Aussie wheel tech/discussions

[Beware]

Tumbler report....OZ bolts, perfect.....BBS bolts, just ok.

I'm not sure if it was the fact that the OZ bolts are a smoother chrome finish(as opposed to the BBS being a slight textured finish), or maybe they weren't so dirty, but they came up as good as new. The BBS ones, not so much, although they'll only require a very minor polish to bring them up to new.

In the photo I have an "as was" bolt, one that has soaked in vinegar for 24 hours and one that was tumbled for 45 mins. The only thing you need to do is a quick couple of twists with a microfibre cloth to get any dust from the media off the head.

the mini tumblers are freakin amazing, got one for ~$70, add about 40 for media and polishing compound and you're set to do a number of sets of wheels worth of bolts

What media do you use, and what's this polishing compound(link?)....does it go in the tumbler after you've tumbled them in the media or what?

[anth]

Wow, amazing result considering the little amount of effort required, definitely worth the money if it's something you do regularly.

[Beware]

I can't say I'll do it super regularly, but any chrome bolts I'll do it with from now on. I bought new ones for the 17in BBS because I was so damaged from the first clean I did on my 15's, but after getting the tumbler I'd only buy new bolts if I wanted gold etc from now on. For less than a $100 it's paid for itself by not having to buy 1 set of new bolts for the OZ, and having some fresh BBS ones for later, or to sell.

[Oxer]

Wow, amazing result considering the little amount of effort required, definitely worth the money if it's something you do regularly.

go ya halvies in one?

[anth]

For my one set of wheels?

[anthony--t]

Beware what a massive improvement. Definitely going to buy myself one now.

[dylan8]

The one I bought was through a firearms place which they advertise as being for casings. It was $49.95 down from $69.95, plus about $15 for tumbling media and $15 for postage.

Model and name please.
Brrn meaning to buy one but now I could really do with it

[Oxer]

For my one set of wheels?

yeah.

[rom2nv]

What media do you use, and what's this polishing compound(link?)....does it go in the tumbler after you've tumbled them in the media or what?

Corn cob media and a brass polishing agent is what i used, got it from a local gun store

the media gets kind of shitty and less effective after 2 or 3 runs of bolts, you can either throw it away and replace it with new media or just wash it all and reuse it


my results from using a tumber can be found towards the end of the first page of this thread

[Beware]

Just had a look back at page 1....I do remember reading that now, but it slipped my mind. Maybe that's why the BBS bolts didn't come out so nice, still on the same batch of media from doing all the OZ bolts. There weren't really any instructions regarding how long the media is good for, but it seemed to do the job consistently on the 140 OZ bolts.....as for washing it, you mean under a tap in a sieve or what?

I'm using the corn cob too, but no polishing so I might have to try that, although I wouldn't have said it was necessary with the OZ bolts. I'm assuming you run all the bolts through the corn cob, chuck it and fill with the polishing media and then redo them?

Just out of interest, what size tumbler were you using and how many bolts per cycle did you throw in?

Model and name please.
Brrn meaning to buy one but now I could really do with it

I got the Smart Reloader SR737 Nano Tumbler from Western Firearms website. However it doesn't seem to be on there anymore(sold out maybe), but it was there on Friday as I went back there to see if there was any info or instructions on how full you can load it, how long to use it etc etc.

[rom2nv]

Just had a look back at page 1....I do remember reading that now, but it slipped my mind. Maybe that's why the BBS bolts didn't come out so nice, still on the same batch of media from doing all the OZ bolts. There weren't really any instructions regarding how long the media is good for, but it seemed to do the job consistently on the 140 OZ bolts.....as for washing it, you mean under a tap in a sieve or what?

I'm using the corn cob too, but no polishing so I might have to try that, although I wouldn't have said it was necessary with the OZ bolts. I'm assuming you run all the bolts through the corn cob, chuck it and fill with the polishing media and then redo them?

Just out of interest, what size tumbler were you using and how many bolts per cycle did you throw in?



I got the Smart Reloader SR737 Nano Tumbler from Western Firearms website. However it doesn't seem to be on there anymore(sold out maybe), but it was there on Friday as I went back there to see if there was any info or instructions on how full you can load it, how long to use it etc etc.

Yeah from what I read you can wash it with water using a sieve, a lot of the guys on gun forums are fans of reusing their media. I noticed that the media was turning into a darker colour and feeling softer after a couple of runs.

I use the same model tumbler as you i managed to fit about 45 bolts in each run! I mixed about 2 tablespoons of the polishing compound in with the corn cob media for each run of 45 bolts. Most of the bolts I did just needed about 90 mins in the tumbler to come up mint, some were in worse shape so I just put them in with the next batch of bolts and that did the job! Ended up doing the nuts to see how they would come out, but it didn't really achieve much.

Mind you I did leave my bolts in coca-cola for 3 weeks while I waited to source a tumbler.

I've read that leaving the bolts in the tumbler for more than 5-6 hours can actually destroy the threading so to anyone on here, make sure you set an alarm clock or something when you chuck yours in! Don't leave them overnight haha.

[dylan8]

Cheers.

Have seen that about damaging the bolts too. Can depend on what media to what period of time they can stay in there

[Beware]

I did a bit more reading around on these things and the different types of media yesterday. It seems people use the same media for about 10-15 cycles, but they just say to replace it or clean it when it seems like it's no longer doing the job thoroughly, that may be more or less than 10-15 cycles. It also says you need to re-treat the media with a particular solution once you've cleaned it.

I can't see why anyone would need to leave bolts in there for 5-6 hours+, unless they were completely caked in poop, but doing the soak in vinegar or coke before, even just for 12 hours would get a fair amount of the crud off. Most people from what I read say they leave stuff in there for 4 hours some say 6-8 hours, which is obviously ok for certain items, but not bolts! I felt my OZ bolts were done after 30-45 mins, so checking periodically you'll see when they're done. Maybe the BBS bolts need more like a few hours, or new media might cut the time down a bit too.....but I think I'll get some of this polishing stuff that goes in with each cycle....so thanks for that tip!!

[dylan8]

Why potatoes shouldn't be allowed wheels.

Rears are ok...


Fronts not so much

[Beware]

Home job centre bore enlargement?