I purchased an Eastwood vibratory tumbler last year, used it on one or two
parts, and sold it on eBay a couple months ago. I had the $80 version that came
with the plastic and walnut media (though the bidders went crazy on eBay and
paid $100 for it.) The problem with it is that it just takes so incredibly
long. You'll have the thing running for 4, 5, 6+ hours, sometimes more, just to
clean a couple of bolts, and you can't really put large or heavy parts in these
things, unless you were to buy a large industrial version or something. It's
noisy and it gets hot---not something I enjoyed keeping running for 5-6
hours...Anyway, the main reason I sold it is that I bought a sandblaster. I
would
recommend that if you already have a compressor, to buy a blaster instead of a
tumbler to clean small parts. With my sandblaster, I can get the same, if not
better, results as the tumbler, in a matter of seconds, plus it can work with
large OR small parts. It removes rust and grime far better than the tumbler
too.
They also sell the same medias to use with blasters as they do for the
tumblers, so it can be just as gentle. You can get a blaster gun for $35, a
pressurized blaster for $85, or a cabinet for $80, either one will work better
and
faster than a tumbler. I think the main market for these tumblers are rock
aficionados, who use them to polish up small rocks and pebbles.
-Sean
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