Tumbling Produces The Preferred Finish On Parts

Tumbling media is any material that is used for modifying or changing the look of a part – that is cleaning, polishing, smoothing parts and separating parts. Tumbling media are harsh in nature. Tumbling compounds are compounds that are used in the tumbling process as aids.

The tumbling media is also acknowledged as finishing media as it is used to offer the final touches to parts. The parts to be polished or cleaned or separated are put into tumbling or vibratory machines along with the tumbling media. When the machines start to run, the tumbling media and the parts rub against each other which provide an abrasive accomplishment. This act in turn gives the smoothing and polishing outcome. There are two types of tumbling media – natural and simulated. Natural tumbling media include corn cob media and walnut shells media. Corn cob grit is used as tumbling media as it has effective abrasive and cleaning properties. Walnut shells are also powdered to different grit sizes and are used in cleaning and polishing. The advantage of tumbling media is that they are bio degradable and hence are environment friendly. They are also robust and cost effective. They are characteristically used in tumbling processes where soft abrasive property is needed.

Artificial tumbling media includes plastic finishing media and ceramic media. Mutually come in preformed shapes and sizes. Depending on the necessity, the right material, shapes and sizes can be chosen. Plastic tumbling media is set up to be perfect for metal removal, pre plated finishing, fast and heavy cutting. It is used efficiently on metals like brass and aluminium which are soft metals. They are also ideally suited for use on stringy materials because they avert burrs rolling over into holes. Plastic media are superior for providing very smooth finishes without much shine. Ceramic tumbling media is suited for light as well as heavy deburring and in aggressive removing of hard metals. Ceramic media come in very small sizes and they work better than plastic media on heavy parts.

Tumbling compounds are useful in improving the efficiency of tumbling media as they prevent glazing over. They also supply additional abrasiveness and assist to sustain the metal colour of the parts being tumbled. They also help in imparting an anti rusting and anti corrosive properties to the parts apart from giving shiny and bright finish. They are very effective while cleaning of parts – in de-scaling and heavy grease removal. They provide a medium that ensures that the cleaned grime does not get re-deposited on the parts. They also aid in the deburring procedure and separating of parts. Tumbling compounds are also good for using with delicate parts as they act as good cushions.

Tumbling compounds could be dry or wet or creamy. They could be ph-balanced, acidic or alkaline in nature depending on the purpose they are expected to serve in the finishing process. The flow rate of the tumbling compounds has to be maintained in proportion to the volume of the tumbling media used in order to achieve optimum fin