Parts tumbler suggestions?

Angry_Radish

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 29, 2006
Messages
4,055
Reaction score
297
Location
Watertown, Wisconsin
As the title says, I'm in the market for a tumbler to clean up rusty/oxidized bolts, etc..

Does anyone have one they would recommend over others?
 
Yeah, I plan on using walnut for the media.
I had heard that maybe a gun store or sporting kind of store might have one that is fairly large for cleaning brass shells?

I hadn't thought of HF though I'm a little hesitant to use them for any tools I want to work over the long run, I mainly use them for 1-2 time use tools :)
 
As the title says, I'm in the market for a tumbler to clean up rusty/oxidized bolts, etc..

Does anyone have one they would recommend over others?

Lots of experience in this area... have been through 5 harbor freight tumblers throughout the last 9 years or so.... We don't have anything close to us (Watertucky and Sullivan), but I highly recommend this one-
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...&rid=&parentType=&indexId=cat20853&hasJS=true

I think you work that direction right? (Just north of Milwaukee a bit) Pick one up, you can't go wrong.... It is manufactured for Cabelas by Berry's... Comes with some walnut media, but you might as well pick up a couple of bottles of flitz while you are there....

For the media, hit up the Pet Store in Delafield (Hwy 83)..... Best price on walnut- In the bird section....


The one linked to above (the tumbler at harbor freight) is the one I burn through all the time....

That is about the only place local to us- not at gander mountain, etc...
 
Last edited:
Heh, I'll stock up then :)
I'm starting the cleaning/reassembly phase on that LOTR pin and need to clean up a bunch of hardware, this thing should come in mighty handy!
 
Heh, I'll stock up then :)
I'm starting the cleaning/reassembly phase on that LOTR pin and need to clean up a bunch of hardware, this thing should come in mighty handy!

I use mine all the time With Flitz, most things will polish up nicely in about 24 hours. Hit up Walmart for a spaghetti strainer and drill a few holes in it. It will catch all the nuts and bolts that fall through the strainer that comes with the tumbler... LOTR? Good pick up great game.... You replacing those pesky vids with cool pins yet? :)
 
Last edited:
I'll second Tim's suggestion... I have that Cabelas tumbler and it works great. I use walnut shells (from the pet store) and novus #3 (cause I have it)... Flitz will probably work as good or better.

cheers
/Tim
 
I'll second Tim's suggestion... I have that Cabelas tumbler and it works great. I use walnut shells (from the pet store) and novus #3 (cause I have it)... Flitz will probably work as good or better.

cheers
/Tim

I used to use Novus as well (Flitz isn't super easy to come by around here in BFE- Wisconsin)... Flitz easily cut my time over Novus in half, and the end result is spectacular. I know Hugh on here uses some polish product from Walmart, he can probably chime in on that one, he has good results with it.....
 
I used to use Novus as well (Flitz isn't super easy to come by around here in BFE- Wisconsin)... Flitz easily cut my time over Novus in half, and the end result is spectacular. I know Hugh on here uses some polish product from Walmart, he can probably chime in on that one, he has good results with it.....


Thanks for the mention Tim. Flitz is awesome... it really is. But I use Kit Scratch Out instead. I have run more batches then I can count and I get the same results with the stuff. It's much cheaper and easy to get.

IMG00212-1.jpg


I use the Walnut shell media from the pet store. I have a Berry's tumbler that I have used for 4-5 years and it has not quit on me. That being said Cabellas and Dillon both make excellent tumblers so any of those would work.
 
Just to bring this back to the top, thanks for the replies!
I just got back from Cabellas and got that kit along with the Flitz.

Question though, how much flitz do I add to the media?
 
Sound good, I'll give it a test drive tonight!

I can't believe they let me in the store and I wasn't wearing camo! I swear some of the customers in there got married in woodland camouflage:D
 
LOL.... I am not a hunter at all, and walking in there was sort of like the Twilight Zone for me. Everyone was very nice to me though, they must have thought I was an auditor or something....Even the local car dealerships didn't have as many Ford and Chevy pickups as that Cabelas parking lot did....
 
Lets see some pics of these tumbled bolts! Are you guys basically ending up with shiny bare metal when you are done?

Don't they just oxidize /rust again? I can understand polishing stainless hardware, I do that with a buffing wheel. But most bolts I encounter on games are not stainless.

For me it's usually clean the rust off with a wire wheel attached to a bench grinder, then repaint or powdercoat satin black.
 
They come out looking brand new....Literally..... They have a sort of smooth/glossy feel to them that new parts don't have, and I think it is because of the media used in the tumbler, sort of like a protective coat of sorts...No re-rusting, etc....
 
+1 for the Cabelas.

My brother-in-law works for Cabelas, and I went with their model, too. Works great and haven't had any problems with it. Think I paid around $50 for media and the tumbler.

Theron
 
Back
Top Bottom