[Jewelry making - Article 00099] - Re: [Orchid] DIY tumble polisher

[Judy Hoch]

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>     If I were going to get a new tumbler, I'd get the same thing
>     again. I'd stay away from the rotary tumblers. 1st off they're
>     slower than the vibratory, it takes a vibratory about 1/2 hour for
>     a good finish, longer won't hurt, but isn't necessary. 2nd, There's
>     no lid to leak or belts to replace. They're just a whole lot easier
>     & more reliable than rotary tumblers.

    I'd like to respectfully disagree with Dave Arens - when using
    steel, there is no difference in the time between vibratory and
    rotary machines. When using abrasive media, the vibratory is about
    three times faster. I find that I get a very good finish with steel
    in a rotary tumbler in thirty minutes.

    Porcelain media comes in two flavors - abrasive and smooth for
    polishing. Usually the abrasive media is little cylinders and has a
    rating for what kind of finish you can achieve. This stuff is used
    just like any other abrasive media.

    The polishing media comes in little spheres. There are two very
    important guidelines to polishing with it. First, you really need
    more than one size of sphere. The second guideline is critical to
    getting a good polish. The new media must be conditioned for a
    substantial period. To condition porcelain spheres, load your closed
    system vibratory tumbler with your polishing media, add five to ten
    percent by volume of silver pieces. I typically use fused or cast
    pieces. Add water and run for five days. Check periodically to make
    sure that the tumbler hasn't gone dry. I use about one fourth volume
    of water of the tumbler capacity. For example if you have a five
    quart tumbler, you need about a quart of water.

    When your five days of conditioning is done, you will discover the
    most wretched dirty mess. You will curse me. Separate the metal from
    the media. Wash the media in soapy water. Use your ultrasonic on the
    metal to get the gunk out of the crevices. The media will be kind of
    grey and forever after will polish beautifully. It is substantially
    cheaper than stainless steel and IMHO works far better than steel in
    a vibratory tumbler. You certainly could condition with gold, but
    silver works just fine for conditioning and it doesn't matter what
    metal you run after conditioning the media.

    Vibratory and rotary tumblers both have a place in mass finishing.
    I've had this particular rotary tumbler for 12 years, maybe more, and
    it has worked flawlessly. It's fairly large because I often tumble a
    batch of anticclastic cuff bracelets in it. If you do big stuff, your
    tumbler, whether rotary or vibratory, needs to have enough space for
    your work to tumble freely.

Judy Hoch
www.judyhoch.com
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