Tumble Roller for cleaning parts

[Martin King 2Participant @martinking2]

Hi all,

Have just got a small motor driven tumbler roller for cleaning and polishing gemstones etc.

I thought I would try it on some good but grimy cap screws, so put in the 'barrel brightener' that came with it, dash of Fairy liquid and some water; left it for a couple of hours to find it full of thick foam. When washed off the parts were very clean but almost as much work getting rid of the foam and then drying them.

Clearly I am doing something wrong here, any thoughts please?

Regards,

Martin

[Martin King 2Participant @martinking2]

Best cleaning media for screws etc

[John RuddParticipant @johnrudd16576]

Is it worth trying an anti foaming additive?

[David JuppParticipant @davidjupp51506]

Or simply not adding detergent? Tumblers tend to use abrasives to do the cleaning/polishing.

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Tumbling is basically an abrasive process, so generally used for deburring, polishing etc, rather than agitating detergents. In this case, perhaps something like Gunk or soluble cutting oil would be better, followed by simple rinsing in water (very hot, so it self dries after shaking most of the water off). Some added sand may speed up the process without the risk of wearing much away.

[Martin King 2Participant @martinking2]

Sand sounds a bit severe to me, are thee other abrasive mediums perhaps? Something a bit more gentle, all I want to do is brighten and clean a bit. Anything that can be used dry?

Martin

[Anonymous]

Posted by Martin King 2 on 19/05/2016 20:14:13:

Anything that can be used dry?

Walnut shells?

Andrew

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

Have you tried emptying the barrel contents into a domestic type sieve, then rinsing it under a tap before tipping everything out onto some kitchen roll to sort the contents before drying?

Edited By V8Eng on 19/05/2016 20:33:30

Edited By V8Eng on 19/05/2016 20:56:41

Edited By V8Eng on 19/05/2016 20:57:07

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Martin,

I asked a related question last year

**LINK**

You may find some of the responses useful

MichaelG.

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

Martin,

I expect your screws to go rusty very shortly.

Tony

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

There is an ongoing post in another Forum telling to use S/Steel rods about 1 mm x 2 mm long. not sure how this works but reports say it gives excellent mechanical cleaning !

Clive

[John McNamaraParticipant @johnmcnamara74883]

One of the most used tools in my workshop is the 200mm fine wire brush I have fitted to a grinder.
Even a badly rusted cap screw will soon be cleaned, I guess in about 30 seconds to a minute. If you use it lightly it will not remove all the blacking on the screws, if there is any left. Naturally you clean the threads in the correct direction, you do not want to round the crests.

For safety always wear eye protection when using a wire wheel, and use it with care it works quite well on skin… Ouch. I do not use the rest that was fitted to the grinder, it is too easy for a part to get jammed between the rest and the wheel, Or your finger! Not a safe procedure.

Getting the right wheel is important. they are available in steel, brass and plastics of different bristle diameters. The wheels available at the hardware store may be too rough and tend to have a rather open density of wire. Industrial suppliers are the place to go, there are many grades. Mine is fine hardened steel wire, I cant tell you the type as it was purchased many years ago. You supplier should be able to advise you.

Abrasive cleaning is not selective, I would reserve it for non precision parts. using it will round all edges.

Regards
John

Edited By John McNamara on 20/05/2016 01:10:26

[Peter KroghParticipant @peterkrogh76576]

John, I have had a very similar wheel mounted for years just for cleaning parts. I also use it for light deburring and polishing, especially of threads. I don't know what I'd do without that fine wire wheel!

Pete

[Johan van ZantenParticipant @johanvanzanten]

Hi Martin,

I use houshold soda. One spoon per liter. Cleans great,No foam at all.

Best regards, Johan.

[I.M. OUTAHEREParticipant @i-m-outahere]

You may find front loading washing machine powder to work as it is low suds .

I usually use an ultra sonic cleaner with a mild degreaser.

Clive , i recently seen an advert for steel pins for cleaning brass cases (rifle / pistol ) never seen them before !

I used to use corn cob pet bedding and load it with liquid car polish for my ammo – best stuff i ever used and dirt cheap.

Ian

[Tim StevensParticipant @timstevens64731]

Jewellers suppliers offer a range of barrelling media, both abrasive (ceramics etc) and burnishing (hard steel balls and other shapes). I'm not sure that either would be good for screws as the threads will be damaged, but very useful for cleaning and polishing castings, etc. Which is, you see, what jewellery makers use them for, in the main.

Or, for our transatlantic readers, jewelry …

Tim

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

My home made roller is on a top shelf unused for some years. It wasn't the easy instant solution I hope for. Plenty of hobby suppliers offering the materials. I used 'ceramic shapes'. They were not abrasive themselves but various grades of abrasive were added and the shapes rubbed it against the part. It wasn't aggressive enough to deburr and didn't get into the corners well either. I remember the rods being available so they are not a new invention but never tried them.
I think the technique works well on stones because they are so hard but metal absorbs the impact unless you are using an industrial sized beast.

[Johan van ZantenParticipant @johanvanzanten]

Hi all,

I follow the tumbler discussion on this forum for some time but I think it is not that easy to get good results. I made my tumbler 20 years ago and use it very frequent with good results. The driving unit is a geared fractional horsepower motor with a speed of about 100 rpm.

My drums are made from sewage tubes with a diameter of 120 mm, carefully covered with rubber sheet.

They are half way filled with medium made from offcuts stainless steel . The sharp edges are essential to reach the corners of the workpiece. I use one spoon of siliciumcarbide grit as abrasive.

To lubricate the process I use a cup of water with a spoon of washing soda. The tumbling time varies depending on the workpiece between 12 and 20 hours. For a brass or bronze workpieces I use brass medium. Tumbling is ideal for (silver)soldered workpieces. The parts of my latest engine are tumbled for 15 hours direct from the mill. I am looking for a reasonable priced bowl for a vibratory tumbler. This shortens the operation time.

As you see there are happy tumblers in the model engineering world.

Best regards,

Johan.

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

There are specialist companies out there that make tumbling media, from pink grinding stones to brass, steel shot you name it. I took a look at a few at the MACH expo in birmingham NEC a number of years ago.

You might wanna check out the rotary magnetic deburring/tumbling machines too. A large central magnet spins at high speed and you place the parts in a plastic jug and fill it with metal needles, they abrade the parts as the magnet spins.

I think theyre sold from the far east. You dont need to be fussy with it either, it only needs a mixture of fairy and water to get it going and it's very gentle on the components. Ideal for plastics/small components. You can separate the metal needles from the parts with collinder/mesh baskets afterwards.

Michael W

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Johan,

Thanks for posting the photos and description

Very encouraging !!

MichaellG.

[Martin King 2Participant @martinking2]

Posted by Tony Pratt 1 on 19/05/2016 20:57:02:

Martin,

I expect your screws to go rusty very shortly.

Tony

Hi Tony, After placing the screws on a plate in a warm oven after our supper the screws dried well and show no signs of rusting at this time..

I intend to try some different media and see what happens on another small batch and will report back. At present I scrap reasonable quantities of cap screws, small model enginieering size nuts and bolts etc which seems a shame.

Regards,

Martin

[Martin King 2Participant @martinking2]

Johan, what is the brass & bronze medium please? Where from?

Martin

[Johan van ZantenParticipant @johanvanzanten]

Hi Martin,

When you tumble brass parts with stainless steel medium (as on the picture) you get a grey haze on the surface of your workpiece caused by the rubbing of the s.s. When you use commercial available hard steel needles or satellite’s there is no noticeable discolouration. When you tumble steel parts with brass medium the steel workpieces comes out light yellow. Ceramic medium causes no discolouration but due the dimensions of the stones it is difficult to reach the corners of your workpiece. I hope this answers your question.

Best regards, Johan.

[John ReeseParticipant @johnreese12848]

For foam control a friend of mine added fabric softener to her tumbler.

[Johan van ZantenParticipant @johanvanzanten]

Hi John, Good tip! I'll try next time.

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