Tumblers and electric equipment

Jewelry Discussion
1

Dear friends,

I have a few questions about tumblers and electric equipment in
general.

  1. Can vibratory tumbler be used for work hardening? I understand
    that vibratory are faster than the rotary ones, are there any other
    advantages?

  2. I live in Sigapore now, where electric current is 220V, but I plan
    to come back to the US in a couple of years. Is it possible to use
    tumbler and ultrasonic cleaner made for 110V with 220V (with a
    transformer/adaptor perhaps)? I don’t want to burn expensive
    equipment!

Thanks in advance for your replies!

Regards,
Ruslana

2

Hi Ruslana,

That all depends on how hard you want the finished product. Generally
any work hardening is just incidental to to the burnishing/polishing.
Vibratory tumblers aren’t typically used to work harden items, but if
an item were left in for an extended period of time it might get
harder than if left in for a hour or less. I don’t know of any
diffinitive studies done to determine then amount of hardening done
in a vibratory tumbler.

 2. I live in Sigapore now, where electric current is 220V, but I
plan to come back to the US in a couple of years. Is it possible to
use tumbler and ultrasonic cleaner made for 110V with 220V (with a
transformer/adaptor perhaps)? I don't want to burn expensive
equipment!

Step down transformers (220 to 110) are generally available for use
with incompatible voltages. Just be sure the current (amps) carrying
ability of the transformer is great enough to supply the device
connected to it.

The other consideration is the frequency of the power. The US uses 60
cycle power. Many other countries use 50 cycle power. A device (motors
etc) designed to run on 60 cycle power may run slower & warmer on 50
cycle.

Without knowing the type of power supply used in an electronic
device, it’s impossible to determine what effect 50 cycle power will
have. It’s best to ask the manufacturer if 60 cycle electronic
equipment can be used with 50 cycle power.

Dave

3

Hello Ruslana,

Maybe you know this,but a tumbler has one active direction.It go’s
round and round and that is it. A vibratory has two active
directions.One horizontal and the other action vertical.So there is
the benefit of the vibratory.Running a vibratory with steel shots is
something else.You need a very strong motor who can deal with a full
loaded vibratory to get it shaking. Perhaps porcelain beads would
bring you a little bit further,but I don’t like them thatmuch as far
as my experience go’s. About hardening your pieces in a vibratory
…hmmm I don’t think so.Again as far as I know,the action in a
vibratory is not that heavy.The jewelry stays in contact with the
shots and that would take a lot of time to get it hardened.With a
tumbler on the otherhand would this not be a problem due to the heavy
action of it,but … this wouldn’t be good for large pieces because
they get marred by the steel shots.I hope you can use this little
info I have for you. Now, I’m dealing with some 110 Volt equipment
running on 220 V with a transformer and I’m doing this for more then
6 years without heaving any problems at all.The only fact you have to
be aware about is the frequence of the alternating voltage.That
should be from 50 Hertz up to 60 Hertz.If your equipment can handle
this then don’t wurry about it.It will run as smooth as it can
without shortening its lifetime. Thats about everything I can tell.
Regards Pedro Palonso@t-online.de