Question about tumbler
Question:
I want to purchase a tumbler to strengthen some of my work. I was wondering what tumbler you use and what a good capacity size would be. Also, do I need two different solutions for polishing and strengthening?
Answer:
You don't really use a "solution" for polishing and strengthening. Instead, when you put the silver piece in a tumbler with steel shot (tiny pellets made of steel), the natural friction of the pellets against the piece polishes and hardens the silver. You should also add a dab of dawn detergent to clean the piece as well and cover everything with water (just an inch higher).
The final shininess is determined by how much time you leave the piece tumbling, normally between 1 and 2 hours.
I personally have a Lortone 3 pound single barrel, which I really like. Connie Fox's site www.conniefox.com sells it for a reasonable price. She also sells bags of steel shot, you should get a couple of pounds.
I want to purchase a tumbler to strengthen some of my work. I was wondering what tumbler you use and what a good capacity size would be. Also, do I need two different solutions for polishing and strengthening?
Answer:
You don't really use a "solution" for polishing and strengthening. Instead, when you put the silver piece in a tumbler with steel shot (tiny pellets made of steel), the natural friction of the pellets against the piece polishes and hardens the silver. You should also add a dab of dawn detergent to clean the piece as well and cover everything with water (just an inch higher).
The final shininess is determined by how much time you leave the piece tumbling, normally between 1 and 2 hours.
I personally have a Lortone 3 pound single barrel, which I really like. Connie Fox's site www.conniefox.com sells it for a reasonable price. She also sells bags of steel shot, you should get a couple of pounds.
posted by Eni Oken at 12:40 PM
5 Comments:
Have you ever had any gems break during tumbling? It seems pretty rough to use with gemstone beads, or do you add the smaller ones after tumbling?
I have been a longtime fan of your work too!! :)
Chicago Tools makes a very resonably priced 3lb.tumbler that you can get thru Harbor Frieght Tools.
If there is a store in your area you don't have to pay shipping. Otherwise Harbor Freight is on the web.
When using faceted stones, should special consideration be given during tumbling? and
Will tumbling round off the facets?
Usually faceted stones are very hard, and they do not suffer when tumbling unless it is of very poor quality to begin with.
And no, faceted stones will NOT round out from the tumbling, you need to use a special grit in order to do that -- when tumbling just to polish, you use steel shot which will not affect the shape of the stones.
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