Vibratory Tumblers

[Rory Bellows]

Anyone use one? I'm getting the HF version for christmas and looking for some tips. ( No tips like stay away from HF please) BTW, it's on sale now for $39.99 if anyone cares.

What type of media should I use? I will mainly use it for nuts and bolts and maybe small parts. Will walnut shells work well or should I find some of those triangle shaped media things? What grit should I use? I am pretty excited about getting this for christmas. It may be Chinese and cheap but I have wanted and needed one for some time and am pretty cheap even with the $60 regular price. Owning an old Jeep I deal with rusty fasteners on a regular basis.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Never used one for cleaning hardware, just for cleaning brass ammo casings. I'd start out with walnut shell on steel parts. Only if that didn't work would I then try something more "powerful" .

Charles

 

[mikeatrpi]

You can toss a rusty bolt in a cup of white vinegar. About a week later the rust will be gone. Fancy tumbler not required.

 

[Rory Bellows]

Looks like I'll start off with walnut shells and go from there.

You can toss a rusty bolt in a cup of white vinegar. About a week later the rust will be gone. Fancy tumbler not required.

It's not that fancy! Besides it can remove piant too. Plus I can reassemble and drive it before the one week waiting period.

 

[trunk37]

What type of media should I use? I will mainly use it for nuts and bolts and maybe small parts. Will walnut shells work well or should I find some of those triangle shaped media things?

If you need to removed rust you will want the triangles. If you are wanting to do polishing, the walnut shells will work fine for that. OR if you are cheap (frugal) lol. Try this tip that I found on another board.

I searched around for walnut shell media and found out that they sell it as "reptile litter" i.e. to line the cage floor for pet lizards and snakes. So I dropped in to the local Petsmart store and found a 10 lb bag of Desert Blend Lizard Litter on sale for $8.00.

 

[Rory Bellows]

Trunk,
Thanks for the tip. Guess I will try to find the triangle media first and if that doesn't work out I'll hit a pet store. Thanks.