Vibratory Tumbler

:-D ... glad that tip's working on for you Mike.

Nuker, the baskets I've got used to be silverware containers inside of dishwashers. Find them at used appliance stores, thrift shops (or maybe your wife has an old one stashed somewhere ... you know we keep that "useless weird chit" apparently for no reason whatsoever LOL). The plastic mesh is fine enough to let the media come through but the holes aren't so large that your hardware falls out.

Nuts and washers are easiest/fastest to blast when strung on a piece of wire shaped into a hoop; pick a starting point, blast it, and then flip it over to the back of the wire hoop until you're done with the hardware, and then turn the whole hoop around and blast the other sides of each nut/washer.

I also keep a dedicated pair of cheesy needlenose pliers and a pair of slip joint pliers inside the cabinet at all times to hold small parts. A $2 set of pliers is a lot cheaper to replace than a $25 pair of blasting gloves!!

And as far as Eastwood's customer service goes, I was a happy Eastwood customer for over 19 years and bought thousands of dollars' worth of equipment and consumables from them over the years. They were always good to work with.

Until I bought one of their so-called "Pro 1100" powder guns ... and returned FIVE of the P.O.S. in less than a year. When I encountered the same old problems with the latest of the guns, I was prompted to return it like I had the previous four. The office manager, Kathy, telephoned me upon its arrival and indicated they would no longer honor the warranty and would not accept any further orders from me. What's really strange is that the guy I had been dealing with for years, Don Bechtel who ran their entire Powder Coating Division, was no longer working there either.

So basically they fired me as a customer because I kept having problems with their crappy powder coating guns. They left me in an unexpected lurch with jobs here and no gun to shoot them with. "Pro" 1100 my azz ... that thing was a joke even for the occasional hobbyist let alone full-time use.

I went with a different manufacturer and now enjoy working with a Cadillac instead of the Pinto they were selling, and I never looked back. The funny thing is, Eastwood quit selling the Pro 1100 powder guns a couple years ago. Guess I wasn't the only one who thought they were pieces of crap! After that fiasco I'd never take another thing from Eastwood if they sent it to me for free.

They may be treating you nicely now Nuker ... but that attitude may not last forever if you have other warranty issues in the future. :-D