Introduction
A tumbler is an amazing tool. It is an easy way to polish the metal part of jewelry. Although a little loud they are small, easy to store and use. Basically a tumbler is a barrel that is rolled in a motor. The barrel is filled with the items you want to clean with polish/water mixture and shot.
Parts of a Tumbler
There are a four main parts to any tumbler the barrel, shot, motor and polish. The barrel can change depending on the size of the tumbler. For the purpose of this post I am talking about smaller barrels meant for jewelry or small rock tumbling. The barrel is usually plastic with a rubber top to seal it when closed.
The next part is the shot. Shot is usually little metal or ceramic pieces shaped in different ways that is put into the tumbler with your pieces. The shot is key to actually cleaning your pieces. I have always used stainless steal shot and it works fine.
Shot comes in different varieties round, square, tubes et cetera. The important part is that you want shot that is a mixture of several if not all the possible different kinds of shot. This will help clean every corner of your pieces because the different shapes are better at getting into different places. I own 1 pound of mixed stainless steel shot and it works fine for me. I have been tempted to buy one more in order to tumble a little more work at a time but this hasn’t been a major problem.
The motor is the actual machine that will rotate or vibrate the work to clean it. Different brands have different looking motors that work in different ways. Remember to use the right barrel with the right motor. Most motors turn on once you plug them in.
This is the Mason Jar I Keep My Tumbler Polish In
The polish used in a tumbler is interesting. I have always used the polish that Rio Grande sells and it works fine. I have also heard that you can use greasy unscented dish soup as tumbler polish. Since tumbler polish is cheap enough anyway, and lasts a long time, I have never experimented with the dish soup route.
I take a one quart mason jar and fill it about a quarter of the way. Then I pour in about a cap full of tumbler polish and mix it together. I will reuse the tumbler polish until its completely black. If you wait among tumbling sessions it leaves the residue that the polish removes time to settle at the bottom of the jar. If I carefully pour the mixture from the jar into the barrel I can keep most of the residue in the jar and keep reusing the soup over and over again.
What a Tumbler Does
Cleaning jewelry is a long process. It can also be difficult if you have a small studio, like mine, without stationary buffing wheels. Cleaning a piece with a flex shaft or with a rouge cloth is a long process and can be very messy. A tumbler helps save time with that.
You basically load up the barrel with the pieces you want to be cleaned after removing them from the pickle. Then make sure the pieces are covered in mixed shot of your choice. Pour the polish/water mixture over the pieces so there is about a quarter of an inch to half an inch (.5 cm to 1.2 cm) of standing water over the items and shot mixture.
Then seal up the barrel, the process for sealing can be different depending on the brand. The key part is that it needs to be sealed when in use. If the barrel is not sealed while in operation the water/polish mixture will leak out making a big soapy mess. In addition since the motor will keep running the shot could scratch up your pieces.
Place the barrel into the motor and plug it in. You will hear the motor start to run and rotate the barrel, or some cases with more expensive tumblers vibrate them. This slowly rubs the pieces against each other and the shot cleaning them. Let the tumbler run for about 12 hours for solid silver piece or about 3 hours for pieces with bezel. After this time has passed bang your pieces are clean.
Dirty Pieces in the Tumbler!
The major downside is you don’t want to put pieces with set stones into the tumbler. There is a possible ability the stones might be cracked or the polish that is cleaning the jewelry might clean off the polish on the stones, which would not look good. At the same time I always put my pieces in before I set the stones for 3 to 6 hours depending on the setting.
When you remove the pieces just make sure to shake out the shot. Do not try to force the shot out this could damage a piece. Remember if the shot got into the piece by sloshing around it will come out some way easily, be patient. Put the cleaned pieces on a paper towel and dry them off and place them in plastic bags for storage.
Save the polish/water mixture for future use, I usually keep it in a mason jar. You can keep using the same mixture until it turns completely black. I take the paper cloth that I used to dry the pieces and dry off the shot some but I like to let it dry in the open air a little also. Then once the shot is mostly dry I put everything away and I am done.
Why You Should Own a Tumbler
An Unpolished Brooch
The beauty of the tumbler is you can clean your work while doing something else. I usually run mine during the night while I sleep. You can also run it while you are at work. Another perk of the tumbler is that it will work harden your pieces while its being polished. This is very nice for earrings that are made from a thin 24 gauge sterling silver sheet.
Many studios and art schools have their own tumblers that students can use. You may be asking “why should I own one if the studio I use has one I can use for free?”
Well simply how much time do you spend in the art studio? Do you feel safe leaving your work running in a tumbler for 12 hours while your not there? Can you even return easily the next day to remove the work?
I used to take art classes that were over and hour and half away by public transport. So I could only really use the tumblers when I was at the studio doing my own work. That would mean only 3 hours or so in the tumbler for my work. And on top of that I had to share it with other people that might turn them off mid way through.
If you own your own tumbler you don’t have to worry about this at all. You can plug it in and let it run all night. You will have no worries about people messing with your pieces or forgetting to pick them up. Tumblers are tough and made well so they last a long time. I have heard of art studios using the same tumblers for several years and those tumblers get much heavier use then the one I have in my home. As for the cost of metal smiting tools goes tumblers are cheap.
You can easily find a new 3 lb lortone tumbler like mine for $70 to $100. I found mine on Ebay with free shipping and a pound of mixed shot included. It is difficult to find used ones on the market, which tells me that people like the lortone ones and keep using them. If you decide to give up on metal work you can easily sell your used lortone tumbler.
Conclusion
Look The Brooch Has Now Been Polished!
A tumbler is a great tool to own for any jewelry, beginner to expert. It is something I wished I bought earlier on in my metal working carrier and I use mine regularly. Having a tumbler is also a good way to stay popular with your friends because you can easily clean their solid silver jewelry for them. If you shop around you can easily find deals that include shot with the tumbler. Remember to equate shipping costs because tumblers and shot are not cheap to ship.
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