Rock tumbler

[jabberwoki]

I scored the old Sears rock tumbler at the swap for $40 it a nice big one and i intend to polish nuts and bolts and the odd spanner.
Does anybody know what media to use?

 

[mdbeck1]

For nuts and bolts....

Go to HF or some place that sells shooting reloading supplies and buy some ground up corn cob ... or ground up walnut shells.

They actually sell a LOT of different kinds of media. Yahoo (or Google) is your friend.

 

[Bolster]

The world's your oyster now...you COULD use HF walnut media but it is sloooow. If you were local I'd give you a load of mine to experiment with. You can get treated corncob various places (ammo reloaders use it) and it's faster. And you can get ceramic media that actually has abrasive cababilities.

I tried beach sand once and it's gentler than I expected.

Resist the temptation to make a wet slurry. You want whatever you use to be dry.

It's a great machine and you'll enjoy all the finishes you can get. I LOVE putting "stone washed" finishes onto my machined items using the HF ceramic media. Nothing beats stonewashed, it looks new and used at the same time.

 

[5lima30]

Midway USA is a good source for polishing media.

 

[plinker]

Run a google search for "stainless tumbling media", it's pretty good stuff.
Corn cob is best for pollishing, walnut is usually for cleaning (for brass casing's anyway).

 

[jabberwoki]

Bolster!!!!!! its ****** good to see you back mate!!!! About time!!