03-14-2011, 12:18 PM | #1 |
Loading.....
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
Posts: 214
|
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!
__________________
-M7 '69 SWB GMC 5.7 EFI ‘69 C/10 SWB patina survivor ‘71 GMC K20 '72 K5 1-ton gear 468BB ‘86 K30 GMC High Sierra C&C Single Cab '96 SWB Single Cab 5.7 ‘99 SWB Z71 Single Cab '00 SWB Single Cab 5.3 '01 K2500 Yukon Safari 6.0 ‘06 2500HD Single Cab C&C Duramax 4x4 '08 1500 crew '11 2500HD Single Cab Duramax 4x4 |
03-14-2011, 12:36 PM | #2 |
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 89
|
Re: Tool: Parts tumbler
Great idea. Thanks for sharing. Looks like it works really well.
|
03-14-2011, 12:38 PM | #3 |
72 GMC
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Wells, Maine
Posts: 534
|
Re: Tool: Parts tumbler
Looks great. How much sand did you use ?
|
03-14-2011, 12:58 PM | #4 |
Loading.....
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
Posts: 214
|
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.
__________________
-M7 '69 SWB GMC 5.7 EFI ‘69 C/10 SWB patina survivor ‘71 GMC K20 '72 K5 1-ton gear 468BB ‘86 K30 GMC High Sierra C&C Single Cab '96 SWB Single Cab 5.7 ‘99 SWB Z71 Single Cab '00 SWB Single Cab 5.3 '01 K2500 Yukon Safari 6.0 ‘06 2500HD Single Cab C&C Duramax 4x4 '08 1500 crew '11 2500HD Single Cab Duramax 4x4 |
03-14-2011, 12:59 PM | #5 |
Old Skool Club
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Benton, AR "The Heart of Arkansas"
Posts: 10,880
|
Re: Tool: Parts tumbler
I see some stuff I need.......
__________________
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. |
03-14-2011, 10:15 PM | #6 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Orem, Utah
Posts: 7,896
|
Re: Tool: Parts tumbler
Did you have to do anything to them before you stored them to keep them from rusting again?
|
03-15-2011, 10:25 AM | #7 |
Loading.....
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
Posts: 214
|
Re: Tool: Parts tumbler
They are stored inside the shop in drawers. If they rust now it'd be pretty minimal.
__________________
-M7 '69 SWB GMC 5.7 EFI ‘69 C/10 SWB patina survivor ‘71 GMC K20 '72 K5 1-ton gear 468BB ‘86 K30 GMC High Sierra C&C Single Cab '96 SWB Single Cab 5.7 ‘99 SWB Z71 Single Cab '00 SWB Single Cab 5.3 '01 K2500 Yukon Safari 6.0 ‘06 2500HD Single Cab C&C Duramax 4x4 '08 1500 crew '11 2500HD Single Cab Duramax 4x4 |
03-15-2011, 12:19 PM | #8 |
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Mtn. Home, Idaho
Posts: 906
|
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.
|
03-15-2011, 12:38 PM | #9 |
One of the First
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: St. Augustine,FL.
Posts: 4,054
|
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?
|
03-15-2011, 12:44 PM | #10 |
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Mtn. Home, Idaho
Posts: 906
|
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.
|
03-15-2011, 02:11 PM | #11 |
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: memphis
Posts: 2,537
|
Re: Tool: Parts tumbler
That is cool
|
03-15-2011, 06:59 PM | #12 |
Big Red - Now its a SWB!
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Oroville, Ca
Posts: 1,624
|
Re: Tool: Parts tumbler
wow those thing work great! Thanks for sharing.
__________________
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 thread 41 3/4 ton (wife's)-flatbed, fully restored to original 01 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 |
Bookmarks |
|
|