Rock tumber question

[art4living]

Hi

I have a rock tumbler, that I have used for tumbling rock! I would now like to use it to polish jewelry, is this possible? how do I do it? do I just purchase that steel shot add some dawn dish soap and polish away?

sorry if this is silly, just not to sure of the process

[Former_Member]

I used a rock tumbler for years before I bought a new one. You should be fine with mixed (different sized shapes/pieces) steel shot and Dawn. You can also use burnishing compound instead of the soap.

Just tumble metal...no beads or set stones.

[art4living]

Thanks Dana.
I didn't know there was a burnishing compound. I have seen the steel in different shapes so I will get that.

[ForgedMettleJewelry]

As long as the motor is rated for the wieght of what you are tumbling it should work no problem. For my jewelry I use mixed shot, you can get a great mix from Rio Grande. And yeah you can use a burnishing compound instead of dish soap, some people swear by it, but I actually prefer to use just a drop of Palmolive, the pieces come out nice and shiny.

Just make sure you only use ONE drop or you'll have suds for days, and only put in enough water to barely cover the shot and the pieces of jewelry...

[khmetalwork]

Make double, triple sure you have cleaned every bit of grit out of the barrel(s) before you put your metal in to be tumbled. Look at the rio catalog..there are all sorts of media: abrasive, polishing, burnishing, etc.

I prefer burnishing soap over dish soap, first it's been my experience dish soap is more expensive. You can use the burnishing soap over and over...till it gets black before you need to dump it, consquently a $10 bottle lasts a really long time...mine lasted 5 years.

Also, dish soap seems to take longer than burnishing soap, that's important because with every turn of the barrel the rubber barrel is abrading, which may lead to the dreaded 'black gunk'. My pieces stay in the tumbler for about 15 minutes, everything is clean and never had the black gunk.

[art4living]

Thank you guys! I will be trying an cleaning my tumbler this weekend.

[Former_Member]

I agree with khmetalwork re cleaning till spotless your tumbler barrel.

I use Dawn dishwashing detergent and water with various shapes of stainless steel shot in my vibrating tumbler. Works well with silver and copper and Swarovski crystals. Enjoy!

[lv2cr8]

If all else fails you can buy a new canister that is clean and ready to go if you can't get it properly clean.