Homemade hand parts tumbler possibility?

My wife was throwing out our old salad/ lettuce spinner and I got an idea to use it as a parts tumbler. Do you think it's possible? The way it works is you wash the lettuce, chop it, put it inside, cover it and crank the handle. Your lettuce spins the extra water off. Stop it and lift out the inner basket. I was wondering if you could put sand in it and tumble clean small parts.