1) What kind of surface finish on your pieces was apparent (as a
result of the initial plastic and ceramic media tumbling) BEFORE
you placed them into the steel shot?
There were no noticeable scratches (pieces went into tumbler w/o
scratches) - it was a pretty fine satin finish. Ran it for about
four hours.
2) What kind of surface finish on your pieces did you get after
tumbling with the steel shot, and before you put them into the
Red Buff?
Here’s the problem - they came out of the shot with just a finer
satin finish, not shiny as a mirror. The red buff added a higher
shine, but still not a mirror. I tumbles for about five hours.
Yesterday someone else said they used Sunsheen super descaler
with the shot. I used sunsheen gold & silver deburring compound.
Is that the difference?
Actually, steel shot and red buff are, in a way, substitutes for
each other rather than media to be used in sequence. I've found
that the shot gives a fine burnished, shiny finish to pieces
which have no surface scratches whatsoever after prepolish stage.
They were shiny, but not what I call a mirror finish.
I use red burr instead of shot for intricate. . . . .
What is red burr? Is this different from the red buff I got from
Rio?
Your problem may be traced to either: 1) not tumbling long enough
in the steel shot
I tumbled for about five hours with the shot.
or, rather 2) what I would suspect, not a fine enough prepolish
surface > as a result of the triangle and cone
tumbling.
I was satisfied with the ceramic and plastic media. It looked
the same as bobbing compound on a soft fluffy buff or red tripoli
leaves it.
Nancy
@nbwidmer