Darned if I can remember where I put the liquid polishing compound.
Is there anything around the house that will work with ceramic
balls?
Janet
Darned if I can remember where I put the liquid polishing compound.
Is there anything around the house that will work with ceramic
balls?
Janet
Liquid dish soap and water goes in with my ceramic and vinegar and
water goes in with my steel shot. Regards Rich
Many of the wire wrappers on another list I am on use the liquid dish
soap with their steel shot. I’m just getting my tumbler set up. Is
there a reason for using the vinegar with the steel instead of the
liquid dish soap? Difference in finish?
Thanks!
Beth in SC
You have to be careful with the term liquid dishwashing detergent.
Things for basin washing are foam makers( like Joy or Dawn etc )
since people like to see suds. Foam is very bad in a tumbler it
fouls up the contacting. You want an automatic dishwashing
detergent which won’t make foam. If you have ever used a laundry
detergent in a dishwasher you will learn about this first hand.
either the powder or liquid type is ok . use about 1-3 oz per gallon
and less is better than more in cases like this. Acetic acid (
vinegar) is fairly ok with steel shot but I think you are better off
on the alkaline side which makes the dry automatic dishwashing
detergent better or just washing soda.
jesse
Thank you SO much! I would have messed up BIG time!!! How much dry
dishwasher detergent for a standard size small tumbler? I would
think just a teaspoon or so? This is why I have been so hesitant to
tumble - I can see the possibility for so much trouble!
Beth
Hi Beth,
How much dry dishwasher detergent for a standard size small tumbler? I would think just a teaspoon or so?
I’ve been using a small vibratory tumbler with about 5# of stainless
steel shot for alot of years. I’ve only used either a no (or low)
sudsing liquid dishwashing soap or a dry burnishing soap. When I use
the burnishing soap, all I use is healthy pinch of it. When using
liquid soap I only use 4 or 5 drops.
The purpose of the soap is really to act as a lubricant so the shot
& items being tumbled have a better action in the tumbler.
Dave
Be careful with dishwaser detergent, watch out for bleach. Simple
green is a great product to use.
Some parts of this project have 18ga wires soldered together
lengthwise. The groove between the two wires didn’t get shiny, but
the rest is very bright. This was after six hours of tumbling with
Sunsheen ceramic balls.
What do I need to do next–add a smaller size of medium, change to a
different type medium, or just tumble it longer?
Janet
Some time ago an old rock hound told me to use a teaspoon of
shredded Ivory soap in my tumbler to polish my silver. I have a
three barrel tumber—small barrels. This cheap method is very
effective. I have never had any pitting, have used it on keum boo,
delicate chains, or whatever else needs polishing. I think one of
the reasons I’ve never had pitting is that I usually tumble for
about 15 minutes—no more. I never could understand why one would
need to continue to tumble once the silver is all sparkling clean.
and free of tarnish. Alma
a small vibratory tumbler with about 5# of stainless steel shot
Hi Dave, What brand and model tumbler do you use? (I want to buy
one,but want to be sure it has enough power to tumble steel shot.)
thanks, Andrew
Be careful with dishwaser detergent, watch out for bleach. Simple green is a great product to use.
Richard - I can use the Simple Green in the tumbler with the
stainless steel shot? Any idea how much? Any gems not to use it on
(no pearls or opals in tumbler I assume!).
Thanks!
Beth in SC who is learning a lot!
Hi Janet,
Some parts of this project have 18ga wires soldered together lengthwise. The groove between the two wires didn't get shiny, but the rest is very bright. This was after six hours of tumbling with Sunsheen ceramic balls.
In order to get the cleft between the 2 wires polished, the tumbler
must have a media that can get into the cleft & contact the wire.
The odds are the ceramic balls are too big. If I were polishing
things with small crevasses in a tumbler, I’d use stainless steel
shot of assorted shapes. The shapes should contain some small pins
able to get in these small spaces.
Dave
I have found that Murphy’s “Wood Oil Soap” and it’s generics, have
been excellant and economical for all wet tumbling. I use just a
teaspoon full or saw (measureed by eye) in a 1.5 pint rotery tumbler.
Hope this helps. Ed
About an once depending on how much shot you are using. I use
standard precautions used for ultrasonic concerning stones. I also
use stainless steel mixed medium shot.
LaVerne
Hi Andrew,
What brand and model tumbler do you use? (I want to buy one, but want to be sure it has enough power to tumble steel shot.)
The one I’m using was made by Gemstone of Simi Valley CA. The bowl
is about 8 or 9" in diameter & 4" deep. It’s shaped like an angle
food cake pan. I talked to the mfg yesterday at the Tucson show & he
said he hasn’t made any for a number of years.
In place of that one, you might check at a shooting sports store.
They sometimes have vibratory tumblers, at a better price than the
jewelry suppliers I might add. Folks who reload their own ammo use
them for cleaning the brass before reloading.
Dave
The groove between the two wires didn't get shiny, but the rest is very bright. This was after six hours of tumbling with Sunsheen ceramic balls.
You need media that can burnish down in the groove. That’s what
mixed shot is for, with its pins and little ball-cones (the ones that
look like Saturn). Sometimes you have to remove the pins from your
mixed shot because they can become lodged in artwork, and they aren’t
always needed for good results, but sometimes they are necessary, and
sometimes you need something even smaller, like the teeny pins of a
magnetic tumbler.
The size and shape of media can be important. I just ran into this.
We had a closed form that had several large holes going through it,
and the closed form had some “squinched” areas. The potential for
small cones getting permanently stuck was obvious. Like most people,
we add new tumbling media to old as the volume decreases (the media
wears down and becomes smaller). Consequently, there are some fairly
small cones in our every-day mix (this is usually a good thing). We
used all new media for this project and had no trouble.
Dana Carlson
Right you are, Richard, to caution against bleach. Recently I
decided to try a clever household hint to use dishwasher detergent on
old bathtub stain. It worked like a charm but ruined the sleeves of
my sweatshirt which now have rather tie-dye designs bleached into
the blue. Who knew the stuff contained so much bleach ? Read
labels folks - keep the inquiring minds busy.
Pat
Andrew, I mail-ordered a tumbler from http://www.cheaperthandirt.com.
They are listed in the Reloading section.
Janet
Hi Janet
Which one did you get? I am also looking for a tumbler (small 3lb
capacity for PMC).
I saw the model #38250 - but as I can only ‘see’ it online, any info
would be most helpful.
Thanks
Bea