Subject: Tumblers ?

From: [email-masked] (David Hoopes)
Date: Sun, 8 Sep 1996 09:22:50 -0500

We have just aquired a tumbler.  We would like to use it for a number of jobs.
I have seen tumblers in use, but only for iron work.  In that case they used
gravel in the tumbler.  It polished up a piar of tongs, and a length of chain
in a couple of hours.

What should be used to deburr and polish bronze, brass, aluminum, or pewter
castings?

What should I use to remove the scale for forged iron work?

What is the stuff you throw in with the work called?  Where can I buy it?

Are there any general referance books on tumblers?

Thanks.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Hoopes
[email-masked]
Lenexa, Kansas (Near Kansas City, Mo)

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 08 Sep 1996 19:38:07 -0700

Not sure what the medium should be for the softer metals, but for 
descaling forgings, punchings from any manufacturing place works great.
We also included anything cut off during production runs, the little bits
cut off here and there, failed small peices, anything small, (say the 
size of a 50 cent peice or less) and sharp.  Be prepared, tho, the noise
is unbelieveable!  Helps too, if you can rig a big shop vac to draw out
the dust, makes clean-up afterward much easier, and too, clean and finish
as soon as possible after tumbling, you can almost watch the rust form.  
It's a lot like sandblasting, only slower and it won't do the little 
teeny holes and cracks like sand.
  For the softer metals, softer medium.  Sand, walnut shells, sawdust, 
get some more advice from someone more knowledgeable than I.  :-)
 Bob

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From: Michael Spencer <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 8 Sep 96 23:33:00 EDT

An iron foundry near me (in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, now a UN historic
site - plug :-) uses sprues, spills and dribbles with a couple of 12"
pieces of 2x4 tossed in to tumble small-to medium sized castings (wood
stove parts, forge fire pots). These things eventually wear down to
look like shiny pebbles and stones after a while and they then use
them to tumble things they want to put a little better finish on. A
guy told me that the 2x4s were to make it tumble better but I dunno if
that was the wisdom of experience or just "how they allus done it".

I've seen industrial tumble media that look sort of like dry cat- or
dogfood, presumably with engineered shape and abrasive quality. That
was in a Hamilton Standard aircraft plant. A jeweler once showed me
some tumble medium that looked like higly polished, stainless steel,
miniature breakfast cereal -- tiny rods, stars, balls and whatnot --
that he used in a tumbler to produce a sort of refined shotpeen finish
on silver.  I've also seen (I forget where) wooden pegs meant for
tumbling, rather like somewhat oversized shoe pegs that would probably
be good for nonferrous work pieces.

- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer               (902) 543-8375
[email-masked]
URL: http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/mspencer/home.html
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From: isalmon <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 08 Sep 1996 13:04:47 -0700

David Hoopes wrote:
> 
> 
> We have just aquired a tumbler.   
> 

I work primarly with 70/30 Brass and Bronze alloys and Copper.
I wet tumble for 2 to 3 days (Changing the water and cleaning
the media every day) with Silcon Carbide Media and a liquid
deburing compound made for Brass.
For the polishing stage - 10 hours in a fine finish Plastic 
High-Density Media, or Stainless Steel shot, depending on the
type of finish I want, and the liquid deburing compound.
I use only shot, I have found most of the other shapes end
up scratching the softer metal.
  All the above times are for a Rotary Tumbler.  The other 
types; Centrifugal, Vibratory and Disk all take less time
and sometimes different media.
  The Rio Grande catolgue is a useful resourse to see the
different types of media, but you will want to check with
industrial supply places for prices.
  You will need separate media for most of the metals you 
have listed, don't want brass filings mixed in with pewter
pieces etc.

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 09 Sep 1996 17:39:48 -0500 (CDT)

> gravel in the tumbler.  It polished up a piar of tongs, and a length of chain

   Here's a post on cleaning chainmail I got from an armoring list...

---------------------------------------------------------------------

>From [email-masked] Fri Jun  7 12:25:56 1996
Date: Thu, 6 Jun 1996 23:47:35 -0600
From: [email-masked]
Reply-To: [email-masked]
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: Cleaning Mail

>Greetings!
>
>I've been making mail for approximately 2 1/2 years now, and some of the 
>older stuff I have is getting pretty cruddy looking, and I was wondering 
>if I could get some suggestions as to the best way of cleaning mail.  
>I've heard of things like sand, but I was wondering what would do the 
>best job.  I do a bit of work in bronze and stainless, so cleaning these 
>is also a must (bronze tarnishes rather easily as all who have worked 
>with it well know).  Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
>
>Cheers,
>Morgan Wainwright
>
>Kingdom of Atlantia,
>Barony of Bright Hills,
>Canton Spiaggia Levantina
>
>
>
     Maka you some salada dressing (he said with a cheesy Italian accent)
but seriously mix good strong pickling vinegar and some oil that you like
the smell of (canola and corn oils SUCK ) say about 4 litres (one gallon for
you yanks) per hauberk.  Then seal in some kind of barrel or mixer and roll
that puppy down the block and back a few times, or you could just rent a
cement mixer for a day.  The important part of this is the agitation of the
mail against itself, as the mild acetic acid (vinegar) dissolves the
corruption off the good metal, and the light oil coats the same.  this
actually is the somewhat paraphrased version of how they actually cleaned
mail in the um 14th? cent.  
anyways it works well and when your done you can have some salad in your
sallet.  ;)

oh yeah to clean up after just change the solution to just oil  give it a
couple spins and pat off the excess, BTW the solution is reusable although
you may want to change it once it gets really black.

Ulf Ingbrandsson Sgt. of Borealis
Daryl W. Haaland