Parts tumbler lubricant?

F14 · Apr 13, 2020

I have one of those Harbor Freight parts tumblers and I have been wondering what kind of lubricant I can use for parts. One guy I know that runs a machine shop said that he used water and a little bit of Simple Green. I tried that and it stopped burning up my aluminum parts which were great, but it is also amazing at making steel parts rust overnight.

I was thinking of putting something like 3-in-1 oil in the tub and forgetting the water.

DDoug · Apr 13, 2020

F14 said:
I have one of those Harbor Freight parts tumblers and I have been wondering what kind of lubricant I can use for parts. One guy I know that runs a machine shop said that he used water and a little bit of Simple Green. I tried that and it stopped burning up my aluminum parts which were great, but it is also amazing at making steel parts rust overnight.

I was thinking of putting something like 3-in-1 oil in the tub and forgetting the water.

Ask the people at Harbor Freight...they should know best eh ?

Red James · Apr 13, 2020

Oil will stop the rust, but will also make the deburring effect go away.

The people who sell tumblers on a professional level will have 'Rust Inhibitor' available to add to your soap mixture.

F14 · Apr 13, 2020

digger doug said:
Ask the people at Harbor Freight...they should know best eh ?

I think you know the answer to that question, eh?

F14 · Apr 13, 2020

Red James said:
Oil will stop the rust, but will also make the deburring effect go away.

The people who sell tumblers on a professional level will have 'Rust Inhibitor' available to add to your soap mixture.

As much as I would love to go to those guys for assistance, I am not sure it would be good to do that. I went out and got the HF unit because thats all I could afford. It was either I get that, or I get out my hand files and manually debur the parts.

deltap · Apr 13, 2020

Plating shop I worked at used caustic soda. Parts were steel stampings that were oil coated from that operation. After tumbling they were rinsed with water and sent to plating line. Definetly a no no if aluminum.

F14 · Apr 13, 2020

deltap said:
Plating shop I worked at used caustic soda. Parts were steel stampings that were oil coated from that operation. After tumbling they were rinsed with water and sent to plating line. Definetly a no no if aluminum.

Interesting. I wonder if the general practice to parts tumbling is to actually not do it until it's known that a post-plating process or black oxide treatment will be done ASAP so the parts don't have a chance to sit for very long. You had mentioned that they were sent to plating as soon as they were rinsed with water.

L Vanice · Apr 13, 2020

When I was tumbling small steel parts, I used water with liquid dish detergent. The vibrating bowl-type tumbler had a drain and I rigged a bucket on a high shelf with a hose and adjustable pinch valve to keep a constant slow feed of water to the tumbler. The parts then went to the customer, who did his own black oxide treatment. It sure beat the belt sander and file operation I first used.

Larry

DDoug · Apr 13, 2020

F14 said:
As much as I would love to go to those guys for assistance, I am not sure it would be good to do that. I went out and got the HF unit because thats all I could afford. It was either I get that, or I get out my hand files and manually debur the parts.

You question is also being discussed presently about 2 threads down.

as it has been discussed in the past several time.

Don't be lazy, search the archives.

DavidScott · Apr 13, 2020

Dishwashing liquid works as well as anything for a tumbling soap and a rinse in fresh coolant works for a rust inhibitor.

FredC · Apr 13, 2020

A light oil like kerosene can make the deburring action faster. I do almost all the tumbling outside because of the noise. We do have a tumbler in the out building for use with steel parts and also stainless tubing where the fast cutting action of kerosene is needed. If you do use kerosene keep you stones separate, if used with a water based compound in the future it will make a mess.

F14 · Apr 13, 2020

digger doug said:
You question is also being discussed presently about 2 threads down.

as it has been discussed in the past several time.

Don't be lazy, search the archives.

Thanks for the tip. I'll remember to file it away.

metalmagpie · Apr 13, 2020

I use water and some shavings from a Castile soap bar. And I don't let steel stuff sit around in there when it's done. Stop the tumbler, remove the parts.
Mine generally get tumbled in a little oil after that. (Yes, I wipe the machine out between.)

Of course, my tumbler canister is a simple 5 gallon bucket and my tumbler itself is about 8 pounds of steel I cobbled up to rotate the bucket. The bucket's axis isn't vertical. It's off vertical by at least 30 degrees.

carlherrnstein · Apr 13, 2020

Tri cool works nice.
I would think any water based coolant would do.

Side note I worked at a place that ran straight water on everything in a burr bench and used the same media on everything and wondered why 416ss parts were rusting on the drying rack.

Some men just can't be reached.

rickseeman · Apr 14, 2020

F14 said:
I have one of those Harbor Freight parts tumblers and I have been wondering what kind of lubricant I can use for parts. One guy I know that runs a machine shop said that he used water and a little bit of Simple Green. I tried that and it stopped burning up my aluminum parts which were great, but it is also amazing at making steel parts rust overnight.

I was thinking of putting something like 3-in-1 oil in the tub and forgetting the water.

You are in Ohio. This is near the center of the Universe of tumbling/vibratory finishing. There is no such thing as a "lubricant" in mass finishing. All you need is a simple vibratory finishing "compound". The job of the compound is to keep the media and parts clean and to provide some rust inhibiting for steel parts. You mix this compound 1 ounce per gallon of water. Then you meter 1 gallon per cubic foot per hour into the machine. (Your machine is probably 1/2 a cubic foot.) That's all there is to it. (If you were trying to get your parts "shiny" I would give you a different answer.)

Rick

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