I just got a small tumbler that I intend to use for de-burring small
aluminum parts. Does anyone have any advice on what media to use in it? I
was thinking of trying sandblasting sand... And any idea of about how long
to run it?

Jerry

"Jerry Foster" wrote in message
om...
I just got a small tumbler that I intend to use for de-burring small
aluminum parts.

Would that be a drum-style rotary tumbler or a bowl-style vibratory tumbler?


Does anyone have any advice on what media to use in it?

Depends on the type.


I was thinking of trying sandblasting sand...

Not very effective or efficient in either type of tumbler.


And any idea of about how long to run it?

Depends on the type of tumbler, the type of media, the size and shape of the
parts, and the degree of deburring needed. The only real way to know is by
trial and error. If doing a lot of similar parts, you can get an idea of the
amount of time required after judging one or two trial runs. But if each
batch is different in some way, then you will have to test every time.

- Michael

One uses "deburring media". It's most often odd-shaped (stars, squares,
triangles) of high-alumina ceramic in the range of 95% aluminum-oxide to 5%
porcelain clay.

It's readily available from most machining supplies like MSC or McMaster
Carr.

LLoyd

"Jerry Foster" wrote in message
om...
I just got a small tumbler that I intend to use for de-burring small
aluminum parts. Does anyone have any advice on what media to use in it?
I
was thinking of trying sandblasting sand... And any idea of about how
long
to run it?

Jerry

I have tumbled rusty chain in nothing other than beach sand, with excellent
results. You can, however, do better. I would suggest starting with sand (jeez,
it would seem to me that black blasting sand would just tear up aluminum) and
run it for 3-4 hours and then look at it and go from there. Keep notes and
learn as you go. - GWE

"Jerry Foster" wrote

I just got a small tumbler that I intend to use for de-burring small
aluminum parts. Does anyone have any advice on what media to use in it?
I
was thinking of trying sandblasting sand... And any idea of about how
long
to run it?

Depending on your required accuracy when you get done tumbling, you may not
wish to use a rotary tumbler. Rotaries tend to round off corners when being
used, even with a fine grade carborundrum (sic). Vibratory works much better
without rounding corners, and it works much faster. I dont think sand
blasting media will work very well, but it is worth the effort to find out.


"DeepDiver" wrote in message
...
"Jerry Foster" wrote in message
om...
I just got a small tumbler that I intend to use for de-burring small
aluminum parts.

Would that be a drum-style rotary tumbler or a bowl-style vibratory
tumbler?


Does anyone have any advice on what media to use in it?

Depends on the type.


I was thinking of trying sandblasting sand...

Not very effective or efficient in either type of tumbler.


And any idea of about how long to run it?

Depends on the type of tumbler, the type of media, the size and shape of
the parts, and the degree of deburring needed. The only real way to know
is by trial and error. If doing a lot of similar parts, you can get an
idea of the amount of time required after judging one or two trial runs.
But if each batch is different in some way, then you will have to test
every time.

- Michael

I have a rotary tumbler I use for polishing rocks and the like, and it
uses various grades of silicon carbide grit. This is probably too hard
and abrasive for anything softer than hard steel, though. However, the
final grit before the polish is a mild abrasive called a prepolish. It
is either tripoli or a synthetic abrasive that I'll have to look up. I
would try looking up rock tumbling media in google. I went looking and
found this site. They have both the rock tumbling media and the
specialized deburring media.
http://www.thumlerstumbler.com/accessories.html

"Jerry Foster" wrote in message
om...
I just got a small tumbler that I intend to use for de-burring small
aluminum parts. Does anyone have any advice on what media to use in it?
I
was thinking of trying sandblasting sand... And any idea of about how
long
to run it?


I use the plastic media for aluminum from these guys :

http://www.candmtopline.com/frames.html

Suggest give em a jingle.

--

SVL