Finding new uses for wet tumbling

[horseman]

I've been on a roll the last few days cleaning saddles and tack. Oh joy. So, to the uninitiated, to REALLY clean a saddle and associated tack (headstalls, breast collars, off billets, yada,yada,yada) you first take EVERYTHING APART, all buckles (including those horrible Blevins buckles) some of you probably know how many I'm talking about are removed. Those nice brass headstall buckles that turn green after a while in the tack room, and all dinky associated hardware on all other pieces. As you can see I'm a bit hung up on this part of the process. Well, after washing ( I do use mild soap (ivory) and water to wash the leather, on with a damp sponge, lather, and rinse with a sponge and clean water, no hoses). Natural dry in the house, a good spray cleaner using a patch of sheepskin and a lot of elbow grease, both sides of the leather (make sure to get way up under the fenders, pull them out "most" of the way to get them good where they go over the bars, important) After that drys (24hrs) then I lightly apply pure neatsfoot oil on the outside only. Now that you all know how to properly clean a saddle, here it sits, all clean and looking almost new, butwhat the heck do you do with 5lbs of buckles, swivel snaps, chicago screws, you get the idea, that are all covered with green stuff and some other white chalky substance that shows up on most of the other stuff. Im not even sure what that stuff is. Steel wool, polishing wheel heck no, you use THE FRANKFORT ARSENAL STAINLESS PIN CLEANING APPARATUS.......it worked great. Every thing is shiny new looking. I even tried to get one of my low curb swivel bits in there too but it wouldn't fit. Well, some things are probably best not done..... So I'd like to hear about any other uses you guys have come up with, who knows, might come in handy. Small car parts....nah, probably not.

[GasGuzzler]

The last BMX restoration I did came before my poor man wet tumbler so...

[daboone]

Watch out for burrs and SS pins getting stuck in the blankets.

[RBHarter]

That white powder stuff is probably salts .

That wash water is pretty gamey I'd bet . Somewhere between mmmmm alfalfa and horse and that involuntary locker room gag ?

Haven't gone wet tumble yet , I used to have a pillow case I washed all plastic shotshell cases in the washer in .
I worked in a place that washed aircraft fuel injectors in an ultrasonic cleaner full of Hoppes (as called out in the shop manual) . Early on in my casting career I leaded a 9mm barrel badly . That cleaner did the job in 2 runs of about 20 min each . I've been on the lookout for one priced right every since .

[horseman]

I worked in a place that washed aircraft fuel injectors in an ultrasonic cleaner full of Hoppes (as called out in the shop manual) . Early on in my casting career I leaded a 9mm barrel badly . That cleaner did the job in 2 runs of about 20 min each . I've been on the lookout for one priced right every since .

Interesting you mention the ultrasonic cleaner, the Missus used to have a small one around here she used to clean her jewelry with. That's what I was originally going to use to clean all the small buckles, clasps, and what not with. She however seems to have removed herself from it as she didn't like the smell . It was a very small unit anyway. Sour said the fox....

[mikld]

Wow horseman, you could be talkin' Greek fer all I understood (I grew up in the city/ghetto of LA and never saw a real live horse util I went to a circus when I was 17). I was introduced to tumbling metal parts way before I started reloading, and I still tumble tools and odd parts for cleaning, rust removal (I have 30 years accumulation of misc. mechanic's tools wasting away in my shop since I retired and some of the stuff ain't plated, so surface rust is common). One thing I found though, is you can get brass hardware too clean. Nekkid brass will tarnish quickly so I add a bit of auto wax to my tumbling media (I've read wet tumblers do the same) to leave a very light wax film on the piece to prevent tarnish. Works for me...

Are all those things you mention real? Or mebbe stuff like Finnigan pins" or "Round Toits", "muffler bearings", or "12 volt battery oil"?

[horseman]

Wow horseman, you could be talkin' Greek fer all I understood (I grew up in the city/ghetto of LA and never saw a real live horse util I went to a circus when I was 17). I was introduced to tumbling metal parts way before I started reloading, and I still tumble tools and odd parts for cleaning, rust removal (I have 30 years accumulation of misc. mechanic's tools wasting away in my shop since I retired and some of the stuff ain't plated, so surface rust is common). One thing I found though, is you can get brass hardware too clean. Nekkid brass will tarnish quickly so I add a bit of auto wax to my tumbling media (I've read wet tumblers do the same) to leave a very light wax film on the piece to prevent tarnish. Works for me...

Are all those things you mention real? Or mebbe stuff like Finnigan pins" or "Round Toits", "muffler bearings", or "12 volt battery oil"?

Oh they're real alright, however I did "mis-name" a couple, sorta, the low curb bit for one. It would actually be called a low PORT curb bit with swivel shanks. (bet that cleared it right up for ya' ) When you talk leather products (especially horse tack) they're generally all held together with some sort of apparatus (see above ) and any part of the tack that touches a horse (or any animal I suppose) gets really groady after a while, sweat, salt, hair and it turns into a substance that looks kinda like black tar heroin but without the value or I would be a rich man.

You bring up more ideas for the pin cleaning, small hand tools like wrenches for one sounds interesting. Wonder how the Frankford tumbler would hold up to that..hmmm. Another idea that comes to me at this time is the small decorative items like brass screws and acrouments found in the home as I'm also currently working on a 26ft fifth wheel camp trailer that was/is in a little "rough" shape. But I got it for a really good price of TWO thousand dollars and I'm doing a lot of fixer up stuff inside and turning it into a ONE thousand dollar 26ft 5th wheel camp trailer with my "expertise".....

And by the way, you're probably the much better off for never having been initiated into "horsemanship" and the accompanying life style that ensues. Remember we're talking about a 1000lb animal that's big, strong, and very quick moving with a brain the size of a walnut that they rarely use. And then we throw a heavy leather contraption on their back, squeeze it up real tight around their belly with a strap, stick a piece of iron in their mouth, get on their back and expect good results (?) how smart does that make us.....

[Macd]

To prevent brass from tarnishing quickly soak it for five minutes in a mixture of 1tablespoon of citric acid to a cup of hot water. This passivates the brass surface and slows tarnishing. I buy my citric acid from a DIY beer/wine store in 1 pound bags. Lot cheaper than in health food or kitchen stores. It also works on nickle and cleans rust off of tools. I have read to avoid using it on aluminum but can't vouch for the validity of that caution. Exposed zinc will be damaged for sure.

[daboone]

I use SS pin tumbling to do the final polish sand cast parts of a flintlock rifle build. A lot faster and easier way to get that done than going thru several grade of wet sanding by hand,

[mikld]

I dry tumble with various media. My basic media is corn cob blast media , 14-20, with a bit of auto polish/wax added (not as much as recommended, just enough to leave a very light film). Blast media is much better quality controlled and lasts much longer than pet litter. I also have some hard resin 3/8" pyramid media. I often add some to my cob media when I'm just cleaning a lot of brass as it adds to the "aggressiveness" of the media but doesn't leave a matte finish. I also use this mix for tumbling hand tools, sockets, etc., and the wax film does help prevent rust. When I'm tumbling some crusty/rusty parts I'll often start with all resin media which is pretty aggressive, (but less so than ceramic media.). I got my last batch from HF. Metal is metal and regardless of end use, most of the same cleaning, polishing, forming methods can be used...

https://www.harborfreight.com/catalogse ... ling+media