# Tumblers/polishers?



## mammabooh (Sep 1, 2004)

For those of you who make jewelry, do you have some ort of tumbler or polisher? If so, what kind is it and what exactly does it do? As you can probably tell, I'm a novice at such things.

Thanks


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## kentuckyhippie (May 29, 2004)

I have a rock tumbler that came originally from hobby lobby (I got it second hand so I can't tell you what it cost originally) basically it is a little container that you fill with coarse grit, some water and the stones you want to polish. It is turned by a little motor. you let it turn nonstop for several weeks, then empty it, clean the container and stones, put in a finer polishing grit and the stones with a little more water and let it run several more weeks. It is fairly noisy so I run mine in the garage. Its slow but I have enjoyed using mine.


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## mammabooh (Sep 1, 2004)

kyhippie said:


> I have a rock tumbler that came originally from hobby lobby (I got it second hand so I can't tell you what it cost originally) basically it is a little container that you fill with coarse grit, some water and the stones you want to polish. It is turned by a little motor. you let it turn nonstop for several weeks, then empty it, clean the container and stones, put in a finer polishing grit and the stones with a little more water and let it run several more weeks. It is fairly noisy so I run mine in the garage. Its slow but I have enjoyed using mine.


Sorry...I should have been more specific. I understand the rock tumbling thing, but what about delicate jewelry? I've made some wire pieces that I would really like to polish, but I'm not sure how to go about it. I've seen people make references to tumbling their pieces, but I'm a bit confused about it.


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## CraftyDiva (Aug 26, 2003)

Just what do you want to do with a tumbler, harden off SS, polish SS ?

There's a forum at Wet Canvas for wearable arts (jewelry), that has pretty much covered some questions on the subject of tumblers. Here's just 2 of the threads, there are more (find with on site search)..........................

http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=232980&highlight=tumblers

http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=178113




I'm thinking of getting one to polish SS, question I have is do I want a rotating tumbler or vibrating. The vibrating is much more gentle with finer pieces, but costs more.

.


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## mammabooh (Sep 1, 2004)

CraftyDiva said:


> Just what do you want to do with a tumbler, harden off SS, polish SS ?
> 
> There's a forum at Wet Canvas for wearable arts (jewelry), that has pretty much covered some questions on the subject of tumblers. Here's just 2 of the threads, there are more (find with on site search)..........................
> 
> ...


Thanks! That's exactly what I needed to know.


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