Ultrasonic cleaning/vapor honing questions Options

[Mikey914]

It's what we do. Spend the money, you'll like it.

Mike,

What process is this, and what machine is used?
A lot of us would like to be able to this ourselves, and any info
you can provide would be appreciated!!!

Thanks!

Vapor honing

[DBF]

Vapor honing looks great. Thanks for the info. Anyone try the hobbyist sized ultrasonic cleaners?

[BillJ]

Yes someone mentioned they are not worth it.

[krazykonrad]

I got an ultrasonic cleaner for Christmas and it is fantastic.

[DBF]

I got an ultrasonic cleaner for Christmas and it is fantastic.

Mind me asking what kind you got and what you use for cleaner/solvent?

[brant]

ultra sonic is best for certain things...

works really well on carb parts, and other brass items

not as effective for me on steel

[Superhawk996]

I got an ultrasonic cleaner for Christmas and it is fantastic.

Mind me asking what kind you got and what you use for cleaner/solvent?

Depends on what you're doing.

Lots of time just water and Dawn if great. Very Mild

Other times I use S100 for really greasy & nasty aluminum parts since I know S100 is safe for aluminum. (read labels not all detergents are aluminum safe)

You can also buy powder (i.e. very fine abrasive) cleaners for steel.

Mine (10 liters) is heated up to 170F or so. You'd be surprised how much the heat helps even when just used with water and some Dawn dish detergent. To be clear though, an ultrasonic cleaner is no match for vapor blasting / vapor honing or whatever you want to call it which is odd to me since there is no "vapor" involved.

I have a set of Dellorto Carbs I'm working on - those were soda blasted. Still not as nice as Vapor Blasting. My local vapor blaster quoted $80/hr to do the carbs with an $80 minimum so I'm probably going to have to settle for tools at my disposal.

I'd love to have an industrial sized one like mepstein references! Not happening in my lifetime though!

[Literati914]

We're a big fan of vapor blasting and powder coating. So, of course had to build a vapor blasting cabinet (as well as putting together a setup for powder coating).

Hey @Jack Standz , can you expound on what you actually did here?


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[Jack Standz]

Was just asked about vapor blasting (VB), so shared this thread. Looks like 4 years ago missed answering a question. Sorry. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

Started (like Mepstein) with pursuing how best to restore some motorcycle parts 5+ years ago. Ending up seeing what vapor blasting could do. So, went on the Internet and YouTube and figured out how others had built one (back then VB machines were expensive and not really worth it IMHO for low volume work or home use).

The base cabinet is a standard Harbor Freight media blasting cabinet that was sealed with silicone caulking of some type between the cabinet panels to make the cabinet water tight. It does require lots of air if you don't want to spend time waiting on your compressor. There are many YouTube and internet sites that will walk you through how to build one.

A couple helpful things:

1. Get an electrical foot switch to plug your slurry (water and small glass beads mixture) pump into and also plug in an electrically controlled air valve. This foot pedal is used to turn on the slurry pump at the same time compressor air gets turned on and is very helpful when VB parts.

2. Degrease parts before VB. Dirty parts make for a dirty slurry mixture. Even with powerful lighting inside the cabinet, it's hard to see, so less grease and dirt flying around will help you see what you're doing.

Best wishes and if you have questions, Google is your friend.