Tumbling / vibro polishing

I am late into tis thread, have a few other things to think about,
but, I have had a vibrating tumbler from “Midway” a company who
caters to the gun world.

When first purchased over 5 years ago, there was a caveat about the
bowl. The solution is to find a place that customs trucks with “bed
liners”. Doing this to the inside of the bowls makes them sturdier
and better able to handle rocks which may have sharp edges.

I personally found no difference between these and those I purchased
from jewelry related vendors.

To put some variety into my round stainless shot, I went to the old
fashioned hardware store where they have barrels of miscellaneous
parts and bought a variety of sizes of stainless nuts, and similar.
Works well for me.

Terrie

Is it true that steel shot will overtax the motor of a vibratory
tumbler? 

Janet,

I get this question quite a bit so I’d like to answer and add a few
other points as well. It really depends on the tumbler, but most
vibratory tumblers are NOT rated for steel shot. Not only does it
wear on the motor but the bowl of a vibratory tumbler sits on
springs and the weight of the steel shot compresses these limiting
the action and life. Also the bowl of a vibratory tumbler rated for
steel shot is shaped a little different to get the desired action.
However some people have stated they are successful filling the
tumbler only part way to minimize the weight. On that note, there is
an action/motion created when tumblers are filled to their
recommended capacity with media, usually around 2/3 to 3/4 full,
this is necessary for the most efficiency. In other words it’s not
productive to under fill a tumbler with media, nor is it effective
to overfill it. This is also true for the solution added to the
media. From experience I can tell you a common mistake is under
filling a tumbler with media and then adding the recommended amount
more of the product to be finished. What happens is the media to
part ratio is now out of balance. The least of your worries when
doing this is it takes a whole lot longer to finish your pieces, the
worse case is your work pieces are literally beating each other up.
There really is so much more to add to this so feel free to contact
me off list if you wish.

Sincerely,

Thackeray Taylor
Rio Grande Technical Support.
800-545-6566 ex 13903