Media for vibrational tumbling

Cox International Wed Oct 11, 2023 4:15 pm

Does anyone on this forum have lots of experience with vibrational tumbling? As in treat cox engine parts prior to anodizing?

Would love to hear from that person (or persons) and perhaps we can connect via telephone? Toll-free in North-America: 1-877-769-1779

aspeed Thu Oct 12, 2023 2:47 pm

Can't say that I have a lot of experience, just threw some parts in the vibrator for 1/2 hr. or whatever was needed. The tumbler turned slowly and vibrated. The media was probably ceramic and like a triangle but in 3 dimensions, kind of a pyramid. Maybe 1/2" x 1/4", not flat like the ones I saw on the gargle search. We put water in the vibrator, and had a few different size mesh screens to separate the parts from the media. Not much more to add, that I can think of, all the parts were aluminum, the grit was maybe 320. Just for deburring the parts. If the burr was too big, then we had to file them but better to get sharper tools so the burrs were smaller. I retired 15 years ago so maybe things changed. I machined the parts and the guys in the deburring room usually took care of the manual labour. When they were laid off I had to do it. I kind of liked that part better, less stress, sit down, shoot the breeze.

Cox International Thu Oct 12, 2023 3:03 pm

aspeed wrote:Can't say that I have a lot of experience, just threw some parts in the vibrator for 1/2 hr. or whatever was needed. The tumbler turned slowly and vibrated. The media was probably ceramic and like a triangle but in 3 dimensions, kind of a pyramid. Maybe 1/2" x 1/4", not flat like the ones I saw on the gargle search. We put water in the vibrator, and had a few different size mesh screens to separate the parts from the media. Not much more to add, that I can think of, all the parts were aluminum, the grit was maybe 320. Just for deburring the parts. If the burr was too big, then we had to file them but better to get sharper tools so the burrs were smaller. I retired 15 years ago so maybe things changed. I machined the parts and the guys in the deburring room usually took care of the manual labour. When they were laid off I had to do it. I kind of liked that part better, less stress, sit down, shoot the breeze.

Thank you very much for the insight.

We used 1/4" triangular plastic media with 320 grit and, after 5 hours, the toolmarks were almost gone but the parts were dull, leading to dull anodizing.

Currently working with a couple of others that have some ideas as well.

sosam117 Thu Oct 12, 2023 4:43 pm

If your parts are dull the parts anodized will be dull.

My company uses the GF -224 compound (liquid cleaning and deburring compound) and uses 3/8" cone shaped media for our aluminum parts.

After about 20-30 minutes the parts have very little machining marks on them, and the parts come out almost polished.

Here is a link to see their (Giant Finishing) one "small" machine that is similar to the one we have at the shop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vINal7IhQXo

Here is the link to the GF-224 compound ---- 5-gallon pail which can be used for many tumbles before changing out.
We use a fine mesh screen (like a coffee filter type of paper) to recycle the compound back into the tumbler.
https://www.giantfinishing.com/listings/1077777-gf-224

Hope this helps you out?

Levent Suberk Thu Oct 12, 2023 4:47 pm

Some info for polishing aluminum:

https://www.practicalmachinist.com/forum/threads/vibratory-tumbler-not-producing-the-finish-i-need-on-aluminum.248912/#post-1836906

Some other users suggesting soap flakes.

Cox International Thu Oct 12, 2023 5:15 pm

Thanks to Sosam and Levent for their answers Smile

Our tumbler is apparently not suited for wet applications it seems but we believe that we have a solution now.

Contacted Kramer Industries and they said that, after initial tumbling, we do another run with one of their products, and the crankcases should come out shiny. Shall give that a try then.

andrew Thu Oct 12, 2023 6:52 pm

I've never tumbled aluminum, but have cleaned thousands of brass cases, some being very dirty range brass. I usually wash the cases thoroughly (you likely can avoid this step), dry, then tumble in crushed walnut shell media with some brass polish added. If you're interested in a very bright finish, treated corn cob media will work well.

cstatman Fri Nov 03, 2023 11:32 am

Bernie,

you millions of fans are still curious, did you begin this project yet?

Can we see pix??

IS IT COOLLLLL??????

Cox International Fri Nov 03, 2023 12:59 pm

cstatman wrote:Bernie,

you millions of fans are still curious, did you begin this project yet?

Can we see pix??

IS IT COOLLLLL??????

There may be a misunderstanding here ....

We had 049 crankcases manufactured that showed tooling marks on two sides, similar to "zebra stripes". Faint but accentuated when anodized, so we were looking for a way to remove those blemishes.

We purchased a vibrational tumbler and two different types of media. 1/4" plastic pyramids; which removed the blemishes, but left the surfaces dull. The other media then brought back a more polished look. Not sure what other media is but looks like oatmeal lol

So everything is working out fine so far Smile

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