Cleaning rust and scale inside a tube?

[top drive]

I need to clean up a tube id which is rusty and scaled.

I need to clean it up to fit another tube up the id - about 10inches inside.

I have used a wire wheel , a chisel , and a sand paper flapper wheel for drill . Varying **** was removed lots of lube applied and one tube has been fitted.

I cant help but think there is a better tool , it took forever and trashed quite a few flap wheels.

Would a small hone be good tackle for the job ? Any other ideas ? Tube is about 40mm id.


Cheers

 

[2oolhound]

The worst is the inner seam on welded pipe or tubing. I've used a shaft with a slot cut in the end to insert a strip of emery cloth into, then wrap it around. Put the other end in a drill and go. A file does the area around the ends pretty well. Of coarse you can always used seamless extruded tubing if it's in your budget. It can be bought with wall thicknesses to fit one inside the next size.

 

[Thumper68]

Take a length of 1/4 inch rod make a slit in the end about a inch deep with a hacksaw or bandsaw etc... Use a length of emery cloth about a foot long, slip it into the slit in the rod and use a drill or better yet a die grinder to spin it.

 

[bob15]

Can you get in from both ends? Might try a brake hone.

 

[jakemac]

Seal one end tight and fill the tube with vinegar. Let it sit for a few days, then try Thumper's idea above.

 

[kelpaso1]

I think a wire chimney cleaning brush (if they make one 10 inches) chucked in a drill would work. Kinda like a ball hone without the balls.

 

[scissorman]

Take the piece to a sandblaster (assuming it's small enough).

 

[MotoDave]

Not sure they make them that long, but a hand held belt sander would work nice, Dynabrade is the original mfg but there are cheap chinese copies now.

 

[TheModelAGuy]

If it has a weld seam maybe a long shaft burr grinder bit from both ends and or a small sanding drum on an extension.

 

[G_P]

What is the ID of the rusty tube?

 

[bob15]

What is the ID of the rusty tube?

See the first post.

Piece is 10" L x 40mm ID (1.58")

 

[burnedzr2]

put a box of sheetrock screws in it plug both ends and shake.

 

[plow]

40mm Bore brush???

https://www.google.com/#q=40mm+bore+brush

 

[Caman]

Lathe

 

[jakemac]

Lathe

Read the thread title again. He wants to clean the INSIDE, not the outside.

 

[defektes]

use a stainless bore brush on a drill or die grinder.

 

[Caman]

Read the thread title again. He wants to clean the INSIDE, not the outside.

A metal lathe with the OD jaws will make it possible to clean the inside. I've done it numerous times.

 

[rick carpenter]

Seal one end tight and fill the tube with vinegar. Let it sit for a few days, then try Thumper's idea above.

Top Drive, if you take Jake's advice, be sure to 'neutralise' it afterward.

 

[slip knot]

For rust and scale try muriatic acid. seal up the end and fill with acid. It'll remove the scale and rust really quick. just make sure and nuetralize the acid afterwards.

I use muriatic the clean cast iron carbs . it works rellay well on rusty scale.

 

[top drive]

what i have been using.

I will try my spot blaster in there see if that works , that usually brings things up gleaming , i never thought about that ill be honest due to access but it might be enough if i take off the recirculation shroud an just accept that the medias lost.

its the rear mount for one of these , this is the drivers side. it was just as bad and needed loads a work to get it fitted , i just wondered if there was an easier way.

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Nice early 90 Top Drive I'm surprised she's still on the original chassis given the amount of salt thrown around on your roads.

Could you get a hole saw that is a little smaller than the internal diameter of outrigger pipe and work it in and out on a drill whilst skewing it slightly from side to side? You'd need to extend the shaft to reach the bottom, but hey you have a Land Rover so no doubt you also have a welder

Oh and when you do get the rockslider to fit pack the tube with anti seize of some sort or you'll never get it off again which will make it a ****** to replace the fuel tank when it leaks ..... but I guess you already know that

 

[top drive]

that was a consideration cwazywabbit , i didnt like the idea of that based on if that grips its gonna tear my wrists off at the elbows - no clutch in my drill.

and yep it was packed with copper slip prior to fitting the drivers one.

the previous owner used it for his winter truck and kept clean underneeth by the looks of it , not to say it didnt need work but it wasnt as bad as some ive seen.

 

[GYPSY400]

Heat it up with a O/A torch on the inside.. All the loose "extra" material will pop off


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[top drive]

id love to gypsy but my homeowners insurance stipulates im not allowed to store acetylene tanks within x amount of my house where X is pretty much my boundary except for about 10 ft shy of my front wall. and even then it must be caged

a mapp plumbing torch isnt really much cope in comparison is it ? i only have a wee propane torch in the house and its a bit useless......

 

[CwazyWabbit]

that was a consideration cwazywabbit , i didnt like the idea of that based on if that grips its gonna tear my wrists off at the elbows - no clutch in my drill......

For what you are doing you could turn the hole saw with a hand brace, would take a little longer but in reality you aren't cutting a hole just using it to scrape off the rust.

Of course the oxy torch would be more fun

Amazing the difference to the chassis keeping it washed makes. The lift handle doors are also much nicer than the later push button ones.

 

[404]

id love to gypsy but my homeowners insurance stipulates im not allowed to store acetylene tanks within x amount of my house where X is pretty much my boundary except for about 10 ft shy of my front wall. and even then it must be caged

a mapp plumbing torch isnt really much cope in comparison is it ? i only have a wee propane torch in the house and its a bit useless......

Oxy propane will work as well for almost all uses. The Oxy does the magic.

 

[top drive]

aye my torch is just a straight propane c 1300 degree C

Mapp is 2925 degrees C but is expensive for fuel.

Oxy Propane is on my radar for future use - at 2500 degrees C

Oxy acetelyne is around 3500degrees C

 

[mark8201]

If you can find a round wire brush slightly larger then said ID and can chuck it in a drill. That would be my choice, have done this with smaller diameter tubes and it works great.

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

I'm not sure if they make such a beast but something like a long bit air chisel to chip that scale away? That is if you have access to such equipment.. Good luck..

Dennis

 

[PCO6]

I built a vertical dip tank for derusting long (relatively) tubes, pipes, rods, shafts, linkages, chains, etc. Here it is before I assembled it. The tube is 40" piece of 4" dia. ABS. It sits in a bucket and is cemented in place. The weight of the cement gives the base good ballast. The tube has about 35" of phosphoric acid in it.

View media item 50048

 

[sberry]

If this is 10 inches you can reach inside with a 4 1/2 grinder, turn guard sideways and blow dross away, use a grinding wheel. A drill really doesn't have the power for this kind of thing.

 

[top drive]

still struggling - spot blaster got rid of the rust and scale sure enough.

its exposed a lump of weld i need to get at which is proving difficult - ive had the needle gun in there , the air chisel , rough half round file the die grinder till i ran out of stones

off down to the tool shop after work see ifi can draw inspiration from the shelves .... and i need speaker wire

 

[CwazyWabbit]

Try a carbide burr in the die grinder

 

[sberry]

I got lost in the math but what ever it s in the pic doesn't look so sophisticated? How good does this have to be. A rotary file for steel though. A little stone burr doesn't cut much.