Getting the best out of Magnetic Tumblers

Jewelry Discussion
1

To get the best out of Magnetic Tumblers is, the pins should slide
along the pieces to be polished and the pins should not go hit the
pieces. To achieve this action, the solution used should be as thick
as possible.

I soak four or five soap nuts in a liter of water for an hour then
boil the solution for 20 minutes to make the solution thick, remove
the nuts, add burnishing solution in the ratio of 30 ml for a litre
of water. Run the machine for 15 to 20 miutes. I have been getting
remarkable results. My experience is only with gold. Timing is very
important. Don’t over run. thank you,

G. Viswanathan.

2

sounds like an interesting technique! what is a soap nut, and where
do you get them?

thanks

3

Hi

Could someone please translate for a stupid UK jeweller what on
earth a soap nut is?

Kind regards
Chris Parry

4

G.V.

What are soap nuts? I would like to be able to use a magnetic
tumbler that doesn’t texture the metal. But using a thick solution in
the mix sounds like the solution.

Thanks,
Kay Taylor

5 
I soak four or five soap nuts...

What is a soap nut?

Matthew Crawford
www.MatthewDesigns.com

6 
Could someone please translate for a stupid UK jeweller what on
earth a soap nut is?

Hi, I’m in the US and I have no idea what it is either, so I’m sure
you’re not stupid.

Elaine

Elaine Luther
Metalsmith, Certified PMC Instructor
http://www.CreativeTextureTools.com ™
Hard to Find Tools for Metal Clay

7

Soap nuts are exactly that. Nuts [from trees] that are traditionally
used in India for cleaning jewellery

One rubs the nut with a wet brush to produce rich soapy, and natural
foam. Available in any Indian jewellery tools shop.

Very inexpensive, and clean well.

akash
http://www.akashjewels.com

8 
Soap nuts are exactly that. Nuts [from trees] that are
traditionally used in India for cleaning jewellery

Thanks for that. Unless I spend the day stumbling through the forest
trying to find a tree, I have found them on ebay.

Kind regards
Chris Parry

9 
Could someone please translate for a stupid UK jeweller what on
earth a soap nut is?

All you need to do is google “Soap Nuts” and you’ll find all the
you ever wanted to know about this. Too many articles to
list here.

10

thank you akash for your explanation. I too had never heard of soap
nuts. So please excuse me for my ignorance also.

Jennifer Friedman
Ventura, CA

11 
Soap nuts are exactly that. Nuts [from trees] that are
traditionally used in India for cleaning jewellery

Is this the same as soap Bark?

12

FYI: I located a source in the US for soapnuts: zamuta.com

Chris Hanson
Ketchikan, AK