Tumblers

Jewelry Discussion
21

I have been tumbling jewelry for a number of years. One thing I
have learned is that it is necessary to design for tumbling. Not
everything will tumble finish. The other thing that helped me was
purchasing a video about the tumbling process. The video I got
was from Rio, I believe and it wasn’t cheap. In fact I thought it
would probably be a waste of money because I had already been
tumbling for years and thought I knew most of what there was to
know. I guess that watching the tumbling process and the results
on a video really inspired me to setup a flow thru system. This
has made all of the difference in the world.

I use ceramic carbide and plastic media to do cut down and use
walnut shell with a polishing cream to do the polishing.

The great thing about a video is that you can actually see what
the processes look like and the equipment operating properly,
etc.

You did not mention whether or not you used abrasive media in
preparation for the walnut shell. For production work, each
design must have the right medias and duration of tumbling
prescribed to it. Some suppliers will tumble a few pieces for you
and then tell you what they used.

Kenneth Gastineau
@Kenneth_Gastineau1
http://www.ud.net/gastineau

22

We just got a vibrating tumbler where I work. We tried to get a
high polish with rouge and walnut shells but the metal doesn’t
look very different to me than when it went in. Except for the
red rouge all over each piece.

I have made it my mission over the last few weeks to final
achieve the perfect high polish mirror look to my silver pieces.
(Especially with all the talk we had about it here on Orchid) I
do not use a tumbler (but I plan on buying one eventually) but I
finally realized you will never get a perfect mirror polish until
every single scratch and mark is off your work no matter how tiny
and non noticeable it may appear to be to your naked eye (okay,
half of you are like “duh” but lot of us were never really
taught how to finish properly). Unless this is done you will
never get a mirror polish. I don’t think you should use rouge
right off the bat because that does not remove scratches. You
need to make sure your pieces are free of all scratches and marks
first…

DeDe

23 
 I have used steel shot with chunks of Ivory soap and water in
my tumbler, and everything is highly shined!  When it looks
grey and scumy, I wash off the shot in a salad collander, and
start over. I usually leave the pieces in the tumber for at
least 24 hours if I can stand the motor noise.

Ivory Soap??? The stuff you can take baths with??? Kewl! I’ll
have to try that! Thanks for the suggestion!

Regarding the noise, I put the tumbler in my garage . . . that
way, I don’t have to listen to it, but I do have a tendency to
forget that it is running.

24

DeDe
I was tasught in school these basic steps to finish and they work if you
take the time and do them right.

  1. sand 220grit wet dry

2.sand 320 grit wet dry

3.sand 400 grit wet dry

  1. sand 600 grit wet dry

each sanding step untill all previous marks are removed

Polish

  1. bobbing compound or grey star

  2. tripoli or zam

  3. red rouge

you be sure to clean all polishing compounds off before proceding to the
next and not cross contaminate. also each buff must be used only for one
type of compound. and something i finally relized. i keep my buffs in
seperate dust tight container in the polishing room to keep cross
contamination to a minimum and replace my rouge buff regularly moving
the old one to zam and the old zam to grey star. If you use gator skin
or finger protectors of any kind keep a set for each step as to avoid
cross contamination from your hands. wash if not. i like to start each
step with brushes and felt wheels and finish with a soft preworked
muslin buff. I liked the ones with the lead centers best but they
pollute so no more. thats it. its very labor intensive and there are
short cuts but this is what i use for show pieces that must be perfect!
oh! yes wear a dust mask when polishing safety tip of the day.

Frank

25

Dear Frank

Thanks for the tips!! I knew most of the traditional steps but I
never used enough presure with my flex shaft or I would never
sand enough…I was always afraid of messing up a piece…and
first couple of experiences I did because I had no idea what i
was doing!! So I settled on a matte finish for my stuff because
alas it was easier… But thanks to everyone’s advice and your own
I am on my way to perfecting my finishing skills…Next
purchases is a tumbler!!!

26

Nina,

I missed the original note… are u saying that u clean ur stones
using the soap and ammonia or r u suggesting that u use soap and
ammonia WITH SHOT to polish RINGS WITH STONES…

One more thing… what mixture and how much do u put in your
tumbler and for how long to get the job done…

This is my first experience with tumbling… and u seem to be an
’old pro’

I do the following

First, use ceramic for 24 hours(told this is too long Then , use
shot for 24 hours Got burnished silver with little tiny dents.

Its been suggested that I go to 2 hours with ceramic then, 2
hours with shot … each with the container about 3/4 full of
solution , less than 1/2 full of shot…

Should I add the Ammonia and soap to get the polish instead of
the burnish(which appears less shiny???

Thanks,

Jim

27

Does the walnut shell provide a BURNISH or POLISH… Polish be
the shiner of the two (to me)?? Jim

28

Jim,

I’ve been using a small (Gemstone, Simi Valley CA) vibratory
tumbler for about 7 years. It’s used mainly for burnishing fine
& sterling silver chains, however, I’ve tumbled cast & flat
pieces with very good results. Also tumbled gold & gold filled
stuff with no problems. On occasion I tumble a piece that has a
stone/s in it, as long as the stone is harder than steel & not
porus.

The bowl is 8" in diameter & about 4" deep. I have 7.5 lbs of
assorted shapes of carbon steel shot in it, (about 1/2 full). To
this I add a pinc h of burnishing soap & about 1 oz (shot glass
full) of household ammonia; toss in the items to be burnished &
turn it on. Actually, you can use an y very low sudsing soap in
place of the burnishing soap.

Chains take about 1/2 hour, larger pieces take longer but I’ve
never had to let them in over 2 hours. Time depends on how much
of the piece remains imbedded in the shot as the tumbler is
running. Best results are achieved when the shot & items maintain
a rolling churning action. Any time the piece is submerged in the
shot it’s being burnished wherever the shot contacts it.

When the shot looses its shine I dump it into a food strainer
(sorta like a screen) & wash it off with warm water. Dump it on a
bath towel & spread i t around to dry it a little, then back in
the tumbler. Add a shot of ammoni a, a pinch of burnishing soap,
put the lid on tight & run the tumbler for a few minutes. This
coats the shot with ammonia & burnishing soap; helps ke ep the
rust down. Oh, be sure to clean the tumbler bowl out before
putting the clean shot back in. If the tumbler sits a day or two
between jobs, you may want to add another shot of ammonia, a
little experience will help here. If the shot looks really
grungy, I add about 1/4 cup of Draino or lye, a cup of water &
let the tumbler run for 1/2 hour, then do the warm water rinse &
finish as above. I’ve been using the same 7.5 lbs of carbon steel
shot for the whole time. Rust does not seem to be a problem as
long as the lid is put on tightly when not using the tumbler.
Stainless shot would be better if you can afford it. Thunderbird
has it for about $10.00/lb, carbon steel is about $5.00/lb.

This system works well for a low volume operation. For larger
volume, a larger tumbler with a flow through system would reduce
some of the housekeeping chores. Its important to remember that
tumbling with steel shot just burnishes th e piece, it will not
remove scratches, dings or dents. Pieces will come out somewhat
harder than they went in, they’ve been work hardened by the myri
ad impacts of the shot. I’ve never tested a piece, so I don’t
know how much harder it gets.

Tumbling sure’s a lot easier than hand polishing.

Dave

29

Dede, I think you are right saying that it is not possible to get
a mirror finish with a tumbler. You can get a very high finish
with rouge if you get rid of all scratches with a tripoli based
polish first. It does take a long time to get that morror finish
with rouge. it’s a good idea to have a bright light at an acute
angle to see how the surface is improving. With a swansdown mop
on a polishing machine should produce the desired results using
best quality rouge. Richard W UK

30

I just bought a tumbler, we call them barreling machines here
for polishing small silver items. I found that using a small
ammount of mixed steel shot with a polishing detergent, the
surface produced on the silver was poor and quite pitted. I then
increased the ammount of shot by 100% and the surface became much
smoother and brighter. It seems that the optimum ammount of steel
shot produces a good finish and ammounts of steel shot below
that produce a poorer finish. Because of the rolling action of
the barrel a good finish is only produced with the correct
ammount of media because the quality of finish is determined
within a small area of the barrel. there is also more likelyhood
of damage to the work if the ammount of media is too small
because items will crash about in the barrel more. Anyone got any
thoughts on this?

Richard W
UK

31

Hi Richard W:

I don’t tumble yet, but if you check the tumbling texts they
will tell you that, yes, the tumbler has to be optimally full of
media ( of whatever kind ) so that the pieces slide downhill
through it. The sound of the correct amount of media is supposed
to be distinctive. I believe it’s continuous and too little is
an alternating sound as the media goes up the side of the drum
and then slides back down without rolling over the top. i might
experiment with a little, the right amount, too much to see if
the sound indeed is recognizable to you.

32

Hi Richard,

 Because of the rolling action of the barrel a good finish is
only produced with the correct ammount of media because the
quality of finish is determined within a small area of the
barrel. there is also more likelyhood of damage to the work if
the ammount of media is too small because items will crash
about in the barrel more.

It’s my understanding that the barrel should be about 1/3 to 1/2
full of the media being used. When polishing rock using
carborumdum grits, extenders are sometimes used if the volumn of
the charge is not large enough to give the slidding action. The
extenders can be just about anything that is not harder than the
rock being polished. Alot of times it’s just scrap pieces of the
rock being polished.

If you visualize a barrel half full of shot, the side view would
resemble a hill on 1 side and the shape of the barrel on the
other. The idea behind the rotary (barrel) tumbler is this. While
the barrel is rotating the ite ms & media are mostly stationary,
relative to the barrel, until they reach t he top of the hill.
Then a small layer of material will slide from the top o f the
hill to the bottom.

Cutting or polishing action takes place in the small layer of
material th at is sliding down the hill. When it reaches the
bottom of the hill the rota ry action of the barrel carries it
back to the top of the hill. Because the semi fluid action of the
shot causes the position of items to follow a random pattern,
they get abraded or polished evenly.

It should be noted that the cutting or polishing action only
occurs in th e thin layer of media that is sliding from the top
to the bottom of the barrel. The media & items move at different
rates due to their different shapes & specific gravities.

In a vibratory tumbler on the other hand, almost 100% of the
media is moving, relative to the tumbler & items, The cutting or
polishing action takes much less time in a vibratory tumbler.

Dave

33 
    I am also wondering if I need to spend $100 on a tumbler from
RIO or if I can go to my local craft shop and spend $25.  is there
a difference besides size?

For control,you want a vibratory tumber as opposed to rotary.Some
companies achieve this with a concentric arm,other have an electronic
plate.You also want good rheostat speed controls.Your grinding speed
is more effecient faster,while polishing you want to slow down.That
$25 tumber is OK to thrill your child with polished agates.But if you
are doing cut stones,they can chip,or scratch if bounced around too
much.It is also important your cushioning medium.You must use one that
carries the polish well,and fills up the space so the stones don’t
bounce around and break.Once I had a factory with German automatic
cabachon machines.We were processing 10-20,000 pieces a week.We ground
them on a course Diamond Wheel,then a finer wheel.Then we flipped them
over,to grind a slight curvature on the bottoms.Then saved the last
two sanding steps and polishing by 3 days to a week in tumblers.The
time savings was 5-10 minutes per stone,a lot.And you could not
identify them as not having been completly done by hand.Calibration
was tight.Consider also,the materials used to make the seals,and the
type of hard rubber used to make the drums and other components.In the
inexpensive tumbers the belts are poor,and the small DC motors don’t
last.Size is not important,depends your project.The smaller rugged
professional units have more control.Here is a link to a photo of the
Geosonic machines I used.

http://www.LICCINI.com/Photo/Factory/Rfac.htm
If you are curious to see photos of factories(circa
1980),http://www.LICCINI.com/Photo/Photo.htm
Mark Liccini
http://www.LICCINI.com

34

All, Why not make your own tumblers. I have made several they are
easy to construct and last forever. Buy four 1/2 inch center
diameter pillow block bearings. Buy two 1/2 inch steel rods whatever
lengtth you want for your tumbler to run on. But lengths of 1/2 inch
radiator hose. Pull the radiator hose over the rods. Trim off the
radiator hose so that the rod ends will fit into the pillow block
bearings. Attach the pillow block bearings to a frame. I have made
the frame from two by fours or on steel. On one of the rods attach
an 8 inch pulley on the motor attach a 1.5 inch pulley. For a motor
I usually salvage a 100 RPM from an electrical shop. Attach the
motor far enough away to tighten a drive belt. If I remember right
this set up should give you about an 18 RPM turn. In 1-2 hours you
can have an operational tumbler. If you are turning much faster you
will ruin your rocks or jewelry. You can control the RPMs by the
size of your pulleys. A larger pulley on the tumbler will slow the
rotation a larger pulley on the motor will speed the rotation. I use
Lortone barrels, but I have seen most every thing used from paint
cans to plastic jars. A set up like this can run everything from 3
pound barrels to 15 pound barrels. Cost of the set up would be about
$150. This tumbler would out last any of the commercial rotaries.

Gerry Galarneau
www.galarneausgems.com

35

Hi Judy, I have spent the morning reading old posts in the archives
and learning alot. I already have some questions and hope I am not
being a bother to you. I am ordering your book but am too excited to
wait for the book to get here. In an old post you mentioned that you
use a Raytech TV 25 vibratory tumbler. Sounds like you also use a
regular rotary one as well. Was that Raytech model mis-typed? I can’t
seem to find a Raytech “TV 25”. I see Tumble Vibe 18 and I see AV 25.

If I could only afford to invest in only one type of tumbler at the
moment, would you reccomend going with the vibratory? Sounds like
the flow through models are really helpful and cleaner. I can see
where having both viratory and rotary would be very handy, especially
to have two types of media going at the same time.

What about firescale on sterling? Most of my pieces are constructed
with multiple solderings and already have some fine silver built up
when fabrication is complete. You mentioned in an older post that
tumbling removes far less metal from the surface than polishing. Will
I be achieving a finish without exposing the firescale? Or will the
first abrasive media I use actually be removing the firescale. Will I
need to be doing any more depletion gilding on sterling items?

Another question was about items with bezels. Should they just be
tumbled with lighter media? I make some pieces where a bezel setting
is attached to a chain. My bezels are fine silver. Can they take the
tumbling? I hope these questions make sense. I want to order some
equipment and get started. So I am just feeling out what would work
best for me. My work is mostly silver, sterling and fine silver(like
the loop in loop chains), and then some 18K gold as well.

Thanks for any and all advice. I am sure the book will get here
quickly so I can quit bugging you. Thanks-Carrie

36 
 What about firescale on sterling? Most of my pieces are
constructed with multiple solderings and already have some fine
silver built up when fabrication is complete.

When you tumble, use a product like Rio Grande Super Sunsheen
Descaler; a liquid you add to the water. It removes firescale.

Elaine Luther
Chicago area, Illinois, USA
Certified PMC Instructor
@E_Luther