Found a better way to clean tube sheets without wrecking my wrists

I was in Tulsa last month on a boiler retube and got tired of hand scraping tube sheets for hours. My forearms were shot after day two. Tried using a die grinder with a cup brush on low speed and it cut my time by half. Just gotta be careful not to gouge the metal. Anyone else tried this or got a better trick?

2 comments

2 Comments

king.aaron1mo agoTop Commenter

Totally different angle here nobody's touching on. Try a needle scaler with a flat tip on low pressure. It vibrates the crud loose instead of grinding it off. Way less risk of gouging the sheet surface and zero kickback compared to a wire wheel. @schmidt.eva I bet your wrist would thank you too because the vibration stays in the tool not your forearm. Only downside is the noise but ear plugs fix that easy.

schmidt.eva1mo ago

Tried that once with a wire wheel and it kicked back so hard I nearly dropped the grinder...