I am looking for a new, small rotary tumbler. I have used a hobbyist tumbler for awhile and it is time to upgrade. Before I go further I must say I have looked in the Archive and there isn’t much newer than 2006. Brother Rob has a Lortone QT 6 and that’s the direction I am looking. I use it for metal work rather than Lapidary. I make my own earring wires so I will tumble them in ceramic rods to debur the ends and put a glow on them before I put them in a pair of earrings. I will also use it with SS shot to dress up some finished silver bracelets and ornaments that have gotten a little dull.
Is there something new on the market I should consider? A better process? Tell me about magnetic pin machines. And am I on the right track?
Don…The QT6 is my workhorse. I use it to tumble earrings. I have worn out the barrel. The smaller ones may only see SS shot to finish, bigger ones will be polished on the wheel and then tumbled. The biggest issue is whether or not I can safely hang on to them to polish. I have a magnetic pin finisher and use it on small pieces, but the finish is not what I like for a final finish. I too make my own ear wires. Both ends are balled with the pulse arc before the ear wire is formed and tumbled. I use 20 gauge half hard Argentium. Feel free to try out the pin finisher. There are newer tumblers on the market, but they all seem to work the same way. Be sure that the inside surface of the barrell has multiple faces and is not a smooth round surface…Rob
I have a basic Lortone 3A as well as an Arbe MGT-095. I rarely use the magnetic finisher as compared to the simple tumbler. I find pyramid media and steel shot much more useful on a daily basis. I use it for de-burring, cleaning, purposeful oxidation removal, and “shining” (I guess pre-polishing?) Even on the occasions where I think, oh! the tiny magnetic pins will clean this right up! I just tend to be disappointed.
When I was doing lots of shows, I bought a large vibratory tumbler and later a couple more so that I could keep the media separated. I had to run them in the garage because the noise was not very popular with the others in the house. The final finish was OK, but not always up to my standards developed from years at the wheel. As a result, much of what was tumbled went across the wheel too. These three tumblers sit idle, for the most part, in my shop as I don’t do a a lot of shows. I have been experimenting with different LOS textures using different media then a final run in SS shot. If you want to learn more about the science of tumbling, look for Judy Hoch’s book Tumble Finishing for Handmade Jewelry. Also look for Polishing and Finishing for Jewellers and Silversmiths by Stephen Goldsmith…Rob
To all the Meixner guys - there are better new rotary tumblers - and some really lousy copies. The newer ones are see-through six sided plastic with an ingenious cover that never leaks. I like the ones that have an auto reverse. I bought mine from Rio a long time ago but they only sell some Durabull thing now. I wouldn’t use them with an abrasive. I recommend running with about 25% to 30% steel media and solution to just almost cover the steel.
As to magnetic pin finishers - they do a couple of things very well - cleaning up castings and initial smoothing - sorta - of small stuff. They do not polish - they leave a sparkly finish - which is nice if you are not into high polish. They are really good for cleaning up parts in progress. I especially like them for prepping parts that need to have patina applied. It opens up the surface just enough to really “take” a LOS solution. I’ll try to dig up a picture of what I have.
Meantime - this is a Gesswein one - note the closure.
years ago i stumbled upon an industrial-type website that explained how rotary tumblers worked…and how the % of media used, and speed affects the “action” of the tumbler…i have never been able to find it again…darn it…it even had video showing the different “action” at at different drum fill % and drum speed
if i recall correctly, for steel shot, it said an optimal is 50% fill of media…
which was interesting, as some barrel tumblers are rated for X pounds of shot, but that max will filll less than 50% (as i found out when i bought one of those)
and if you put more shot in, to reach 50%, you may be overtaxing the motor…
barrel rotation speed plays a part as well…they said that you want the media to roll up the sides, and slide back down…in an S wave…if that makes sense…
too fast, and the media and parts (jewelry) rolls/ zooms up the sides, and falls down/ rains down…possibly causing impingement (think dings)
and the amount of media/ barrel fill affects this S wave motion of the media in the barrel as well…to little media volume and the media just slides back down without really creating that S wave coverage of the parts…the parts should sort of tumble back down…within the optimal volume/ S wave of media…
it was a very informative video…i loved that they videoed inside the barrel, sowing what they were talking about…
julie - I have a problem with the description of the motion of the steel. It must run in a barrel with flats inside. You can fill a totally round barrel with steel and you get the motion described. But the value of the rotary is the burnishing caused by the bits of steel very lightly peening the surface. That doesn’t happen with steel swishing around - that only gets bits rolling on the surface, not hitting it. Judy
I too have had the same wonder about see thru barrels. A number of suppliers have see thru tumblers so it’s good to hear of a brand so highly rated. Stainless shot is easily found. In your experience is one type preferred? Pins, balls, or space ships? Or is a mix best.
The only time to include pins is when you have a highly textured surface that you want the dips burnished. Pins usually make for a slightly sparkly finish - in a rotary, but not so much as in a magnetic pin finisher.
i am not an expert…i was just trying to describe what was explained on a video, that made sense to me…
in the video, the volume of media was carried up the sides of the rotating barrel
according to the video, the media then changed direction and tumbled down the sides of the barrel
tumble being a key word here…versus merely sliding back down…speed and volume affects if media tumbles down…or merely slides down…tumbling creates more burnishing effect than sliding down…
the parts were contained within this volume of media by…centrifugal force(?)
the parts “tumbled” down the sides, and were burnished by the surrounding media
too fast speed resulted in media and parts “falling/raining down from the sky” potentially causing part on part impingement…
to little or too much media affected the S rolling nature of the media as it rode up the sides…which i think affected how the parts were burnished in the resulting tumbling down…ie the goal was a gentle tumble action versus merely sliding down the sides…
the creation of the flat sided barrels probably help to promote a good “tumbling” action and inhibit mere sliding down of media(?)
the video camera showed an inside view of the barrel during tumbling and they changed speed and media volume to show the results…
it was a great video…i thought i posted it eons ago…
