Seeking The Holy Grail.

[Dennis]

When I started tumbling my work, a while back I bought some mixed shot from Sutton Tools, as that seemed the best buy at the time. I saw at once that the needles were rather jagged and sure enough the finish was disappointing and full of tiny pinpricks.

So started my quest, if not for the grail, then at least for a way of dealing with this problem. First I sorted out the needles and set half aside. The rest I ground and polished one by one, before putting them back. Then I tumbled the shot with pebbles for hours. The improvement was not overwhelming, but as the pinprick texture was only evident on smooth surfaces, I settled for re-treating those with Micro-Mesh at the end.

The great benefit of tumbling is that it burnishes textures, without removing metal, and reaches into those recesses, which are resistant to other methods of cleaning.

This experience has been a cause of complaint by other members since and as some smoother shot was recommended recently* from Rio Grande, I sent for some to compare.

The test pieces of copper in my picture below, were cut from the same sheet. They were slightly tarnished and had some light striations, presumably from rolling at the factory.

As a precaution the new shot was tumbled with soap for some hours first. Then the test pieces were each tumbled for about three hours, one with my old shot and one with the new. The weight of shot was approximately the same.

You can see from my picture that the results were very similar. Possibly the horizontal striations are more visible in the Rio Grande sample.

Conclusion: The old shot had been painstakingly modified and conditioned by use over perhaps two years. The new shot from Rio Grande produced similar results at once. The pinprick texture, although now feint, persists. The search goes on. Dennis.

*suggested by mizgeorge, who sorts the wheat from the chaff for us.
http://www.riogrande.com/Search/339097%20media. Total price about £22.00, when imported.

[Keia]

I bought my tumbler with shots from UKGE.com and haven't noticed any of the pitting problems. Perhaps it's due to me not making very many flat items though, hmmmm

[LydiaNiz]

I got mine from Manchester minerals yeeeeears ago (their standard stainless steel shot) Has flat ended pins, spheres and the satellitey shapes. Have had no problems.
I also rashly assumed the last lot of shot I got (not from there) was stainless steel. Wrong. Oops.

[donnie]

I have had my tumbler for about a year and a half the pins are so sharp that I quite often get stabbed, the finish on both flat and round items is good, I only have a x 10 magnifier. I was thinking could it be anything to do with the water I know down in London it is recycled could something be removed in this process that is present in other parts of the country. When I open the drum it is full of soap bubbles from just one or two drops, our water is very soft.

DONNIE

[Petal]

I upgraded my tumbler to a vaned one from here http://www.electrictumblers.co.uk/shop.htm the Studio Tumbler Kit 3 and also got some of their fabulous teeny tiny shot. Its made a massive difference to the finish of my jumprings. I now use ceramic cones in my old lortone 3a tumbler as a first stage, then finish with the stainless shot.

[mizgeorge]

Not sure I'd call that an upgrade Jules - the Lortone is a much better machine than the cherry heaven one...

[caroleallen]

Many moons ago I did a craft fair with a chap who made and sold the shiniest silver earrings which he cut out with a blanking system. He said that he had spent years finding the right medium for his tumbler but he wouldn't give away his secret. I've often wondered what it was.

[Patstone]

I was told to go to Manchester Minerals for shot, so I did, and I dont have any problems with it. Next time I do something plain, I will take pictures.

[caroleallen]

I got mine from Manchester Minerals and it's been running for about 15 years. It's still not giving a mirror finish like the chap with the earrings though. It's OK for textured stuff.

[Petal]

I got mine from Manchester Minerals and it's been running for about 15 years. It's still not giving a mirror finish like the chap with the earrings though. It's OK for textured stuff.

I had a very pleasant few hours with the helpful guys at Suttons (I think it was when you were on a course Carole?), quite a few months ago. They tested my jumprings in a variety of tumbling equipment, both vaned and unvaned, plus a teeny tiny mag polisher too. They said that the Lortone was, effectively, a rock tumbler and wouldn't give as good a result as a vaned. As for the Lortone being a much better machine than a cherry heaven vaned one George ... all I can say is I'm very happy with the results.