"oldjag" wrote in message
ups.com...
I'm looking for a source for relativly inexpensive tumbler media to
finish brass & steel parts. Got a tumbler from ebay, but it holds 20
to 50 lbs of media and at the prices on MSC it will cost too much to
have several grades on hand.. I have about 30 lbs of 1/4" diam.
zirconia bead mill media from another project which I tried, but they
are not agressive enough, and can't reach narrow recesses etc. Anyone
know if grit mixed with the beads would be helful...or would it just
make a mess?

I myself bought an old Dillon CV-500 Vibratory Case Tumbler for the same
purpose (deburring, de-rusting, cleaning, and finishing) small parts. I
tried filling it with aluminum oxide blasting media, but that was too fine a
grit to do anything. I've been hunting around, and Eastwood seems to have
the ideal media for small vibratory tumblers: a small plastic pyramid shaped
media embedded with an abrasive. The pyramid shape allows the media to get
into small corners. They have two grades, simply labeled by color "brown"
(more aggressive) and "green" (less aggressive):

http://tinyurl.com/ctrwt

http://tinyurl.com/dmchy

But at $80 for a 15-lbs bag of "brown" and $53 for an 8-lbs bag of "green",
it's been too pricey for me to buy and try.

Does anyone know of a less expensive source for this type of media?

Thanks,
Michael