Does anyone tumble clad?

[kidlester]

Hello,
I have always tumbled my dirty clad but never had satisfactory results.
How long? Any particular solution? What type of grit?
HH!
Tom

 

[Rattlehead]

I tumble mine. Dish soap, CLR & water for about 3 hours. I don't use any media. The coins themselves seem to work fine for that. Not perfect, but gets them plenty clean enough to spend or dump into a coinstar. Make sure you tumble pennies separate from the rest or they'll turn the color of the other coins.

 

[kidlester]

I tumble mine. Dish soap, CLR & water for about 3 hours. I don't use any media. The coins themselves seem to work fine for that. Not perfect, but gets them plenty clean enough to spend or dump into a coinstar. Make sure you tumble pennies separate from the rest or they'll turn the color of the other coins.

Thanks!
I'll give it a try
Tom

 

[markinmichigan]

I tumble mine. Dish soap, CLR & water for about 3 hours. I don't use any media. The coins themselves seem to work fine for that. Not perfect, but gets them plenty clean enough to spend or dump into a coinstar. Make sure you tumble pennies separate from the rest or they'll turn the color of the other coins.

How big of a tumbler do you have? I should try something with the bucket of clad I have.

Mark in Michigan

 

[Iggyks]

I used to scrub my nickels dimes and quarters with a toothbrush and that was a drag. I tumble them now with sand, dish soap, water and a shot of vinegar. I feel like I used to get better results but maybe not, definitely if it’s brown it stays brown but if it has a little shine it gets better. But it gets clean enough for a coin counter. One penny will darken a whole batch of clad for sure. I am going to try no media because rinsing sand off coins sucks too.

 

[Rattlehead]

How big of a tumbler do you have? I should try something with the bucket of clad I have.

Mark in Michigan

Mark, it’s the single barrel tumbler from Harbor Freight. Not sure of the exact size, but I’ve had it for a few years and it works well.

 

[Martin_V3i]

Mark, it’s the single barrel tumbler from Harbor Freight. Not sure of the exact size, but I’ve had it for a few years and it works well.

That is what I have used for many years. Mine cost me 39.95 back then. They ask much more now.

 

[ScubaSteveXdm]

Simple green and water and tumble for a hour all clean up great

 

[Jamflicker]

I just use a little dish soap. I'm not trying to make it look pretty, just get the dirt off for the coinstar machine.

 

[markinmichigan]

Which tumbler is a good buy?

Mark in Michigan

 

[stetam]

Harbor Freight dual cylinder

 

[rreahard]

I was just reading some reviews of the Harbor Freight unit and came across this gem:

"this made my rocks feel at home and put them in a better mood to socialize and assimilate with the other rocks in my collection. a side effect of using this product is that they will become round and shiny but beauty is pain. i give this a 9.4726/10. red is unfortunately not my favorite color so i let my brother lick the paint off. now my rocks and my brother are happy"

 

[Xxray]

I used to tumble everything but that only lasted a couple years, now I tumble nothing. Just a waste of time and $$, coins back in circulation will get pocket tumbled anyhow.

 

[hoser]

I have a single cylinder tumbler and use aquarium gravel, dish soap, and little white vinegar. Takes a while but the coins come out looking pretty good. The Harbor freight tumbler should work just fine.

 

[diggin4clad]

I always tumble my clad after each hunt. I tumble in gravel,dish soap and water for 35-40 minutes, then put the coins in a solution of salt and vinegar, shake them up for 4-5 minutes, then rinse them and tumble again for about 90 minutes. They usually come out looking pretty good like the ones in the photo.

 

[hoser]

They usually come out looking pretty good like the ones in the photo.

Hey ED, have you noticed that when you take them out of the tumbler they are nice and shiny, you rinse with water and as they dry they turn dull or even kind of dark?

 

[diggin4clad]

I can't say that I've noticed what you mention but then again my eyes aren't what they used to be.

 

[Miata Mike]

Has anyone tried cleaning coins in a brass vibrating tumbler with walnut media? Just wondering if that would do much.

 

[atomicbrh]

Hello,
I have always tumbled my dirty clad but never had satisfactory results.
How long? Any particular solution? What type of grit?
HH!
Tom

Jerry Miculek Cement Mixer. 5 gallon buckets at a time.

 

[BobOso]

I use dish soap and gravel from the driveway