and when they're cut to length the fuzz is everywhere! I'm thinking of usin g my brass tumbler with walnut shells unless someone's got a better idea. H ere's a link to the problem:
Eric, can you point me to a source for fine abrasive filled nylon brushes? I spend a lot of time cleaning 5/16-24 brass threads. I use .2mm bristle br ass brush wheels and tripoli. It works, but I'm on the lookout for somethin g better.
Does MSC sell to your part of the world? They sell Weiler brand nylon wheel brushes that have a filament diameter that is nominally .018 but can be as small as .010. I have used these brushes and the ends can wear to a point which is what you need to get into the root of a 24 TPI thread. Weiler does make good brushes and with that name may be made much closer to you than me here north of Seattle. Have you considered fine steel brushes? They cut fast and can be too aggressive on soft metals like annealed brass. But a light and quick touch could result in a roughing op. that leaves the surface perfect for a fast tripoli treatment. You could try a jewellry supply company for the brush but they tend to carry ones that are too small. I have had the occasion more than once to polish small brass threaded parts and found that E5 emery on the right buff will cut fast, get to the root of the thread, and leave a finish that is usually already good enough and if not then either tripoli are rouge can be used. For REALLY nice color on brass I like Fabuluster. But that's probably more work than you need to do if you are stopping at the Tripoli stage. BTW, did any of the sprayer suggestions here pan out? Eric
Ed - I use a 4000 rpm, 10 in. "miter" saw with a carbide wood cutting blade as a cut off saw for acetal (non filled delrin equivilent), acrylic, aluminum, copper & brass. A vice is clamped to the saw's table and always used, which may have an effect on the burrs generated. The burrs left on the acetal & acrylic are removed with a stroke or two of sand paper. As this is being written, a piece of machined acetal is sitting on the desk which, I just noticed, hasn't had the burrs from one cut of the cutoff saw removed. The 1/8 in. thickness of the carbide blade may yeild a better cost economy than the thin abrasive wheel.
Hul
SteamboatEd Haas wrote:
On Saturday, November 12, 2016 at 11:25:44 PM UTC+1, snipped-for-privacy@whidbey.com wrot e:
te:
em and when they're cut to length the fuzz is everywhere! I'm thinking of u sing my brass tumbler with walnut shells unless someone's got a better idea . Here's a link to the problem:
s? I spend a lot of time cleaning 5/16-24 brass threads. I use .2mm bristle brass brush wheels and tripoli. It works, but I'm on the lookout for somet hing better.
Eric, I did try a .010 nylon bristle brush from McMaster but it didn't do anythin g. Here is a photo of what I'm doing:
Cool!
P.S: I'm sending that link to the Neutrino Bass Cable to a musician friend. He's a rhythm guitarist but sits in on regular bass guitar on occasion. I think he'll get even more of a kick out of it, as he's retired from the NRL in D.C. Y'know, I'll bet those sound even better than those Oxygen Free Copper cables everyone is (was?) selling.
That's a lot of process work, but brass sure is pretty when it's finely polished like that. I think it's my favorite metal. Your finished product is beautiful. Is that a high-shore rubber sleeve? Or maybe thick PVC?
Y'think? That's 51.6% faster than your ideal. Why didn't you slow down the lathe? Or did that speed work best with the density of the larger diameter brush?
It seems like almost all brush prices have skyrocketed lately. I tend to use bronze brushes (toothbrush size) for cleaning gunk out of threads. They tend to hold up considerably longer than brass. The cheapies bend half their bristles on the first pass, and the good ones have tripled in price over the last decade.
I have no experience with tampico wheel brushes, so I don't have anything to offer there.
I was wondering how you hold those parts while cleaning. I hate getting my fingers in the way of the high-speed bristles for some reason, so I think I'd run weld the ends of a strip of sheetmetal to opposite flats of a 3/8-24 nut, run it through the bandsaw to halve it, clean up the cut threads, and run a piece of hose over the handle to hold the halves together. I could 'clamp' it on the brazed end to clean up the free end, then rotate it through the revolutions to get all the threads cleaned. I first thought of using a long standoff, but that wouldn't hold it for the free end threads.
Just thought I'd share that.
Eric, I did try a .010 nylon bristle brush from McMaster but it didn't do anything. Here is a photo of what I'm doing:
Did you try adding hydrogen peroxide to the acetic acid? Should do a much better job of cleaning. Probably still won't be good enough to replace the Stop Ox II, but maybe on pieces that need extra heat it would help.
----- Regards, Carl Ijames
rote:
n 'em and when they're cut to length the fuzz is everywhere! I'm thinking o f using my brass tumbler with walnut shells unless someone's got a better i dea. Here's a link to the problem:
shes? I spend a lot of time cleaning 5/16-24 brass threads. I use .2mm bris tle brass brush wheels and tripoli. It works, but I'm on the lookout for so mething better.
hing. Here is a photo of what I'm doing:
nimizes waste quite effectively.
bath. Lower right is when something went wrong and I had to torch the part for way too long. Upper left is after using a .008 brass brush with tripol i, and lower left is after finishing with a cloth wheel and fine compound.
ut I simply can't get those wheels anymore. The suppliers will insist that they are brass, but they are all plated steel these days. I have a 10" bras s wheel that I run on the lathe at 1100rpm, which is maybe too fast.
t drop it in the ultrasound bath to clean it. Overall I'm in pretty good sh ape, but I'd still like to find a bristle wheel for the fine polishing stag e. McMaster has Tampico brushes which look good, but I wonder how long they will last, as they aren't exactly cheap.
Larry, I hope your friend wants a cable, cause sales have been dismal. I have no i dea why.
I do realize that I'm running the big brush way faster when looking at surf ace speed. I do need to experiment with this further. The brush should outl ast many dozens of small brushes. I found it surplus.
I don't have an issue with holding the parts. I spend so much of my day hol ding these things to the various abrasive wheels that it is second nature. When I do on rare occasion touch knuckles with the man, I just step back an d remind myself that I need to keep focus. That said, if you looked at my h ands, your first guess at my profession would not be concert pianist. Ironi c, since for most of my life I was an orchestral double bassist.
Oh, I forgot to mention. That black stuff is leather.
He'll probably want two. They're small.
If you're arbored in the lathe, isn't that an easy solution?
What? You played one with each hand? Double prehensile groinage, too, I suppose?
s on 'em and when they're cut to length the fuzz is everywhere! I'm thinkin g of using my brass tumbler with walnut shells unless someone's got a bette r idea. Here's a link to the problem:
brushes? I spend a lot of time cleaning 5/16-24 brass threads. I use .2mm b ristle brass brush wheels and tripoli. It works, but I'm on the lookout for something better.
nything. Here is a photo of what I'm doing:
minimizes waste quite effectively.
und bath. Lower right is when something went wrong and I had to torch the p art for way too long. Upper left is after using a .008 brass brush with tri poli, and lower left is after finishing with a cloth wheel and fine compoun d.
, but I simply can't get those wheels anymore. The suppliers will insist th at they are brass, but they are all plated steel these days. I have a 10" b rass wheel that I run on the lathe at 1100rpm, which is maybe too fast.
just drop it in the ultrasound bath to clean it. Overall I'm in pretty good shape, but I'd still like to find a bristle wheel for the fine polishing s tage. McMaster has Tampico brushes which look good, but I wonder how long t hey will last, as they aren't exactly cheap.
urface speed. I do need to experiment with this further. The brush should o utlast many dozens of small brushes. I found it surplus.
holding these things to the various abrasive wheels that it is second natur e. When I do on rare occasion touch knuckles with the man, I just step back and remind myself that I need to keep focus. That said, if you looked at m y hands, your first guess at my profession would not be concert pianist. Ir onic, since for most of my life I was an orchestral double bassist.
Jawohl, Herr Jaques! I slowed down the lathe to 550 for the 10" wheel, and everything works perfectly now. This wheel should last for years, so I will stop fretting about finding 3" wheels that are real brass. As to my musica l instrument, it is called the Double Bass because it plays an octave lower than written, doubling the cello line in octaves in the classical literatu re. You may know it better by colloquial terms such as "stand up bass", "do ghouse bass", or simply "bass". Playing one in an orchestra is a wonderful way to make a living, but unfortunately, a living is only to be had by thos e who play it wonderfully. I had a good run, but didn't make it to the top rung of the ladder. At least my time is my own now, and I have time play wi th my kids!
Great. Glad I could help. It's amazing the simple things we can overlook, or perhaps, are too lazy/hesitant at the moment to change things.
Yes, I always heard of them in jazz bands as "stand up bass". I love 'em. Music you can really feel in your bones, even if you're not the one playing them.
My friend, Rob, is now retired and in a theater orchestra, playing background for really corny (IMHO) plays. But he's happy, even though they don't pay well.
My time is my own now, too, and I can't believe how busy I am. It seems I have time to do all those little projects I put off for 40 years, and I want 'em all _now_!
Instant Gratification Takes Too Long.
I don't know why I didn't try to match the surface speed when I got the big wheel. I guess 550 just seemed so slow!
I was going to mention that, but you said "everything works perfectly now" so I let it alone. 705rpm is your ideal speed, unless the density of the brush changes that.
, and everything works perfectly now. This wheel should last for years, so I will stop fretting about finding 3" wheels that are real brass.
big wheel. I guess 550 just seemed so slow!
Thanks for the calculation. I did it at one point, but have lost the data. With the belts on my lathe, it is quick to change between 550, 1100, and 22
00, but a bit more involved to get other speeds. Yes, 550rpm works well for initial cleaning with tripoli. I think I will try a Tampico brush for the final finishing, as that is still a bit laborious. I use a super fine compo und that is not rouge, and I use heavy sewing thread to clean it out of the machine threads. Yes, this is a process intensive operation, but my niche market seems to appreciate the effort. I'm still in business, anyway!
It is a simple formula. Pi x diameter in inches x rpm (or 2 Pi r). You said that a 3" brush at 2350rpm was good, so 9.424778 is the circumference and 22148.23ipm the speed. The 10" @ 1100 is 34557.52ipm and @ 550rpm, it's 17248.76ipm. 705rpm brings it to the same as the
3", 22148.23, or 31.76fps. Something itchy in the back of my head says that wire wheels are counted by the bristle rather than sfm. 550 it is, then. What's the density diffenenc between the old 3" and the new 10"? Most 3" wheels I've seen are pretty sparse, and large wheels tend to be much more densely bristled. At 550rpm, you may already have the same number of whiskers whisking per rpm as the 3". I'll bet Tawm knows the actual term for that. And I know from experience that faster and/or denser wheels are harder to get to dig down to clean the root of the thread.Just curious, did you ever try a die to remove the scale? I wonder if that wouldn't clean it enough to simply polish the rest out. Seems quicker, but would it leave a looser fit? Wire brushing can do that, too. Six of one...
eel, and everything works perfectly now. This wheel should last for years, so I will stop fretting about finding 3" wheels that are real brass.
he big wheel. I guess 550 just seemed so slow!
2200, but a bit more involved to get other speeds. Yes, 550rpm works well for initial cleaning with tripoli. I think I will try a Tampico brush for t he final finishing, as that is still a bit laborious. I use a super fine co mpound that is not rouge, and I use heavy sewing thread to clean it out of the machine threads. Yes, this is a process intensive operation, but my nic he market seems to appreciate the effort. I'm still in business, anyway!Larry, Yes, I know enough basic math to calculate surface speed. Calculating brush density is something I hadn't even considered, though. No, a die isn't an option. I want a tight fit, and the die probably wouldn't go fully to the j oint, where the problem is most pronounced. Like I said, 550 rpm works well . The main thing I see is setting up the torch operation so that I can get the solder liquid quickly on each part. I actually carve a 3mm hole in the bar and a matching projection in the stud:
Eric, I did find some better implementation of the nylon brush wheel. It is 4" Di a., with bristle length of about 1.5". I made some 3" discs to close agains t the brush in the mount, allowing only a half inch of active flex. With fi ne polish this brush is now quite useful. Thanks for suggesting it!
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