Vibratory Tumbler

[johnnynormal510]

I stopped by the gun shop on the way home, and picked up a Vibratory Tumbler for $55, and a 2lb bag of corn cob media.

I've got a collection of balls that i wont use in my machines... All in different stages of decay..
I let them run for about an hour, and i was really impressed by the results.

The ones that were Half Silver/Half Rust are now smooth silver and shiny. Ready to use in the best of machines.

Even the ones that I had previously considered rusted beyond all repair are now smooth. Yes, they still are discolored, but at least they are smooth enough to be used in a lesser important vintage machine.

Out of curiosity, i hit the bad ones with some fine grit sand paper, and there is a shiny sphere underneath... I just need to use something more coarse to get the outer layer off.

Now, i'm trying to find what i can use to get the best results... Has anyone tried using something as course as playground sand in the tumbler?

Thanks

[Ikaria]

I had one of those, but ended up taking it back. It worked fine for a while, but it didn't meet my expectations. It worked best on pachinko balls, but not so well on tokens. I was using walnut shells. Hope you have better luck than I did.

[DrDark]

I have a friend who puts a small piece (1/16") of drywall/gypboard into his rotary tumbler along with the walnut shells and extra rusty spheres.
I can tell you it sure does do the trick.
Of course they dont come out like factory fresh but smooth and shiny they are.

[birdbrain]

just toss the rusty ones, they are cheap. do you really want to take a chance with your baby?

[takethecastle57]

Are we going to start seeing Banners " Save The Pachinko Balls " around here ?

[johnnynormal510]

Oh ye of little faith... I just cleaned up 20lbs of dirty spheres...

Yesterday, I didnt have enough to fill my favorite machines...
Today, I'm trying to figure out what to do with the extras!

Girlfriend cant wait to see what it does to her shell collection!

[arbycoffee]

Pecan shells work great

[rubberratt]

Pecan shells work great

They also taste waaaaayyy better than the walnut shells

[johnnynormal510]

Can you clean plastic parts (like the ball tray) safely with vibrating tumbler?

[mudfud]

umm, I would think that the tumbler would be too much for plastic parts.

try the dishwasher or soaking in a sink with a strong detergent. mostly you just need to cut grease and grime, not actually polish the surface. for polishing plastic, probably something less abrasive than corn cob or shells, like novus or one of the other plastic polishes.

can't wait to borrow your vibratory doo-dad

[musky]

[hanabi]

[digital1]

I saw cracked corn for cleaning balls on ebay. and when I was at the pet store I saw the same thing for $0.20 per pound. I am running some balls and tokens in the tumbler right now. We will see.

[ShockSystem]

Hi there,

My balls came out great along with my play field face pins! I used walnut shells (harder / more abrasive) due to the degradation, corrosion and rust on my balls and pins. I would use corn cob as a "final" bright polish.

- Shock

[Tarnish]

I bought an RCBS model.

http://i13.ebayimg.com/06/i/001/24/56/1252_1.JPG

I have heard about running plastic parts through them, never used one to try it, but if I did run a plastic part through mine, I'd do a short run ... Checking it every 5 minutes from start of run time to know how long it should run ... I've always been a fan of rubbing alcohol as a cleaner since it evaporates fast.

[Tarnish]

P.S. I bought Walnut media.

But, since I never used a tumbler and never used Walnut media for tumbling, I'm n00b to the extreme.

I'm Canadian, I don't even own a firearm more powerful than a pellet gun.

I might not be able to kill anyone breaking into my house, but I can put a serious sting in his nether regions.

[birdbrain]

buy a real gun and aim for the center of the chest, anything else and your wasting our time.oops sorry I forgot you lived in a socialist state.

[Tarnish]

Actually, I was this far (display finger tips at less than hand span distance apart) away from buying a Garand when I am down in TN ... I visit Knob Creek Gun Range every October ...

Apparently, I can get a Shooter Grade one in Canada for $650 ... That's about half price in US Monopoly money.

[birdbrain]

i've been a Knob Creeker for 10-11 years now. i bring a load of wwii german belt fed and sub guns, let me know and we'll meet up next fall!

[Tarnish]

I was in Knob Creek when R. Lee was there ... Met him, picture taken ... WAY cool.

Searching for pic now ... They were filming an ep of Mail Call.

Dood, you're on the main line for shooting ? That's a 10 year wait list.

I have the pic on my iPod. A lot of Canadians are like: No way you met the gunny.

Oooh, http://home.cogeco.ca/~tarnish/Me%20and%20R%20Lee%20Ermey.jpg

I'm left, my buddy Mike is on the right, my other friend Jeff took the shot. That was on the lower range (rental range) back from the firing line in the gap by the overhead power lines.

Oh, the white shirts have this logo on them ... It's our clan from MOHAA / COD http://home.cogeco.ca/~tarnish/FarmersLOGO.jpg