rock tumbler / token cleaner

[washman9]

looking for a decent quality rock tumbler that we can clean / polish our tokens in. also, my kid is a coin / rock hound and would like to use it for his hobby. i might even be able to get him to split the cost with me. appreicate any info.

 

[diycarwash]

Grainger sells one. I think its the Thompson Tumbler.

 

[jprb]

Check websites for ammunition reloading. They have brass tumblers and different kinds of polishing media. Dillon makes a very large capacity brass tumbler.

JPRB

 

[MEP001]

I'm sure a rock tumbler and the abrasives used would ruin your tokens. The ammo casing polisher sounds like a much better idea.

Cleaning any collectible coins destroys their value.

 

[Ric]

Someone told me they got a tumbler at Harbor Freight Tools for cleaning their tokens. I saw it there. Looks like it would work. Tokens at my wash disappear fast enough so I have not had a need for it.

 

[mjc3333]

I heard rice in the tumbler works great at removing the tarnish from the tokens. Get a huge cheap bag from Sams Costco etc.

 

[Jerry33]

rice and cement mixer

the rice advice was to use 5 pounds of rice in an electric cement mixer, if you have access t o one of those. depending on the quantity you need to clean, it could take a while with a rock tumbler.

i've had success with the cheap "delime" acids that are sold for cleaning bathrooms. the expensive stuff is something like crl but the knockoff i use comes from the "everything 's a dollar" store and is called lime away or something lilke that. but you have to do it quickly, just a few minutes, and pour it back and forth between two containers and the last step is to rinse in vinegar to neutralize the acid or you will get a white coating when they dry.

if you accidently leave them over night, you won't recognize them next day. grin

i wouldn't try this with gold dollars that have turned an ugly brown because it is probably against the law and i would not like to get a visit from the secret svc guys, but i bet it would make them look like new.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I gotta ask. What is the problem if a token or coin is not shiny? Are there customer complaints? Do shiny coins make more money? I think you guys need more to do if this is an issue for you. Spend time on something that will make you money or at least save you some time.

 

[MEP001]

I gotta ask. What is the problem if a token or coin is not shiny? Are there customer complaints? Do shiny coins make more money? I think you guys need more to do if this is an issue for you. Spend time on something that will make you money or at least save you some time.

Or maybe spend the extra few bucks and order the plated tokens.

 

[Jeff_L]

I really don't think my customers care if the coin is shiny or not, just as long as it doesn't get stuck in the coin slot. I have heard of a hotel, east coast I think, who actually washes all their quarters before being used as change. Something they've done for a long time and is probably more of a novelty than anything.

Cleaning quarters/tokens doesn't make us money, just send the dirty ones to the bank and move on.

 

[DottieHopkins]

Token Cleaning Recommendation

Hi - My name is Dottie and I work in sales at Van Brook. I want to share a token cleaning tip received from a family entertainment center. They use an electrically powered vibratory tumbler filled with corn cob based polishing media. You put the tokens in the tumbler along with the polishing media and 2 hours later your tokens are clean.

The vibratory tumbler is available from Grainger Inc., part #6A899, and has a capacity of 45 pounds or 3500 0.984" tokens. The 6 pounds per box corn cob and mineral filler polishing media also available from Grainger is part #6A901.

 

[MEP001]

Looks like the 6A898 would do the same job in smaller batches for about half the cost.

 

[Ric]

Hi - My name is Dottie and I work in sales at Van Brook. I want to share a token cleaning tip received from a family entertainment center. They use an electrically powered vibratory tumbler filled with corn cob based polishing media. You put the tokens in the tumbler along with the polishing media and 2 hours later your tokens are clean.

The vibratory tumbler is available from Grainger Inc., part #6A899, and has a capacity of 45 pounds or 3500 0.984" tokens. The 6 pounds per box corn cob and mineral filler polishing media also available from Grainger is part #6A901.

Thanks for the tip Dottie. You've always been a gem to work with.