AgnewBlues
Plastic
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2021
Does anyone here have experience tumbling small parts, about 1” square and 1/32” thick? It is mostly 304 stainless with very small features like small slots machined in it.
The features are often smaller than 1/32”, and I’m wondering how small I should go with the tumbling media, to do a decent job deburring the edges.
I have no prior experience with tumblers. This will be my way of getting into this. One of my local suppliers insists that 3/8” triangle ceramic media in a rotary tumbler would be small enough to get to all the edges. I kind of doubt it, but this is the smallest media that this supplier has on offer. Other suppliers have 1/8” media and suggest that this would be the way to go. Ceramic triangles in all cases.
From what I have read, I understand that smaller media take a lot longer but are better at getting to small details, and also provide a better finish. Bigger media work faster but cannot get to very small features.
I am not looking for a shiny finish, but reasonably uniform and smooth. I really don’t mind how long it takes, as long as the parts come out looking good.
So how small should I go with the media? How small is small when it comes to tumbling?
It has been suggested to me that for flat parts, a rotary Tumbler would be best, because vibratory and centrifugal types tend to float flat parts on top of the media.
When I started running these parts, a little bit of sanding by hand was all that was needed for finishing, after machining. But the volume has increased and I cannot do it by hand anymore.
Any and all suggestions and advice welcome.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The features are often smaller than 1/32”, and I’m wondering how small I should go with the tumbling media, to do a decent job deburring the edges.
I have no prior experience with tumblers. This will be my way of getting into this. One of my local suppliers insists that 3/8” triangle ceramic media in a rotary tumbler would be small enough to get to all the edges. I kind of doubt it, but this is the smallest media that this supplier has on offer. Other suppliers have 1/8” media and suggest that this would be the way to go. Ceramic triangles in all cases.
From what I have read, I understand that smaller media take a lot longer but are better at getting to small details, and also provide a better finish. Bigger media work faster but cannot get to very small features.
I am not looking for a shiny finish, but reasonably uniform and smooth. I really don’t mind how long it takes, as long as the parts come out looking good.
So how small should I go with the media? How small is small when it comes to tumbling?
It has been suggested to me that for flat parts, a rotary Tumbler would be best, because vibratory and centrifugal types tend to float flat parts on top of the media.
When I started running these parts, a little bit of sanding by hand was all that was needed for finishing, after machining. But the volume has increased and I cannot do it by hand anymore.
Any and all suggestions and advice welcome.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk