Anyone use a vibration tumbler to clean bolts/hardware ?

[John348]

I had seen one of these in the past and was wondering if anybody here has used one. I have used my blast cabinet over the years to clean rust from bolts but the problem has been that the cad plating gets blown off. From what I had seen this tools seems to be the ticket, I realize that it takes a lot longer, but if the plating is preserved then the time factor becomes negligible compared to the time it takes to ship them out and have them plated, hoping nothing got lost along the way.  I seldom ever purchase anything from Harbor Freight for the obvious quality issues,  the link below is for one that they have for sale, just as an example.

 

https://www.harborfreight.com/5-lb-metal-vibrator-tumbler-67617.html

 

If you have used one, what was the preferred media that you found best without being to aggressive?

 

I try to be exact and correct as I can with my restorations, even though I can replace the bolts with the correct thread and length, there are certain manufacturer's markings on those bolts I like to preserve. 

 

Thanks for your advice and input     

[auburnseeker]

I bought one from Eastwood maybe 10 years ago.  Used it once.  Took a very long time.  Days I think.  I think you would do alot better with a gallon of evaporust.  The tumbler didn't always seem to get the nooks and crannies.  Evaporust will get everything It also degreases besides rust removes.  Plus your parts will be done in a day.  The tumbler will actually polish the bolts,  which may not be correct,  where the evaporust will leave the plating exactly as it was, often kind of dull. 

 

For painted parts though it may take a while longer for the evaporust to work it's way under the paint.  The tumbler is going to take alot longer though I believe.  As we know HArbor freight tools don't always perform up to expectation or enjoy a long life span.  I do know the evaporust will perform as expected. 

Edited November 25, 2019 by auburnseeker (see edit history)

[64avanti]

I have used one of these for years:

 

http://www.thumlerstumbler.com/vibratory.html

 

Works well with the ceramic media for cleaning; I use the walnut shells coated with red compound for polishing if needed.

 

I bought a 5 gallon pail of lubricating liquid from McMaster Carr or MSC that I add with water to help the cut and it keeps the parts from flash rusting.

 

It is not a fast process, usually takes overnight to clean up a load of hardware. I have the UV-18, and I have to be careful not to overload it. When I do put too much weight in it, it overheats and shuts down, which isn't a big problem, as it restarts when cooled.

 

The smaller the unit, the lower its capacity and the longer it will take to clean the parts. I researched them for a while before I bought mine, and the UV-18 seemed to be the smallest effective unit available. I would not recommend the HF or any other of the low cost imports.

Edited November 25, 2019 by 64avanti (see edit history)

[Frank DuVal]

https://www.eabco.net/Berrys-Model-400-Tumbler--Includes-Free-Berrys-Pan-Sifter_p_14144.html

 

This is what I use. Have several.  One for walnut shells, one with green triangles and one with various other media (Ceramic, stainless steel). I know, it says not for liquid, but I use water with Dawn for most media, just not the walnut shells. Have to hold on lid and tilt to drain, since no drain port.

 

So what if it takes some time, not like you need to babysit it, just set it and forget it, do something else while it runs. Note, if you turn off the machine while the parts are still in Dawn and water, they will rust. Must remove parts and dry or use that anti-rust stuff avanti mentions.

 

I bought most of my media from Raytech, and some from Harbor Freight.

 

https://raytech-ind.com/metal-finishing/finishing-media-compounds.html

 

Note, DO NOT use ceramic or other hard media while cleaning parts with HOLES! It is very hard to remove ceramic media that has been impacted into a hole!!!!!!!😲

 

And walnut shells also get stuck in holes, they will come out with picks, but waste a lot of time.....😡

 

If the hole opens into a larger cavity, all bets are off on easy removal.......

 

Love the green plastic triangles for most uses.

 

And the Dawn helps cut the grease off the parts too.

 

 

[Frank DuVal]

Hmmm, how about Evaporust in a tumbler with plastic media?🤔

[auburnseeker]

With evaporust you don't need a tumbler.  A new batch usually works in around 6 hours but cheap guys like myself who use it until it's spent usually takes overnight.  DO components with internal threads get the insides cleaned as well with the Tumbler?  I didn't pay attention with mine.   I know evaporsut will clean everything inside and out,  it just won't polish.  Now if you needed something polished,  seems the evaporust soak then the polishing media in the tumbler might work out well. 

If you were closer I would give you my tumbler as I never expect to use it again if i can figure out where I stuck it. 

[trini]

auburnseeker, well said. Evaporust is the best thing after slice bread from my experience. Read the instruction and you will never go wrong. DO NOT MIX WITH ANY THING. Remove all grease and oil from metal and put in a pan, drown it with evaporust  and leave overnight. The length of time it takes to clean depends on the amount of rust so check regularly. When the liquid gets black and the objects are not yet clean , drain and put fresh liquid. On large objects it might be necessary to help by using a wire brush. When clean wash in tap water and blow dry as quickly as possible to prevent flash rust. Warm object with a propane torch and paint while warm. NEVER SOAK ANY OBJECT LIKE GUAGES FACES THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO PRESERVED. Just brush the liquid for a minute or so and wash immediately with water. Remove objects as soon as it is clean otherwise if left too long the objects will turn black. But that is no problem . Just use a swede brush and brush away.  It will not damage plating  LOOK ON YOU TUBE AND YOU WILL SEE HOW BOLTS ARE PLATED USING A USELESS BATTERY AND SOME SIMPLE HOME STUFF.

[ply33]

I have that Harbor Freight vibratory cleaner and have used it with various media. The comments above regarding water, dawn, etc. are spot on. It is noisy, has a tendency to walk around on the workbench and takes a long time to clean things up.

 

But I haven't used it in years: If I need to de-rust something nowadays I use the electrolysis method. Non-toxic, much faster and cheap. About the only thing you might have to acquire would be washing soda as you likely already have a battery charger, plastic bucket, wire and sacrificial scrap metal. Just be sure to connect the positive and negative wires correctly.

 

But the electrolysis method will likely remove any plating (I've never tried it on a plated part), so the above recommendation for Evaporust sounds good to me.

[35cz8]

For smaller parts, I use molasses and water mixed 1 part molasses to 6/7 parts water and let the parts soak for about a week then just rinse them off with clear water.  I have brought back parts from completely rusty to look like new steel and even found part numbers I never knew were there.  I have found It take a feed grade molasses to work right and I buy it from livestock feed stores in 5 gal size.

[auburnseeker]

10 hours ago, trini said:

auburnseeker, well said. Evaporust is the best thing after slice bread from my experience. Read the instruction and you will never go wrong. DO NOT MIX WITH ANY THING. Remove all grease and oil from metal and put in a pan, drown it with evaporust  and leave overnight. The length of time it takes to clean depends on the amount of rust so check regularly. When the liquid gets black and the objects are not yet clean , drain and put fresh liquid. On large objects it might be necessary to help by using a wire brush. When clean wash in tap water and blow dry as quickly as possible to prevent flash rust. Warm object with a propane torch and paint while warm. NEVER SOAK ANY OBJECT LIKE GUAGES FACES THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO PRESERVED. Just brush the liquid for a minute or so and wash immediately with water. Remove objects as soon as it is clean otherwise if left too long the objects will turn black. But that is no problem . Just use a swede brush and brush away.  It will not damage plating  LOOK ON YOU TUBE AND YOU WILL SEE HOW BOLTS ARE PLATED USING A USELESS BATTERY AND SOME SIMPLE HOME STUFF.

It will actually degrease as well, within reason.  I use it to clean NOS door latch assemblies that are covered with grease and usually stuck full of shop dirt and saw dust, plus occasional rusty spots.  When you take them out,  the grease is all gone as well as the rust and shop dirt.  I usually spray them down with WD40 once dry to keep them from flash rusting where the plating is missing as they weren't plated very well in the first place.  I used to use soda in my blast cabinet,  but noithing gets in the nooks and crannies like the evaporust plus there is no labor to speak of and works out cheaper than soda for the blast cabinet.  USually that old assembly grease is hard anyways and there is no good way to clean it out of the inside of the mechanism without soaking it anyways. .