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Hey al as I start my first restoration and want to save some money and re using as much of the hardware I can , what’s the best way of cleaning screws? I don’t have an ultra sonic cleaner so was looking for some tips, thanks all

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Coca-Cola??

Was going to say wire brush but might be worth leaving them in coke overnight. Still a free mod if you drink the coke after??. Up to you. Lol

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Welcome to TC, I’d start with a degreaser, then if there’s any rust, a rust converter treatment. Then coat in WD40 or similar

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I wash/rinse them in degreaser then if need be oven cleaner. I use a dremel to clean up screws if need be. I have also repainted black screws in some cases.

To wash them I use a plastic pot with a lid, put the chemicals in, close them and then shake well. Will take a few goes but I tend to only do this on the more expensive screws to buy.

For the standard 3mm x 12 self tappers I just buy screw bags online cheaply. If you do an ebay search on Tamiya Screw bag and then order lowest to highest price you can get a lot of screws fairly cheaply.

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  • +1 for degreaser.
    • Old toothbrushes with a bit of soap and water, are also incredibly useful for cleaning most things. Tough going though, when its one screw at a time :D
    • I have in the past also put screws into a washbag, and run them in the dishwasher.
      • Steps required: 1) Get divorced. 2) Run screws in dishwasher.
  • I'm curious about ultra-sonic cleaners. Do those things work? Should we all have one?
  • Personally, I wouldn't choose random replacement screws online for vintage builds, if I needed more screws. It's original Tamiya kit screws, or nothing for puritans like me. :D
    • I also get tired of the many spam artists on eBay purporting to sell Chinese screw and bearing sets "for Tamiya Bruiser!!" (plus every other vintage RC car). If a vintage RC car has been restored with those, I wouldn't buy it except at half price :D Then all the screws will go in the bin.
    • My wallet, my choice. Many aspects of vintage RC collecting are particular and fussy. And I'm just one Tamiya nerd. But one of my biggest pet hates, is the use of non-Tamiya parts (even screws, washes, bearings, or anything else) in cars when people also claim those cars are fully restored original/vintage.

So anyway, it's nice to see such effort in restoring original screws ^_^

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28 minutes ago, Hibernaculum said:
  •  
  • Personally, I wouldn't choose random replacement screws online for vintage builds, if I needed more screws. It's original Tamiya kit screws, or nothing for puritans like me. :D
    •  

Just for clarity, I meant cheap Tamiya screws not cheap non-Tamiya screws!

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2 minutes ago, acprc said:

Just for clarity, I meant cheap Tamiya screws not cheap non-Tamiya screws!

My utmost respect then :D 

I should also sleep better tonight, because the nightmare visions of non-Tamiya screws invading vintage builds have already subsided...

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For me - all metal parts in an old jam jar with lid soaked in 1 inch of degreaser for 24hrs, then into another jam jar with 1 inch of wd40 for another 24hrs and hey presto, maybe for really dirty screws etc the toothbrush needs to come out.

Has anyone ever worked out definitively the pro's and con's of an ultrasonic cleaner???

I have one and I've had mixed results - I'm pretty sure it strips the gold coating off vintage Tamiya screws, though amazing (from memory) on rusty damper springs.  

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The ultrasonic cleaner plays a major part in my restos, but yes coatings can change after being through it. It depends what additive is used, I tend to use dishwashing powder in mine, it’s fantastic on plastics as illustrated by these shocks that I stripped, ran through the cleaner, and reassembled

45975603685_0f07916fc6_k.jpg

46839350412_134dac2130_k.jpg

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On 5/28/2019 at 12:58 AM, Hibernaculum said:
    • I have in the past also put screws into a washbag, and run them in the dishwasher.
      • Steps required: 1) Get divorced. 2) Run screws in dishwasher.
  •  

Ha, I read that backwards... initially I thought you'd meant: Screws ruined dishwasher. Get divorced.

Jx

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All of the above are useful in their own right but I’ve never been able to beat ultrasonic cleaning with the right bath immersion temp, time and cocktail of mild solvents.

The main thing to remember is not to mix metals that react differently - like brass and pot metal ... or the you’ll end up with a black sheen on the lesser reagent that’s an utter pita to shift !

Beyond that ultrasonics degrease w/o dishwasher divorce and deep clean threads that previously might not bite :) 

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Indeed if no ultrasonic is available, the toothbrush is still the perfect tool.

But for the price of an ultrasonic cleaner, you can't beat it in terms of comfort and cleaning result.

I'm very happy with the one I bought., only 20 something euros for a slightly used unit. Throw a handfull of parts into its and in minutes time the parts are done, it will save you hours of scrubbing with the toothbrush. And with a better result too! 

Presently cleaning the mugen seiki parts in it, and the years of grime are peeling away with no effort at all... ^_^

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Curse me..

Diesel..  the gold stuff 

Of course its a bit smelly , but leave it out on a towel outside for a day and your good to go.

It also conserves / prevents rust.

 

 

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On 5/30/2019 at 3:38 AM, JennyMo said:

Ha, I read that backwards... initially I thought you'd meant: Screws ruined dishwasher. Get divorced.

Jx

Yeah, IMHO  - safer to make a pre-emptive strike, and pack all your bags and RC models in the car, before running the dishwasher :) Kamikaze-style.

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2 stroke fuel would be an option. Leave outside to dry, the fuel will evaporate leaving an oil coating.

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Let me tell you , the dishwasher is a bad .. bad BAD.. plan.

 

Im a guy who's a real -tool- guy .. i prefer the better brands, and i try to maintain them ( must.. as , well.. i use them as intended )

So , here i was.. all in a spring mode .. ( last year actually ;p ) , and it was... tool-cleaning-time,  get all that oil, grease and mess off my spanners , ratchets and misc tools.

Wife was off to a frind,  and would be away for -hours!- ..

So, loaded the dishwasher with the tools.. dumped in a double dose of cleaner.. and , go go go little dishwasher.. do your thing !

 

And then .. wife came home , way more early then expected..  just to hear the "beep" of the dishwasher JUST being done ..

 

Well,  she .. was not amused..  and she claims to have smelled diesel/oil/gas smell off the normal dishes for weeks...

  • Haha 3

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>>I'm curious about ultra-sonic cleaners. Do those things work?<<

Yes.

>>Should we all have one?<<

If you do a lot of restos, probably. You can use all the chemicals you normally would (degreaser, deruster etc) in it, as well as water and a tiny drop of washing up liquid if it's just grungy crud. They're brilliant - couldn't do a resto without one now. You can clean just as well by hand but it's horrible and takes ages. Most things come out of my ultrasonic cleaner absolutely spotless within 3-4 minutes. The way they work is the ultrasonic vibrations form tiny air bubbles in between your item and the crud on it, and basically lifts it off. Very very gentle but brutally effective.

The other thing I highly recommend is a barrel polisher (some call them "lapidary polisher") with the green cone media (walnut shells for polishing). This gets you pretty close to bead blasting in terms of metal cleaning but without having to have a high CFM compressor. I leave pot-metal type parts (SRBs etc) in these for up to 2 days in green media for a "fresh out of the blister" look and then 1 day in walnut media if I need it shiny. They normally come in three sizes measured in pounds (weight). A 3lb one will take an SRB gear case.

The ultrasonic cleaner and barrel polisher are probably my 2 most used (and appreciated) tools when restoring old buggies and cars.

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