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03-14-2011, 12:18 PM
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#1 |
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Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
Posts: 214
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Tool: Parts tumbler
Our ranch has an endless supply of powdery white sand to use as a medium and I have a endless supply of rusty and greasy bolts, nuts, washers, brackets and whatnot that I hate taking the time to individually clean or pay to replace.
So, I scored a cheap concrete mixer on craig's a couple of years ago and decided to re-purpose it as a parts tumbler. Thought I'd share with y'all in case you needed something similar. 1st pic is the tumbler itself - it's covered with a t-shirt to reduce the dust that pours out when it's running. 2nd pis is the result. This is about 4 gallons of parts sitting on my welding table for sorting then deployed to the parts cabinets. They probably tumbled in there for 6 hours total. The process is LOUD and annoying. You may be able to wrap the barrel to muffle the sound if necessary. Enjoy!
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-M7 '69 SWB GMC 5.7 EFI ‘69 C/10 SWB patina survivor ‘71 K20 LWB GMC '72 K5 1-ton gear 468BB ‘79 K20 LWB GMC ‘86 K30 GMC High Sierra C&C Single Cab ‘94 LWB GMC 2500 4x4 '96 SWB Single Cab 5.7 ‘99 SWB Z71 Single Cab '01 K2500 Yukon Safari 6.0 ‘06 1500 LWB 4x4 5.3 ‘06 2500HD Single Cab C&C Duramax 4x4 '08 2500HD x-cab duramax 4x4 '11 2500HD Single Cab Duramax 4x4 |
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03-14-2011, 12:36 PM
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#2 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 89
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Re: Tool: Parts tumbler
Great idea. Thanks for sharing. Looks like it works really well.
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03-14-2011, 12:38 PM
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#3 |
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72 GMC
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Wells, Maine
Posts: 534
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Re: Tool: Parts tumbler
Looks great. How much sand did you use ?
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03-14-2011, 12:58 PM
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#4 | |
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Loading.....
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
Posts: 214
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Re: Tool: Parts tumbler
I used about 5 gallons of sand. Tried to not stress the machine too much since it runs for a longer duration than intended.
Quote:
__________________
-M7 '69 SWB GMC 5.7 EFI ‘69 C/10 SWB patina survivor ‘71 K20 LWB GMC '72 K5 1-ton gear 468BB ‘79 K20 LWB GMC ‘86 K30 GMC High Sierra C&C Single Cab ‘94 LWB GMC 2500 4x4 '96 SWB Single Cab 5.7 ‘99 SWB Z71 Single Cab '01 K2500 Yukon Safari 6.0 ‘06 1500 LWB 4x4 5.3 ‘06 2500HD Single Cab C&C Duramax 4x4 '08 2500HD x-cab duramax 4x4 '11 2500HD Single Cab Duramax 4x4 |
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03-14-2011, 12:59 PM
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#5 |
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Old Skool Club
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Benton, AR "The Heart of Arkansas"
Posts: 10,880
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Re: Tool: Parts tumbler
I see some stuff I need.......
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Member Nr. 2770 '96 GMC Sportside; 4.3/SLT - Daily driven....constantly needs washed. '69 C-10 SWB; 350/TH400 - in limbo The older I get, the better I was. |
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03-14-2011, 10:15 PM
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#6 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Orem, Utah
Posts: 7,976
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Re: Tool: Parts tumbler
Did you have to do anything to them before you stored them to keep them from rusting again?
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03-15-2011, 12:19 PM
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#7 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Mtn. Home, Idaho
Posts: 906
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Re: Tool: Parts tumbler
If you rinse them in "Ospho" and dry them they wont rust if kept dry. I use a cheep Harbor Freight tumbler and triangle green medium and the hardware cleans up very well.I also add a small amount of "Evapo Rust" to the medium to form a slurry, then I just dip the processed hardware in "Ospho" and dry. Caswell Plating sells a blackening kit to complete the process for factory correct finish. Sure makes it nice at reassembly time! I will add grease and oil should be removed prior to processing any grease remover will work I like the purple stuff works good.
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03-15-2011, 12:38 PM
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#8 |
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One of the First
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: St. Augustine,FL.
Posts: 4,059
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Re: Tool: Parts tumbler
Do you add "Evapo Rust" to the tumbler with triangle green medium? Or to the purple solution and let them soak before the tumbler?
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03-15-2011, 12:44 PM
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#9 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Mtn. Home, Idaho
Posts: 906
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Re: Tool: Parts tumbler
Evapo rust to the medium after the purple clean, evapo rust aids in the rust removal as evidenced by the pics.In my tumbler I use about a quarter cup or less it doesnt take much you just want it wet as the tumbler leaks and will make a hell of a mess, guess how I know this... trial and error.
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03-15-2011, 02:11 PM
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#10 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: memphis
Posts: 2,537
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Re: Tool: Parts tumbler
That is cool
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03-15-2011, 06:59 PM
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#11 |
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Big Red - Now its a SWB!
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Oroville, Ca
Posts: 1,624
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Re: Tool: Parts tumbler
wow those thing work great! Thanks for sharing.
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68 3/4 ton  (Project)-350 Small Block, .030 over, 10:1 comp, 3998993 heads, C3BX edelbrock intake, comp cams XE268, Holley 670 SA, long tube headers, dual flow 40's, E-fan, Alum rad, currently under the knife getting shortened and bagged  build thread41 3/4 ton (wife's)-flatbed, fully restored to original01 Tahoe LT 4WD (my daily driver)-Magnaflow Muffler, Rollin on 22's 02 Ford Mustang Convertable (Wife's Car)-Flowmaster 50, Clear corners, Intake, sittin on 18's |
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