Tumbling vs. Vibratory for stonewashing

H

HallHandmade

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Jun 5, 2012
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I had a request for a stonewashed blade, and I have two options. A friend has been trying to sell me a like new rotary tumbler for some time now, it's an older unit, and is pretty massive as far as "rock tumblers" go. This machine is more meant for industrial finishing, which means it is probably much more machine than your average tumbler.

On the manufacturer's website, they call this thing their "small" machine, but just the tubs are larger than some whole tumblers I've seen, and it holds three of them. I suspect if I got the largest barrel that fits on my base, I could tumble a small sword!

This is the exact unit, except the one I'm offered comes with four of the MT-2 barrels (don't let the picture fool, this machine is about the size of a BBQ without its stand):

http://www.kramerindustriesonline.com/barrel-finishing-systems/mt-series/mt-2-bar.htm

It looks like the branding changed to Kramer at some point, but it's definitely the identical machine, maybe the MSI name was sold off.

He wants $150 for it, I'm not sure what these cost new, but I know it's gotta be a LOT more than $150. You can barely get a decent hobby grade machine for that price, let alone an industrial grade unit.



The other option is something like the HF vibratory finisher:

http://www.harborfreight.com/18-lb-vibratory-bowl-with-liquid-drain-hose-96923.html


I'm leaning to the rotary machine, which is light years ahead of the HF unit in build quality, reliability, and capacity. I just don't know if I will be missing out on finishing options (cosmetically or otherwise) by not going vibratory.
 
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Reading you post closely really shows that you want the bigger unit. Do it and don't look back.
 
I just wasn't sure if there were significantly different results to be had with either method, as far as how the blade looks when done. I've done both rotary and vibratory to deburr parts, but never really paid any attention to a specific finish.

If the results are fairly similar to each other no matter which type you use, I am 110% on the large machine. I think this machine is in the $1500+ range new, if not a bit more.

edit: finally found a place with prices, looks like it's $900 for the base and $115 per barrel, so I'd be looking at $1400 new. I'd say $150 is pretty decent, now that I think about it :D

http://www.candmtopline.com/tumblers.html

It looks like this unit is branded by at least 3 places, but I'm not sure who actually makes it.



Another question, if I were to do something like ball burnishing, are there concerns as far as messing with the hardness or temper, or is it pretty much only a surface effect?
 
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I would go with option #1. I own the exact machine from harbor freight. It did very little for me in the way of "stonewashing", and I found it to be more effective as a parts cleaner. Plus it is so loud that my wife could hear it in the house even when I was in our DETACHED garage.
 
M.FREEZE said:
I would go with option #1. I own the exact machine from harbor freight. It did very little for me in the way of "stonewashing", and I found it to be more effective as a parts cleaner. Plus it is so loud that my wife could hear it in the house even when I was in our DETACHED garage.
Click to expand...

Ouch. I went ahead and went with the rotary. My friend is gonna bring it over. I didn't really think about that, but my fiancé is an RN, and works night shift, and our bedroom shares a wall with my shop. I have to be careful enough out there as it is. :/

I know this is a professional grade machine, so I hope with the right media and plenty of experimentation, I should be able to get a good result.

He said that I could keep it for a few weeks to try, and then pay him if I decide to keep it permanently. That's pretty hard to argue with.
 
I think that you will get a different finish with the rotary tumbler compared to the vibratory tumbler. I researched a lot and went with the HF vibratory tumbler. I have been very happy with the results.

This is the first blade I did, took about 45 minutes.
 
Some thing to consider is when or if you add water to the mix it makes the process work much faster. I have a big vibratory tumbler and its a whole different process when its dry than when its wet.
DSC01826.JPG
 
I bought the med grit triangles from HF and some elongated triangles from enco. Added water and a little liquid laundry detergent and was in business.
 
The soap does help keep the dirt and other junk in suspension. I use the ceramic triangles as well.
 
One thing to consider is that tumblers have equal abrasion throughout the barrel. Vibratory has "nodes' in the tumbling pattern that are far more aggressive. These are called "hot spots" in the trade, and can make very different patterns in the finish . When tumbling small parts, they all pass in and out of the hot spots, and the finish is pretty even. Long or large objects can get very uneven finished, though. For long objects, tumblers give a far nicer finish.

If you want the speed of vibratory, and the quality of tumbled........what you really want is:
http://www.candmtopline.com/Images/300dbb.jpg
http://www.candmtopline.com/finishing_tanks.html
 
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