Nuts & Bolts Cleaning and Plating

[Chris S.]

Questions:
Has anyone used the Eastwood Vibratory Tumblers for cleaning nuts and bolts ?
Works ? Piece of junk ?
Has anyone used the Eastwood Zinc Plater or the Blackening System for nuts and bolts ??
Pro's - Con's - please be specific
Any better systems out there - and where to buy them
Thanks in advance
Time to clean some hardware !!
( I did hear a story from a guy who after cleaning bolts - heats them up cherry red with a torch and them drops them into used motor oil - he showed me the bolts - very impressive - but I dont have that kind of time - and whether it really works ??? )

[Tim E.]

Re: Nuts & Bolts Cleaning and Plating

Chris - I've recently used the Eastwood zinc plating and blackening systems with what I feel are good results from both. I have not had the parts judged yet nor have I put the car on the road to see how the finishes hold up over time.

There's a learning curve associated with both systems. The steps listed and the clock times included in the instructions to the kits should be closely followed but are accurate. Both systems are very tedious and time consuming. My wife and I ended up making a pretty good tag team...cleaning, wire wheeling, blasting, dipping, timing, drying, and polishing. Have your kitchen timer (or 2) close by! We spent most of a weekend doing 10 bags of chassis fasteners.

What I found was that parts cleanliness is the critical item. The only way I could get parts clean enough was to wire wheel them, bead blast them, bead blast them again, and immediately apply the finish. Don't touch the part in between or you'll get blotches especially in the blackening. The part of the zinc plating system I found odd was the need to polish the part afterwards (with a polish included in the kit). Apply the cream polish and then use 3 towels to progressively clean and polish the part.

Like topcoat painting, the finish is only as good as the preparation and the underlying surface. A bolt that has rust pits will still have the pits when the finish has been applied.

[Terry M.]

Re: Nuts & Bolts Cleaning and Plating

Chris,
I have used the heat and dip method. It really doesn't take long, but there is almost nothing in restoration that can be rushed without ultimately spending more time to get it right.
One caution: NEVER use the heat and dip method for critical fasteners. Even grade 5 fasteners (three lines marked on the head) can be weakened by this process, and don't even think about using grade 8 (six lines on the head) fasteners this way. While this process can harden some fasteners, it can also weaken them. Without precise knowledge of the chemistry of the fastener and precise control of the heating process one doesn't know what the strength of the fastener will be after this process. For many fasteners and other pieces (Holley fuel inlet nuts for example) strength is not an issue, and this process is easy because most of us have the materials at hand.

[Chuck R.]

Re: Terry's right on

After heating any object cherry red and the QUENCHING in oil the tinsel strenth is gone!

This method is great for tempering, but the draw back is a brittle low tinsel strength component.

A bolt is strongest the first time around and that's it.

I purchased a bottle of "Parkerizing" material that I have yet to try.

It involves a mixture of liquid parkerizing agent to water then control heated (hot plate) for a period of time.

Others on the board mentioned this so I thought that I would give it a try.

Chuck

[John H.]

Re: Terry's right on

Heating to cherry red (1800 deg.) and oil-quenching is the first step in leaf spring manufacture (which, as stated, nullifies any prior heat-treating), but must be followed by a 20-minute soak at 1000 deg. in a draw furnace to anneal the part, plus shot-peening and Brinell verification.

I wouldn't want to be anywhere near a car whose critical fasteners had simply been heated to cherry-red and oil quenched (unless it was parked).

[Chris S.]

Re: Nuts & Bolts Cleaning and Plating

Thanks everyone
Chuck - what is your source for the "Parkintson" material.
Anyone on the Vibrator tumbler - work ?

[Mike M.]

Check out Caswell

Chris I've had good luck with caswells plating sytem for cad and phosphate look.
Mike

http://www.caswellplating.com/

[Michael M.]

Re: Nuts & Bolts Cleaning and Plating

I've used all 3 - others have responed about the cad plating and blackening so I won't go there.

I've used the vibrating tumbler a couple of times. You throw your nuts and bolts and small brackets in witht the deburring media, come back 24 hrs later, and they'll look very much like wire wheel jobs. No better/no worse. Course you didn't spend hours in fact of a wire brush. Personally, I found bead blasting to be the fastest with the best results.

Also, rather than using the Eastwood blackening system, I've lately been using a "tool blackening" system from a company called Precision Industries. Seems to get my nuts and bolts a little darker for me.

[Dick W.]

Re: Nuts & Bolts Cleaning and Plating

As a step in the cleaning process, I have used phosporic acid to remove rust. You can find in a automotive paint supply store. The metal is very clean after using this. I always cleaned my fasteners even if they were going out to a commercial plater.

[Terry F.]

Re: Nuts & Bolts Cleaning and Plating

I believe it is called hydrogen embrittlement (I not sure on that spelling). Terry