Dross removal from stainless parts

[metalremarks@yahoo.com]

I have a bunch of small 304 stainless parts that I need to remove the dross from, too small to hold with clamp and grind.Muriatic Acid soaking works great with mild steel but no luck with stainless. Any ideas would be great.

[gary42095]

tumble them in a cement mixer with either sand or other metal scrap pieces. i know it works well for some people
some small stuff i use an angle air die grinder with either a scotchbrite pad, or a mini flap wheel and just hold the part with one hand, depends on the size and how many pieces i guess

[_Ogre]

harbor fright tumbler
http://www.harborfreight.com/18-lb-vibr ... 96923.html

[AnotherDano]

One of my jobs required 350 small parts. Key ring doodads for a bunch of gift baskets.
The thought of grinding down 350 little booties wasn't too appealing.
So, I made a reverse template that would fit a bunch at a time. Think of a piece of rolled-out cookie dough with the cookies all cut out. Drop a bunch of the pieces back into the cutouts and grind a bunch all at once.

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[gamble]

harbor fright tumbler
http://www.harborfreight.com/18-lb-vibr ... 96923.html

Holy crap that's a lot of money from them. I have been wanting to try a tumbler for aluminum and stainless name tags, but not sure i want to drop $169 and probably $50 in media for it to not work out.

[Gamelord]

I got one of those vibrators, it didn't work very well on stainless. I may have not used the right media but I did not have satisfactory results.

[_Ogre]

we picked one up at harbor fright last summer it was $70 on sale with a coupon
it does take for ever and is noisy as heck
we had a bunch of stainless bottle openers to clean up

[gamble]

If I got one I would just set it up to a timer and turn it on when I am leaving the shop and let it run all night.
$70 for which size?

Same media for stainless and aluminum?

[_Ogre]

70 for the big one, every tool at harbor fright is often on sale, never pay full price
as for media we did buy some of their abrasive cubes for use on the stainless
i'd think for aluminum you could use fine sand and cut way back on the time
you can also add water to the tumbler

[gamble]

So the 5lb vs the 18lb. Is that the amount of weight it holds or how do they rate it?
Will the 5lb be enough for small things like my knifes in the other thread that will be up to 6 or 7" long? And which media? I may pick one up on the way home.

[Craig]

Coat the bottom of your sheet with Kiln wash, has worked for me on thin sheet and small parts. Check this post.
Craig Johnson

http://www.plasmaspider.com/viewtopic.p ... ash#p54269