I got a couple of motors, one from an electric ice cream maker, the other from a barbecue spindle, that would work perfectly as a drive motor for a parts tumbler. They must have some gear reduction in there, because the drive gear turns slowly. I figure I can use a five gallon pail as the tumbler. Just make two parallel rods with casters on it, one of them being a drive rod.
Has anyone made one of these? What do you use as a medium? I have hillsides of blowsand, perhaps mix some ball bearings in with it? Plug it in, let it run overnight?