I have a bucket of bolts that need to be cleaned up and was trying to determine best method. Friend has a table mount wire wheel/grinder that seems to work well, but my school has a small parts sandblaster that is much faster.

My friend was concerned that I would wear the threads down to the point of complications (wheel studs inparticular). Do I really have to worry about that?

It's not like I'm blasting them for and hour at a time, just enough to get the years of grime and rust off. I will try to test one to see, thought I'd look for opinions on here though too.

Thanks.

 

Toss all of them into a bucket of appropriately diluted simple green (or oxy clean) and leave them over night. You'll have clean bolts in the morning.

A couple of years ago I took a large stainless steel pot, and found a stainless steel collander that fits inside. I drilled a hole in the center of the collander and installed a threaded rod, giving me a handle. I fill the collander with bolts, washers, small brackets, stuff like that, then put the collander into the staineless steel pot, which is full of simple green.

On the bottom of the stainless pot I installed a kitchen sink drink, which feeds a pipe that goes to a large metal container underneath, which is where the simple green in stored. In that container is a cast iron sump pump, and a heating element from an electric hot water heater. I flip two switches (one for heater, one for pump), and the water/simple green gets hot and circulates to the top of the large stainless pot and I can accelerate the cleaning process to about an hour.

The stainless pot is large enough that I can just fit a 460 cylinder head - it's that deep. That's how I clean heads too. Beats a toothbrush or a wire wheel.

It's my nearly free "parts washer". But a bucket full of simple green (or oxy clean) works very well too.

 

you can sandblast the threads with no worry.

 

I have also sandblasted bolts before with no problem.

 

I use an empty plastic hand cleaner tub like you use in a wall mounted dispenser. First cut a hole in the snap lock lid about 1 1/2" in diameter. Then drill many small holes (1/8") in the body and bottom of the tub. Space them about 1" apart. Put a handful of dry bolts in the tub, replace the lid, insert the blast nozzle into the lid opening and commence blasting. As your blasting shake and rotate the tub. After you do it a few times you'll develope a rhythm. It doesn't take but about a minute and you will have clean bolts. By using the plastic tub with small holes in it you can do nuts as small as 6-32. After you have cleaned them you can dip them in clear laquer thinner cut way down. It will seal them and keep them from rusting. I don't think it makes a difference but I use glass beads and I have a cabinet which makes it very easy.

 

Thats a pretty neat idea there darkman. I blasted a few at school, will check this weekend when I get a chance to make sure the nuts work alright. I kinda liked the shiny look of when I wire wheeled some of them, but love the thought of getting all the crap off them with blasting.

 

Did you mean to say dipped in clear lacquer cutdown with lacquer thinner? Or how do you cut down the lacquer thinner? Thanks, I've been have issues with some parts rusting after cleaning.

 

"After you have cleaned them you can dip them in clear laquer thinner cut way down"

That cut way down is a Southern thang and it doesn't require any saws or blades. Best I recall it was equal mix of clear laquer and laquer thinner OR you can simply spead em and use clear rattle can but you'll have to flip and recoat.

 

Hey thanks, I'm suthern too, though not quite as far down as Pensacola.

 

After dipping spead them so they dry and don't stick together. Waxy cardborad seemed to offer the least resistance to sticking.

 

That has to be one of the best "Shade Tree" inovations I have read in awhile! Thanks for the directions to a "do it" your self steam cleaner! Add in a blower of some sort to dry the parts and vola'! Call the Patent Office big guy you may be on to somethin! ;-)