cleaning small bolts and nuts

[Leonard Keifer]

Has anyone tried a rock polisher/tumbler to clean bolts and nuts too small to use a wire brush on?

I was thinking that a small rock tumbler with blast cabinet sand might clean rust off of some pesky 1/4 inch and smaller bolts and screws I'd like to reuse but are too short to hold to clean with the wire brush wheel on my grinder.

[T 20]

Leonard,
I like to use Sears "RoboGrip" pliers when wire brushing small bolts. They instantly grip to any size you're working with. Grip, buff, rotate 120°, grip, buff, etc... I like the smaller pair to use when buffing...
Mo

[Jan4CMF]

A rock tumbler works great. I just use sand for media with about half water.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by Jan4CMF

A rock tumbler works great. I just use sand for media with about half water.

How long does it take to clean hardware? I know it takes a couple weeks min to tumble rock!

[KeithW]

The rock tumbler works well. A couple of days should do it. I built a 5 gallon bucket sized one to clean suspension parts. I use Dolomite aquarium gravel, water and a pinch of soap. Doesn't get all of the pockets but gets them about 95%. What I'm using now for little parts is a Rubbermade bin with dry sand. I shake it in the air powered paint shaker I got at Harbor Freight. A day or two and they are ready for final touch up the the glass bead.

[Buddy Harley]

A rock tumbler works great. No need for any media, just put a little solvent ( I use kerosene) in the mix and let her rip.
Media (sand etc.) will tend to act more as a cushion than an abrasive. Steel against steel is best (faster) in a slow moving type tumbler and there is no seperating out the media.. Been using one for years.

[KidDynamo]

I use a quart paint can on a little hobbyist tumbler with paint thinner, no media, and change batches every 1/2 hour or so.

Keeping time in the tumbler to a minimum prevents polishing off all the edges, corners, and points on everything. You probably don't want that to happen to your stuff, either!

The amount I put in the can is largely determined by trial. Since I have a simple can with no paddles or facets, certain size loads want to just sit on the bottom and not "tumble" so I adjust the amount and let 'er go.

Keep the outside of the can absolutely solvent free so it doesn't louse up the rollers.

Nothin' to it, works pretty good.

Actually, I also clean quite a bit of rusty nuts and bolts hardware with electrolysis. A follow-up in the tumbler with a little soap and water might save me some of that post-electrolysis wire brushing at the sink. I could go for that!

[Mike Monnier]

What about a vibratory bowl like you can buy to clean up brass cartridges for reloading? I've never tried it, but I wouldn't think it's any worse than a rock tumbler. I generally just grit my teeth and utter a bit of "shop talk" when using a wire wheel to clean small fasteners and my finger tips simultaneously.

[Leonard Keifer]

Harbor Freight sells both a single drum (3 pound) rock tumbler [$30] and a metal vibrator (5 pound) that is very similar to the cartridge cleaners [$60]. For all the more bolts I have to clean I'm leaning toward the Robogrip method and hope I don't fling any little bolts through my sliding glass door!

On the other hand maybe I'll go very low tech and try shaking a few with sand in a yogurt cup by hand.

Thanks for all the help.

[Paul Johnson]

http://www.ultraoneusa.com/shopdispl...t+Rust+Remover
Found this stuff, works real well.
In Canada -- http://www.safestrustremover.ca/overview.html
http://www.safestrustremover.ca/overview.html

[Randy Hart]

I've had great luck with a steel 2" nipple and cap and a fine mesh screen with a hole the size of the blaster nozzle.. insert screws and washers and hold the screen on tight and bead blast away.. lots of action in the pipe and the screws come out clean.. Randy Hart Ohio