Looking at this vobratory polishing for smaller parts, just a tabletop unit. Where do you get media? Eastwood is outragously priced i think. thinking mostly aluminum parts, and rusty small parts. What liquids to use as additives? I know warbozz here on the hamb did this, but i think he fell off the face of the earth. Just looking for some input here. wheres a good site to read about this? googled a bit but didnt come up with much.
Check with a gun shop. The guys that reload their own shells use small vibratory tumblers to clean shell casings. They use crushed walnut shells dry.
im not looking at a tumbler.. its a Bowl type... i think walnutshells will work for finishing but not very well for cutting
I have a bowl type tumbler. Harbor Freight (yeah, shut it) has pyramid shaped media that works well. It will not deburr a freshly machined part, but will give a nice even finish. That walnut shell rouge mix the reloader guys use is pretty worthless - especially for small rusty parts. And careful with adding liquid. Too much and it will completely stop the action of the machine.
For polishing you can use a stainless steel media with different shapes. It is expensive but does a good job. You have to be careful with a bowl type machine, watch the total weight of the parts, media and liquid. Depending on what type of metal you are polishing the liquid will change. Dish washing detergent works well, a small amount of woolite will help keep the media clean. For de rusting the triangle ceramic media works well dry. Joe
i am mostly just looking at getting a bit of a shine on aluminum parts, and cleaning up bolts mostly, and small harware. Kevin, the one i am looking at is the larger of the 2 from harbor freight. i know i know too, but they are 1/3rd the price of the ones from eastwood and look identical. right now ive got some ceramic in it and i ran it a few hours last night with some carb parts in it and it did a pretty nice job.bit i would like somethign that will give it a bit more shine. i was thinking Plastic probably?
Might check Rio Grande. They have all kinds of media. http://www.riogrande.com/MemberArea...7=tumbler media&category|cat_104|276=Tumbling
Ground walnut shells, ground corn cob... add a little nu-finish to it. Thats how I polish my shells for reloading. Its a little over priced at the gun stores, the stuff I have now is Lyman brand. On the shooting forums there are threds about polishing media. Some have said rice works. I have heard you can get cround walnut at pet and feed stores sold as lizard litter or lizard bedding. Some have asked about about kitty litter, tho it works, its clay based and very dusty. running clay dust through your firearm is not good I imagine. But for small parts that your going to clean off anyway i guess it wouldn't matter. Some have sugested grinding your own walnut shells in a coffee grinder. I bet even sand would work. The polishing media is just some abrasive substance. I find my vibratory polisher a nice addition to the garage.
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