I need to do as the subject heading says but can't find an appropriate tool. I used to have a small (about 1" dia) conical grinding thing to go in a drill chuck, and another such would do the job, but there aren't any in the Screwfix catalogue and I don't know what to call them for a Google search. Does anyone know?
But there may be a better tool that I don't know about, one that wouldn't be so depth-limited, so any suggestions gratefully received.
A small wire brush on a pipe rod would allow the full rube to be cleaned. Have a look through the eBay listing for pipe cleaning apparatus and you should get a few good hits.
You might be able to find a drain cleaning spring with an abrasive attachment also, with a web search.
Flexible driveshaft like this from ebay
the is then a huge range and size of Dremel type wire brush/grinding wheels from the same source.
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Electrolytic de-rusting? Put a rod down the middle as the anode and make the tube the cathode. If you need a long thin bath make it out of a length of drain pipe.
a savage device for busting deposits in fire tubes.
But I think you might want a carborundum flap
Grind stones for die grinder. A ball shaped one would also presumably do, and wear better.
The one option not yet mentioned is sandblasting.
NT
You don't say what length the tubes are but what you probably want is a device that garages and engine rebuilders use for cleaning up the bores of engine blocks . It's a steel rod with a flap wheel device at the end ....fit it in a drill and stick it in the tube and off you go. It looks something like this
Finally someone asks the right question :-)
2" long easy, 20' long different story.The message from "The Medway Handyman" contains these words:
No longer than 12", but the diameter may present more difficulty: 1" -
2" OD, so I think the flapwheels are out. Either the flexible shaft/Dremel or die grinder bits (once I've found out what a die grinder is) sound most feasible but I'm really intrigued by the electrolytic idea. What woud be used as the electrolyte and what sort of voltages?Thanks to all for the replies.
========================================== Depending on the degree of rusting and the length of the tubes a suitably sized length of wooden dowel wrapped with emery cloth might be satisfactory. Rotate in one direction to avoid unwrapping the emery cloth.
Cic.
You need what I use for polishing the ports in cylinder heads after the bulk of the metal has been removed with burrs. A split stick with emery cloth wrapped round it. My equipment has 6mm collets so I use a length of 6mm mild steel or silver steel with a hacksaw slot about 3/4" deep in one end. Tuck the end of the emery cloth in the slot and then wrap round to the diameter you want and tear off. If you're using a drill then you could go bigger on the rod which would also mean you can make it longer without risking it bending under load. 6mm rod is ok up to about 6" long so 1/2" bar would be ok at 12". You want 80 grit cloth as a minimum or even coarser depending on how good a finish you need and how fast you want to get the rust out.
The advantage over flapwheels is you can create any diameter you need although flapwheels remove material faster.
12VDC tends to be used as it is convenient - with a narrow item and short distance between electrodes a lower voltage will work. You want a current of about 1 to 5 Amps. The electrolyte is Sodium Carbonate (Washing Soda) cheap, easily obtainable and safe.
The whole process is very simple and pretty fail safe - if you leave it running for too long you don't erode the work piece at all.
Some pictures of some bits I did at
Plenty of other web references, it is a popular method as it is non-destructive as far as the base metal is concerned. It removes rust but not metal.
I doubt anything rotating will do it, as you'll have a problem with tube length.
One of the best ways (commercial cleaning of water tube boilers, including curved tubes) is to fire "bullet brushes" through by compressed air. These are short cylindrical wire brushes with a rubber seal disc at one end. You use a _linear_ movement to scrape the tube. For smaller scale stuff, a similar brush on a rod or wire can do as well. Shotgun cleaning brushes are phosphor bronze and you can get them in a range of diameters if you find somewhere catering to black powder muzzleloaders, not just shotguns.
Electrolysis is wonderful if you're dealing with rust and similar scaly deposits that will respond to it (just Google - electrolytic de- rusting, try rec.woodworking too). For tubes and inside tanks, you might not even need an outside container tank, just fill the insides of the workpiece tank. You can make electrodes for the inside from lengths of chain or stainless steel wire rope, often placing them inside a perforated plastic pipe or spiral to stop things shorting out.
Die grinder is basically just a larger Dremel type tool
Flap wheels are available 30 and 60mm dia
The one I have is for .22 but they make them for larger bores. You don't say what dia or length. If it's big then a rotary wire brush in a flexi drive might work
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember brian mitchell saying something like:
What kind of tubes, and what depth? I came across a very usefull boiler tube cleaning long wire brush the other day - basically, it was just a pair of twisted rods and trapped between them were the wire bristles down on the bottom six inches or so, in fact it was just a metal version of a test tube cleaner.
Like 10525 at
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com saying something like:
Can't get it to show a pic.
That site is a pain for quoting links ....you need to right click then Properties and copy and paste . Try this ( scroll down until you see it)
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com saying something like:
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