « **Reply #12 on:** April 29, 2008, 06:42:42 AM »

I've cut them before. To get the last of the propane out (so it can't explode), remove the valve with a wrench. Fill with water from a hose. Pour out water. Voila, nothing but (wet) air inside.
The metal is not super thick or super hard to cut, a sawzall does fine.
I had a friend who got a new face after one blew up, but he was using it far an air pig and it popped while he was pumping it up at a gas station. Lesson: they don't make good air pigs - the inside is bare metal and rusts until the middle seam lets go... if you're leaning over the tank while pressurizing it from a tire hose and the rusty seam separates turning the top half into a scud missile with your face as target you get a new (but not exactly better) face.

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #13 on:** April 30, 2008, 01:12:26 AM »

This sounds like a pretty cool device, how do you seal it to keep the abrasive (and parts) inside while it's "tumbling", and why do you need a rubber liner?

I imagine that the abrasive would make short work of truck bed liner, and then the liner would mix with the abrasive and reduce it's effectiveness? I guess I need to see a pic of one to fully understand the concept? Cheers, Terry.

tbone · « **Reply #14 on:** April 30, 2008, 03:20:45 AM »

Quote from: Terry in Australia on April 30, 2008, 01:12:26 AM

I imagine that the abrasive would make short work of truck bed liner

You would think that Terry but the stuff is like rubber and the abrasive just bounces off.
Where I live the area is known as "The Sandhills". Our soil is like sand blasting grit. I mow about 20 acres of pasture and the first mower deck on my 650 John Deere only lasted 5 seasons and you could see right through the deck in places. I had the replacement coated with about 10mm of "Rhino Liner" brand truck bed liner 11 years ago and the stuff is still under there. Try sand blasting through a rubber hose, it takes forever but you can blast right through a steel fender if you stay in one place!

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #15 on:** April 30, 2008, 07:53:40 PM »

OK mate, sounds good, now anyone got a pic of a commercial tumbler so I can see what it looks like? I can get a stainless steel beer keg pretty easy, or perhaps a gas cylinder, but I need to know how it works, and what it looks like? Cheers, Terry.

troppo · « **Reply #16 on:** April 30, 2008, 08:45:21 PM »

Quote from: Terry in Australia on April 30, 2008, 07:53:40 PM

OK mate, sounds good, now anyone got a pic of a commercial tumbler so I can see what it looks like? I can get a stainless steel beer keg pretty easy, or perhaps a gas cylinder, but I need to know how it works, and what it looks like? Cheers, Terry.

Well if they`re anything like the little gemstone tumblers i`ve seen i guess they would be like a cement mixer without the internal paddles, throw a door on it to prevent parts and media coming out and once you find a good liner you got your tumbler.
Could be wrong, has been known to happen lol
Cheers
Troppo

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #17 on:** April 30, 2008, 09:42:27 PM »

Thanks Trop, I wonder if some small-ish internal paddles would be beneficial?

troppo · « **Reply #18 on:** April 30, 2008, 09:58:41 PM »

They might, but youd have to be careful they werent too big, they might damage the parts.
I guess something like a bit of 25x25mm angle iron upside down might do the trick, give you a bit of roll or tumble without bouncing the parts too hard.
So far folks have mentioned corn cobs, walnut shells, sand and the usual style grit but one media i havent seen mentioned yet is toilet seats. Dont laugh, i`ve heard that media blasters that specialise in cars have been starting to use it in the last few years. Apparently its made from new but factory second seats that have been crushed to tiny pieces, its not as harsh as grit especially on the more delicate body panels like a roof or bonnet, is easily cleanable, degrades very slowly(i believe the figure was something like ten times slower than garnet grit) and is easily re-used.
But on thinking about it i guess in a tumbler you would want something a little more abrasive, garnet grit would do a great job i reckon, i use it at work in my little blasting gun to clean awkward areas before welding.
Cheers mate
Troppo

754 · « **Reply #19 on:** April 30, 2008, 11:09:37 PM »

My buddy did this on his lathe,

put the parts and media in a 5 gallon oil bucket, push the lid back on, and grip with the chuck... on the small end, make a disc that fits over the edge, or within the lip..Push the tailstock and centre up to a hole in the centre of the disc, to hold it all together..

Start up lathe, go for a long lunch..

troppo · « **Reply #20 on:** April 30, 2008, 11:39:50 PM »

gotta love that lateral thinking, work with what you have, dont wish for what you dont

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #21 on:** May 01, 2008, 03:56:16 AM »

You mean I shouldn't be wishing for Lisa Rogers from "Scrapheap Challenge" any more Trop? Faaaark, I'm shattered!

troppo · « **Reply #22 on:** May 01, 2008, 03:58:31 AM »

you mean theres a que for her?

?

Bodi · « **Reply #23 on:** May 01, 2008, 06:44:31 AM »

I've only seen small lapidary tumblers and reloader's shell brass tumblers, they didn't have any paddles inside. Once the drum turns, everything just rolls and tumbles all on its own... I think clothes dryers have paddles because otherwise the clothes would just coalesce into a tight undryable roll (well, more than they do anyway WITH the paddles). You probably want to minimize the tumbling with a parts polisher, so the parts just roll around in the abrasive/medium mix rather than crashing against each other causing dents and scratches. Paddles/ribs would lift the parts up and drop them down again which I don't think is ideal.

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #24 on:** May 01, 2008, 01:24:13 PM »

Yeah, you're probably right Bodi, and you've raised another issue, big alloy castings smacking into each other.

Brass cartridge cases are light and quite hard, so aren't affected by bouncing against each other, but this probably wouldn't be the case with heavier cast items like pistons, engine castings, (alternator/clutch covers etc) or smaller hardened (but fragile) items like gears, conrods and the like. Hmmnnnn, I'm now wondering what application (if any) a parts tumbler would be suited for on our bikes? Cheers, Terry.

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Author Topic: Parts Cleaning Tumbler Machine (Read 15303 times)

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