Rock tumbler for rocks & cleaning jewellery

[mizgeorge]

Wow! That's a lot of detergent! I use half a teaspoon of barrelbrite and fill to about half an inch above the level of the shot + silver. I never fill my barrel more than about a third full in total or there isn't enough room for everything to move around enough.

btw, if anyone's still looking for pins, cookson's do have them, but call them points. Expensive compared to other suppliers though

[Suzedablooze]

I tried it with smaller amounts of detergent at first, but it definately worked better with a bit more - maybe it is tumbler dependent?

I got a cheap one (very basic) from Manchester Minerals and maybe its not as effective and so needs a bit more lubrication?

[lesley]

I only use about half a teaspoon of detergent too.
I got it from the PMC Studio with the tumbler. If I use too much I get a film on the silver which needs rubbing off.

Also, with that much, doesn't it froth up too much? I get lots of froth with just a small amount.

[Suzedablooze]

I think I know what the difference is:

It might be because I live in a hard water area (Northumberland) - hence needing more detergent. If you live somewhere like London it would need less detergent as it's softer water.

[mizgeorge]

Don't think so - our water is extremely hard (as it is in London, too).

Perhaps we're using different barrelling media?

[Suzedablooze]

I'm using steel shot?

I did try with a smaller amount at first (as was indicated in the user guide) but it didn't do the job so I experimented until I found the optimum amount. To tell the truth, I almost gave up on tumbling at first as it was so unsuccessful, but now it works great - I can't work out what the difference is - do you think it could be the speed of the tumbler - mine is quite slow?

[snow_imp]

I love this forum - every thread I look at answers another the questions I was wanting to ask!

Thanks for the help on this

[CyberPaddy66]

WORD OF WARNING!!!

Those of you who are trying to keep to a budget and use the cheapest possible option be warned... We bough Steel Shot not the Stainless Steel Shot as it was about 1/2 the price... We also use household detergent instead of polishing compound because we simply don't have the money for the good stuff yet.

If you do not thoroughly dry your shot after use it will get surface rust, we are currently having to tumble our shot to get rid of this rust!!!

Save yourself the trouble and get the better shot!

[Fi Wilson]

I don't have a tumbler (yet - added to the Xmas wish list) and did an experiment with some stainless steel shot that I got when I kitted myself out at the beginning of the year. I used a glass jam jar with a third shot, water covering the shot to about an inch above it and a bit of washing up liquid. I shook it for 10/15 mins or so (god knows what the neighbours thought was going on!) and my pieces came out sparkling. Only trouble is I stored the shot in water with an inch above it in an airtight contained (as advised) and less than 24 hours after using it there was a horrible brown tinge to the water. I used it again last night. The shot looks fine but the brown tinge came out again. I've now dried off the shot properly and decided to store it dry from now on but does anyone know why the brown tinge is happening?

Fi

[amazingbabe]

Well i have to say i must have the most inexpensive one on here (besides the jar ha ha) as i bought mine for €24.99 in Argos its the national geographic one,,, its in the kids section and it works a treat, i have had it for 2 yrs now and not a bother !!!!