How useful is a vibratory tumbler for Knifemaking?

Patrice Lemée

Patrice Lemée

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Aug 13, 2002
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The reason I ask is that my wife wants a tumbler for sea glass. I figure we either buy the cheapest rotary tumbler at a little over 100$ or put a little more money and get a small vibratory tumbler instead (around 300$ or 370$ with flow through cleaning system) that maybe can be useful for more than2-3 loads of sea glass.

What do you think, is it worth it? Do you use one on a regular basis?

Thanks
 
You must be looking at some nice vibratory tumblers at that price.

As far as usefulness, it just depends on what you want to do. I don't think there's any use for a tumbler unless you want a stonewashed finish or if you want to debur a lot of small parts.
I personally stonewash my smaller knives because I like the look of stonewashed finishes and they hide scratches from use better than other finishes. If I had a larger tumbler I would stonewash some of my larger blades.
Stonewashing won't hide imperfections in your finish grinding though. You have to take the finish to at least 400 grit before tumbling.
 
Fumbler answering question on tumblers?? :)

Can you use a case tumbler? ie. for reloading ?
 
I have an RCBS vibratory that was obviously meant for reloading. In addition to cleaning cases, I also use it with 5 pounds of ceramic media and have yet to have any problems. The opening is rather small, as is the interior volume. It was meant to clean shell cases after all. I am in the market for a larger one. I never thought I would use it as much as I do. Seems I am always tumbling some odd part or blade.

Cheer!
 
My cousin worked for a place that ended up making their own. You could split a piece of large pipe or an old propane tank, line it with rubber and mount it on something like motor rubber mounts and attach a shaft with a counter weight to the bottom of the tank on pillow block bearings, and then spin it with a small motor with sped control. Make the counter weight attach securely to the shaft with a couple bolts so you can remove it and experiment with its size and weight. It is on my do do list.
 
Thanks for your input. Sandow's first link made me look at cheaper (HF...) alternatives and there is a vibratory tumbler on sale for 50$ that will do the job nicely for the wife and let me explore the subject a little more before I decide to buy one for knifemaking. Looks like it could be useful.

Thanks again.
 
I mostly use mine to stonewash small knives.

A vibratory tumbler can also be used to clean up castings, polish jewelry, smooth finished parts, etc.

Rinse your media very often, I have a couple of colanders that come in handy.

I use ceramic media for the most part, it works well with just enough windex to keep it damp.
 
Buying a smaller and/or cheaper one is a good idea. You could pick up some of HF's ceramic media while you're at it. I don't think the HF media gives the best finish on some metal (you have to experiment a lot) but it's cheap enough to try. I use the HF media with oil but break up half of the media to give it a slighter faster action. I'll be buying different shaped media in the future. Just a tip, water gives you faster movement but results in a more matte finish. Oil slows the action down and results in larger polished spots that look more like a galvanized finish. You can play with different liquids and different shaped media to get different finishes.


chavez556 said:
Fumbler answering question on tumblers?? :)
Click to expand...
;)
 
Just don't buy a Forster...

You can use the harsher media if you like but if you are willing to wait a day, you can buy ground walnut shells at pet stores for very little and then imbue it with a compound of your choice. Brasso works well for soft metals for zero dimensional change but I've used 1 micron sapphire powder (dangerous without a respirator) effectively on steel. I'd expected some dimensional change but it ended up being less than I could measure with my micrometer. Most of the action is hammering rather than grinding. Degreasing before you tumble will keep your media in good shape for a long time.

-Sandow
 
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