My new Toy

tmuir · My new Toy

It looks like I'm going to do a couple of days consultancy work over the Christmas break so I've got some extra money coming in so I decided to buy a machine I've been wanting to get for some time to help me improve the finish on my gold and silver jewellery I make.

This is a vibratory tumbler.

Its basically has about 1.7kg of highly polished stainless steel shot inside it covered with water and a small amount of pure soap added as well.
You place your cleaned and ready to be polished jewellery in it and turn it on.
Basically it has an electric motor that vibrates the tub and causes all the shot to move in a circular motion whilst vibrating against anything next to it.
This action burnishes the silver or gold until it comes up to a high shine which takes several hours. It takes a while but can polish delicate parts I can't polish on a buff and is great for chains too.

Here is a picture of the shot and water with a ring that I'm polishing strategically pulled slightly out of the shot for the photo.

Here is a close up of the shot, notice the different shapes and sizes to ensure it gets into all the places a buff would miss.

PS I've orderd all my supplies to finish that enamel necklace now too.

Stilldrillin

Wow!!That shot looks good stuff.
Reminds me of my shooting days. I made several similar cleaner/ polishers for cartridge cases.
I think the medium was walnut husks.

johnreid

you need one of these to go with it
http://www.yesteryeartoys.com/cgi-local/toycatalog.cfm?view=M67

Mister Occlusion

Interesting media in the tumbler. The one we use for cartridge brass uses irregular pellets made from ground up corncob or something, which we then pour a somewhat abrasive compound into to coat them.

I would have thought SS would mar or damage the softer metals. Guess not. Neat stuff!

tmuir

Mr O, Still drillin, you can use the stuff you said too.
There is several types you can use.

Natural Media which is walnut husks or corn cobs etc

Plastic Media : - plastic with abrasives impregnated into the plastic but this is really more just for deburing not polishing

Ceramic Media: There are several grades and shapes and depending on what you get it could be for deburing or polishing

Stainless Steel Shot: Fastest working and also the most expensive.

Steel Shot: Like the stainless steel one but will rust if not looked after but cheaper than SS shot.

Cranko

We use scraps of leather and water to polish the stainless

steamyman

Wow! what a machine, good buy, Tony.