Get More Use From Your Pin Tumbler

[Profreedomokie]

I don't know why I never thought about doing this before but, it worked. I had some nuts and bolts that needed cleaning from doing a clutch hydraulics repair on my 1972 Land Rover. So, I filled my tumbler with the parts, the pins, and soap and ran it for two and a half hours. The parts came out pretty clean. The pins couldn't clean down in the fine threads on some of the bolts but, the big spring in the picture was covered in rust. All the parts were oil covered or rusty. 

 

[swampratt]

Did it leave an oily film inside the container?
My buddy lubed a bunch of dirty cases and then tumbled them in his pin tumbler and it made a heck of an oily black mess.

More soap needed I am sure.
I like your idea and I have extra tumbling containers I could use just for nuts and bolts etc.
Thanks.

 

[Profreedomokie]

Did it leave an oily film inside the container?
My buddy lubed a bunch of dirty cases and then tumbled them in his pin tumbler and it made a heck of an oily black mess.

More soap needed I am sure.
I like your idea and I have extra tumbling containers I could use just for nuts and bolts etc.
Thanks.

I don't really know. I was in a big hurry to get the bolts out so I could start on reassembling the clutch. I had help coming by to help me push the truck back in the garage and needed to get the buckets I dump the tumbler into out of the way. I used Dawn and Lemon Shine just like I do with brass and it was plenty of suds in it when I emptied it. This worked so well I might make another tank just for parts clean up. I have a table top bead blaster but, I like that I can load and start it and be doing other things.

 

[MacFromOK]

Sand might work better on steel, and should get into threads and such.

Just a thought.
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[Profreedomokie]

Sand might work better on steel, and should get into threads and such.

Just a thought.
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I've got a tabletop bead blaster. I tried the tumbler so I could be working on other stuff.

 

[Profreedomokie]

Did it leave an oily film inside the container?
My buddy lubed a bunch of dirty cases and then tumbled them in his pin tumbler and it made a heck of an oily black mess.

More soap needed I am sure.
I like your idea and I have extra tumbling containers I could use just for nuts and bolts etc.
Thanks.

It didn't leave and residue inside. I had to go back and open it up again to find some small lock washers.

 

[MacFromOK]

I've got a tabletop bead blaster. I tried the tumbler so I could be working on other stuff.

I meant use sand in the tumbler (I noticed that you had a blaster).
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[Profreedomokie]

I meant use sand in the tumbler (I noticed that you had a blaster).
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I understood what you meant.