Started tumbling my finds in a rock tumbler...

[mr helton]

I never did this before.

I'd like to start off saying that I know it completely destroys any value that my finds might have, but I don't plan to sell them anyway, and I feel it makes everything really pretty to look at.

That said, I'll describe it a bit. I got the dual tumbler from harbor freight. I turned a bunch of pennies (including ugly as hell wheats I dug up) for 2 hours (with pea gravel, water, and a drop of dish soap). They turned out MUCH cleaner than they were, and all of them are now very easily readable and the details pop out. Well worth it in my opinion. I wouldn't do this with anything valuable but it's great for stuff that isn't that I plan to keep.

I also cleaned some of the metal things I dug up that aren't coins, all of which came out spotless. Even a rusty old keychain full of keys is shiny looking after 2 hours. I tumbled my "silver" change along with the actual silver quarter that I dug up and they look great, especially the 1943 quarter, it looks shiny and new!

There was a dirty and rusty looking skeleton ring I dug up and after 1.5 hours in the tumbler it looks wearable.

Last night I decided to put it to the test, so I took the absolute worst pennies that I found in 6 $25 boxes of rolls and ran it from 9:30 last night to 5 am this morning.

As you can see they all came out looking great compared to what they were. The ones that look silver are clad pennies that were corroded so badly that all the copper was gone. The clad pennies that weren't badly corroded came out looking fine.

I'm thrilled with it!

 

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[jcCALIF]

Very pretty indeed! It does give me an idea. Sometimes I have merchants that will not accept my prospecting coinage because it "looks" damaged. This idea should clear that problem right up!

 

[mr helton]

Here is my silver quarter when I dug it up and rinsed it off vs when I tumbled it for 1.5 hours. There isn't any damage to the surface (maybe very slight under my microscope). Cleaned everything right up! FYI it was that worn when I pulled it out of the ground.

 

[Potts]

I've been using vinegar and salt in a container, shaking it for a couple minutes by hand than rinse with fresh water, than I use a solution of baking soda and water to neutralize the acid by giving them another shake, this prevents them from turning green. At the end of the season I turn them into the bank for paper.

I pick out the wheats and save them without cleaning...I use the same technique for cleaning clad. I clean copper separately and never mix them with clad...I usually clean when I get about $10.00 worth.

 

[NW Digger]

They look great!
I've been thinking about getting that harbor freight tumbler myself,
just haven't made the leap yet because as everyone is well aware, HF is either hit or miss with their tools.

Is the tumbler decent quality? Do you see it being able to run a long time without burning out the motor?
I have a ton of questions about it... Maybe you can do a mini review for us?

 

[baywalker]

Have had mine four 3 years I have put several hundred dollars worth of coins through it plus all the brass and copper I just like to shine it up . They also sell a cleaning matrix that is ceramic and looks like little green pyramids that you can use over and over .

 

[mr helton]

I've been using vinegar and salt in a container, shaking it for a couple minutes by hand than rinse with fresh water, than I use a solution of baking soda and water to neutralize the acid by giving them another shake, this prevents them from turning green. At the end of the season I turn them into the bank for paper.

I pick out the wheats and save them without cleaning...I use the same technique for cleaning clad. I clean copper separately and never mix them with clad...I usually clean when I get about $10.00 worth.

It's too early to do a review but I will say the quality is a lot better than I expected, and everything seems smooth. The containers are really good and seal perfectly.


Also check out my wheats! I decided to do all the rest of my saved up extra wheats and couldn't be more thrilled with the way they turned out. 3.5 hours or so.

 

[Minrelica]

I've read that the Harbor Freight tumblers are a bit noisy in comparison to others and that they also start smelling (rubber from the drums) after a few minutes of running. Maybe you've never used another brand so the first question may be hard to answer but what about the smell? Any truth to that?

 

[Silver Worm]

I started using 1/3 apple cider vinegar, 2/3 water in my rock timbler. Really makes the coins look good. Just don't clean pennies with other coins. They will come out copper looking.

 

[mr helton]

I've read that the Harbor Freight tumblers are a bit noisy in comparison to others and that they also start smelling (rubber from the drums) after a few minutes of running. Maybe you've never used another brand so the first question may be hard to answer but what about the smell? Any truth to that?

I did notice a smell for the first 2 hours or so, but don't smell anything today honestly. Doesn't seem too loud though, the rubber cans really help with that. I have it running in my kitchen and can't hear it running a room over.

 

[BryanM362]

Big difference in your before and after pics!

Have you tried different mediums, like sand, or walnut shell?

 

[scotty544]

I have the 3 pound tumbler from harbor freight, I bought a cheap bag of aquarium gravel and use a few drops of dawn soap. Tumble clad for 10 hours and they clean up nicely. I wouldn't do it to my precious (silver). Add water of course with the dish soap.

 

[PullTabPete]

Most of my crusty clad I mix in with other change and roll it up and deposit it, the bank hasn't complained yet. But I may try tumbling some just for the fun of it.

I do have a bunch of crusty wheats that aren't worth anything, so I think I'll try cleaning them up. The after photo looks pretty good.

HH,

Pete

 

[PullTabPete]

Did my crusty pennies over night using a little pea gravel and dish soap. They look great, so I think it will do it on most of my dirty wheat pennies.

I am doing some discolored clad dimes/nickel/quarters now and want to see how that comes out, I have a pretty orange looking buffalo nickel I want to clean up.

Here are the penny pics before and after


HH,

Pete

 

[luvsdux]

Aquarium gravel, water and a bit of dish detergent works well for me. DO NOT MIX CLAD WITH THE PENNIES! You'll end up with copper colored nickels, dimes and quarters. As others mention, I don't tumble rare or possibly valuable coins, but my every day clad is just fine for spending.
luvsdux

 

[PullTabPete]

I ended up tumbling my common wheats, then a buffalo nicklel and crusty mercury dime and they came out good. I also tumbled a few silver rings I had in sand and was pretty happy with the results.

 

[RobRieman]

Rub your silvers with baking soda and water. They will shine like the day they were made.

 

[mr helton]

Here are the best pics I could get of my tumbled wheats even with my DSLR. It's too hard to focus on something that big and that close!



edit: I made a much better version I think

 

[mr helton]

Sorry about the double post! I made an ultra high res version (Photoshop distorted it in a few areas because this is a panorama made form 6 shots)

6mb picture
http://www.pictureshack.us/images/62820_ultimate.jpg

 

[Sledgod2]

I've read that the Harbor Freight tumblers are a bit noisy in comparison to others and that they also start smelling (rubber from the drums) after a few minutes of running. Maybe you've never used another brand so the first question may be hard to answer but what about the smell? Any truth to that?

I just bought the 3lb version and tried it yesterday for the first time. After 10 minutes the main bearing started to squeak louder and louder so I put a few drops of lube on it and it has been quiet as a church mouse ever since. I'm still testing things out to see what the best ratio of aquarium gravel to water to coins is the best. I've only ran it about 2-3 hours per batch so far but I think I might try and run the clad overnight tonight to see if I can get it any better.