Lapidary Equipment & Supplies

Tumbling Rocks in A Vibratory Tumbler

Author: Brian Boyle   Date Posted: 27 April 2015  

Vibratory tumbling is a great way to tumble stones, small slabs, cabochons, or preforms in a short amount of time.

Enclosed are a few basic procedures or how to use a vibratory tumbler.

The use of a notebook to keep track of the material you tumbled, the grit steps, days for grit completion, will be of help. Since vibratory tumbling gives such quick results,

CHECK YOUR STONES DAILY.

Use stones of the same hardness in your tumbler.

The tumbler bowl should be 50-75% full when loaded. Use a filler* (see note below) to keep your stones from chipping or spalling.

Vibratory tumbling does not round the stones as much as a barrel tumbler...

Deburring in a Vibratory Tumbler

Author: Brian Boyle   Date Posted: 27 April 2015  

The bowl should be filled about 2/3 full with plastic or ceramic media.  Start the tumbler while the media is dry.  Immediately add a small amount of water (a few splashes) until the media pieces are wet, but not saturated.

Add a few drops of soap or detergent until a very light foam begins to form.  If a foam does not form, add a little more water.  On the other hand, if the foam becomes too heavy, the work pieces will be cushioned and the cutting action will be decreased.  A heavy foam means there is too much soap or detergent or too much...

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