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Tumbler for baffles
- Thread starter Phydoux
- Start date
Can you use this for aluminum baffles?
I've heard folks say not to but I do and haven't had a problem at all.
This x 100 the by product is lead acetate. Highly toxic and can absorb through your skin. Just ask me. In my earlier years I was dipping Rimfire baffles and pulling them out with chop sticks and no gloves. Dropped one back into the jar accidentally and splashed a huge glug onto my hand. Got sick, didn't feel good for awhile. Went to the Dr and had my lead levels checked and was sitting around 18 particles pretty much took it instantly through the skin. This was all from the doctor. Not my own assumption. Had to pull myself off the line for months. Nasty stuff.
That being said. I still use the dip, but wear chemical gloves and a respirator as I always should have. Never do it indoors, and have a HAZMAT disposal plan to get rid of the by product. Please don't dump that ish anywhere. It's the bomb but needs to be done correctly, and safely with proper PPE and plan of safe disposal
I'm looking into a tumbler because I'm tired of foolin with the dip but 2 of my cans have aluminum baffles, one stainless, one sealed.
I'll have to read more about tumbling aluminum with SS medium
We will see how this goes. Here is my before. We're 2 hours in and they look great so far. Very pleased. This is my Optimus. Has seen a lot of Rimfire lately. Again, these are before tumbling.
Lets see the results
It did a okay job. I'm sure I just need to use more pins or something. Got a lot of the surface carbon off. Didn't get inside the baffle or the crevices very well, but I had never really cleaned it prior to this other than a quick wipe down. It did make the carbon easier to scrape off though, and if I were to throw them back in after some scrubbing, it would probably take the rest off. It looks worse in the pics.
I know supersonic gas flow is magical stuff and the angles and spaces are important. I start to wonder, how clean is clean enough, and is there an audible difference. Perhaps cleaning it enough that it readily disassembles for the next cleaning (lol) is good enough as long as performance isn't noticeably diminished. It makes me think of my cycling days when you could by lightweight titanium component groups and shave a few ounces here and there from your bikes weight for a couple hundred dollar premium... when all of a sudden you realize you could shave an equivalent amount of weight off by simply taking a dump, lol, and in the big picture when you weigh 180-225# (or more) what difference does that ounce or two really make on performance? 
Is any of the residue left on the baffles lead from a .22? If so try and get it off cause it will fuse to it and just continue to build up.
I will use a dremmel with a brass brush, eye protection and a mask to cover my nose and mouth and lots of ventilation which for me is outside. And preferably during a light breeze to keep the lead blowing away from me. Then back into the tumbler
