Hello Barbara The magnetic finisher is only a part of a complete
automatic finishing process.
First the items should be (preferably) vibratory finished in cutting
media for between 3 to 12 hours depending on the load, media used,
steps used. Time and steps depends on many factors and the complexity
of an item. We would then use the magnetic finisher on gold for no
more than 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the load to brighten the inner
surfaces of rings and pendants where our polishing compounds or other
types of polishing cannot reach.
Primarily, the magnetic finisher has eliminated the neccesity to "
bomb" in cyanide/hydrogen peroxide… provided that your castings
have not been overheated while soldering or incorrectly cast.
After having used the magnetic finisher to brighten the interior of
your items, you will find that you can easily handpolish the exterior
of the item without a problem…unless you left the gold items in for
too long and pitted the gold. However, it will not harden the surface
of your metal as steel shot will do.
If everything has been done correctly, you may be able to finish the
polishing job in treated walnut shell or treated corn cob to give the
item a high luster. This can add another 6 to 12 hours of finishing
time. We do our large casting jobs this way (1000 -10,000) pieces and
then , if we need to touch up items, it will take 1 man polishing
only a very short time to get excellent polished goods. Our
vibratory machines are large enough to handle 1000 + pieces on an
overnight basis.
There are also high speed rotovibes that start at about $2000 to
$45,000 which will do what my vibe does in 12 hours in about 2 hours.
The problem with these powerful machines is that they will damage
and break/bend small, dainty pieces if you are not extremely careful
selecting your media,timecycles etc…
I must say that what i have seen in the industry is that most people
don’t vibratory their items long enough and then run them too long in
steel shot or magnetic pin polishers.
Something to say about Raytech magnetic finishers is that often , the
recomended cycle time suggested is way to long. The amount of items in
the machine get less damage if their is at least twice as many items
in the bowl… as this will slow the movement down and cut down on
hard impingement caused by the items flying around at some 600
revolutions / minute. The raytech machines are more powerful than many
of the more expensive machines and do a better job. We have 1 raytech
machine that cost us $950 and 1 large machine (not raytech) that cost
$4000. …Guess which one has never broken and does twice the work.
No, I don’t own any of their stock , but i wish i did. 
Daniel
Grandi
http://www.racecajewelry.com model making, mold making, casting ,
finishing in gold, Silver. Bronze and pewter for designers and stores.