Does anyone know of a place in NJ that does vibratory tumbling for manifolds like in this video? Thanks,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27A-iYhOIcQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27A-iYhOIcQ
Looking for a place in NJ that does vibratory tumbling
- Thread starter Tim Ayers
- Start date
V8COOPMAN
Well-known member
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WOW! I can't help ya Tim with a suggestion, but THAT is how you clean-up a chunk of cast aluminum. These older manifolds, and even the '50s and '60s GM-type manifolds and other aluminum castings had a natural, semi-gloss finish.... a 'patina' if you will....that is absolutely ruined if you bead blast those pieces. This final result via that ceramic tumbling process is something I have never seen before, but it certainly seems to leave the pieces with a wonderful, almost 'as-new' finish. And the price is right! DD
WOW! I can't help ya Tim with a suggestion, but THAT is how you clean-up a chunk of cast aluminum. These older manifolds, and even the '50s and '60s GM-type manifolds and other aluminum castings had a natural, semi-gloss finish.... a 'patina' if you will....that is absolutely ruined if you bead blast those pieces. This final result via that ceramic tumbling process is something I have never seen before, but it certainly seems to leave the pieces with a wonderful, almost 'as-new' finish. And the price is right! DD
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Agreed. I'd like to find local shop before shipping it since shipping will add another $60 (approx. $30 each way) to the overall cost.
Also agree about blasting. Just about almost ruins them in my opinion.
Thanks, Pat.
KiWinUS
Well-known member
Tim look hard. As good as that video looks there are better media’s that will give a shinyer finish. I have done a bunch including some v8/60 heads. Some turn out better than others. Plug all threaded or small holes. Some media’s are difficult to get out.
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Yoyodyne
Well-known member
Precision finishing is in Quakertown PA, that's not too terribly far from NJ. I buy my supplies from them, they handle just about every type of media and process, plus they do job shop finishing, so they should be able to tell you the name of a shop near you that uses their products.
https://www.precisionfinishinginc.com/
https://www.precisionfinishinginc.com/
They do look good, Tony. What did you use?
Thank you!
tomcarman
Well-known member
Out of curiousity I looked up a few similar machines from industrial supply companies. These are for the bigboys. One would have about 4 to 5K into it before it was even powered up. That $60 in shipping sounds a little bit better if you can't find one close. Wonder if someone smart could build one? Coil springs, a steel box, media and a way to power it with an electric motor that will cause vibration somehow. Mechanical engineering above my head but there are many smart people here that might know. Just a thought....
Pete
BANNED
Ever since before the war, vibratory tumblers have been used to clean small parts. The media used is determined by what is being cleaned. Probably the most common use is cleaning cartridge cases for reloading. I once modified a case cleaner by attaching a much larger box to clean some 2 ft. long special bolts. It could be done to clean manifolds.
On similar note, we used to use a paint shaker to open up the interior of intake manifolds by filling them with steel shot, put appropriate block off plates on and shake away. They had to bolted to the shaker very well. It takes a good stout shaker that can produce around 80 G's to make good time.
On similar note, we used to use a paint shaker to open up the interior of intake manifolds by filling them with steel shot, put appropriate block off plates on and shake away. They had to bolted to the shaker very well. It takes a good stout shaker that can produce around 80 G's to make good time.
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tomcarman
Well-known member
Interesting use of equipment. Dad had a vibratory shaker that he used to clean brass rifle shells. I remember it was very loud and it took a lengthy time to polish the shells. It was smaller that a coffee can and the media was more like a powderish sand. I suppose if one could figure out how to power a home built unit it would fit the needs of a hobbyist.
You could look into Maker Workshops, there may be one in your area and some have a pretty decent machine shop. They might have a vibratory finisher. There are different shapes of ceramic media, cylindrical cut on a bias, triangular, and some applications even use metal media. For the tight corners on a manifold I’d probably want cylindrical, bias cut and maybe about 5/16” or so diameter.
Depending on how aggressive a machine is they can be pretty noisy, the one I’m familiar with was used to de-burr sintered metal parts, was about 4 feet in diameter and had a heavy acoustic blanket on it to dampen the sound.
Depending on how aggressive a machine is they can be pretty noisy, the one I’m familiar with was used to de-burr sintered metal parts, was about 4 feet in diameter and had a heavy acoustic blanket on it to dampen the sound.
KiWinUS
Well-known member
Tim we have 3 tumblers 2 with abrasive media & 1 with polishing media. The polishing media is used from our REM polisher. The abrasive is as listed on box. Ours use a water based lube that is constant loss. Pics are white - abrasive. Multi colored- polishing. Our abrasive is about same finish as in video. We do not put any greasy or nasty dirty parts in our tumblers. ( I am not supposed to be using for my government projects). I added can you give an idea of media size.
