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Tips, Techniques, and Questions -- Technical questions or tips

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  #1  
Old 2011-06-16, 2:32pm
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Default Tumbled Silver Isn't Polished-Why?

I tumbled some sterling beads for 3 1/2 hours last night and they came out looking the same as they went in.

I'm using a 3 lb. barrel with 1 lb. of mixed ss shot and about 1 T of grated Ivory soap. Covered with water, about 1" over everything. The tumbler worked properly, so what happened? Or didn't happen, I guess.
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  #2  
Old 2011-06-16, 6:17pm
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That's weird! I really don't know what happened but I use just enough water to cover whatever is in there. Probably no more that 1/8" over the stuff. And I use less Ivory. Maybe a sliver the size of my pinky nail. Seems to work. So far.
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  #3  
Old 2011-06-16, 6:22pm
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I agree with Rebecca, might just be too much water? Mine just covers the ss shot.
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  #4  
Old 2011-06-17, 7:20am
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Okay, I'll try again tonight with less water. Thanks!
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  #5  
Old 2011-06-17, 7:26am
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Might also have something to do with how full it is? I know that, when I tumble anything, it's most important that it be only 1/2 to 2/3 (at the MOST) full, no more.

It is because the action of the media, plus whatever you've put in with it to polish, needs to slide (tumble) over and over itself with each rotation (if that description makes any sense).

~Rachel
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  #6  
Old 2011-06-17, 7:53am
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That is really weird. I never measure the water or soap I put into mine. I do make sure that I only fill the water to about 2/3rd's full. If the beads are patina'ed, tumbling them won't take the patina off. It will only shine the beads up a bit.
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  #7  
Old 2011-06-17, 8:00am
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It might be your water too. I'm on a well, so always use bottled water.
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  #8  
Old 2011-06-18, 6:52am
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Today I'm going to try adding more water. If that doesn't work I'll use less water. If that doesn't work, I'll use distilled water. Thanks for the tips!
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  #9  
Old 2011-06-18, 8:42am
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Just a thought, are you just trying to shine the silver, or remove scratches? The tumbler only really shines the silver and doesn't replace the need for filing or buffing. Granted if you tumble long enough, the scratch becomes less noticeable, but if it was deep enough going in, it will still be there coming out.

One tablespoon of soap sounds like a lot to me, although I don't use Ivory and don't know the correct amount for it. I either use Dawn, just a drop, or 1/2 to 1 tsp of tumbling soap.
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Old 2011-06-18, 9:11am
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Kathy, I'm trying to shine it. I reduced the amount of soap this time and am using what another person recommended...a piece about the size of a pea.
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Old 2011-06-18, 9:47am
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maybe your buffing compounds (tripoli, rouge, or whatever you use for a silver polish) wasn't totally washed off the pieces and it contaminated the tumbler?
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  #12  
Old 2011-06-19, 9:27am
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After trying all different ways, a friend finally had the answer. She told me that Bali and Thai silver doesn't always get shiny in a tumbler. What I was working with is Hill Tribe. Not happy about it because I use mostly Thai and Bali beads, but it's good to know WTH the problem is.

Thanks for all the advice!
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  #13  
Old 2011-06-20, 12:21pm
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That is a nice bit of advice on the Hill Tribe, Thai and Bali beads not getting shiny in a tumbler. Might save other people some trouble.

Yvonne
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  #14  
Old 2011-06-20, 12:32pm
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In my experience, sterling silver should get shiny in the tumbler, regardless of where it's from. I think the problem is more along the lines of not enough shot in the size of barrel you have. You should have a minimum of 2.5 pounds (should appear about 1/2 full) in a 3 pound tumbler barrel. The slow rolling action of the barrel gently rolls the steel around the barrel, rubbing the pellets against the silver, burnishing it and making it shiny. If there isn't enough shot in the barrel to allow a gentle rolling, what happens is that as the barrel rolls, the shot 'fall's around the barrel rather than rolls. The dropping doesn't allow for the burnishing (polishing) action leaving the silver unpolished. But as I said, that's my experience anyway!
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  #15  
Old 2011-06-20, 2:14pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Barrie View Post
In my experience, sterling silver should get shiny in the tumbler, regardless of where it's from.
I think Hill Tribe is 99.99% silver, not sterling. That's probably why there is a difference.

I also think you have too much water there if it's a rotatory tumbler, the correct consistency of the mix should be a sludge.
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  #16  
Old 2011-06-20, 2:42pm
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Wouldn't Hill Tribe be even shinier if it was 99.9% silver?
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  #17  
Old 2011-06-20, 3:21pm
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I agree with Squid on the shinier thing. I use Ivory bar soap with my tumbler and I'm totally agree with 1T with about an inch of water above the shot - the problem I'll wager is that you just don't have enough shot.
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  #18  
Old 2011-06-25, 10:15am
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I work a lot in silver and as fare as I know the metal will get shiny depending on how it was prepared prior to going into the tumbler.
It really has nothing to do with whether it is sterling of fine silver.
From your post it is hard to tell much about the metal. I can't see that there is anything wrong with the tumbler or the way it is operated except that it shouldn't have too much water because the water reduces the friction and so you get a more gentle tumbling.
I hope that helps.
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  #19  
Old 2011-06-26, 12:22pm
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I've tried just about all your suggestions, and still nothing works. More water, less water, more soap, less soap. I have not bought more shot because most people have had success with just 1 lb.

Then, I threw in a copper bracelet, a set of sterling ear wires and a sterling ball chain necklace. Copper didn't shine and the ss came out looking brassy.

I seriously don't get why such a straightforward process is such a PITA for me.
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Old 2011-06-26, 12:38pm
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I agree with Barrie about the amount of shot. We have the small tumbler from Harbor Freight, and needed 2 lbs to polish things well.

Also, it's not a good idea to tumble copper and silver together for the exact reason you described. You might, maybe, have gotten the shot crudded up, too. You can buy "shot cleaner" from most jewelry supply places. My local store carries it (lonniesinc.com) and I know Rio does, too. Just add the cleaner to the shot with enough water to cover it, and tumble for several hours.

DH says he also uses a little bit of burnishing compound (1 tsp per load). That might help. I really think the main issue is not enough shot for your barrel, though.

Oh, and fine silver shines up wonderfully in my experience. I use that more than sterling.
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Old 2011-06-30, 1:00am
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Maybe you said what kind of shot you were using but I forgot. Is it stainless ? I started out with plain steel and couldn't get good results because of the rust residues so I turned to stainless and it's been working much better.
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  #22  
Old 2011-06-30, 9:27am
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Anne, I am using stainless steel shot.
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  #23  
Old 2011-06-30, 11:30am
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I've tumbled sterling, copper and gold filled items together hundreds of times and never had a problem... that shouldn't be an issue. I know I had items come out looking cruddy and it turned out that I forgot to put detergent in the barrel (totally blonde moment). Another time, I used a different dish detergent and that wasn't good either. I think if the rubber barrel starts to degrade (wrong detergent, like I used) that it can leave a thin rubber crud coating on your items... the good news is that it can be polished off (via polishing cloth or tumbling again), so don't worry about tossing your pieces if that ever happens. The thing is, it doesn't sound like your barrel is degrading... it almost sounds like your items are oxidizing to a degree if your sterling turned brassy (either that or that item is plated? I don't know). Do you use anything else in your tumbler, like stuff for etching? Or do you put items in the barrel after pickling that might not get rinsed enough? And what brand tumbler do you have... Chicago Electric (HF), Lortone or something else?
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Old 2011-06-30, 12:05pm
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Hiya, Cassie! This was the first time I used it (Harbor Freight). The items aren't coming out with crud on them...they're coming out exactly as they look going in. Except for the items that turned brassy.
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Old 2011-06-30, 8:05pm
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Hey Chris!

I was betting it was a HF tumbler! I know I read somewhere that there was a question as to the stability of the rubber material they used for the barrels (can't remember where I read that)... I remember they had a "shop smell" to them that the Lortone didn't have. That and some of the rubber would flake off of the inside of the barrel. That's why I'm wondering if that might be part of the problem. Hopefully someone else will chime in with more info (this is where I wish I had taken notes, but I'm too ADD for that kind of thing... lol!)
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Old 2011-07-01, 12:35pm
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If it helps, I've had the HF 3lb tumber for ~ 4 years now and just recently used it. I had 1 lb shot, a drop of dawn, and filled the canister about half full. Had a mess of earrings in there but the water easily covered everything at least an inch. It took 2-3 hrs but all the SS was polished nicely. I think I have some bali silver somewhere and if I find it, I can try to polish it.
btw- I did use lots of dawn to scrub the inside of the barrel first to get out any gunk. Also ran the tumbler with just the ss shot and water first to make sure no gunk would eek out of the barrel. Then I ran it w/ the earrings as stated above. I didn't know the water level was only supposed to cover everything. I had way more and I just used tap.
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Old 2011-07-01, 1:24pm
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I tumble all the silver findings no matter where they came from in my tumbler. They always come out looking brilliant.

If I had to guess the problem I would say not enough shot, too much soap.

~~Mary
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