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#1
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Turnbuckle Cleaning
I've got a bunch of old turnbuckles that were apparently removed from planes
eons ago. They're covered with black, cruddy, dirt and grease. What's the best way to clean these up? Ron Wanttaja |
#2
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Turnbuckle Cleaning
Ron Wanttaja wrote: I've got a bunch of old turnbuckles that were apparently removed from planes eons ago. They're covered with black, cruddy, dirt and grease. What's the best way to clean these up? Ron Wanttaja Ron; Try soaking them in mineral spirits (varsol) for a few hours if you need to use them, otherwise leave them as they are. They are probably still coated with the original wax corrosion protective coating. Paulus |
#3
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Turnbuckle Cleaning
I tend to use small or large rotary devices that I can let run for hours or
days if needs be. If the turnbuckles are small, the little "rock polishers" from Harbor Freight are good with whatever abrasive/solventive media you wish in with the parts. If the turnbuckles are large, a **clean** cement mixer withOUT the internal stirring paddles and the holes blocked with botch buttons along with the media work just fine. The abrasive media of choice here for that sort of crap is "playground sand" from Home Depot. It is very fine and clean, but you may wish to research other less invasive media. Pistons and valves come out sparkling clean with this media but you've got to figure out how to get ALL the remaining sand off of the part ... generally a solvent soak followed by an air blast followed by another solvent soak. Jim "Ron Wanttaja" wrote in message ... I've got a bunch of old turnbuckles that were apparently removed from planes eons ago. They're covered with black, cruddy, dirt and grease. What's the best way to clean these up? Ron Wanttaja |
#4
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Turnbuckle Cleaning
"RST Engineering" wrote in message ... :I tend to use small or large rotary devices that I can let run for hours or : days if needs be. If the turnbuckles are small, the little "rock polishers" : from Harbor Freight are good with whatever abrasive/solventive media you : wish in with the parts. : : If the turnbuckles are large, a **clean** cement mixer withOUT the internal : stirring paddles and the holes blocked with botch buttons along with the : media work just fine. : : The abrasive media of choice here for that sort of crap is "playground sand" : from Home Depot. It is very fine and clean, but you may wish to research : other less invasive media. Pistons and valves come out sparkling clean with : this media but you've got to figure out how to get ALL the remaining sand : off of the part ... generally a solvent soak followed by an air blast : followed by another solvent soak. : : : Jim : Corn cob media works real well check out: http://www.shorinternational.com/TumblingMedia.htm |
#5
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Turnbuckle Cleaning
(Original question was about how to clean a thick layer of grease and dirt off
some old turnbuckles with minimum manual effort.) Just as an update to folks...I ran one turnbuckle through the dishwasher. Did well at taking off the surface crud, but it didn't really shine up the metal. Going to try the rock-polisher next. My wife has a small one, with buckshot-sized media for cleaning metal for jewelry work. Think the media is too large, so I might try (unused) kitty litter. Ron Wanttaja |
#6
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Turnbuckle Cleaning
This may not solve everything but it's what I use.
I have an old collander and a rattle can of brake or carb/throttle body cleaner from an auto parts store. I just squirt off the small parts in the collander. Call it a poor mans parts cleaner. It's a pretty agressive solvent so be careful what you use it on. The collander can also be used to soak parts in a can of solvent. For polish, why not use a fiber polishing wheel charged with some brass polish. Comet copper and stainless cleaner from the kitchen also works on some metals. Bill Daniels "Ron Wanttaja" wrote in message ... (Original question was about how to clean a thick layer of grease and dirt off some old turnbuckles with minimum manual effort.) Just as an update to folks...I ran one turnbuckle through the dishwasher. Did well at taking off the surface crud, but it didn't really shine up the metal. Going to try the rock-polisher next. My wife has a small one, with buckshot-sized media for cleaning metal for jewelry work. Think the media is too large, so I might try (unused) kitty litter. Ron Wanttaja |
#7
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Turnbuckle Cleaning
Ron Wanttaja wrote:
Going to try the rock-polisher next. My wife has a small one, with buckshot-sized media for cleaning metal for jewelry work. Think the media is too large, so I might try (unused) kitty litter. Ron Wanttaja Try ground corn cob from the pet store (sold as small animal bedding) in the rock tumbler. Add 1 ounce of automatic transmission fluid and tumble for a couple hours before adding the parts to get it mixed. Tony |
#8
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Turnbuckle Cleaning
"Ron Wanttaja" wrote in message ... I've got a bunch of old turnbuckles that were apparently removed from planes eons ago. They're covered with black, cruddy, dirt and grease. What's the best way to clean these up? How about taking them to a garage that has a parts cleaner, one that has a vibrating action, with a pump circulating a solvent across the parts. A small bribe ought to do it! -- Jim in NC |
#9
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Turnbuckle Cleaning
Thanks a ton to everyone who replied. I've got several turnbuckles, and will
probably try a different approach on each. :-) Ron Wanttaja |
#10
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Turnbuckle Cleaning
In article , Ron Wanttaja says...
Thanks a ton to everyone who replied. I've got several turnbuckles, and will probably try a different approach on each. :-) Ron Wanttaja Hey Ron Since your taking the scientific approach how about letting us know the results? As an ex NASA R & D guy I like the scientific approach :-) See ya Chuck S |
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