charl74
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2008
Posts: 1
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Post by charl74 on Jan 16, 2008 23:55:55 GMT -5
Newbie here, with a question about a rock tumbler I purchased from Michaels today. I make metal jewelry and needed a rock tumbler and hoping the one from Michaels would polish my metal pieces. Can someone on this forum give me insight on this type tumbler. Or do I need to purchase a better one. The pieces I need to polish will be small to medium size.
Thank you for all responses, Charlotte
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textiger
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since May 2005
Posts: 946
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Post by textiger on Jan 17, 2008 1:04:33 GMT -5
If you got one of the little tumblers with the red plastic barrel, which is all I've ever seen at Michael's, be aware of the pitfalls. The main one being, they leak. Most of the folks here, myself included, recommend Lortone or Thumler's rotary tumblers. If you are looking at a vibe, Raytech, Lot-O-Tumbler and some others are popular.
Guess it depends on what you plan to use the tumbler for. You mention polishing metal pieces. If you are talking about a lot of stuff or a lot of tumbles, perhaps you should plan on getting a 3 lb barrel rotary or a small vibe. That can run you anywhere from $65 to more than $100, depending whether you go with a rotary or a vibe.
You may want to do a search on the site here or stick around and see what advice you get from the board. There are a lot of very knowledgeable people here. Good luck.
matt
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Post by deb193redux on Jan 17, 2008 2:46:10 GMT -5
I think you want a vibe. I have a friend who uses a 45-deg angle rotary with metal pellets to burnish PMC silver pieces with some sort of dry polish, but many folks use vibes to clean metal parts like gun casings. In fact gun supply stores often sell vibes.
The Lot-O might work well, the mini-sonic could be good, but I have not really had the chance to play with one.
Of course, your machine could work if you are using a dry polish - the leak problem would not be an issue.
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Post by docone31 on Jan 17, 2008 9:09:44 GMT -5
Use porcelin and burnishing compound for media. Works real well in vibes.
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Post by Tonyterner on Jan 17, 2008 9:18:54 GMT -5
That was my first tumbler. It lasted for one batch and bit the dust. It is designed so that a plastic pin on the lid and barrel sit in plastic notches in the base. Even with constant lubrication these wore out in no time. No to mention that it is nearly impossible to get the lid to fit without leaking. I threw mine out. I would return if if I were you and buy a Chicago Electric from Harbor Freight. While its still not a great tumbler, it is cheaper ($25 at the store) than the one you bought and will last much much longer, maybe 3 or 4 batches. LOL Still a bargain compared to the one from Michaels. For a cheap vibe for doing metal parts try Cabela's.
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Post by akansan on Jan 17, 2008 10:05:25 GMT -5
If you're just using the tumbler to polish jewelry pieces, the Chicago Electrics will actually hold up. Granted, I'm not saying that you won't have problems with it, they'll just take longer to occur. It's just not as intensive as tumbling rocks!
I'd still recommend a Thumler over the CE any day. If you like eBay at all, you can find used Thumlers for just a little more than the CEs go for on eBay.
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