I've done that - although avoid the HF tumbler....it will break and be a total
pain. I had one and it was a headache....very bad failure mode where the
motor
keeps trying to run but the bearing seizes so the motor gets ungodly
hot. Not
good for a device that you want to turn on and leave unattended
for hours
(days) on end....
I bought a good one at BassPro - it is much better built
and has lasted WAY
longer so far. I have done a bunch of containers of hw
and the come out great.
I use walnut shells as the media that is sold as
animal cage litter at Petco (or
your choice of pet store). Much, much
cheaper than the same thing from a
sporting goods store or even HF.
However, be prepared - you will be picking the shells out of the heads of the
screws when you are done. I had a small awl I used to dig the shells out. It
can be time-consuming but it is worth it. I had a lot of old bolts and screws
that were very well made, unlike a lot of newer stuff. Also, I hope you have
someplace detached from your house to run the thing in - they are noisy.
Luckily, my garage is detached so it runs out there. Even with the heavy wood
doors closed, you can hear it doing its thing from 10 ft away from the
building.
Since it will need to run at least overnight, it won't be popular
with the missus
if you try running it in the basement. YMMV but these have
been my experiences
with the thing.
BTW - the good unit I got at BassPro was
<$100. Cabelas also sells similar (or maybe
even the same) unit. Be aware of
size of the bowl - if you have long items, they may
not fit (once you get to
9"-10" or so). All this said, I'd still say go for it. Those polishers
are
pretty handy for other things. I cleaned up some old hand tools that were
rusted
horribly and they look great now. You'll be amazed at what a good job
it can do. Just
don't overload it....
Good luck.
John
>________________________________
> From: Arvid Jedlicka <arvidj@visi.com>
>To: Shop Talk List <shop-talk@autox.team.net>
>Sent: Tuesday, August 20,
2013 11:23 AM
>Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] Nuts and Bolts
>
>
>To explore an
implied part of Jeff's question ...
>
>"and pondering buying one of those HF
tumblers and polishing all my old
>hardware"
>
>Those of you that are
"recycling", what are you doing before you file them
>away ... be it into a
gallon bucket or into a labeled drawer?
>
>Arvid
>_______________________________________________
>
>Shop-talk@autox.team.net
>Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
>Suggested annual donation $12.96
>Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
>Forums: http://www.team.net/forums
>Unsubscribe/Manage:
http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/jrbabiarz@yahoo.com
_______________________________________________
Shop-talk@autox.team.net
Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
|