Will - a vibratory tumbler works differently from a rotary tumbler. It is used with an abrasive media. In the US, I recommend rio grandes clean cut media. It comes in different levels of abrasive. After casting, I use a medium cut, followed by a fine cut. that results in somethin like a 3 micron finish. I follow that with a run in the rotary tumbler for about 40 minutes and that gets a decent shiny surface. When I want a high polish, I then run my batch in a vibratory tumbler for about a day in a dry media charged with simichrome or rouge. While it is a lot of running, the tumblers do the work and I can start the next batch. The abrasive media removes very little metal - like about 0.5%, where hand polishing removes about 8% so details are maintained.
Judy Hoch
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