Myers Depot Metal Detectors

I just got a tumbler,How do I use it?

ProfitOfDoom

ProfitOfDoom

Junior Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2007
Messages
74
Location
EastLake,Ohio
Well I went to harbor freights and was looking around and seen they had some tumblers.
It was originally $30.00 but was on sale for $20.00 so I picked it up to try out.
So my question is,where do I start?
Do I need to buy that abressive sand they sell,or regular sand,how much water?
This is the one I got,I heard there not the greatest,but I figure for $20 bux Ill try it out.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=46376
 
I put about an inch of aquarium gravel in the tub add a little dishwashing soap cover the stones with water and tumble.. I usually tumble my rings about an hour and coins a few hours depending on how dirty they are and don't tumble pennies with your other coins otherwise they all will come out orange :)
 
Cfmct-PI said:
I put about an inch of aquarium gravel in the tub add a little dishwashing soap cover the stones with water and tumble.. I usually tumble my rings about an hour and coins a few hours depending on how dirty they are and don't tumble pennies with your other coins otherwise they all will come out orange :)
Click to expand...
Just to add you'll probably want to go with white aquarium gravel. I tumble clad with cents, 90% of the time there is no discoloration of the clad. The 10% though can produce anything from a nice 'tanned' Washington to one that looks like he tried Coppertone :lol:
 
So its the same mixture for pennies? Just dont add them together?
Also so far all I have is one silver dime,,is that ok to put in with the rest of the clad?
 
Like OZ i tumble with white gravel/dish soap and put the clad together... im just cleaning them to turn in to the bank anyway. If you clean SILVER or WHEATS do them seperate and about 30 min. Anything longer than that i find the wheats start looking abnormal, discolored, or pit. So just get them clean not damaged. Sometimes you might be better off using amonia and Q-tips.
 
Thanks guys!
The first batch just came out,They look much better and readable. The tumbler is the easiest way to go for sure. Im glad I bought it,I was reading online about reviews for the tumbler I bought "link above" most people say it works fine for awile then it goes bad after a couple of months.
I was just wondering if anyone has one of these and how happy are they with it?
I knew I should have bought the double tumbler,I thought that was too much and wouldnt need it,,but I never thought about doing the pennys seperate,I guess you learn as you go :)
 
I use aquarium gravel too. The pea sized, uncoated Marysville stone type (black and white) kind. Instead of soap, I use a splash of sudsing ammonia (kinda smelly) and water.

Just make sure to keep the zincs away from the clad.
 
Darlene said:
Doesn't cleaning the coins reduce their value? Or is this a myth?
Click to expand...

Hi Darlene, cleaning coins is perfectly fine, as long as we are talking about common everyday clad coins. They come out of the ground pretty grungy looking and cleaning them in a tumbler makes them spendable. Now, possibly valuable collectible coins are another matter althogether. You should get assistance from a conservator for those.
 
Thanks for the info everyone

I came to the board to ask the exact same question about tumbling coins. Everyone on this board is so helpful.
 
Has anyone here been using a tumbler from Harbor Freight for a while? I have been wanting to pick one up myself. Just wondering what you think of them? Thanks a bunch!
 
I read on another forum that the HF tumblers were a piece of crap, they were constantly breaking belts. I never had one, so I can't say from personal experience. I bought a Lortone double, 3lb, and it seems to work good so far. I let it run for a week at a time.
 
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