I rebuild MGB steering columns as a sideline. These columns use alloy spacers where the column bolts to the dash. These spacers are usually a pain to clean up to reuse. I've tried tumbling them with green pyramid media without satisfactory results. On a lark, I replaced the plastic media with a box of 5/16" zinc coated steel nuts, and low and behold, the nuts worked better than any media I have tried in the past. Aluminum comes out shiny and clean, kind of burnished in a couple of hours in my small HF vibratory tumbler.

On 15/11/14 21:14, Gerry wrote:
I rebuild MGB steering columns as a sideline. These columns use alloy spacers where the column bolts to the dash. These spacers are usually a pain to clean up to reuse. I've tried tumbling them with green pyramid media without satisfactory results. On a lark, I replaced the plastic media with a box of 5/16" zinc coated steel nuts, and low and behold, the nuts worked better than any media I have tried in the past. Aluminum comes out shiny and clean, kind of burnished in a couple of hours in my small HF vibratory tumbler.
Have you tried burnishing media for this application. I have some which
is steel and consists of various sized shot, the larger of which appear
may be ball bearing preforms. I haven't tried it on aluminium but it
did give a very good result on some brass parts. What about bead
blasting as that can clean aluminium up nicely.

On Saturday, November 15, 2014 3:14:49 PM UTC-6, Gerry wrote:
I rebuild MGB steering columns as a sideline. These columns use alloy spacers where the column bolts to the dash. These spacers are usually a pain to clean up to reuse. I've tried tumbling them with green pyramid media without satisfactory results. On a lark, I replaced the plastic media with a box of 5/16" zinc coated steel nuts, and low and behold, the nuts worked better than any media I have tried in the past. Aluminum comes out shiny and clean, kind of burnished in a couple of hours in my small HF vibratory tumbler.

On Sat, 15 Nov 2014 15:18:37 -0800 (PST), Gerry
wrote:

On Saturday, November 15, 2014 3:14:49 PM UTC-6, Gerry wrote:
I rebuild MGB steering columns as a sideline. These columns use alloy spacers where the column bolts to the dash. These spacers are usually a pain to clean up to reuse. I've tried tumbling them with green pyramid media without satisfactory results. On a lark, I replaced the plastic media with a box of 5/16" zinc coated steel nuts, and low and behold, the nuts worked better than any media I have tried in the past. Aluminum comes out shiny and clean, kind of burnished in a couple of hours in my small HF vibratory tumbler.

In the past I would have bead blasted the parts but at this point I no longer have an air comp to feed my blast cabinet. Being retired I try to get along with what I can do on the cheap and the nuts opened my eyes to another possible solution. Maybe not the best but it was an improvement over what I had been using to clean up rusty hardware, the green triangles

It's damned creative, in any case.

--
Ed Huntress

On 11/15/2014 4:14 PM, Gerry wrote:
I rebuild MGB steering columns as a sideline. These columns use alloy spacers where the column bolts to the dash. These spacers are usually a pain to clean up to reuse. I've tried tumbling them with green pyramid media without satisfactory results. On a lark, I replaced the plastic media with a box of 5/16" zinc coated steel nuts, and low and behold, the nuts worked better than any media I have tried in the past. Aluminum comes out shiny and clean, kind of burnished in a couple of hours in my small HF vibratory tumbler.


Clever!

I'm grappling with the volume of media needed. Did you use enough nuts
to bury the spacers, as is the case with "normal" media, or just enough
to mix in with the spacers, or were the nuts added to the other media?

Bob

Used about a pound of nuts in my HF 5# tumbler. No other media. Had about a double handful of aluminum parts so I'd say volume wise the mix was about equal. I'm wondering now what difference Grade 8 nuts would make as media for rusted steel bolts