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wrote:

I have some really small/light parts that are made from 1/2" X 1/2"
T-shaped aluminum extrusion that is only .032" thick. The parts are
only 1" long.

The parts are cut off to 1" with a saw that leaves a pretty good burr
on them. I need to remove the burrs but don't want to damage/hurt/wear
the thin .032" aluminum.

Will I be better off with a vibratory unit or just a simple tumbler
(like a rock polisher) and what sort of media should I use? About how
long can I expect the parts to run? I'll be running them in batches of
maybe 500 parts each (this number of parts will fill up about a pint
jar).

How small/cheap of tumbler or vibratory unit can I get away with and is
there a differece between the two as far as the end results are
concerned? Will a light/cheap unit be able to remove the burrs
adequately? Thanks folks.

Joe

Why burrs? Of course I don't know the part but using the right blade
you should be able to cut an AL extrusion nearly if not completely
burrless. We use triple chip grind blades with negative rake running at
about 7000 rpm to burrlessly cut thin walled AL tubing.

Neither method mentioned is likely to give you good results at removing
the burrs.Burrs tend to mash down and don't want to come off before the
"good" surfaces of the part start getting eroded. Tumbling and
vibrating are better suited to breaking sharp edges.

Others might have different experiences and I don't want to start any
wars here so just take it as "opinion".

Koz