Reddit mentions: The best tumbling media products

I think it was u/purplepiratecrab that asked to know how the tumbling was going. Well, I think I’ve had good results with my first couple of test piece. One is an Axiom Tetra Bead-blasted Stainless Steel.

The spinner has good weight and balance, but I never cared for the bead-blasted finish. It was too rough and all the points and corners were far too “hot” for my taste. As it was my first foray into tumbling I threw all manner of media at it - Grits, SS Shot, Ceramic, Dish Soap, Baking Soda, and Polishes. There is plenty of advise online for tumbling stones, but surprisingly little instruction on metal (jewelry) tumbling. But I consumed what I could find.

I am using a Harbor Freight Chicago single-drum tumbler. I had gathered that the rubberized drum that comes with the tumbler was not ideal for metals like Stainless Steel (turns them black). So, following after a YouTube video, I assembled my own PVC drum. You do need to add baffles inside the drum. Otherwise, everything simply clumps at the bottom and nothing actually tumbles.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/08Yoc5CX4Il2v081JWrErA94A

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0NUNMe7gag16MZl6OG4FaAgzA

I ordered 1 lbs of Stainless Steel shot and 1 lbs of Small Ceramic Media from Amazon. Harbor Freight has Grit / Polish packs as well. Add water and a drop of Dawn dish soap and you’re ready to go.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017WQV6UM/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_i_HZNpDbEB0T5MA

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DY7PSBT/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_i_cYNpDbC80MBHD

https://www.amazon.com/Thumlers-Tumbler-Polisher-Accessories-Prepolish/dp/B000BUW610

While rock tumbling can takes weeks, metal tumbling over hours or days can get good results. If you simply want to knock off “hot” spots, 6 hours with some SS shot works great. I did that with a Brass Spinetic Micro-X which had super “hot” corners on it. Quite comfortable after that.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0EthP9bf8BLlK-E1OPfdYFYoA

The last round with the Tetra involved 7 hours with Ceramic Media, 6 hours with Shot and Pre-Polish, overnight with Shot and Polish, and then 6 hours with Shot and Baking Soda. Even without the rubberized drum you are going to get a lot of black dust in the polishing stage so the soda really cleans that off of SS and cleans your Shot at the same time (otherwise you’re left with gray dull shot at the end).

The results are very satisfactory for a piece with a lot of edges like the Tetra. The photos above don’t really do it justice, but what I ended up with was something very close to UQH’s Fine Stone-Washed effect - smooth slightly soapy feel. Much better than the rough, hot finish it had before. I then sanded and polished the flats on both sides for a nice contrast. The Vortex Buttons from UQHs really makes this a unique piece - far more fondalable than it had been originally.

You do need a bit of patience and willingness to experiment with various combinations to appreciate the varying results. I want to try adding plastic media for cushioning. And If you want truly mirror polished pieces then further sanding and a polishing wheel would be necessary. Definitely more experimentation and learning is in my future. Hope this has been informative. Cheers!

what's your machine, and where did you get the media? if you have links, that'd be great- lots of people here really want to try this but results and follow ups are really hard to find!

also it's terribly noisy- that uber cheap $60 harbor freight (we call it hazard fraught here) tumbler. I did use water, but it's totally not supposed to handle it. I was lucky and it was so hot that water couldn't get to the important components before drying to a fine porcelain dust. I can only assume the 60hz, 120v thing isn't quite as high energy as preferred. I actually quieted it to reasonable (save my hearing) levels by making a box out of EVA foam floor mats and setting it over the tumbler. I have plans to make a matryoshka-style deadener out of them, where I just stack on concentric tubes till it's quiet enough for me- though it might need a fan and a couple of tubes to ensure airflow. like I said, this thing gets way too hot.

also, I know that SLS prints do sand/chip more readily, as the have smaller, more segmented and uniform crystals, and produce faster results because of their largely isotropic surface detail and strength. I'm using PLA, which be comparison, is harder than SLS nylon when it comes to chipping and cracking, it's super hard to sand compared to most anyway.

also I know nothing about fluids that should be used. are there any tidbits I should know? I'm considering this media: https://www.amazon.com/Abrasive-Triangle-Aggressive-Porcelain-Tumbling/dp/B06Y5JRVRZ/ref=pd_day0_hl_328_9?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B06Y5JRVRZ&pd_rd_r=37e71d38-a7d0-11e9-b724-6d396220776d&pd_rd_w=ufD0q&pd_rd_wg=elKlz&pf_rd_p=ad07871c-e646-4161-82c7-5ed0d4c85b07&pf_rd_r=K4FZMC4RXMD9M6PEPQ6D&psc=1&refRID=K4FZMC4RXMD9M6PEPQ6D

None of those soaks/methods are going to do anything.

For separating the baffles read your manual. “Oculus 22 Disassembly” part 6 (shown below). Rugged suggest using a hex key to gently pry them apart. I have a set of brass punches that I use the same way to gently apply leverage and pop the baffles apart.

http://i.thinimg.com/img/934q.jpg

Next, go to Harbor Freight and get a single drum (link) or dual drum (link) rock polisher. Use this coupon for 20% off. I have the dual drum and I use one for the oculus baffles and the other for Obsidian 45 baffles at the same time.

Finally get some stainless steel pin media for cheap from amazon. 2 lbs is perfect for the dual drum, I use 1 lb of pins in each drum.

Fill up one drum with 1lb of pins, the separated baffles, and then warm water until it covers the baffles completely. Give it a small squirt of Dawn dish soap and you are set. Seal the lid on the drum and let it tumble for 2-8 hours. The longer you go between cleaning, the longer you can tumble.

The stainless pins are softer than the 17-4 steel baffles, so they won’t hurt them at all.

After that 2-8 hours crack it open. I like to go back by the woods in my back yard and pour it out through a mesh steel strainer. Make sure the strainer has smaller holes than the pins. This should catch all the pins and baffles and let the carbon, water, and pummeled lead through. I hit the strainer contents with a garden hose for a bit to clean it all out.

Go back inside and dry everything off. They should be 80%-90% clean. Any large remaining chunks of lead you can scrape off with a brass punch. I also like to take a spent .223 case and flatten the mouth in a vice. This makes a nice sharp and flat scraper as well. Scrape off any remaining simple to get lead. They should now be 90%-95% clean.

This final scraping is not necessary and only if you really care. You don’t need to get every last chunk off. It will just get dirty again, and a dirty suppressor is a quiet suppressor.

All told, this is the cheapest and easiest way to clean steel rimfire baffles. Ultrasonic is only decent on carbon and doesn’t do much to separate lead from baffles.

If you want to give wet tumbling a try you could do what I did. I got a dual drum tumbler from harbor freight and 2.5 pounds of stainless steel media off of amazon. Put about a pound of of media in each drum fill the drum about 3/4 of the way full with brass then add 50/50 water and white vinegar with a dash of dish soap and lemi-shine (sp?). I usually run it for two hours then rinse and dry my brass. You cant do huge amounts with it but you can build your own drum for better capacity and it's a good low cost way to see if you like wet tumbling. I have done over 1000 rounds this way and they all have come out great. I remove the primers before I tumble and it gets them really clean and shiny.

Link for the tumbler: http://www.harborfreight.com/dual-drum-rotary-rock-tumbler-67632.html

Link of the media: http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Tumbling-Media-Pins/dp/B00IER21M6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1409188995&sr=8-2&keywords=stainless+steel+tumbling+media

I had the opportunity to use a tumbler at my (then) place of work. The metal workshop at the prototyping department had a Rösler TE-15 R 360/870 Tub vibrator not in use at the time. We ended up using tumbling media that was in stock, which were Rösler RM 04/10 S (4mmx10mm angle cut triangle ceramic media) and Rösler RM 02/02 D (2mmx2mm Triangle ceramic media). We used Rösler FC 124 S liquid compound (originally intended for tumbling metal parts) mixed with water in a continuous trickle flow, just enough to keep the parts and and media moist without submerging. The tumbler was fitted with a divider, allowing use of both media at the same time in separated compartments.

All of these were acquired directly from RÖSLER BENELUX, I don't know if these can be acquired easily by a regular consumer.

Rösler information PDF about process media: https://de.rosler.com/fileadmin/Files/Prospekte/Gleitschlifftechnik/DE_EN_Consumables_GB_130.pdf

Rösler information PDF about the tub vibrator (tumbler): https://de.rosler.com/fileadmin/Files/Prospekte/Gleitschlifftechnik/DE_EN_Tub_vibrators_GB_129.pdf

The water and compound significantly improved the grinding effectiveness, as well as eliminating airborne grinding dust, which was present in the comparative dry test run we did. I would advise perhaps looking into a method of water sealing you tumbler or replacing the bowl with a (bottom) sealed metal version. The compound's effect might be approximated by adding a little dish soap to the water used to improve dust removal, as non of the metal-specific properties are needed for this application.The tumbling media you linked has a shape comparable with what I used, but appears to be more "grinding". This might help reduce total tumbling time with your less powerful tumbler, though it might also adversely effect the finer part details. To better preserve detail, these smaller media from the same supplier might be more suited: 4x4mm or even 2x2mm.

I will look if i can find any of the tumbled parts and add a photo for reference later.

These are the pins I use. I have no issues with them so far. Size is large enough so 2 can't get stuck in the flash holes but not huge (I don't know what is technically the "standard"). Even came with a sample of their cleaning detergent which is pretty good.

Obviously this depends on the size of your tumbler. If you're using the harbor freight set up (I am) all you need is 2lbs of pins. If you're going the frankfurt arsenal route you probably need 5lbs so your deal would be better.

The absolutely best way to clean them is in a tumbler with stainless steel pins. I started doing this with my stainless steel baffled cans and it saves Soo much time and effort on my part.
Buy this from harbor freight with a 20% off coupon:
https://m.harborfreight.com/dual-drum-rotary-rock-tumbler-67632.html

Then buy something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00IER21M6/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1517851599&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=stainless+steel+pins

Put about 1-1.5" of pins in the bottom of the drum. Place baffles in the drum, fill to just covering the baffles with water and a couple drops of soap. Add Lemishine to the mixture. Run overnight and the baffles will come out as close to factory looking new as they possibly can. Don't put aluminum in the drum however.

You can choose to split up the baffles between the two drums if it's too full or buy a bigger drum that replaces the two separate drums with one big one.

https://rocktumbler.com/barrel.shtml

On this page it's the last drum for sale, the tumble-bee 4lb drum. I run my pistons too with no issues.
Hope this helps!

The 3lb would work, but if you can get a deal on the 6lb one, I'd get it. I have the 6lb one(dual drum) and if I remember correctly, I do 50 cases of .308 or 7.62x54r cases per drum, each works out to be about 1lb of brass. For 9mm and 45acp, I weigh out a pound on a kitchen scale.

I do 1lb brass, 1lb stainless steel pins, 1 lb water, a squirt of laundry soap, and a 9mm case worth of lemishine.

I deprime before cleaning with a Lee depriming die.

I tumble for 30 min to an hour, then separate from the pins, rinse, and let dry.

I also load on a single stage about once a month, and it works great for me.

If you have any questions, you can PM me.

Ceramic Tumbling Media 5 Lbs. 1/4" X 3/8" Triangle Abrasive https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AORQIK4/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_k9HIxbP7HQ3WB

Throw washed still damp jeans plus that into a large sturdy pillow case and tie the top off. Run in the dryer for 2 hours or so and check progress. Run until jeans have become more faded and soft. Sand bad spots with 400 grit Emery and feather in.

You're welcome.

• Wet tumbled using this
  
  
• used these steel pins
  
  
• a dash of dawn dish liquid and 2 9mm casings full of lemi shine.
  
  
• leave on for 1.5 hrs
  
  
• air dry for now just bought a food dehydrator to speed things up.
  
  Note: deprime before tumbling for the extra clean primer pockets if you were to load precision. For mass loading of 9mm i do not bother.

A while ago a friend of mine suggested a great way to wet tumble brass. He recommended this Harbor Freight rock tumbler along with a 1 lb bag of stainless steel tumbling media. If you fill the drum halfway or so with brass, fill with water until the water just covers the brass, add a squeeze of Dawn dish soap, and a 9mm case-size amount of Lemi-shine, let the tumbler rotate for about 4 hours, the brass comes out looking almost factory new. The primer pockets might have a little bit of discoloration but this method completely cleans the outside and the inside of the brass. For example, here's a before and after of when I first started wet tumbling using this method. This brass had been at the bottom of an outdoor fire pit for I'm not sure how long.

• Harbor Freight Dual Tumbler
  
• Stainless Steel Tumbling Pins
  
• Dawn (Single drop)
  
• Lemishine (light sprinkle)
  
• Frankford Media Separator
  
• 5 gal. bucket

$22 for enough pins to last long after you're dead. The HF tumbler is $60 before coupon. And you need Lemishine. Thats it.