Tumbling for fire scale removal?

Jewelry Discussion
1

Has anyone had any success with using tumblers (maybe with an
aggressive medium ) for removal of fire scale on silver ?

2

Yes, stainless steel shot with Rio Grande Super Sunsheen Descaler, a
liquid you add to the tumbler along with the water. Works like a
charm.

Elaine Luther
Chicago area, Illinois, USA
Metalsmith, Certified PMC Instructor
Studio 925; established 1992
@E_Luther

3

Elaine’s suggestion is the way to go, Rio also has the directions to
follow in their tools catalog. I use a 4 step process using the
following:

item# 339-345 & 399-343 (Plastic High-Density Media)
item# 339-408 & 339-409 (Clean Cut Medium Cut)
item# 339-410 & 399-411 (Clean Cut Fine Cut)

The item numbers are for the 5lb boxes of each shape. The last step
is burnishing with steel shot, you can either use stainless steel
(easy care) or carbon steel (requires some maint. after use)

Good luck tumbling!
Terri Collier
Dallas, TX

4 
Yes, stainless steel shot with Rio Grande Super Sunsheen Descaler,
a liquid you add to the tumbler along with the water.  Works like a
charm.

I bought a bottle of Super Sunsheen a while ago, and I just hated
it. It did really nasty things to my shot- a gummy dark brown
coating. I like the powder tumbling soap you mix with water.

Janet Kofoed

5

Hello all

Has anyone had any success with using tumblers (maybe with an
aggressive medium ) for removal of fire scale on silver ? >

For a very good and fast polishing machine, that combines magnetic
polishing, wet grinding and dry polishing, with for instance wall
nut shell.

See http://www.otec.de

I have bought the OTEC maxi. This one is 3 machines in one and is
working very fine and fast.

Maybe for some of you who are in need of small series of production.

Greetings,
Martin Niemeijer

6 
I bought a bottle of Super Sunsheen a while ago, and I just hated
it. It did really nasty things to my shot- a gummy dark brown
coating. I like the powder tumbling soap you mix with water.

I’ve been using Super Sunsheen Descaler for a few years and haven’t
encountered any problems with shot turing gummn, dark brown or
anything like that. I use STAINLESS Steel shot, rather than Carbon
Steel shot, and when I find that the liquid is getting dirty, I
empty my shot into an old pillow case, add some dishwashing
detergent, wash the shot till the water runs clear and rinse well.
Some like COKE (the beverage) to clean their shot.

7

I think it has to do with whether or not you use it in a rubber
tumbler. I’ve found that to be the case with my equipment. I was
excited to try Supersheen and I’m using stainless shot in a rubber
tumbler. I also got a greasy coating on the pieces; I’ve since
switched to a squirt of dishwashing liquid and water. I’m fairly sure
a hard plastic tumbler will not be “eaten away” with Supersheen the
way a rubber tumbler is.

Leda

8

Will the Rio Supersheen work okay in rubber barrels? The Gold and
Silver Burnishing product they have dissolves the insides of the
barrels and deposits it on the work (I am told).

J. S. Ellington

9 
    Will the Rio Supersheen work okay in rubber barrels? The Gold
and Silver Burnishing product they have dissolves the insides of
the barrels and deposits it on the work (I am told).

I’ve used rubber barrels for the past 7 years and haven’t had any
problems.

Terri Collier
Dallas, TX
reply to: @Terri_Collier