Hello All, I am a new guy to the forum, have been reading your posts for some time now and have learned TONS from all of you. Thanks - I have a 51 3/4 ton and am in the process of rebuilding the brakes. I need to replace 2 out of the 4 wheel cylinders, since two are pitted. The remaining two are in good shape, no pitting, but are slightly tarnished, as is the master cylinder. They are smooth, and don't need to be honed. My factory repair book says to use crocus cloth, but when I ask my FLAPS for crocus cloth they look at me like I have horns growing out of my skull - I have asked several sources and they dont even know what crocus cloth is. Might there be a substitute for this purpose? I was told not to use steel wool, but I am not quite sure why. I did a search on the forums, but this topic doesn't seem to have been covered. Any advice is appreciated! Scott
Identification 1. Crocus cloth is a type of sandpaper made from natural minerals and mounted on a soft-cloth backing. Types 2. Crocus cloth is typically available in three grits: fine, medium and coarse. This type of sandpaper is available both in sheets and in rolls. Features 3. Crocus cloth can be used by hand or mounted on a sander for machine use. Benefits 4. Crocus cloth allows for fine finishing that does not damage precision parts or malleable materials. Uses 5. Crocus cloth is used to shape metal pieces produced by machinists as well as custom-made jewelry. It can also be used in woodworking or the polishing of plastics. Read more: What Is Crocus Cloth? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_5559160_crocus-cloth.html#ixzz0vL1Ynm3s CROCUS CLOTH, which looks very much like EMERY CLOTH – I haven’t seen or heard of it in years – is a very fine abrasive cloth that I occasionally used in my machinist days of yore. I can’t recall why I would have used it instead of EMERY CLOTH except that it may have come in a finer grit, but emery comes pretty fine also. I never knew the origin of the names EMERY CLOTH/PAPER or CROCUS CLOTH, but I looked them up and here’s what I found: EMERY [~ 1485]: A fine-grained mineral consisting typically of corundum mixed with magnetite or hematite, used powdered, crushed, or consolidated and because of its great hardness used for grinding and polishing. [from Middle English, from Old French emeri, emeril, from Late Latin smericulum, from Greek smyris, powdered emery. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, American Heritage Dictionary, Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary) EMERY CLOTH: Cloth (also sometimes paper) covered with emery-powder, to be used for polishing or cleaning metals, etc.(Oxford English Dictionary) CROCUS: 1) A dark red powdered variety of natural iron oxide [[ferric oxide]], Fe2O3, used as an abrasive for polishing (American Heritage Dictionary). 2) The name is applied to the peroxide of iron obtained [[artificially]] by calcination of sulphate of iron, and used as a polishing powder. (Oxford English Dictionary) CROCUS CLOTH: A very slightly abrasive cloth which contains the mineral ‘crocoite,’ lead chromate, PbCrO4. The mineral was named in French in 1838 by Berthier crocoise, from Greek krokoeis, saffron-colored, from krokos, saffron (crocus is another name for saffron, an orange-red condiment consisting of the dried orange-colored stigmas of Crocus sativus and used to color and flavor food); altered by Dana in 1844 to crocoisite, and in 1868 to crocoite (American Heritage Dictionary, Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Oxford English Dictionary) It looks like it's just a finer version of emery cloth. I hope this helps....Big Tim
If you aren't able to locate "crocus cloth" I'd recommend one of these flex hones at the bottom of the linked page. I've used these with good results over the years. http://www.mytoolstore.com/kd/kdbrak08.html
Thought it was a crock~ Ya know, like buying 15 feet of flight line or a couple of skyhooks~ Nice info there, Big Tim!
Polishing Crocus Cloth is available at any NAPA store , it is used to polish bearing journals etc. For your brake cylinders , use an old drill bit with a strip of leather (like a belt or shoe tounge) duct taped to it , that'll make the bores shine like a mirror . If you decide to use a hone stone , NEVER hone dry ! set the spring tension to very light and wet it with brake fluid , keep the hone moving in and out of the cylinder as fast as you can , it'll pop out occasionally , no worries , just stop and begin over. Once it's done , clean with brake fluid , Aerosol brake cleaner or alcohol but NOTHING ELSE until a while paper towel rubbed around the bore comes out 1000 % clean . If even a shadow shows on the new , white paper towel , clean it some more and try again .
Thanks all for the great info! I appreciate all your time and effort, especially the long responses, along with all the great information, and I will put it all to good use. This is truly a great forum! I will have to post some picks of my truck soon - it is in pieces, but after the brake lines go in, I am ready to install the sheet metal and away we'll go (hopefully) Thanks for the welcome - I'll be around with more questions.
Hint~ If you don't already have them, buy a shop and accesory manual. I hear they come in handy and will save asking questions. On the other hand, this site is a great one with a bunch of people who have the answers handy, and some that have said the same answer over and over again, but would say it again, if asked. No more answers though, until we see a picture of your baby.
Manuals Are good , if you're a DIY'er then they're even better for the pictures , We'll always be here to tell you how to adjust the ambient reverse pressure on the flugle valves or where to find ambehelical hexnuts for the rectubular extrusion bracket but those _pictures_ can be priceless when you have baby in little pieces all over the driveway - . Paulie's just excited 'cause he can see daylight after all these years... Yes , YOU CAN FIX IT ! .
