tumble my balls? pachinko style!

[mrdo]

What is the best way to clean dirty pachinko balls with a rock tumble. Corn cobb, walnet shells, etc? How long do you let the balls tumble?

[angrypoet]

I'm in the process of cleaning mine right now using plastic bead blast media. It won't harm the finish, but does a great job of removing rust or dirt. To clean mine I put them in a plastic bottle (1/2 liter pop bottle will work), and added some plastic media. My kids are having a great time taking turns rolling it around and rocking it back and forth. Anything to agitate the contents.

I'm not sure where to get the plastic media - I got mine from a friend. Maybe automotive paint supply stores? I've also read that walnut shells work well. I would guess that corn husks would work too.

[DrDark]

Use walnut shells they work great! Got mine at PetSmart.
Fill your tumbler 1/2 full of balls then cover with walnut shells so the shells are a ball width over the top of the balls. Plug her in and ... clean balls.
I have a small rotary tumbler and this setup works great!
Depending on the condition of the balls, 24 to 48 hours should do the trick.

[Lddrizzt]

I've had good luck with the corncob media in a tumbler.

[arbycoffee]

Ball & Token Tumbler, Works great, see video, all you need to polish your balls are Walnut Shells.
Those can be got at the linc below for Abrasive Depot. All you will need is the 3 lbs. order, they last, it seems forever. Load barrel with balls 1/2 full, Walnut Shells up to about 1/2 from top, put on lid tight. Run for 2 to 3 hours, unload into a screen, reuse the grit. You got shiny chrome looking balls. DO THIS ALL DRY.

Abrasive Depot
1900 The Exchange
Suite 400
Atlanta, GA 30339
404-699-7990 (P) 678-627-0221 (F)
Office Hours: Monday - Friday from 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM Eastern Standard Time
info@abrasivedepot.com - www.abrasivedepot.com

Order Walnut Shells
Walnut Shells
Walnut shell abrasive is used to blast clean and polish soft metals, fiberglass, wood, plastics and stone. It works as a deburring and deflashing product for moldings, castings, and electrical parts. It is an efficient soft abrasive when used to tumble and polish gun casings, jewelry, ink pens and metal parts-and can also be used to prepare surfaces and equipment for painting. In some applications, because of its resistance to breakdown, walnut shell abrasive can be reused many times, reducing costs. Medium Is the equivalent of a 12/20 grit size.
Part # Description Weight Price *
WS-M-064 WALNUT SHELL, MEDIUM (#12/20) 3 lbs. $ 8

[rubberratt]

Thanks Arby

[arbycoffee]

You be welcome my friend
______________________________________________________
I also use the one third rule:

One third of Balls,

One third of Media,

One third of air space,

[luckydog]

If the balls aren't too bad, you can always use

CLR mixed in real hot water, swirl balls around , rinse real good with hot water, and dry real good with a clean towel.

I usually leave them spread out for awhile after drying.

[pachinut]

If you don't have a tumbler, Another method to pour about a cup full of balls into a heavy athletic sock. Shake like the dickens. Takes the surface stuff off. A tumbler works better though.

[MrGneiss]

Thanks for the tip and WELCOME to PT!!

[hanabi]

to PachiTalk pachinut!!

[kkl1961]

does anybody know if sand works
in a tumbler for cleaning Pacheco balls?

[browne92]

Sand would probably work, but it is not used in sand blasting because of the danger of silicosis. Yup, that's right...there's no sand in sand blasting. There may be the same hazard in the tumbler.

Walnut shell and corn cob are easy enough to come by. Ground corn cob is readily available in the pet store, it is used as bedding, I think for gerbils? Walnut shell is available at Horrible Freight, and you might be able to get it in smaller quantities in the paint store. IIRC, they used to mix walnut shell with floor paint to make a non-skid surface, but I don't know if they do this anymore.

[Moparformances]

i get walnut shell from the feed/pet store as well...

i would avoid the sand unless its a last resort

[DaveCapps]

X2 on the pet store for walnut shell. They sell it for lizard bedding but it is exactly the same stuff you can buy as walnut shell tumbling media only at an enormous savings

[mxfaiman]

Yep. I use walnut lizard bedding as well. If I remember right a 5Lbs bag is only like $6-7. So it is a good deal. I actually need to get some more soon. We have almost completely gone through the 20Lbs bag we bought. (Though that was about a year and a half ago when we bought it. )

[kkl1961]

Yea, sand is fairly abrasive, probably not the
Best idea. Ill hit petsmart and try the walnut shells.

[Rival]

One word of advice: Smaller tumblers can burn out if you use them for balls too often. I went through several units until I finally bought a larger more commercial one.

The balls I sell on my website come direct from the parlors and were cleaned by the industrial cleaning machines on site. They are as close to new as you can get, I just clean balls that fall out junked machines and restores to share with friends who need them.

I would never consider chemicals like CLR. They are inherently corrosive, and the process of rinsing them exposes them to water which is itself naturally corrosive to the balls. Dry walnut shells seem to be the best solution for me.