A few weeks ago, I bought a “vibratory tumbler” at Harbor Freight for $40. I’ve been wanting one for quite a while — it seems like a good way to de-paint Altoids tins / clean old car parts / faux age woodcarvings / whatever.
You fill it 2/3 of the way with grit, throw crud-covered stuff into it, run it for a few hours, and out comes a shiny new pony! Or so goes the theory.
I wasn’t sure whether the Harbor Freight package included the requisite grit, so I didn’t buy any. It wasn’t included, so today I experimented with common household materials.
Conclusion: Kitty litter, no matter how hard the little gravels may feel underfoot in the morning, is way too soft. Driveway sand is extremely dusty and too smooth and/or large. Real grit or polishing compound is in my future.
Even so, the results were promising. Trey in Chicago asked for a few SO-239 jacks from Slim’s distribution cabinet, and they were pretty oxidized and seemed like a good opportunity to try the tumbler.
After a few hours of polishing:
Not bad.
I have one of these and I bought the walnut from harb frt. I didnt work.
what did you use to get the results?
Thanks
Jim
Jim, I really haven’t got it to work well. I tried driveway sand and it worked a little but was incredibly dusty.