Morning, Mates, I have been wondering if a regular vibrating machine that's made to clean ammunition brass shell cases would also work for this purpose? I have a huge one that would accommodate several fonts, and many burners, all at the same time. I was wondering if this case cleaner would work for stoves and parts, if I removed the ground walnut hull medium, and added liquid? Gerry, Lance, Rune, HTG, any other shooters/reloaders out there? What do you think? My cleaner is from Dillon, and it's a big one. Hummm.... May have to give this a try. I've also thought about just afixing a smaller tub to the top of the Dillon unit and filling it with vinegar/dish soap, and seeing if that would work for smaller parts. What do you say, shooters? Do you think this would work? Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc Mark P.S. I've never tried it, but I'd bet the regular walnut hull medium would clean the heck out of stove fonts, too, and polish them at the same time!! Hummmm????
Doc, I had been thinking the same thing, mostly what a nice finish could be obtained with the regular medium in a cleaner/polisher, wow. For the inside cleaning of parts I was thinking that maybe a heavy dose of cheap baking soda would be ideal, like they do for some dental cleaning, umm. This may be one great idea we have stumbled on to here. Ok Doc, check it out and report back to us, no need for all of us to work out the details. Regards, Ed
WHADAYAWAITINFOR ? You could be a division 'A' stove cleaner if this works, right up there with the greats. Get to it, presto.
Your memory's going, Mark! Not only was this subject raised here,but you took part in the discussion.
Hey, Brother Ian, That's not too surprizing, actually. Sweet Bride had to embroider my name on my pajamas, so that I could remember who I am when I wake up each morning!! You are absolutely right, in that we've been down this road before, and that I was walking along the road when we did so!! Oh, well......... Maybe it will help you understand, when I tell you that I have projects, the parts for which I've carried around for more than 10-20 years, which I have never had time to finish!!!! I'm mainly talking about some huge Hi-Fi speaker cabinets which I designed many years ago, and the parts for which, I sought out for many years after that. I finally have all the parts necessary to make what I consider to be a fantastic set of loudspeakers, but I have yet to put blade to wood in an effort to make that happen!!!! Today, will take life and limb in hand, and venture down into the Hobbit Hole, in search of my Dillon case tumbler. Then, I will take the early SVEA 123 that I found, and just as I found it, place the parts in the case tumbler. I'll take photos of "before and after". Though it's not a good time for this to take place, it's far too late in finally happening, as you've proved!!! Now, who are you, once again? And, while you're at it, who am I???!!!!!! 8) 8) Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc Mark (He of the short memory............ What did you say??????)
Hey, Ian, And me being an English major in college, to boot.....! The worst of it is, that at my age, other things have gone, too. Rather like playing billiards with a rope, it is!!! Later, Commander!! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc Mark ("limping" along........)
Morning, Lads, and Happy Sunday to you all!!! The bruises that Ian inflicted, and rightly so, have almost healed, and I'm now ready to venture down this dark and dirty path, once more!! With Ian's stinging detective work still firmly in mind, after our last discussion on this, I actually DID go down into the Hobbit Hole, as promised, found my Dillon cartridge case cleaner, and retrieved it for our experiment!! Will the wonders never cease??!! So, here are my findings, with photos to support my experiment. First, I took a photo of my Dillon case vibrator, with the dirty stoves on top. The Dirty Candidates are a tank from an Optimus 00 that I found on our last trip, and an early SVEA 123, which I also lucked into on that same trip. Here's a closer shot of these two crusty and corroded stoves. And, another.... After two hours in the machine, here's how the parts appeared: shiny, but not that much cleaner. So, I decided to give them some scrubbing with the Comet Bathroom cleaner (citric acid) spray that I usually use for cleaning up my stoves. Here's how they came out. Nice and much cleaner, but still not as shiny, nor as clean as I'd hoped. So, with a some fresh jeweler's rouge polish add to the ground walnut hull medium, back into the big Dillon went the parts!! And, after two hours of vibrating, here's the result: HEY, now that's much more like it!! Here's a closer shot of that early SVEA, which looks pretty darned nice, to me!!! What a sweet little stove!! My conclusion? From now on, I'll be using the Dillon to do the final polishing of my stoves and parts, AFTER I've given them a good scrubbing with the citric acid spray. I'm very happy with the results, and would rather let my big Dillon vibrator do the two hours of work, than have to sit and polish them myself. Plus, the brass is much more nicely finished than when I try to hand polish it! So, there you have it, Lads. Do with it what you will!!! 8) 8) Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc Mark
Jeweler's rouge , huh. Ya know, I tried my vibrator tumbler, didn't work very well. Guess It needs a recharge I've used the medium for several years, Probably worn out... Another thing to buy
Nice one DOC!!!! Don't be alarmed if you find a box of stoves arrive from OZ that need doing over. Barra
Hey, Bruce, Send 'em to Baja. He's got a lot of time on his hands, while he's watching for satellites!!!! Idle hands are the devil's workshop, ya' know!! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc Mark P.S. Baja, yeah, it's past time for you to recharge the polishing medium in your tumbler. I forget, are you using ground walnut hulls, like me, or ground corn cobs? I've always used the walnut hulls, and they last forever. All you have to do is add 3-4 capsful of the rouge, which Dillon sells, and VOILA, your medium is back to it's old polishing self, once again! Talk about longevity!! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc Mark
See Doc what you did to me i just had to get its a 5 lb one i think in town i can get them walnut shells for as the rouge well one thing at a time also i got one of those enders coming
Bruce, send em ! I can always use the parts Doc, I think it's walnut shells. I think the thing came with corn-cob and I switched, I think... I ordered some more Jewelers rouge today. I had totally forgotten that you have to 're-charge' every so often. I find myself doing that more often Daisey, D a i s e y, G i v e m e Y o u r a n s w e r t r u e .......... Open the Pod bay door, HAL.... HAL?
Evening, Robert and Baja, Hey, Robert, looks like you scored a nice one, and at a good price, too!! Just remember to make sure and get that rouge/polish in the medium, or it won't work as well. Mine is quite large, and big enough for 1,000 .41 maggie cartridge cases!! I had the SVEA and the 00 in there at the same time, and there was room for a few more things! Have fun with yours, and enjoy the polish you get. Make sure to use the citric first, though, or you may be less satisfied with the results, as my photos should show. Baja, you just cracked me up with your "H.A.L." routine!!! I LOVED that part of the movie, and you brought it all back home in one fell swoop!!! Funny, funny, stuff, Kid!!! Take care, and Guys, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc Mark
Doc that shower spay / Citric acid. Has it got anything else in it. Thinking of trying Ca instead of the amonia breath taking away stuff we use now to clean the shower out. Barra
Hey, Bruce, Well, I don't know, for sure. The stuff I use is called, "Comet Bathroom Cleaner", and it's sold in a 17oz/502ml spray bottle. I buy a larger bottle of refill size, and just keep topping up the spray bottle, as needed. The active ingredient is listed as: "citric acid", 6%, while the rest is simply called, "other ingredients", 94%. My guess is that the "other ingredients" are "water", mostly!! 8) But, if you can buy citric acid powder, you can make your own solution, and just use any old plastic spray bottle you have on hand. I usually spray the stuff on the parts I wish to clean, then let them set for up to half an hour. Then, I rinse the parts in running water, and use a very, very old scrubby to remove the worst of the dirt and corrosion. Then, I soak the parts again, and do it all over again. When I'm finally satisfied with the cleaning job, then I polish the brass. Up to now, I've used Brasso. But, after my experimental success using my cartridge cleaner, I do believe my days of using Brasso my well be over. The polish that I get using the vibrating cleaning is quite a bit nicer than the one I usually get with Brasso, and it's so easy: put in the parts, turn on the machine, and go about your business for two hours. What could be easier than that??!!! 8) Hope that helps. Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc Mark P.S. Soaking the brass parts in vinegar is also a good way to start the cleaning, before using the citric acid spray. For really corroded stuff, I'll probably stick with the three part plan: vinegar soak and scrub, then citric acid soak and scrub, then vibrating polish to finish it up!!
Thinking of more of the bathroom mould and stuff in the shower. Get that in the tropics.All sorts of mould.Black/ brown /green/ long /short/ furry.... The citric acid bath and GSR works good for me plus the auto sol and plenty of elbow grease. the slow and painfull way. No doubt I will need a fully automated workshop if this here collecting thing gets out of hand and end up with more than I can count!!! Still with in all fingers and toes for clasic type and in the tin muck about the same. Sticking to the basics if I ever understand them all properly 8) Barra ecentric shaft driven by a motor on a stand with a bucket of something!!!! maybe I could just put a lid on a bucket and shake vigourously for a while. Good cardiovascular execise. Think or the arms I would end up with!!!
Doc, Now that I'm back at home and can view the photos on my Apple Ibook screen, and not the cra%%y monitor we have in the office, I can appreciate the success of this 'experiment'. My comment ? 8) WOW, turn it down Doc, so shiny it hurts my eyes ! Nice work. Right up there with Shagratork, Kerophile and the rest of the 'Brass Shine Boys'. How does this gizmo work. Are the stove / parts inside, tumbling about like clothes in a washing machine, or are they held in place somehow. Any risk of putting dents into stove tanks ? Just another 360 plus more stoves to go Doc, eh ?
Hey, Spudz, Thanks! It was fun finally dragging that old case cleaner out and giving it a go! The entire thing consists of a giant bowl, which has a solid center post, through which a large bolt connects it to the motor underneath the bowl. The case is completely filled with ground up walnut hulls, saturated in the jeweler's rouge/polish. You put the parts in, by sifting them down, and imbedding them into the medium, until you can't see them anymore. Crank down the lid, really tight, and turn on the motor. It then vibrates like there's not tomorrow, causing the medium to sift in, around, and through all the things you have inside. The parts sort of float around in the sifting medium, in a slow-motion kind of dance, and they can touch each other. But, remember that this stuff is sifting, top to bottom, and not rotating around. Everything moves very, very slowly. So, there is no damage, that I can see. I've cleaned thousands of brass cartridge cases with this thing, over the years, and have never seen a dented one, that didn't go into the machine already dented. The dents that you see in the stoves I cleaned, were already in them when I put them into the machine. Hope that answers your questions, Spudz. I will clean up a few of my very special favorite stoves. But, most of mine will probably just stay as they are. I don't want ALL of mine to be so clean and shiny, do I???!!! 8) By the way, this particular model of cartridge cleaner is the largest one that was on the market at the time that I bought it. Smaller ones would work, too, but it might be harder to fit entire stoves into them. Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc Mark
