Tumbling Parts

Unknown

The Eastwood Company has been kind enough to create a webpage, documenting the work I'm doing to my '48. Even though I'm modifying it, I'm posting the link here, because I'm really impressed with the results I've been getting from tumbling my parts. Rusty bolts turn out like new. I was really amazed as to the before and after of the headlight terminal block. I wish they had a tumbler I could just put the whole car in.



http://eastwood.squarespace.com/wesleys-hudson/

hudsontech

Just spent a few moments reading thru the Eastwood site. You're doing a great job on the old girl, Wes (the car, not the wife!!! LOL)



I really should get in touch with you and make a trip over to see your progress.





Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis, TN

[Deleted User]

wkitchens wrote:

The Eastwood Company has been kind enough to create a webpage, documenting the work I'm doing to my '48. Even though I'm modifying it, I'm posting the link here, because I'm really impressed with the results I've been getting from tumbling my parts. Rusty bolts turn out like new. I was really amazed as to the before and after of the headlight terminal block. I wish they had a tumbler I could just put the whole car in.

http://eastwood.squarespace.com/wesleys-hudson/

A few years from the weekend of valve change out in Shreveport! A daughter in college! I remember those little girls who accompanied you to Nashville.

Your work as always ... first class. Thanks for sharing Wes.

Cheers from HOT

[Deleted User]

Great stuff, very informative. I have my tumbler running around the clock. I like that tip about using Brasso. I have to try that.

Unknown

wkitchens wrote:

The Eastwood Company has been kind enough to create a webpage, documenting the work I'm doing to my '48. Even though I'm modifying it, I'm posting the link here, because I'm really impressed with the results I've been getting from tumbling my parts. Rusty bolts turn out like new. I was really amazed as to the before and after of the headlight terminal block. I wish they had a tumbler I could just put the whole car in.

Eastwood has some great parts. However, their tumblers are so very over priced its crazy. You can buy the largest tumbler they offer for half the price through just about any reloading outfit. I hand reload and have been using tumblers for cleaning anything small, including shell casings for a number of years. Gun shows offer even better deals.



I use Rotary Tumbler from Cabela's that is great for bolts and small parts. The vibrators are great too, but the Rotary Tumbler does a super job on polishing. See Rotary Tumbler



No disrespect to Eastwood, but when there is well over a $200 difference for the same item....you have to ask if having the Eastwood name on it makes it that much better. COMPARE Eastwood Tumbler | Lyman Tumbler from Cabela's :eek:

[Deleted User]

Yup I got my tumbler at a sports store and it was the same size as the big Eastwood model and half the price looking at it I think its the identical model just different name. Came with 5Ibs of media as well.

Unknown

51hornetA wrote:

Yup I got my tumbler at a sports store and it was the same size as the big Eastwood model and half the price looking at it I think its the identical model just different name. Came with 5Ibs of media as well.

That's great news. This hobby costs too much now....I always look around for other places to buy stuff. Nothing against Eastwood, I buy their Powder Coating stuff and it very cool stuff.

Richie

WOW, Wes, that's a tremendous amount of work (fun), my hat is off to you !!!Richie.

Unknown

I am obviously doing something wrong with my tumbler. I am using the harbor freight tumbler and the green pyramid media. My first set of nuts, bolts, etc has run for a total of about 14 hours--6 one day and 8 another. Some of the larger pieces have cleaned up little, but overall I am not at all impressed. I guess my questions are:



1. How much time should it take?

2. What prep should I do before tumbling? Some of them are pretty grungy looking to begin with, should I have degrease them first?

3. Are there other types of media that I should be using?



Any suggestions would be helpful.



Thanks.



Tom

Unknown

Depends on how rusty the stuff is. I usually get things looking good with the pyramids after 48 hours. I put enough water in there to make sure the Pyramids stay wet during the entire process. You should get a grey, foamy buildup, that you can just scoop off the top. Then I go to walnut shell (dry shine) for 48 hours. By then, things are really starting to shine. My little EXTRA step I take is....I coat all the parts with brasso, and let it dry on there. Then, I put them in the tumbler with corn cob media for 48 hours.



I've never used any other brand tumbler, but I'm happy with mine from Eastwood. I've got the bowl that holds 5lbs. of media, but I also switch over to the bowl I have that holds 15lbs. of media, for bigger parts like door hinges. The bigger bowl takes a little longer because it doesn't "Shake" as much with the heavier bowl. But, at least it works.



Pretty soon, I'll be sending pictures of my door hinges to Eastwood, and they will upload them. I told them I would send them pictures on a monthly basis, so check the webpage they set up for me every so often.

hudsonguy

Wes,



Since most of the parts you're tumbling are steel, what are you doing to protect against future corrosion? Clear coating?

Unknown

You should always degrease first. No amount of tumbling will remove grease. If the hardware is super rusty you should add Metal Wash or consider Brown Pyramid if the parts are really rusty. Always make sure the media is kept wet enough during the process. Finsh up with Corn Cob to polish.

Unknown

Hudsonguy,

I coated the parts with ZOOPS SEAL, and set a few of them on my back patio, to see how it holds up. It's only been 4 months, but the parts out there haven't rusted, or even tarnished yet. I'll give it a few of these humid summer months, before I say it works well enough to not coat the parts with anything else.



Ken,

Yes it has been a while since Sherveport and Nashville Meets. Our "kids" aren't kids anymore. After all the work I've been putting into the car, I certainly hope I don't have to do any valve guide work in a hotel parking lot........but that was fun, and a great learning experience.



Hopefully I can dedicate more time to my Hudson , now that both daughters will be off to College.

Unknown

Without a side by side comparison, I'd go by price. I gave a lot more for mine, from Eastwood, and I've used the heck out of it, without problems. Maybe a cheaper one would do just as good? I saw one at Harbour Freight for $189. Sometimes they're the same, sometimes the quality is directly reflective of the price. Sort of like the difference between Made in China Tools, and Craftsman. I let my tumbler run 48 hours with Green Pyramids, 48 hours with Walnut Shells, and 48 hours with corncob media, with every batch, and I've done over 20 batches of nuts and bolts, without problems. I still have many more batches to go, so I hope it last till I'm through. Each batch is in a separate baggie, so I can keep up with what goes where. A baggie for each door, front cap, hood, dash, front suspension, etc. After I tumble them, I put them back into their labeled baggie, and move on to the next baggie.

[Deleted User]

Get the biggest one you can afford that way you can tumble bigger parts. I got mine at a sports store it was for shell casings. (Which means nothing) a tumbler is a tumbler(Quality issues aside). I run mine around the clock like Wes does. I throw anything I can fit in it and run it for days. Better than doing it with a wire brush. Cost me $80 and came with 5Ib of media. And its got a big bowl also came with a media sorting pan so you can dump out the media and sort through it when changing media type. Also I found the dry shine is way cheaper at the gun store than the auto store.

[Deleted User]

I have used one for years to polish rifle and pistol casings its more the type of media you use than anything. how aggressive the media determines the final results The units Eastwood sales are the same thing just twice the price that you can buy one from a place like Midway shooters supply or Natchez shooters supply these are very reputable companies i have done business with for years. But remember somethings need a blast cabinet or a sandblaster.

RL Chilton

I'm going to chime in here on buying tools in general, with a media tumbler as an primer.



Useage is very important in selecting the right tool for the job. As most of us are hobbyists, price typically drives us in our purchases. A tool that you are going to use a LOT, meaning several times a week, should be a quality tool. That usually relates to not being a chinese tool. Don't get me wrong, I do buy some chinese tools.



For example, I bought a Porta-Power from Harbor freight that cost me (on sale) $150.00. They typically sell for around 5-600 from someone like Snap-On, which would have been nice to have, but it's a tool I will use once, maybe twice a year. Doesn't make sense to me to spend the extra for a tool I'm not going to use often. Also, since it's used less, it will last longer. That same tool used on a daily or weekly basis, means I'll be replacing it before very long, because it's a crappy tool (poorly made).



On the other hand, tools that get used often or under extreme duress-type conditions, you can be sure I'm going to buy the best tool I can find. I think tools like this should out-live me and I should never have to buy another one because it broke or I wore it out.



As far as the media tumblers go, I'm in the market right now as well, simply because of all the talk about them here on the forum. I'd steer clear from the one at Harbor Freight, it's about as cheaply made as you can find. Wes has had a lot of good luck with the one from Eastwood, and he uses his ALOT! That's a good sign. I think one of the ones from the re-loader guys might be the best route, best price for us "hobbyists". Probably the way I'm going to go, but I like the success that Wes has had with his. Sometimes a few dollars more on a really good project pays dividends down the road.

Browniepetersen

I need to express my opinion here just to shake things up a bit. I am in the middle of a restoration of a 36-8 Hudson. I will admit that there are a few parts that get the tumbler (Harbor Freight model) and a number that have been the full "Grit Blast" route. However, nuts and bolts. Lets be serious here for a minute. In my real job I spend a bit of time with metal. Some of that is with nuts and bolts. As an engineer, I consider myself an authorty on grades of bolts, pitch and design items like "J" threads. The metal bolts on my car would be hard pressed, when new, to check out as a grade 3 bolt. That is about as soft of metal bolts get (Unless you are working on a Chev or Ford). I ran a Rockwell hardness on one of the bolts that I took off my car (raidator mount) and could not get it into the grade 1 class. The bolts that go back on my cars are all new, whenever possible (specialty bolts like headlight bolts and spare tire T bolts are always restored) and are either stainless, chrome or grade 8. Purchased from a Nut and Bolt outlet they are not that expensive and they are well worth the added strength and engineering design you get from high quality bolts/fasteners. I never recommend that bolts be reused in a restoration.:):)

Unknown

I've read through this a couple of times, attempting to get a 'handle' on the media used for small metal parts, bolts, nuts, washers, etc..

Most references are to the green or brown 'pyramid' media, which appears to be an Eastwood exclusive item (?).

Anyone have any links to other vendors who sell equivalent media?

I've gotten my green pyramids from 3 different places. Eastwood (most expensive) Harbour Freight (little cheaper) and Contenti Company (cheapest I've found)
http://www.contenti.com/products/tumbling/180-623.html

I started this thread, because as much as I would like to have a lot of stuff chrome plated, the price of the plating has completely changed my mind. Brighter-than-new is good enough for my project, and it just seemed a lot easier to tumble what items I have, than going around trying to re-buy all the different sizes, new.

Lee ODell

RL Chilton wrote:

I'm going to chime in here on buying tools in general, with a media tumbler as an primer.



Useage is very important in selecting the right tool for the job. As most of us are hobbyists, price typically drives us in our purchases. A tool that you are going to use a LOT, meaning several times a week, should be a quality tool. That usually relates to not being a chinese tool. Don't get me wrong, I do buy some chinese tools.



For example, I bought a Porta-Power from Harbor freight that cost me (on sale) $150.00. They typically sell for around 5-600 from someone like Snap-On, which would have been nice to have, but it's a tool I will use once, maybe twice a year. Doesn't make sense to me to spend the extra for a tool I'm not going to use often. Also, since it's used less, it will last longer. That same tool used on a daily or weekly basis, means I'll be replacing it before very long, because it's a crappy tool (poorly made).



On the other hand, tools that get used often or under extreme duress-type conditions, you can be sure I'm going to buy the best tool I can find. I think tools like this should out-live me and I should never have to buy another one because it broke or I wore it out.



As far as the media tumblers go, I'm in the market right now as well, simply because of all the talk about them here on the forum. I'd steer clear from the one at Harbor Freight, it's about as cheaply made as you can find. Wes has had a lot of good luck with the one from Eastwood, and he uses his ALOT! That's a good sign. I think one of the ones from the re-loader guys might be the best route, best price for us "hobbyists". Probably the way I'm going to go, but I like the success that Wes has had with his. Sometimes a few dollars more on a really good project pays dividends down the road.

I hope you are having better luck with your chinese porta power than I did. Mine quit the second time I wanted to use it. Lee

RL Chilton

I used that porta-power pretty consistently for about a month or so and no trouble as of yet. I did get the heavier-duty 10 ton model, though . . . don't know if it might've made a difference or not. Still, wouldn't want to use it week in and week out, the quality just isn't there.

Unknown

If there's anything I've learned from this thread, is that there's more than one way to skin a cat. I let my batches go so long, because I'm throwing everything in the baggie together. Everything from small screws to hinges. I'm sure the small stuff would be ready sooner, but I just leave it together till the hinges look better. This is a before and after of my latest batch, fresh from the green pyramids. Walnut shell and corn cob, will make them really shine, but the hinges have gone as far as I need to, before painting. I could have sandblasted the hinges, but it was much easier, and less messy, to just throw them in the tumbler, and let it do the work. It's nice also, that it doesn't destroy rubber and plastic in the process. Notice the rubber bumper on the door stop, and also the door lock knob, and window crank handle.

Unknown

We could make this the TUMBLING PARTS EXPERIMENTING THREAD. We each get different tumblers, take before and after pictures, and disclose the type of media used, and tumble times. Pretty soon, "ONE" of use might just figure this thing out!

[Deleted User]

Here is the company that makes my tumbler. They are US made and good motors I think. I got the 2500 on sale at the Sport shop here for $80 it also came with separator bowl and 5Ibs of media. I thought it was a good deal. I have been running it around the clock in winter its cleaned a lot of parts so in my book has paid back the $80 and its still going strong.



http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/tumblers/

Unknown

For those who think the higher price buys you more quality. The Eastwood Tumbler for $250 is made by the same manufacture that makes the Lyman 2500 series sold for $82 bucks. :eek:



So, if you are committed to spending $250, then just buy 3 of the Lyman Tumblers, quantity has a quality all its own .

[Deleted User]

I thought it was pretty good. US made motor which is rare to see these days. Over winter I ran it 24hrs a day tumbling parts for my 54 sedan. Still going strong. I also bought my media at the sports store as it was way cheaper than that auto stores that sold the stuff.



Its a quality motor as I was worried that running it all day long would cause it to overheat but when I touched the casing it was just warm so they cool pretty good. My worry was the thing would overheat and burn down my garage but nope ran cool.

Unknown

Since we've had so much discussion about tumblers, I emailed Nick, at Eastwood, and just asked him, "point blank" is there any quality difference between their tumblers, and anyone elses. Here's his response. Let me state, I don't work for Eastwood, I just think inquiring minds want to know. If you agree, or disagree with him, I put in his contact numbers.



Hi Wesley,







There are internal differences between the tumblers we sell and others on the market. Here is what my product manager said.







“Eastwood units are designed and manufactured with heavy duty bearings, springs and motor to completely and thoroughly clean and polish larger automotive/motorcycle parts in the fastest time- Unlike smaller units that are designed for delicate brass ammunition shells sold through firearms and outdoor gear catalogs.”





Thanks,







Nick







Nicholas L. Capinski



E-Commerce Marketing Manager



The Eastwood Company



263 Shoemaker Rd



Pottstown, PA 19464



610-705-5404



Fax: 610-323-6268



Visit www.eastwood.com today!

[Deleted User]

I am betting if I pull my unit apart and the Eastwood apart they are identical. He can say what he likes. The Lyman 2500 is identical in size to the Eastwood unit. Its designed to handle 1000 .38 shell casings at a time thats a bit of weight. I am running mine with all the bolts, hinges anything I can jam in there and its run with zero problems. And its still running strong. When I looked at the Eastwood unit here I thought darn that thing looks identical to mine turned it over and everything looks the same. When Ted said they are made by same company I thought aha.



By the way I was going to buy the Eastwood unit until someone on here pointed out the Sports stores sell em cheaper. Went over and yup its true. Same thing with Eastwoods selling Martin body hammers. I got the same hammers here at a body shop jobber for half the price. I got a soda blaster here for $110 bucks and I cannot tell the diff between it and the $299 unit Eastwood sells. Eastwood makes lots of great tools but some of it is hype and advertising.

Unknown

Looks like the ceramic triangle (1/4 x 1/4) media does the job, and takes about 1/2 the time of the plastic pyramid 1/4x1/4x1/4 media.

Be aware that it is much heavier than the plastic media, so -

- will cost a bit more to ship;

- will put more strain on your vibratory tumbler. My tumbler appeared to handle it without issue.

Started a second 'load' with the ceramic media this morning -

Don't forget to take some pic's during the process. I started another batch yesterday myself. Will post pic's of 48 hour increments.

Unknown

Rick, depending on how much I put in there, and the size of the items, makes a difference on the noise mine makes. Big items, like hinges, with green pyramids, makes a big racket, but with small nuts and bolts, and corncob media, it just hums. It's a shame they don't make a tumbler big enough to tumble the whole car. Restoring one would be so much easier!

Unknown

Here's what my batch looks like after 48 hrs. You can see the grey sludge I get. I hose it off, then turn the tumbler on and run a magnet through the media to get the parts. After I've gotten all the parts, I put the media on a net, and hose it clean, ready for the next use.