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

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  #1  
Old 2014-12-06, 11:08pm
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Default New tumbler...now what?

Just bought a tumbler. How do I use it to clean as well as polish beads and jewelry?
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  #2  
Old 2014-12-07, 12:05am
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I am also interested in what and how people use tumbler/polishers.

If I had to guess and just use one I would pobably put some water in the tumbler with a big lump of toothpaste.

Toothpaste will polish more then teeth, its also an awesome stain remover on fabrics and carpets.
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  #3  
Old 2014-12-07, 12:21am
De Anza Art Glass Club De Anza Art Glass Club is offline
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Whether or not you have this brand of tumbler, here is a start:
http://www.lortone.com/pdf/Jewelry_T...structions.pdf

For beads, the process is more like rock tumbling:
http://rocktumbler.com/questions.shtml
http://silgro.com/RockTumbling/03_MoreAdvice.htm

Last edited by De Anza Art Glass Club; 2014-12-07 at 12:25am.
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  #4  
Old 2014-12-07, 7:37am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by snoopdog6502 View Post
If I had to guess and just use one I would pobably put some water in the tumbler with a big lump of toothpaste.

Toothpaste will polish more then teeth, its also an awesome stain remover on fabrics and carpets.
I don't think I'd use toothpaste unless you want an etched look to your glass. If you do, there are grades of sand you should use, rather than the stainless steel shot.

For cleaning silver jewelry, use the stainless steel shot with a bit of dishsoap- very little water and soap. Ivory bar soap is also good. Just shave off some pieces and add it to the ssshot and water.

Tumblers won't clean the bead release from the inside of a bead.

I have a fine strainer that I dump the whole kit-and-kaboodle into when I'm done. Then I can rinse the soap off the stainless steel shot but be very careful to be sure your strainer is finer than the smallest pieces of ss shot. You don't want this stuff going into your garbage disposal, for example.

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Old 2014-12-07, 8:56am
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Thanks everyone for your help. I have another question...can I use the same barrel for etching glass and polishing metal ( not at the same time of course)?
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  #6  
Old 2014-12-07, 9:42am
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Yes, all you need to do is switch media.

Depending on the model you can also use plastic jars for barrels as well.
I tumble my metal bits dry in rice or walnut media using a clean large plastic pasta sauce jar.
It takes a bit longer then tumbling with steel shot and water and makes a bit more noise, but I can have several ready to go and swap things around.
It also lest me keep things segregated to avoid cleaning barrels before switching metals or media.
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  #7  
Old 2014-12-07, 11:45am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by losthelm View Post
Yes, all you need to do is switch media.

Depending on the model you can also use plastic jars for barrels as well.
I tumble my metal bits dry in rice or walnut media using a clean large plastic pasta sauce jar.
It takes a bit longer then tumbling with steel shot and water and makes a bit more noise, but I can have several ready to go and swap things around.
It also lest me keep things segregated to avoid cleaning barrels before switching metals or media.
This is very interesting! What brand of pasta sauce and size of jars do you use? Do you just do dry in the jars?
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  #8  
Old 2014-12-07, 1:54pm
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I use the ss mixed shot with a little baby shampoo. Does a great job of cleaning and shining up beads and metal components.
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  #9  
Old 2014-12-07, 8:34pm
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I think it was the ragu 45 oz bottle.
The label has long sense been washed off.
40 oz PB jars work as well though they are not always water tight.
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  #10  
Old 2014-12-07, 8:57pm
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Just bought some SS shot and I'm gonna make some bead caps....gonna have me some fun!
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  #11  
Old 2014-12-07, 9:44pm
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I find it easier to have separate barrels for etch, tumble and dry. The etch barrel is terribly messy and I'd want to hang myself if I had to clean it after use. I also have a "dry" barrel that I only use for tumbling jumprings after sawing and before using.
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Old 2014-12-08, 12:46am
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I am on the same page as artwhim. I have separate barrels for metal and beads. Most jewelry forums advise not to try to tumble silver in a barrel that has been used to etch beads because it is almost impossible to get all the etching medium out of the barrel. Even a tiny amount will scratch the silver and then you will have to polish it. Stainless steel shot with a little burnishing medium or original dawn will polish your metal beautifully.
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Old 2014-12-08, 1:07am
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I meant to say in my first post I will be using the tumbler to etch and polish, not clean. I got the double barrel model so I can have one dedicated to etching and the other to only metal.

Does anyone use the plastic pellets in their tumbler? Do they work?
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  #14  
Old 2014-12-08, 6:00am
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The non abrasive pellets help things move a little more effectively without using as much other media.
Having the barrel under filled or over stuffed effects how quickly things move around.

Often the plastic bb or air soft pellets work just as well and can be sourced locally.
Sometimes at a lower cost then from jewlery suppliers.
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  #15  
Old 2014-12-08, 9:21am
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So the SS shot will polish metal....what will etch the glass? Do I use silicone carbide with plastic pellets?
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  #16  
Old 2014-12-08, 2:06pm
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Mina if I remember right, they use the finer grades of silicon carbide to do the tumbler etch.
This would be either 600 or 1200 grit.
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  #17  
Old 2014-12-08, 2:15pm
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And the plastic with the SC took too long for me, so I use small glass beads I had lying around plus some I bought some at JoAnn's or Michael's in memory serves. But I did have some spacer size that I had just made as color tests, or were really wonky, etc. that work much better than the plastic pony beads I bought.
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  #18  
Old 2014-12-08, 2:31pm
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Yup. I use an old batch of cheap glass beads I got at a craft store for a medium along w/the silicon carbine, etc. Works just fine. But keep in mind the size of the holes in your beads & don't use smaller ones for the tumble; they'll lodge in your beads. Don't ask how I know

Also the tumbler is great for beads you think are a total loss because the colors are too dark or just aren't working for you. Give them a tumble for a few hours; I've had some pretty amazing saves on some that looked like flower pot material.

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  #19  
Old 2014-12-08, 4:41pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by patjjrick View Post
Mina if I remember right, they use the finer grades of silicon carbide to do the tumbler etch.
This would be either 600 or 1200 grit.
Patrick
How much silicone carbide do I need? Enough to fill the barrel after beads are in?
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Old 2014-12-08, 5:04pm
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Yikes! About a tablespoon.
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  #21  
Old 2014-12-08, 5:06pm
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Corrina did a tip sheet on tumble etching beads here:

http://www.corinabeads.com/pages/tumbling.php
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  #22  
Old 2014-12-08, 5:11pm
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Here is one LE thread with a lot of questions answered that may help you:

http://lampworketc.com/forums/showth...licone+carbide
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  #23  
Old 2014-12-08, 6:00pm
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Just a tip depending on your water, I have a well and live in the country and did not have good results in polishing until I started using bottled water. At least that was a big change for results in my experience.
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  #24  
Old 2014-12-08, 6:21pm
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Eileen, thanks for the links. I think I'm ready to try it out. All I need to do is make some beads I want to etch
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  #25  
Old 2014-12-21, 6:32pm
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I recently ordered a tumbler, but just for my wirework links. However, I'm wondering if I can tumble my handformed bead connectors in order to polish the wire parts before assembling my pieces into a necklace. I plan to patinate all the parts and tumble the wire to harden and polish. I'm afraid tumbling with the ss shot will take the shine off of my glass beads, but I want the wire loops to have the same finish as my links.
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  #26  
Old 2014-12-22, 1:22am
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If they don't have unencased silver glass on the surface, they'll be fine. If they have a metallic finish, you might begin to wear it away.
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Old 2014-12-22, 7:59pm
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I don't make beads that are that fragile, like with wings or fins and the only issues I've had are with beads with silver wire on the outside. The balls of wire get knocked off and leave a little fracture in the bead. I've tumbled silver glass beads for 3 hours without the metallic coming off.
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