Yes, yes, yes! Apply oil ONLY to the bushings with a toothpick, syringe or something like that. And do get the large 1/4" rubber bands as replacement drive "belts."
I like my tumbler, which goes to show that any old dog can learn soething new. See, I poo-poo'ed the concept for many years as a silly affectation. I got mine, used, off ebay for 11$ on a whim. I just separate my coins into two separate containers in my treasure box as I recover them. When I have enough, I load the tumbler.
Mine sits on a piece of rigid closed cell foam, which insualtes much of the noise. I use the aquarium gravel too and a shot of Mr. Clean, 409 or what have you. Sometimes I put in a wad of steel wool, as Bill suggests. I do this at the end of the day, then I just turn it on and go to bed.
When it's done in the morning, I use the basket part of my water scoop (which breaks down into sections) to separate gravel and coin. I just dump the whole mess into the basket which I place in a large, squat bowl half full of water. Gravel goes right on through after a shake or two and the coins get tossed on a towel to dry. I pour off the water and dump the gravel back into the tummbler hopper, ready for another run.
It's not a very exciting aspect of the hobby, but it IS cool to dump out the shiny coins! What a hobby!
