ol3m3
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2006
Posts: 85
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Post by ol3m3 on Nov 16, 2008 14:25:37 GMT -5
Could not find any information on a site search, Does anyone have suggestions for tumble polishing of stainless steel in a vibratory tumbler. what tumbling media and for how long?
Thanks
OM
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Post by connrock on Nov 16, 2008 15:47:11 GMT -5
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1Mark
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since November 2004
Posts: 91
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Post by 1Mark on Nov 16, 2008 19:41:33 GMT -5
I just did a load of nuts and bolts, part of which was stainless, with the majority being zinc plated mild steel (non-stainless). Tumbled 'em in a rotary for about 12 hours with ground corncob impregnated with polish and carnauba wax. They came out nice and shiny, though not as pretty as they'd have been with more tumbling time. The corncob I used was some stuff that had already been used to polish several loads of coins.
The same media can be used in a vibe (the coins mentioned above were done in a vibe), with running times ranging from 2 to 24 hours -- depends on the condition of the parts you're polishing and the degree of polish you want. So far I've had good results mixing the polish impregnated corncob with plain (untreated) corncob 1 to 1.
Hand polishing of stainless is easily done using progressively finer grades of SC sandpaper. Depending on the existing finish I start with anywhere from 220 to 1500 grit wet or dry paper and work my way up at least 2000 grit, and sometimes 3000 grit depending on the finish I'm after. Final polish is done on a spiral sewn buffing wheel with white compound, followed by hand rubbing with Flitz metal polish.
Mark
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Post by johnjsgems on Nov 16, 2008 20:41:52 GMT -5
I would try plain walnut shell first. If that doesn't work try adding a small amount of chrome oxide and aluminum oxide. Green rouge is used for buffing stainless truck wheels. The green rouge says "works like Zam on soft stones". I recently read Zam is a mixture of aluminum and chrome oxides in a binder. Stands to reason the powders would work in a vibe tumbler. Please let me know if you try it and it work.
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1Mark
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since November 2004
Posts: 91
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Post by 1Mark on Nov 18, 2008 0:02:43 GMT -5
I put a load of stainless nuts and bolts in my 3 pound rotary early this afternoon with the corn cob mix. I had a peek at 'em a few minutes ago and they're looking good after about 12 hours. I'll let 'em run 'til noon or so tomorrow and post some pics.
Mark
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1Mark
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since November 2004
Posts: 91
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Post by 1Mark on Nov 18, 2008 11:36:04 GMT -5
The 6 nuts and 2 bolts in the foreground are untreated. The rest were tumbled for 22 hours in a rotary. I just threw all but a few of 'em in the vibe, and I'll leave 'em running until I get home from work tonight at about midnight. I suspect that 12 hours in the vibe will take them to another level. Mark
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1Mark
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since November 2004
Posts: 91
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Post by 1Mark on Nov 18, 2008 23:33:32 GMT -5
Left foreground -- untreated Right foreground -- 20 hours in the rotary Background -- 11 hours in the vibe The picture doesn't quite show how big the difference is in the parts that were done in the vibe, but you can see a definite improvement. They'd been running for 2 and a half hours when I left for work, and there was already a noticeable difference at that point. 4 hours in the vibe probably would have been enough. Mark
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cadmus
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2012
Posts: 6
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Post by cadmus on Oct 14, 2012 11:45:05 GMT -5
I know this thread is 4 years old but i am bumping it up in hopes the original posters are still following it.
I also am having a hard time finding information on polishing stainless steel. Since so many people use stainless steel shot as the medium for polishing other things it is very difficult to search for products and advice. I have many hardware bits and small components of stainless. Some are not a shape that allows me to get a wheel or a dremel in the crevices. This has been the case for MANY years and as much as i pretend to not care what things look like, I spend a lot of time polishing things or not doing projects because i have not had time to polish the hardware. So i am investigating if letting a tumbler do this work is less tedious. I am in not hurry (polishing can take all week for all i care) with the polishing just want it to look good without dulling my treads.
1) ol3m3, what did you end up using and how did it work? 2) Others, what have you used in the past for stainless with lots of hard to reach crevices (like jewelery and hardware)? 3) 1mark, just to confirm, you polished those bolts in the photo with corn cob that had turtle wax and polisher. so you added the wax and the polisher? what was the polisher you used? did you add water? 4) I assume that in a tumbler i will never get the mirror finish that one gets on a wheel. Is that true? I am ok with that. But please run me through the steps and products used to get as close as I can. The hardware and parts starts fairly deburred/sanded but sharing the process from burred to mirrored would be great. 5) can this also be done on zinc coated steel? your typical low end hardware?
I am seeing so many ceramic stars, ceramic triangles, powdered silica, aluminum oxide grit, corn cob meal. plastic balls.... what should i use? What should i read? what are good products? what are overly expensive products?
Thanks in advance for your help and ideas.
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cadmus
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2012
Posts: 6
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Post by cadmus on Oct 14, 2012 15:39:01 GMT -5
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Deleted
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Member since January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2012 16:18:10 GMT -5
It sorta depends on the stainless. For instance some stainless used in tools and knives such as S30V and S35VN are high in Vanadium in the form of Vanadium Carbide. Vanadium Carbide is harder than all polish compounds including Silicon Carbide and must be polished with diamond.
You must polish using a compound harder than the hardest component of the steel.
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cadmus
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2012
Posts: 6
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Post by cadmus on Oct 14, 2012 17:18:07 GMT -5
It sorta depends on the stainless. 304. maybe 316 sometimes. these normally mirror up with jeweler's rouge on a fabric wheel
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cadmus
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2012
Posts: 6
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Post by cadmus on Oct 15, 2012 12:49:41 GMT -5
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cadmus
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2012
Posts: 6
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Post by cadmus on Oct 18, 2012 9:06:12 GMT -5
This was the response from a Coswell rep: "If you're not removing burr marks etc, then I'd start with a walnut shell media. See www.caswellplating.com/buffing-polishing/vibratory-tumblers-and-media/rouge-treated-walnut-shell-5lb.htmlYou should be able to get a mirror finish using this (may take several days). As with any polishing, metal is being removed, so if thread tolerance is critical, they must be protected." This was the response from a Kramer rep: "...Here are two options for polishing the stainless parts: Option 1 (wet process) Stainless Steel Jewelry Mix and Kramco 910 Burnishing Compound. This media should provide a very high polish on the parts but may also get into the holes and possibly get stuck. Cycle times are likely to be in the 2-4 hour range. Option 2 (dry process) Fine Walnut Shell Grit and Metaglos Polishing Compound. This will be a longer cycle time (24+ hours) but may come close to the near-mirror finish you noted. The parts will need to be cleaned after tumbling as some of the compound will probably get stuck in the holes, etc. Of course, it is difficult to understand exactly what the part looks like or what surface is prior to tumbling just from a description. In addition, it would not be unreasonable to use the two options above as a two-step process. " these are the links to those products: www.kramerdepot.com/ABM/WS.htmlwww.kramerindustriesonline.com/chemical-compounds/polishing-creams.htmwww.kramerdepot.com/CMP/CRM.html
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cadmus
off to a rocking start
Member since October 2012
Posts: 6
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Post by cadmus on Oct 18, 2012 9:13:16 GMT -5
Does anyone know of a cheap alternative to the "Kramer - Metaglos Polishing Compound" listed in the previous post?
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