(Topic ID: 129590)

Harbor Freights 5 Lb. Metal Vibratory Tumbler Bowl

By PinballFever

8 years ago


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    You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider vid1900.
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    2 weeks later
    #11 8 years ago

    I would never open it indoors, all that dust is toxic metals.

    It's ok to fill it the first time indoors as long as none of your visitors to the house are allergic to nuts.

    #17 8 years ago
    Quoted from PinballFever:

    How do you know when they're "done"? The manual says 1, 2, 4 or so hours, not 24 hours and says to wait an hour to open it after power off.

    It just depends on the harness of the metal, and how bad the finish was when you started.

    Brass is fast, Stainless med, and hard steel usually the slowest.

    Clean all the parts first, so you don't get your media filled with wax, grease and dirt.

    Parts that have much corrosion on them should first get run with the pyramid media

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    Parts with deep pitting might need manual work before going in the tumbler.

    Don't wait an hour, just open it up outside, and make sure the dust does not go into your garden.

    #22 8 years ago
    Quoted from PinballFever:

    Do you save the used media when you use a different media (pyramid for example) or dump it? Clean out the bowl before putting in new media?

    Yep, just put it in a Tupperware kind of thing.

    Quoted from PinballFever:

    Also the manual says not to use an adapter for the three prong outlet and the storage room outlet is two prongs. That's why I was thinking about using the three prong outlet indoors then opening it outside.

    That's fine, just don't get the dust in the house.

    Quoted from PinballFever:

    I'm going to start with the leg bolts and go from there.

    You can probably polish the head of leg bolts quicker by chucking them into a cordless drill and then putting metal polish on a rag or Scotchbright.

    Don't bother polishing common little nuts/bolts/screws.

    Cheaper to just buy new ones from boltdepot.com

    #25 8 years ago
    Quoted from jkleinnd:

    But, I think I will ask if someone can comment on the effectiveness or purpose (if different) of an Ultrasound Cleaner (also at HFT.) Are these duplicative with a tumbler, or do they BOTH have uses for separate purposes? I attended a playfield "shop" clinic at Pin-A-GoGo and only heard mention of the Ultrasonic. Please, any wisdom on these 2 technologies?

    Two different things entirely.

    Tumbler is made to either clean off corrosion, or polish metal.

    Ultrasonic is made to remove grease and coil dust.

    #26 8 years ago
    Quoted from Lovef2k:

    I did make sure the wing nut was tight, so I can't figure out why this happens.

    That happens usually when the little aluminum tube gets lost or worn that normally goes around the threaded shaft.

    Same thing happens with the tumbler from Cabelas, as it appears to be from the exact same China factory as the HF.

    If you lose the tube or it wears down, make a new one slightly longer than the threaded portion.

    #28 8 years ago
    Quoted from PinballFever:

    Maybe I'll wait until someday when I move and get a different house with shed.

    Just run the extension cord outside the door and run it outside.

    If I'm in my shop, I'm not going to listen to all that racket, I put it outside the door.

    #32 8 years ago
    Quoted from stashyboy:

    Why are you guys even wasting your time repairing such crap?!

    Because the HF tumblers just keep running year after year after year....

    When one of mine finally dies in a way I can't fix (I've got both sizes), I know I got my money's worth out of it.

    #33 8 years ago
    Quoted from PinballFever:

    If you're not using it for leg bolts or bolts/screws. What pinball parts do you tumble?

    Corroded brackets (like flippers, slingshot and pop), metal posts, wire rollover switches, wire gates, ramp entrances, Ring Rods (balls really fly from polished rings)......

    1 week later
    #37 8 years ago

    You can buy super highly polished balls for $1.50, so it's probably not worth the effort unless the game takes odd size balls (like a Gottlieb S&S).

    If you are taping drywall in a house, you quickly learn to put your effort into places that matter. Kid's bedroom closet? Quick and dirty. Great Room ceiling? Better be perfect.

    Same with a polishing a pin, you'd rather have great looking ball guides, than the switch plate on the bottom.

    #39 8 years ago

    They are coated to keep them from rusting during storage.

    Clean the coating off (you can even use brake cleaner if you have it), wax 'em up.

    2 years later
    #53 6 years ago

    I run it outside the door of the shop.

    That way I don't hear all that noise, and any toxic dusts blows into the neighbors garden.

    #55 6 years ago

    Ultrasonic is ONLY a cleaner.

    Tumbler removes actual material.

    #56 6 years ago

    So if you want just to clean something, Ultrasonic is perfect.

    If you want to remove corrosion, or polish, Tumbler is perfect.

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