Hello Everyone!

I was wondering if you could help. I recently purchased a tumbler to tumble my brass and sterling silver jewellery. I'm using mixed stainless steel shot and a bit of washing up liquid and tumbling my pieces for about 30 mins. I'm using it both to work harden (after soldering) and give a shine to the metal and am buffing to 1200 grit before tumbling.

Whilst my pieces are coming out shiny, they're also coming out covered in tiny pits. How can I stop this from happening?

I've been reading forum posts from others and can confirm that the metal is not pitted before being placed in the tumbler (and that it's not just a case of me being unable to see the pits because of sanding marks).

Someone suggested putting pebbles in the tumbler and running it for a few hours to blunt the ends of the pin shaped shot (which could be causing the pitting) but I'm worried about ruining my tumbler/shot. Has anyone tried this?

Any input/solutions would be super, super appreciated!

Thank you!