Magnetic Tumbler (review)

Well I have been using my mini magnetic tumbler every day for
about a week now and am happy enough to keep it. I expected it to
burnish the metal a bit better than it does. I am casting gold
only and almost all of the waxes are carved. We are smoothing the
waxes with fine files or emery but not polishing the waxes with
solvent.
If the waxes are not completely smooth, or at all rough going in
its going to be rough coming out, just rough and shiney. Its
doing a nice job on interior gallery work and on sufaces that
have been melted up to fit against another ring, and thats mainly
what I wanted. It only takes an hour to tumble. We have used it
on items after we set the diamonds to get that tiny little place
that was in need of thrumming or was hard to reach, its quite
easy to just throw it in for 45 min. do something else and pull
it out finished. I guess if I had to grade it I would give it a B
-.

Mark P.

   ...We are smoothing the waxes with fine files or emery but
not polishing        the waxes with solvent... 

Mark,

Try using nylon stocking to finish the surface of your wax.
Stretch it in an shape or direction you need, either over your
fingers or over anything else you can think of . Tie it off to
your workbench and use like a thrumming cord. It will polish your
wax to a nice smooth finish.

Hope this helps.

Sharon

Well I have been using my mini magnetic tumbler every day for
about a week now and am happy enough to keep it. I expected it to
burnish the metal a bit better than it does. I am casting gold
only and almost all of the waxes are carved. We are smoothing the
waxes with fine files or emery but not polishing the waxes with
solvent.

Mark…Have you tried flame flame polishing ? Try placing
the flame of a small torch close to but not onto the wax. The
nearby heat will soften the wax surface just enough to flow
itself into a smooth surface. With a little care you can round
edges in the same way far faster than a fle or emery will do.
Good luck. Sol K.

bought one 10 months ago. best $2700.00 I spent. it has let me
cast and deliver 14k &sterling castings the same day. I use a lot
of textered pieces and this machine cleans them up in 10-15
min,not 45min .I don’t sell these things but they are great.

                       Marty
  Try using nylon stocking to finish the surface of your wax.
Stretch it in an shape or direction you need, either over your
fingers or over anything else you can think of .  Tie it off
to your workbench and use like a thrumming cord. It will polish
your wax to a nice smooth finish >>

Sharon,

Never tried that, thanks alot for the tip. The checkout guy
probably won’t believe me when I tell him, “No really I’m going
to polish wax with them”.

Mark P.

     Have you tried flame flame polishing ? Try placing the
flame of a small torch close to but not onto the wax. The
nearby heat will soften the wax surface just enough to flow
itself into a smooth surface. With a little care you can round
edges in the same way far faster than a fle or emery will do.

Sol K. Sure have, but thanks anyway. Thats an excellent
technique for smooth rounded surfaces. I guess my point was that
if not super smooth the magetic tumbler won’t get it shiney. Most
of our work is sharp, crisp, channeled peices made to be set with
princess cuts, brills or bags ect. We dont want to smooth with
anything beyond a file because we want to maintain those edges.
Thanks again.

Mark P.

Sharon, try adding a couple of drops of mineral spirits on the
nylon. It acts as a solvent for the wax and helps it fill low
spots and take down high ones. i also use it on my sandpaper to
help keep the wax from clogging it. lots cheaper than wax clean
and does not create a water soluable film on the surface.

Frank

   Sharon, try adding a couple of drops of mineral spirits on
the nylon...

Frank,

Thanks, I’ll give it a try. I’ve used lighter fluid to clean a
wax, but never on the nylon and never mineral spirits.

Have a great day!

Sharon

Sharon, Another (maybe safer) fluid to use in cleaning waxes is
denatured alcohol. Metalsmth

   Sharon, try adding a couple of drops of mineral spirits on
the nylon...

hi all,

eucalyptus oil on the nylons works as well. smells better too.
alcohol is more aggressive.

best regards,

geo fox

      Try using nylon stocking to finish the surface of your
wax. Stretch it in an shape or direction you need, either over
your fingers or over anything else you can think of .  Tie it
off to your workbench and use like a thrumming cord. It will
polish your wax to a nice smooth finish 

Mark, You can also use a really old worn pair of jeans; they
leave a great finish on Ferris File-A-Wax, a bit finer than
nylons. Metalsmth

I haven’t been following this thread, but…

A great NON-TOXIC (at least less toxic than mineral spirits or
lighter fluid) alternative wax-smoothing liquid is “CITRA-SOLV”.
Most health food stores or alternate energy stores have it. It
also works really well for cleaning and removing that gummy stuff
left over when you peel off a sticker.

My 2 cents…

Stephen Bargsten