have an old mtb fork and when i shake it i hear stuff inside. if I shake it a lot sand (I think) comes out of the holes mid tube. anyone know a technique for getting the stuff out besides shaking it for hours? or is it not worth bothering with?

super technical question, i know.

thanks!

uhh you could take it apart. what model fork

I'm guessing that since it has little holes in the tube that it's a rigid metal fork. The type that are all welded together Without drilling the holes larger there's not much you can do other than keep shaking it back and forth.

Is it actually sand that's coming out or is it a red to brown color which indicates rust flakes?

it's mostly sand and small pebbles. i'm sure there's rust as well. there are 2 holes on each tube of the fork. shaking gets the sand/little particles out, but the pebbles are tougher to extricate.

here's a pic of the fork for the curious.

Maybe try putting something in that will keep the smaller particles from rolling around - like oil. Try squeezing a bunch in each leg and rolling it around to coat the inside of the leg and catch all the particles.

After you are satisfied that you have all the stuff removed that you want to remove, put some screws in those holes to prevent further dirt from entering.

Also, you can quickly polish away that rust with some steel wool.

There may be a set of smaller holes on the inside of the fork leg, just above the dropouts. If you have access to compressed air you might be able to get some more out by blowing from the smaller holes and out through the bigger ones.

yeah, those small holes are where i was able to get most of the sand out. i had thought of a vacuum, but not the compressed air. might as well give it a try. you think it will work without trying to rig some sort of spout on the air gun to funnel the blast into the little holes?

lardasse (is that french? ), thanks for the oil rec. hadnt thought of that. and i will plug those holes with something. not sure why they would have open holes on a fork like that.

btw, some of that rust seems beyond steal wool. i've been using a wire brush drill bit and in places the chrome is permanently scarred. i dont mind but hope to contain the rust so if anyone has tips for that....

thanks again all

Steel wool is magic on rusty chrome. Give it a try. If you do manage to get it off, go to the hardware sotore and get some "chrome" rust paint - Rust-Oleum or whatever and paint the affected area. THen mount some big ol' fenders on it to protect your paint and headset etc. from flying debris. Just about every bike co-op or used bike shop should have an old set of chrome metal fenders that will make it look like $1000000.

If your air gun is about the same as every other air gun I've seen, then pushing the nozzle against the hole should be enough to set off quite a storm through the fork legs.

If you try to braze/weld something that's a fairly small enclosed space, the excess heat from the process will warm up the air inside the fork leg. The warmer air will expand and try to blow out, usually through the gap that you're trying to braze/weld. makes it really hard to get a nice seam.
They might also be put in as drains.

In your particular case the lower holes might not have been entirely required, but odds are that the fork legs came like that regardless if the fork was going to be fitted with those higher mounting points or not.

NO kidding ok?

Inject some glue or paint using a disposable syringe and the needle. U can use nail polisher, glue, hobby paint... actually i have used hobby primer and have hold for years.

The idea as makes sense is to glue all that rust and junk together.