Budget friendly tumbler

[JaneDoe]

I'm in a desperate need to get a barrel polisher, for, like, yesterday - I'm spending way too much time finishing my pieces.
I searched the forum, but it seems this was a popular topic about 10 years ago, but not so much later on.

I came across people recommending the National Geographic rock tumbler, but apparently it got discontinued a long time ago.
I have however now found 3 types of NG tumbler on Amazon - starter (?) tumbler, hobby tumbler and professional tumbler.
Either way, I'm not convinced by the starter one, so I've been so I've been looking at the hobby one - £60 or the professional one - £110. The latter seems to be in the price range of some jewellery tumblers, though I'm not sure there are any decent ones to get for this money.
I'm not allowed to post any links as I haven't written enough posts.

Does anybody have any experience with those?
Or maybe a more general question - what's the difference between rock and metal tumblers anyway, aside from the tumbling medium used and the name?

I've been looking at the barrel polishers on Cooksons website, but anything that's remotely within my reach has rather discouraging reviews.
Right now I'm mostly making rings, earrings and pendants. I'm happy to polish the odd bangle using a micromotor if it's too big for a small tumbler.

Considering I'll also need to buy ultrasonic cleaner and a couple of other things, I'd really like to minimise all costs. Does the hobby tumbler look like something that would work for small jewellery pieces?

I'd really appreciate any help!

[china]

If you are processing such high volume's that it is not practical to finish by hand ( which will result in a much higher quality polish) then I would recommend this, https://www.creativeglassshop.co.uk/...-3lb-230v.html

[Dennis]

Agreed. If you buy a poor quality tumbler, you will soon regret it and waste money on changing to a better one, mostly due to leaks, or lids cracking, or barrels no longer going round.

Worse still, the shot is likely to be too large or too sharp, emphasising the pitting you normally get with needles, but not reaching the narrow crevices.

The Lortone is undoubtedly the best of its kind, as is the shot provided by the same company, Creative Glass.

If you want to avid the tiny pin pricks alltogether, you must consider a magnetic tumbler, but they are very expensive and have problems of their own.

There is not much an ultrasonic cleaner will do for you that cant be achieved with hot detergent and a soft brush, particularly if you adopt water soluble polishing compounds, such as Menzerna. Dennis.

[JaneDoe]

Damn, I just deleted everything I wrote!

Well anyway...
Thank you for the advice, I definitely don't want to get something that will need replacing soon.
For whatever reason I was under the impression that decent tumblers are more expensive.

Dennis, there's only one shot on the website, so just to double check, do you mean the extra fine stainless steel shot?

I thought I'd need ultrasonic cleaner to use before the tumbling, is it not necessary? I don't use any polishing compound, so there's none to remove from the jewellery.
Can I put it in the barrel after soldering, shaping and possibly cleaning up some joints, or even just straight form the pickle?

Thanks!

[Dennis]

Yes Jane, this extra fine shot is not as jagged as most of those available in UK and the small size reduces the visible pinpricks, which are a problem with tumblers. It will also get further into crevices, so giving a better finish.
Even so, it is wise to run a glass brush, or burnisher into tight angles or corners, which the shot can't reach, or you will get a remaining whitish pickle finish in those places. You will soon realise what I mean and preferably see to these places first, because it is better to leave well alone after tumbling, rinsing again and drying.

Now for the other question. It is always a good idea to rinse well after pickling and then neutralise in a hot soda crystal, or bicarbonate solution. If you don't, some people will complain of sensitivity to residual pickle, or even suggest that you are not using silver as it makes them red and itchy.

Once neutralised and rinsed again, your work can be put in the tumbler. Time needed is between 1½ and 3½ hours.

People with a large workload, who use polishing compounds, also have ultrasonic cleaners, but they need to be of good quality to be effective. It does not sound as if you need this. Dennis.

[JaneDoe]

Thank you, Dennis! The tumbler, the shot and barrelbrite are on their way and I'll get them tomorrow. I can't wait and am feeling less tired already.

I do always rinse and neutralise after pickling, so no issues here.
Based on what you're saying I definitely don't need an ultrasonic cleaner. Phew! I definitely don't want another step in the process, or another item to clutter my already limited space.

[JaneDoe]

I'm back with a problem...
The [silver] items I put in the tumbler come out beautifully polished, but also slightly yellow (tarnished?).
I tried looking for an answer, and while it seems to be a common problem, I can't find a solution.
After the first use, the water in the barrel was a yucky brownish colour, so it didn't surprise me the silver didn't look all that great - and dirty shot seems to be a common cause. I have since however run the tumbler without any jewellery a couple times, and the water has been clear - and yet, any silver pieces I put in look yellow-ish.
I'm using the stainless steel shot recommended above, barrelbrite and filtered water.

This is probably irrelevant, but my silver pieces looked the same (yellow-ish) way after polishing with rouge. I couldn't find an answer as to what might be causing that, but then I also wasn't too bothered by it since I didn't want to use polishing compounds anyway.
Maybe there's just something obvious that I'm doing wrong that caused both those problems?

[Dennis]

These mysteries come up on the forum from time to time, but you are already on the way to solving them.

If you put your pieces into silver dip and they brighten, then the cause was tarnishing, which should improve with conditioning the equipment and possibly adding an alkali.

If they don't improve, it is probably due to a transfer of metal, due to too little soap.

Conditioning the equipment by running the shot and soap alone for about 6 hours is a good idea. Then discard the liquid, pour the shot into a large plastic sieve (not metal) and rinse everything with warm water.

I use a soap from Manchester Minerals, which is slightly alkaline, for rubber barrels, but half a teaspoon of bicarbonate, or soda crystals added to Barrelbrite should do it.

When you open your barrel, there should be lots of firm lather, rather like beaten egg-white in appearance. If not, use more Barrelbrite. Dennis.

[JaneDoe]

Thank you, Dennis!

It would seem I need to use way more Barrelbrite than I have been (a flat teaspoon or a bit less). I use about 500g of shot and add enough water to just about cover it.
The lather produced by my tumbling looks rather sad, and would make for a very disappointing bubble bath.
Am I using too little? I was afraid of adding too much of it and having my barrel explode.
I think I've seen someone say that Barrelbrite doesn't work well with their hard water - mine is very hard.

I will investigate whether it's tarnish or not tomorrow.
But would transfer of metal somehow explain the rouge mystery as well...? The current pieces seem to be suffering from the very same issue. The rouge ones didn't respond whatsoever to the baking soda & aluminum foil treatment.

[Dennis]

OK, so it's a heaped teaspoon of Barrelbrite(to give plenty of lubrication) and a half teaspoon of baking soda, or soda crystals to soften the water and be more friendly to rubber barrels.

I can see no reason why soap in any concentration should cause an explosion, or people would be lobbing Palm Olive cocktails.

It is cheap and convenient to buy soda crystals (sodium carbonate) from the dish washer isle of a supermarket, rather than baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and you get a lifetime supply. They can be used with your foil as well.

Cant say much about rouge, as I like a clean environment and dont really use compounds. But it is an ancient and traditional polish for metals, which needs to be removed with strong detergents, or ultrasonics, or both. Dennis.