Gallery, Projects and General > The Design Shop

Magnetic Tumbler, Polishing home brew unit

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ScroungerLee:
Funny, one of those jewelry links sells magnetic tumblers for as little as $179.  Small though.

http://www.gesswein.com/catalog/catalog.cfm?catalog=1&cat=9&sub=3&subsub=13

Lee

PTsideshow:
They have summed up the items you asked about, pretty well. Yes some times you do need to have them run what seems for ever.  Again depending on the media you are using in the vibrator or roller tumblers, and the amount of and type of material you are trying to remove.
I have used a electric drive concrete mixer with pea gravel and some larger assorted stones, as the media on some heavily painted cruded steel items. At the time nobody was living in the house behind me, and SWMBO was in Fla visiting her Outlaws.
You could hear it with the doors closed but just that there was something running inside! :bugeye:

If the vibrating times worry you just run it while you are in attendance in the shop. It will take longer but it still is better than doing each one by hand!  :doh:

snub:
Thankyou all for your replies and input.  I had never heard of a magnetic tumbler before PTsideshow posted this thread, so I am curious as to how this works. So, the small magnetic "pins" are swirled about by the magnets, causing them to abrade or polish the pieces of non magnetic pieces in the bowl. I would love to experiment with this this as I have lots of motors and magnets. But before I shell out money for these pins I am thinking I could use some steel 'shot' instead. I was thinking of shot used for shot blasting, or even shot used in shot gun shells. Just an idea since I could probably buy it locally.

After doing some Googleing I found that shot for shot peening is available in a lot of different sizes and  'textures', from smooth to coarse. But only available in 50 pound bags.

One other "what if" that came to mind.....What if I wanted to polish a lot of magnetic pieces, and I used a non magnetic media, such as ceramic balls. Theoretically, the magnetic pieces would swirl about in the media which would not move.


I'm only guessing, so I will build a small version and report back with my findings. Please don't hold your breath waiting for my results, my 'things to do ' list is 6543457 pages long.

PTsideshow:

This is a photo of the stainless steel media used with the soap solution.

This is some 2mm shot that Harbor Freight sells on occasion, to bad they aren't in Canada yet.

I have been told that people have used slingshot ammo, that they buy in bulk for small vibrating tumblers to clean up heavy cruded stuff. I think that the .177 cal BB's would be a better choice as they would tend to get into more areas.

Now you have to understand, the use of pins, or elongated pieces is for a reason, They will move in other motions and directions. The local Jewelry supply sells this assortment as they claim it gives the best finish for the time used. Rather than roll as the shot or BB's or sling shot ammo or the shot gun pellets might just clump up into a large piles.

You want it to tumble to achieve, the action that will clean/polish the material in the bowl. The use of water with a little dish soap/degreaser soap is to remove the scum that comes off the items being tumbled. I have only done small jewelry type items, in a small magnetic tumbler. The same pins and soap can be used in a vibrator also. I have done small parts, nuts and bolts in walnut shells to good results. I run the unit while I'm in the shop. Since I'm not in a hurry I have more time than anything else. But it doesn't take long most times.

snub:

^ 
--- Quote ---Now you have to understand, the use of pins, or elongated pieces is for a reason, They will move in other motions and directions.
--- End quote ---

Thanks for that new info. I did some searching also, and found this:




At the bottom of this page it says the balls don't move. Looks like I will have to shell out some dough for the proper pins. No problem, I love spending money. In case anyone else is following this thread, I just ordered some 1" by 1/2" magnets from an E -Pay vendor ( Magnet4us ). $16.00 for 4 magnets including shipping. Can't beat that with a stick!.

I'm off in search of some cheap 'pins'.

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