# tumbling small bottles



## packergene (Oct 17, 2017)

Hello every one,
 I just joined this site today. I have a question about tumbling bottles.
I have been interested in this method for some time now, and want to know
if this works for even the smaller type bottles? I have seen some internet 
videos showing the process, but seems like the bottles are medium to large.
 I have many bottles that are on the smallish side. Most are 4 to 6 inches tall
by 1 to 2 inches in diameter. I can see by the internet videos that the medium 
inside (cut copper along with the cutting/polishing powders), needs room to 
"slosh" around as the bottles spins? Seems like the smaller the bottle, the less 
room for the sloshing ??? I don't know. I have no experience what so ever.
Can any one let me know about this? I would hate to invest into this just to 
find out it doesn't work. I have added a photo to show an example of my collection.
 Thanks for any help.


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## nhpharm (Oct 20, 2017)

I've seen a lot of small bottles successfully tumbled but I imagine it takes a bit of trial and error to get the insides cleaned up well...the outsides should be easy.


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## bottlehawk (Dec 5, 2017)

Sometimes I reload shell casings and I use a large tumble to polish the brass. The component in the tumbler is regular small bird seed that you would use at a feeder. So one day I popped in several small bottles, set the tumbler on slow and the next day the bottles turned out great both inside and out.


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## andy volkerts (Dec 5, 2017)

It mostly depends on the size of the tubing yu are using. I would think that a 2 1/2  inch lexan tube would work just fine with your bottles, also use finely cut copper wire or shot for the cleaning medium. I have used a 3 inch tube, but it is a little big. I don't have many small bottles, so I used my 3 inch tube and small shot and it worked ok. yu have to check on your bottles a bit more because they seem to clean faster then bigger bottles do


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