Brian - there are really two concerns in choosing a tumbler - the
size of the pieces you wish to finish, and the number of them that
you plan to run at the same time.
The jewelry needs to be able to turn freely in all directions in the
torroid of media that develops as you run the tumbler. Plan on 85%
media, minimum, and try and get your head around the number of leaves
that you will run and whether they might run into each other.
A first guess on the size you might need is a Raytech AV-25, 7.5
quart, 0.24 cf, 20 lb capacity. It would pretty much do all the
things you show on your website. Anything smaller would likely
create impingement problems with the pointy ends of the leaves.
The only downside to picking an over size tumbler is that you will
still always run it full of media, and the media wears itself out
eventually. Given the cost of tumblers, I'd go for a big one. It
takes a long time to wear out the abrasive media, and the bigger the
tumbler, in my experience, the faster it finishes.
Tumblers cost kind of like an employee for a week or two - but they
work at night, and weekends, don't get sick, and are never asking for
two hour lunches. You gotta love 'em.
What you will miss is having to breathe the gunk from the buff,
backache from bending over the wheel, hot fingers. Need I say more?
Judy Hoch, G.G.
@Judy_Hoch
www.marstal.com
