[Jewelry making - Article 00822] - Re: [Orchid] Vibratory tumbler dry media for PMC

[Judy Hoch]

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    Karan - Let me try to answer your questions - 

    The rust cutting media on harbor freight appears to be a lightweight
    plastic media very similar to that sold by Rio and others. The media
    I know is gentle on work pieces. Since you bought a five-pound
    tumbler, you need five pounds of media. Fill the bowl 90 percent
    full, and then add your work pieces. The volume of media is required
    to make the tumbler produce its torroidal motion. Using just a bit of
    media will result in having the pieces just jiggle, not clean.

    IMHO, I would purchase media intended for your use. I don't know
    what kind of abrasive is in the harbor freight media and it really
    could do damage to PMC since it is intended for use on heavy metal
    parts. Go to any of the jewelry suppliers and purchase a five-pound
    bag of their lightweight plastic media. The pyramid shape works well
    with PMC textures. It will smooth your work but will retain all your
    textures. Use it with water and a deburring compound mixed to
    specification. This media used dry will leave gobs of junk in your
    work. Even though this is a dry tumbler, you can run it wet. It just
    isn't a flow thru process. I would start out trying a two hour cycle,
    checking your work for your desired finish, and repeating up to
    three more times if necessary.

    Dry media is used in a second step to polish the PMC. The choices of
    dry media are myriad. I tend to use wood chips charged with
    simichrome or chrome oxide. This is similar to charging your buff
    with rouge, just something to make the media work properly. You can
    purchase several kinds of dry media already charged. A good example
    is the green buff sold by Rio.

    And last, my book Tumble Finishing for Handmade Jewelry is available
    from most of the Orchid jewelry supply sponsors. 

Judy Hoch
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