Tumbler Question...

[EPC Guy]

...just bought a cheapo tumbler today...it came with assorted grinding powders (for rock tumbling/polishing) my question is: has anyone used any of the grinding powders for cleaning coins? I plan to buy some aquarium rock tomorrow...

[sheriobailey]

I can't answer the question but let us know if it works though. Happy Hunting...

[DougsGraphics]

Haven't really played with it much, but yes. I used some silicon carbide on some clad recently, and I let it go probably a bit long, so the coins got a pretty matte finish. It cleaned them well enough that the coin machine at the bank was able to count them pretty well, though. I had mixed a tablespoon or so with a bunch of beads and maybe $50-60 in clad (non pennies) in a vibratory tumbler. Last try was pennies with play sand, which worked quite well. Like I said, still trying to find the "magic formula".

[l38ranger]

All i use is aquarium rocks and armer hammer and baking soda liquid washing for laundry....good luck...

[Diggerbarns]

Try it on coins that are not of value first,than come up with the perfect solution

[EPC Guy]

Originally Posted by Diggerbarns

Try it on coins that are not of value first,than come up with the perfect solution

That's exactly what I decided to try...I have memorial pennies tumbling in just the coarse grinding powder and water...I'll check 'em in the next 2-3 hours and see what they look like...thanks!

[Skifisher]

I have a vibratory cleaner that is used for cleaning spent cartidges (gun) for reloading them. I used crushed/granulated walnut shells to clean the really dirty ones, then corn cob to put a shine on them. I have thrown a few pennies in before, and they come out looking good.

[JCWhite]

As you may have figured cheap tumblers don't usually work well. All you need to use is plain/natural aquarium gravel and water and time but it is always fun to experiment with an additional ingredient to see what it does. I gave up on tumbling for a while and just spend my clad the way I find it in the soft drink machine at work. I do know that pennies stay by themselves and the silver colored ones go in by themselves.

[EPC Guy]

Thanks for the tips, guys...actually, the grinding powders that came with the tumbler worked pretty well. In the first go-round, I used the coarse powder with water on just pennies...it almost worked TOO well, as I left them in the tumbler a bit too long! It didn't ruin any of them - but left a few REALLY scrubbed - if you know what I mean...the second batch was the clad coins...I used the fine grinding powder with dishwashing liquid, and tumbled for about an hour...they came out just fine. From now on, though, I'm going to use the tried and true aquarium gravel.

[pris]

Hey Shawn! I haven't gotten out to buy any aquarium gravel, yet, so I just put some dishwashing soap in and let 'em spin. It seems to work well enough to read the coins. I clean the water every hour and have only let them spin for about 3 cycles. I will probably eventually get around to buying some gravel, but in a pinch, just water and soap seems to work.

Of course, I won't have a batch big enough to tumble for another while, so I'll let you know in a few months how the gravel works