Cooksongold Barreling Kit - HELP!

Hi,

I have just purchased the cooksongold barreling kit, which comes with the tumbler, barrelbrite & mixed steel shot. I have put the steel shot in the barrel, with 1 teaspoon of barrelbrite & filled it half full with water... and my piece has come out DISASTROUSLY PITTED! Ruined and unusable is an understatement, it is almost like a stardust texture (Not even matte!) luckily 400 grit sandpaper gets it out.

I am wondering whether it is a fault with the kit, as the tumbler (Evans) with mixed steelshot & barrelbrite at my jewellery classes works on my pieces perfectly.

Am just wondering what I should I do about the tumbler, I have removed the pins and am still getting a sort of indented appearance to my silver, a huge improvement but still not 100%. The tumbler at my jewellery classes works perfectly on my pieces so I cannot work out why the one I have just purchased it making my silver finish so horrible.

I was thinking of buying smaller 2mm shot from elsewhere, to see if this will help. Should I return the barreling kit, and get a lortone 3A from palmers? Do you have any suggestions of where to purchase affordable shot of a better quality?

The piece on the left has been finished using sandpaper etc and the piece on the right has gone in the tumbler.

Thanks,
Hannah

Attachment 5547

Hannah, flat pieces do tend to show pinpricks of needles when tumbled, but not as gross as your test piece here. Also, despite the needle marks they should be very shiny. Removing needles and very rough satellites normally improves results.

Before giving up, or buying new, compare the shot in your class and condition what you have sorted out by running it in your barrel all night, so that it is cleaner and smoother.

I do hear alarm bells when you say that you half fill your barrel with water. Normally that would be too full to tumble correctly. The shot should occupy about one cm or less, on the floor of you barrel and the solution should just cover that. More water and the action will be far too sluggish.

Barreling should take one and a half to two hours. I hope you will succeed. Dennis.

Hi Hannah,

As Dennis says, it does sound like it is the shot you have used.

You could invest in some round stainless steel bearings. I use round bearings as these burnish rather than graze the metal.

You could try eBay for the round shot, I cannot guarantee what they are like though. There is a company that is not too well liked by a few, sort of like the naughty sheep in the family, so to speak. They sell round shot but charge a lot for delivery.

2mm shot is really very small and may fly off when you empty your tumbler. 3 - 5 mm, It is what I use in round bearings and found them to work very well. I don't do any additional work to pieces that have been tumbled. I use it for cleaning old and dirty pieces and they come up beautifully with my standard tumbler and round shot.

I am sure others will chip in at a more reasonable hour.


Wish you luck.


kindest,

Wallace

It is the pins in that shot. I reviewed it and showed in the video the difference the shot made (just between shot with blunt pins and shot with the pointy pins included in the kit).
I wonder if you got the kit with the plastic or rubber barrel? It doesnt matter (I use both, the plastic is just lots noisier and more fiddly to close), but do compare the shot to your classes. Hope it works out ok