Can you clean gun parts in a vibrating tumbler?

[FatJackDurham]

I am using a Lyman twin tumbler that has a smaller bucket for "rock tumbling or wet parts cleaning".

What media and polish do you use to clean parts? I am going to be rust bluing a gun, and I'd like to clean the gun parts as much as I can without scrubbing with Emory cloth. Can I use the tumbler?

[Terry Murbach]

I HAVE NEVER THOUGHT OF THIS BEFORE. EVERYTHING I EVER BLUED WAS CLEANED CHEMICALLY NOT MECHANICALLY BEFORE HAND.
WHAT HAPPENS TO ALL THOSE NICE CLEAN SHARP EDGES WHILE THEY'RE BEING TOSSED ROUND'N'ROUND IN THAT TUMBLER ??
ALSO, TUMBLING ITSELF IS A POLISHING OPERATION NOT A CLEANING OPERATION PER SE'.
THERE ARE RESIDUES LEFT BEHIND BY POLISHING OPERATIONS ON BRASS ETC.
MAYBE I AM MISSING SOMETHING HERE.

[AJMD429]

What Terry Said....

I think there's no substitute for hand-polishing most of it (or maybe a Dremel tool with the right wheel).

Then again, I've only done small parts and only a few at a time.

[Blaine]

I would look at once fired brass thru a glass, at the top rim of the brass before and after a few hours in the tumbler. If it's rounded off, I'd be very careful. On the other had, they make ultra-sonic parts cleaners that will not take off metal.

[Hobie]

I've used vibratory tumblers in manufacturing. They are used to remove burrs and round things off, not necessarily polish the parts. I would not use them on gun parts with ANY media because I want the correct shapes to be retained.

[Tycer]

I love this site.

[FatJackDurham]

Okay. Then, for chemical cleaning, what about I substitute for dicro 909? I don't think I need the whole 8 pounds of the stuff. Someone on another site said it basically a detergent.

Any thoughts?

I have Birchfield Casey rust and blue remover, and I have some acetone, but the directions say acetone doesn't always get the job done.

[Hobie]

As I re-read the post I take it you aren't prepping the metal for the rust bluing, i.e. degreasing, but rather referring to the periodic removal of rust as part of the process. Is that right?

[KCSO]

I use an ULTRASONIC cleaner for cleaning but not a tumbler. If you are just lookinng for a good parts cleaning solution try 50/50 Simple Green and water and after the cleaning SOAK the parts in a m/d lubricant.

[FatJackDurham]

As I re-read the post I take it you aren't prepping the metal for the rust bluing, i.e. degreasing, but rather referring to the periodic removal of rust as part of the process. Is that right?

No, I was going to actually prep the metal. I would degrease with acetone or a chemical bath, but to remove existing surface marks, I was thinking of tumbling as a kinder gentler sand blasting. I don't know if tumbling as a carding mechanism would be any good.

The parts have all already been coarse sanded by some previous owner, and I didn't want to have to remove to much more metal. I thought that tumbling might be gentler and less distructive than sanding. However, it doesn't sound like that is the case.

So, I guess I'll deblue and derust with a chemical, then sand and wire brush with oil, then degrease and clean with TSP and acetone. Then I'll proceed with the rusting and carding as directed.

[Sixgun]

Other than cleaning dirty brass, the only other thing I have found it useful for is making blackpowder settle down in the cases. I will put 50 cases with an x amount of powder in them and set the tray on top, turn it on for 10 or 20 seconds and the powder settles on down real nice.----------Sixgun

[deafrn]

I thought that tumbling might be gentler and less distructive than sanding. However, it doesn't sound like that is the case.

An outfit here used to do a lot of vibratory cleaning and finishing (before the FedGov made their whole product line a perpetual potential quagmire of "process" crimes), and it was almost impossible to get a finish change without some also having dimensional changes (particularly rounding of outside corners); the process also left a lot to be desired in holes/inside corners. They could get some neat finishes by varying the media, etc, but it just wasn't practical if there were tolerances to keep AND action aggressive enough to remove scratches, toolmarks or casting lines.

A machine shop with a blasting setup might be able to glass bead those parts if the critical wearing surfaces and such were masked off. Glass beading doesn't remove metal so much as push it around (knocking off most of the more brittle oxides/surface crud in the process), and the finer beads at the right pressure might be one option.

[FatJackDurham]

Yeah. I can clean it myself. I just was trying to find out why Lyman advertises it as a part cleaner.

[Batman1939]

Okay. Then, for chemical cleaning, what about I substitute for dicro 909? I don't think I need the whole 8 pounds of the stuff. Someone on another site said it basically a detergent.

Any thoughts?

I have Birchfield Casey rust and blue remover, and I have some acetone, but the directions say acetone doesn't always get the job done.

I'm no machinist, but a very good one once told me that methylethyl ketone (MEK) was great for cleaning grease, oil and other "residue" from metal parts. I used it once for a project I had and it did a fine job. I know nothing about its availability or cost (and it may be considered "unsafe" these days), but I think I'd do a google search to find out something about it if I were you.

Others here may be able to comment knowledgeably about MEK.

P.S. In rereading the complete thread I realize that you were likely wanting a "deeper" cleaning than I thought. Anyhow, MEK may be of interest to some forumites.

Good luck.