Terrific Tumbler

There are a variety of Different tumblers and media. It is vital to choose the best pairing for you set up!

A tumbler is a great tool to own for any jeweller or craftsman- beginner to professional. The uses for a tumbler are endless from cleaning empty bullet shells, to polishing stones, jewellery, dental laboratory field, engineered spare parts, cleaning rust & castings. Different brands have different looking motors that work in different ways. Remember to use the right barrel with the right motor & media and pair it with the right polishing compound for the best result.

The main benefit of using a tumbler is the amount of time you will save compared to polishing by hand. As you can make a batch of jewellery, tumble polish & get on with something else. It will also get into nooks & crannies that polishing mops won’t be able to reach quickly & easily.

Generally magnetic tumblers are quicker than rotary tumblers , they use very fine specialised pins. These get into very hard to reach spots without causing too much damage to your piece. This uses a constant speed in one direction only.

Rotary tumblers are more abrasive take longer & need more heavy duty steel media to create the desired burnish, rotary tumblers generally have options of directional settings, various speeds & a timer. Flat plate & very fine basket wire work is not always ideal for rotary tumbling. A mix of 3 different shot ( orbit , balls, pins ) is ideal & must be used with the polishing powder. You do get various other wet or dry barrels for rotary where your drum can be changed from ceramic, walnut or porcelain shot to get different stages of finishing.

All of these tumblers are ideal for working off jewellery castings, coins or tarnished jewellery. 

Vibrating tumblers are also an older form of tumbler, where similar media’s are used to the rotary tumbler & also give the similar finish, these are generally very large drums and can be filled wit the same type of media as the rotary barrel.

Ceramic balls satisfy the bulk of our customers’ requirements in terms of a quick shine up and clean , its a cost effective media by 1kg standard for a general quick shine up and little working off needed.

Abrasive triangle and alum oxide are ideal for dry tumbling chuncky gems stones.

Use with barreling soap or powder for best result.  Can be used in rotary or vibrating tumbler.

Magnetic tumblers generally use a liquid cleaning concentrate rather than the powder which causes a foam when used.

Handle small runs & touch-ups. The clear barrel allows you to monitor your piece & an easy-to-use lid gives you quick access to contents. Used with steel shot/media ( orbit , balls, pins ) & barreling powder compound with timer, direction & speed controllable. Or ceramic media code A0126 for a quick shine up, if items need de burring of rough edges try the plastic triangle.

Use the fine magnetic pins to cleaning of bullet shells. If you need a quick dry shine up Walnut shells work very well too.

Did you know if there is a media cleaner that cleans your steel media to stop rust & tarnishing in your barrel. 

We offer small or large rotary tumblers as well as magnetic tumblers. Along with the media & burnishing solvent – shop online!