Does anyone crush their own walnut shells for their tumbler?

flashhole · December 9, 2010, 05:33 PM

Just curious how to crush walnut shells to use in the tumbler. We eat lots of walnuts and I can't see tossing the shells if I can figure out how to crush them.

jepp2 · December 9, 2010, 06:06 PM

I always just assumed the walnut hull media is crushed black walnuts (but I don't know that). I am guessing you eat a lot of English walnuts?

flashhole · December 9, 2010, 06:10 PM

I eat whatever comes in the bag from the grocery store that my wife brings home when she goes shopping. It looks like the same stuff to me but I am not a walnut connoisseur.

alloy · December 9, 2010, 06:14 PM

Black walnuts mean you crack them with a claw hammer on the back patio concrete slab.
English walnuts, not so much work.
Both good.
Maybe an old coffee bean grinder?

PA-Joe · December 9, 2010, 06:30 PM

Cheaper to but rodent media at your local pet store! 5# bag for like 3.00.

zippy13 · December 9, 2010, 07:19 PM

A food processor with a killer blade?

ohen cepel · December 9, 2010, 07:31 PM

I second the $3 pet store idea.

If you use your wife's $100 food processor and it turns out well please let us know

If she kills you, well we'll read about it in the paper.

Kidding aside, it is a good question. Would give it a try after I had a pile of the material and a yard sale $1 coffee grinder (or similar) to try to crunch them up. I don't know why it wouldn't work.

marsofold · December 9, 2010, 08:24 PM

I went to a place that sells automotive restoration stuff and bought a 50Lb sack of walnut media. It is also used to sandblast paint from cars being refinished.

flashhole · December 9, 2010, 08:32 PM

That's interesting about the use on cars. I bought my Lyman tumbler this past July along with 25# of walnut media. It works great but the media gets pretty dusty. I throw in dryer sheets and they collect a lot of the dust but it is still messy. Good thing for shop vacs. The media I bought will last me awhile. I may just try and crush some of this stuff with a hammer to see how small I can get it.

Memnok · December 9, 2010, 08:53 PM

Holly mother of penny pinchers!!!

flashhole · December 9, 2010, 09:19 PM

Hey .... it's winter ... 3 degrees outside ... ya gotta do something to keep sane ... my wife told me to tell you I resemble that remark.

BDS-THR · December 10, 2010, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Holly mother of penny pinchers!!!

I say put the walnut shells in a 5 gallon bucket and pound them with a sledge hammer until desired particle size is reached.

BTW, if you are allergic to walnut, Powder Valley sells them fairly cheap (Home page > Maintenance > PVI).

Quote:

Ground Corn Cob - 5 LB. $4.50
Ground Corn Cob - 20 LB. $12.00
Ground Corn Cob - 40 LB. $18.00
Crushed Walnut - 5 LB. $6.00
Crushed Walnut - 25 LB. $17.00
Crushed Walnut - 50 LB. $26.00

WESHOOT2 · December 10, 2010, 07:24 AM

I use corn-cob media intended for case cleaning and Dillon Rapid Polish.

I use these because they work best of anything I've tested.

flashhole · December 10, 2010, 07:28 AM

I am thinking through a suitable method for crushing them. I'm curious how the folks who sell the stuff crush it.

I'm in farm country and surrounded by corn fields. Maybe I should be asking how to grind up the corn cobs. I have a never ending supply of those.

Brian Pfleuger · December 10, 2010, 10:19 AM

You need a Blend-Tec blender....

http://www.willitblend.com/videos.as...dglobalwarming

brickeyee · December 10, 2010, 11:32 AM

"I am thinking through a suitable method for crushing them. I'm curious how the folks who sell the stuff crush it."

Usually with a burr grinder.

It makes more consistent grains.

The same sort of thing used to grind coffee.

You need a tool that cuts, not smashes to get anything approaching a consistent particle size.

December 9, 2010, 05:33 PM	#1
flashhole Senior Member Join Date: February 9, 2005 Location: Owego, NY Posts: 2,000	Does anyone crush their own walnut shells for their tumbler? Just curious how to crush walnut shells to use in the tumbler. We eat lots of walnuts and I can't see tossing the shells if I can figure out how to crush them. __________________ ,,, stupidity comes to some people very easily. 8/22/2017 my wife in a discussion about Liberals. Are you ready for civil war?

December 9, 2010, 06:10 PM	#3
flashhole Senior Member Join Date: February 9, 2005 Location: Owego, NY Posts: 2,000	I eat whatever comes in the bag from the grocery store that my wife brings home when she goes shopping. It looks like the same stuff to me but I am not a walnut connoisseur. __________________ ,,, stupidity comes to some people very easily. 8/22/2017 my wife in a discussion about Liberals. Are you ready for civil war?

December 9, 2010, 07:31 PM	#7
ohen cepel Senior Member Join Date: November 20, 1999 Location: Where they send me Posts: 1,013	I second the $3 pet store idea. If you use your wife's $100 food processor and it turns out well please let us know If she kills you, well we'll read about it in the paper. Kidding aside, it is a good question. Would give it a try after I had a pile of the material and a yard sale $1 coffee grinder (or similar) to try to crunch them up. I don't know why it wouldn't work. __________________ He who dares wins. NRA Life Benefactor Member

December 9, 2010, 08:32 PM	#9
flashhole Senior Member Join Date: February 9, 2005 Location: Owego, NY Posts: 2,000	That's interesting about the use on cars. I bought my Lyman tumbler this past July along with 25# of walnut media. It works great but the media gets pretty dusty. I throw in dryer sheets and they collect a lot of the dust but it is still messy. Good thing for shop vacs. The media I bought will last me awhile. I may just try and crush some of this stuff with a hammer to see how small I can get it. __________________ ,,, stupidity comes to some people very easily. 8/22/2017 my wife in a discussion about Liberals. Are you ready for civil war?

December 9, 2010, 08:53 PM	#10
Memnok Member Join Date: November 27, 2009 Posts: 33	Holly mother of penny pinchers!!! __________________ Clint ---------------------------------- Good government is no substitute for self-government. Mahatma Gandhi That government is best which governs least, because its people discipline themselves. - Thomas Jefferson

December 9, 2010, 06:06 PM	#2
jepp2 Senior Member Join Date: December 24, 2008 Location: Loveland, CO Posts: 1,476	I always just assumed the walnut hull media is crushed black walnuts (but I don't know that). I am guessing you eat a lot of English walnuts?

December 9, 2010, 06:30 PM	#5
PA-Joe Senior Member Join Date: June 9, 2010 Location: NEPA Posts: 909	Cheaper to but rodent media at your local pet store! 5# bag for like 3.00.

December 9, 2010, 07:19 PM	#6
zippy13 Senior Member Join Date: August 23, 2008 Location: SoCal Posts: 6,442	A food processor with a killer blade?

December 9, 2010, 08:24 PM	#8
marsofold Member Join Date: January 18, 2008 Location: PENNSYLVANIA Posts: 46	I went to a place that sells automotive restoration stuff and bought a 50Lb sack of walnut media. It is also used to sandblast paint from cars being refinished.

December 9, 2010, 09:19 PM	#11
flashhole Senior Member Join Date: February 9, 2005 Location: Owego, NY Posts: 2,000	Hey .... it's winter ... 3 degrees outside ... ya gotta do something to keep sane ... my wife told me to tell you I resemble that remark. __________________ ,,, stupidity comes to some people very easily. 8/22/2017 my wife in a discussion about Liberals. Are you ready for civil war?

December 10, 2010, 07:24 AM	#13
WESHOOT2 Senior Member Join Date: February 20, 1999 Location: home on the range; Vermont (Caspian country) Posts: 14,324	I have cleaned SO MANY cases I use corn-cob media intended for case cleaning and Dillon Rapid Polish. I use these because they work best of anything I've tested. __________________ . "all my ammo is mostly retired factory ammo"

December 10, 2010, 07:28 AM	#14
flashhole Senior Member Join Date: February 9, 2005 Location: Owego, NY Posts: 2,000	I am thinking through a suitable method for crushing them. I'm curious how the folks who sell the stuff crush it. I'm in farm country and surrounded by corn fields. Maybe I should be asking how to grind up the corn cobs. I have a never ending supply of those. __________________ ,,, stupidity comes to some people very easily. 8/22/2017 my wife in a discussion about Liberals. Are you ready for civil war?

December 10, 2010, 10:19 AM	#15
Brian Pfleuger Moderator Emeritus Join Date: June 25, 2008 Location: Austin, CO Posts: 19,578	You need a Blend-Tec blender.... http://www.willitblend.com/videos.as...dglobalwarming __________________ Nobody plans to screw up their lives... ...they just don't plan not to. -Andy Stanley

December 10, 2010, 11:32 AM	#16
brickeyee Senior Member Join Date: December 29, 2004 Posts: 3,351	"I am thinking through a suitable method for crushing them. I'm curious how the folks who sell the stuff crush it." Usually with a burr grinder. It makes more consistent grains. The same sort of thing used to grind coffee. You need a tool that cuts, not smashes to get anything approaching a consistent particle size.