Polishing beads from carburettor

Cra-z1 wrote:

Speaking of wired shot that is what I use in my blast cabinet. I clean my cases and other parts with it. I love it compared to using glass beads. Is use SS cut and conditioned .016 wire. After years the cut wire is getting to be like the conditioned wire and leaves a nice finish. 

as originally finished.
 

Cra-Z1,  where do you buy the stainless steel shot? Do you have a standard blasting cabinet? Seems the heavier shot would require a more powerful siphon to get it to the nozzle. Shot peening blast machines are quite different.

TexasKZ wrote:

Aliens beamed them in there from their orbiting starship.

Why does it have to be Aliens, could it also be Russia? LOL

SWest wrote:

TexasKZ wrote:

Aliens beamed them in there from their orbiting starship.

Why does it have to be Aliens, could it also be Russia? LOL

I thought everything got blamed on the Chinese currently

Replied by  Wookie58  on topic  Polishing beads from carburettor

  SWest wrote: 

  TexasKZ wrote: 
Aliens beamed them in there from their orbiting starship.

Why does it have to be Aliens, could it also be Russia? LOL

I thought everything got blamed on the Chinese currently 


Maybe they'll run out of patsies and place the blame where it belongs with themselves   

Kev, seems like a Great alternative to those glass beads! No more breaking down dusty mess. Is it extra hard on the gun and nozzle tips? I use ceramic 20GPM nozzles, with modified pick-up tube. Does that sound like Your set-up? 

Cra-z1 wrote:

Speaking of wired shot that is what I use in my blast cabinet. I clean my cases and other parts with it. I love it compared to using glass beads. Is use SS cut and conditioned .016 wire. After years the cut wire is getting to be like the conditioned wire and leaves a nice finish. 

 

Are you using a dry blast cabinet?  We'll have to contact the Tech support crew for our vapor blast cabinet & ask if stainless shot is compatible.

The main problem we have with glass bead is, bead adheres on the surface by electrostatic attraction or something similar.  Even if a workpiece feels clean after plain water rinsing, if a flashlight is shone on it after drying from a mid-distance in dim lighting, the remaining glass bead reflects light quite brightly.  Only way we've been able to remove the otherwise-invisible bead is to follow wet blasting with a strong detergent wash in the utility sink (big items) or in an ultrasonic tank w/detergent solution for small items.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

asphalt900 wrote:

Kev, seems like a Great alternative to those glass beads! No more breaking down dusty mess. Is it extra hard on the gun and nozzle tips? I use ceramic 20GPM nozzles, with modified pick-up tube. Does that sound like Your set-up? 
I wouldn't know, they've been in the carbs from new and appeared when i drained them, alloy cut wire used in the clean up of ally castings.
 

I bought 25 lbs of std cut and 25 lbs of modified cut probably 15 years ago and still have 10 lbs or more of each left as I reuse them over and over by cleaning and drying. I also got the size wrong as its .014 wire.  So I have a std Harbor Frt cabinet which has been modified with products from Tacoma Company.
www.tacomacompany.com .
So my method for cases is blast with std cut if the cases are heavy stained or corroded. Then I change to the conditioned cut and hit them again. Then I wash in hot soapy water with a heavy dose of Dawn and gently scrub with 0000 steel wool to further smooth the surface. Doesn't take much with the steel wool but the more you scrub the closer it gets to that vapor blast finish. it produces a finish that is almost as good as vapor blast but I have saved a few hundred bucks. I must add you should plug all threaded holes or use a bolt in them. I also tape off surfaces that I don't want blasted or have oil passages. I only blast the outside of the cases anyway but you really don't want media items in there. The media is 314 SS so is slightly magnetic..

I don't blast anything that is oily or greasy and those parts get a solvent or ultrasonic bathe first and try not to remove to many painted items. I do blast all of the small painted parts on the Z1 and rattle can those rather than having them powder coated.

The modified cabinet has a bottom catch where the siphon is and the connects to the hose. Another important thing is I ONLY use 50-60psi and have not replaced my std nozzle in ten years but I think it may be getting close. Also wise to run a water separator but not as critical as with glass beads.

I only load maybe 1-2 cups of media In the cabinet which is all you need and is a dry method no water. No dust no fuss other than what comes off the part. 
I use a separator before my vac system and the hose is connected to the back of the cabinet with another vent hole cut into the right side of the cabinet with a guard over it operated on the lowest setting of a speed controller ( a Harbor Frt blast vac item which has worked very well) which catches a small quantity of the heavy cut wire. Since the cut wire is heavy compared to glass beads you suck very little through the system

I use plastic containers to keep the used media in and have one for media that has been mixed over time. After so many years my cut used media is pretty rounded and gives a pretty good finish on its own. This is a cover just done and was very stained
 
here is the media
   

When then media gets a bit dirty with painted parts I clean in a 5 gall bucket with hot water and Dawn several times and rinse in clean water which does a pretty good job in cleaning. Sometimes before using water and Dawn I sift the media in a kitchen strainer into a 5 gallon bucket with a shop vac off to the side which sucks of the dust as the media gets sifted. Place out in the sun or set aside and let it dry. It takes a log time to dry. If you still have a lot of dust in it do it again. You will figure it out. Then you can reuse it. 

It's expensive to begin with. I think I spent $250 for 50 lbs 15 years ago and have no idea what the cost is today but I know I would have spent as much or more on glass beads in those 15 years. And I don't have to deal with the dust from those glass beads. 

I dont know about cleaning carbs with this method but im sure it would be fine but would really plug up all openings and further dial down the pressure and use very old media. maybe I will try it on a old carb body someday. 


 

Thanks for this information. I see it is also used in tumblers which is probably why it was found in the carb. 
pelletsllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/0...-Shot-PelletsLLC.pdf