Stupid Question...

[bamabottles]

hey epackage, I tumble the inside of all my bottles before doing the whole bottle just because I found out the hard way that outsides get overtumbled while trying to get the inside clean. Insides are always more heavily stained.

Here is what I found works. Go to home depot or lowes and pick up 3 inch white drain pipe, not the schedule 40 stuff,but the cheaper stuff for drain pipes. Also get some rubber corks, i want to say mine are 5/8 inch at the small end. Get some duct tape and rubber bands if you don't have any. AND get some of what they call a "knockout test cap" for 3 inch pvc. Here is the link to one so you know what you are looking for...
http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/100122751?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=3+inch+pvc+cap&storeId=10051&N=5yc1v&R=100122751#.UWNh6ZOG2So

Anyway, those "knockout" caps snap into the end of a pvc pipe and can be pried out with a screwdriver. Best of all, they take up almost no space in the pipe, unlike traditional stopples.

So, take the bottle and fill with concoction of your choice along with copper. For insides, i have found 1200 grit for 4 days is best all around, then you can do another 3 days with aluminum oxide. If not too bad, then 5 or 6 days with 1500 will work. Anyway, after filling and putting in water to within 2 inches of top, take the rubber cork and put in mouth, making sure it is secure by giving a twist. Then for safety, i always take a strip of duct tape and secure the cork. Nothing makes more of a mess than a cork that comes loose. Then, I take 3 wide rubber bands adn put on body of bottle to keep it from slipping in the hand towel, which the bottle is rolled into... then i take and put 3 wide rubber bands on outside of hand towel to keep it from slipping inside the tube, then slide it into tube and place the knockout cap on the end.... works great for me.

 

[bamabottles]

Hey epackage, how did your inside tumbling work out?

 

[epackage]

I never found a rock tumbler big enough and cheap enough to try it Bama, even the beatup ones get good money on Ebay. I'm going to be trying the latest method with the automotive rubbing compound and a cordless drill with a shammie on a fiberglass rod...

 

[hemihampton]

How'd the cordless drill method work? LEON.

 

[bamabottles]

epackage, i know it is a pain to do, but very feasible to build your own tumbler at a pretty reasonable price. I have one that was hand built myself. i can post pics. I am more than willing to help if you decide to tackle it. You just need to find a few parts, most of which are easily found on ebay or other sites. And that way you could do both inside and outside. I would suggest a 2 canister machine at the very least. You can put 2 of the 4 inch canisters on bottom and one 3 inch for inside only in the center on top of the other two. If you build it long enough, you can have each of the 4 inchers as double canisters, which would give you a 4 bottle capacity.

 

[epackage]

Thanks bama, I actually have a list of the needed components and a detailed breakdown on building one. I haven't yet decided I want to go that route, but I may...