Tumbling a razor

[Jbird45]

I have a tumbler i use to clean and polish brass shell casings before reloading. It is filled with corn cob media and i can toss a bunch of casings in it and plug it in and after a couple hours all the tarnish and powder residue is cleaned off. It basically vibrates and the media rubs against the brass and cleans it.

I picked up 2 Gillette double edge razors the other day and i got to thinking it may be a lot easier to toss them in the tumbler than to sit there with a brush and scrub them. Or at least it would do a lot of the hard work for me.

I would obviously change the media so there is no lead or powder residue present in the media, but is there a reason i shouldn't do this? Or has anyone tried it?

I suppose i could try it with one razor first and see how it works, and if it ruins it consider it lesson learned, but i am open to suggestions.

Thanks!

 

[Clouds]

I can't see corn cob media doing any harm.
Why even bother changing the media, you are going to wash the razor afterwards anyway.

 

[romsitsa]

I can't see any reason why tossing them in a tumbler would be a bad idea, except elbow grease is part of the cleaning process, so tumbling is like skipping leg day

 

[BGO37]

I tumble my vintage razors with cob media. They only ones I wont do are the red and blue tips. Since the coating is fragile I dont want to chance it rubbing off, I dont know if it will or not.

One thing is that razors are not a smooth as brass. You will have some spots you will have to soak and scrub but overall it takes a lot of elbow grease out of the process.

 

[ajkel64]

I have no idea of what you are talking about. It sounds interesting, any chance of a photo to help me better understand the process?

 

[Jbird45]

I have no idea of what you are talking about. It sounds interesting, any chance of a photo to help me better understand the process?

Mine is similar to this. Its filled with pulverized corn cob and then when plugged in it starts to vibrate. Its main use is to polish brass shell casings for reloading. Im not lazy, but have been busy lately and if this can help me start cleaning up a razor while doing other things instead of devoting an hour with a toothbrush it would be a big help.

 

[cyberdog]

Hmm, not sure I'd do any Lacquered (Gold Washed) razors, it might remove the protective lacquer, allowing the gold to nearly wipe off. Just about anything damages the lacquer on those razors, as I found out trying to gently polish an New SC.

My other fear would be any with painted markings, in addition to Red, Black, or Blue tip Super-Speeds, an adjustable would most likely loose the painted markings, and the handle on a Super Adjustable *might* have a resin coating over possibly soft aluminum, so it would also be a no-no in my book.

That's a vibrator and not really a tumbler, right? - I think of a rock tumbler, when I hear tumbler, I believe those only use vibrations, and not rolling, which might damage silo doors.

 

[cgsample]

Mine is similar to this. Its filled with pulverized corn cob and then when plugged in it starts to vibrate. Its main use is to polish brass shell casings for reloading. Im not lazy, but have been busy lately and if this can help me start cleaning up a razor while doing other things instead of devoting an hour with a toothbrush it would be a big help.

Any updates from the last six months? How about with walnut shells?

 

[Jbird45]

Any updates from the last six months? How about with walnut shells?

I actually didn't give it a try. I was afraid of something getting broken or stripping plating. I do have a super speed from the 60's that's a duplicate though I could toss in there as an experiment. If it ruins it, it was double anyway. I will keep you posted if I try anything.