Tumbling Your Jewelry

By on February 17, 2010
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Tumbling Your Jewelry

Mary W. Bailey

When asked to write this article, I had to stop and really think on it. First off, because I don’t use a tumbler to clean my jewelry nor as a method for hardening the wire. Why would I? After all, I am working with half-hard wire to start with so it is hardening as I work it and the other idea, well, the thought of putting finished settings into a tumbler gives me the shivers. And, most importantly, in all the years I have taken classes and worked with Dale, she has never suggested using a tumbler of any kind to clean jewelry items. Notice please, I said a tumbler as opposed to using a Speed Brite ionic cleaner

With this in mind I began doing some research on the subject, reading what others had posted, and talking with several jewelry artists I know who do use a tumbler regarding their reasons why and the methods they use to achieve success with a tumbler. It seems that some people believe that this is the proper way to complete their jewelry items, while others do so for the benefits the tumbler offers them. It is a case of polishing the finished piece as well as work hardening the wire and removing any nicks or burrs that may be present.

So, with that said, let’s get down to the basics:

There are two types of tumblers available: a rotating tumbler and a vibratory tumbler. They each serve a basic need for anyone working with rough stones that want to achieve a more finished product for use in their jewelry creations.

Tumbler Model 45CIn a rotating tumbler, you have a rubber drum or barrel that is filled with different levels of polishing medium, water and the stones that you want to “tumble”. In this case, the rocks continuously fall over each other, polishing slowly, much in the same way tumbling waves from the ocean polish sea glass and stones. And, like the action of the waves, it takes a lot of time to polish stones from the rough to a highly polished stage. It is not unusual to take two weeks to a month or more to tumble a batch of stones to the desired finish.

The advantage of using a rotating tumbler is the fact that it will reshape natural rough material, reducing and rounding any angular points on the material.

The vibrating tumblers don’t actually “tumble” but rather they agitate side to side at a high rate, creating a moving action that carries the polish over and between the stones in it. Mostly used ‘dry’, the bowl or hopper vibrates rapidly and this action produces a lot of friction between the vibrating rock particles – this is why a vibrating tumbler works quickly.

The rocks do not “tumble” in the hopper, but a circulating action develops that continuously moves the rocks from the bottom of the bowl up to the surface, along the outside edges of the bowl and then back down to the bottom. The tumbling action of a rotary tumbler that rounds and reshapes the rocks is not produced. Therefore, in the lapidary world, a vibratory tumbler is best used to polish slabs.Tumbler Model UV10

The main advantage of a vibratory tumbler is that it has the ability to polish rocks and other objects very quickly. A rotary tumbler will require several days or weeks (depending on the hardness of the stone) to do the pre-polish and polishing steps for a batch of rocks but a vibratory tumbler can do each of these steps in just one or two days. This speeds production. A final advantage is that the vibratory tumbler subjects the rocks to less impact than a rotary tumbler. This gentle action is important when you are tumbling stones that break or bruise easily such as rocks with self-healed fractures and softer materials like turquoise and malachite.

Please also note that these types of tumblers are lapidary tumblers, meaning they are made to contain and hold water in them. If you shop an alternative source, be sure what you are buying is designed to do the job you want. Case in point, vibratory tumblers, the type that come from gun shops, are used to polish shells for reloading and so are available at a better price because of this. Stainless steel shot is heavy and requires a tumbler designed to handle the weight as well as the liquid it is using. Vibratory tumblers from gun shops are designed to use a dry medium, such as ground walnut shells, and are not waterproofed. If you do shop at a gun shop, be sure to ask about whether or not the tumbler is designed for what you want to use it for.

So how does this work for your jewelry? And what do you have to use to achieve the results you want? Please read on as I explain the steps necessary to utilize a tumbler for polishing finished jewelry pieces.

I will be explaining the steps for using a rotary tumbler, as this is what everyone I talked with uses for their jewelry.

Getting Started…

As I stated earlier, I visited and talked with several friends regarding their tumblers and what they use them for. It was a variety of different mediums, such as chain mail, Viking knit, wirework and component-assembly work, that all fell under the same final stage of needing a good cleaning and/or hardening.

And in just about every case, the materials used were the same for each individual: a rotary tumbler, mixed stainless steel shot, Dawn dishwashing liquid and water.

There are a lot rotary tumblers out there. Here at Wire-Sculpture.com we offer a good selection of brands and accessories for you to purchase whether you desire to tumble polish stones or your finished jewelry pieces.

By tumbling your jewelry, three things are accomplished. First, it cleans your work, removing dirt and any oils that have accumulated on your stones and/or wire. Second, it is lightly polishing the metal in your pieces by using stainless steel shot that will burnish, or polish the metal. And third, by leaving the piece in the tumbler long enough, the metal or wire becomes what is referred to as “work-hardened”. (I believe this last step applies mostly to those of you who work in dead soft wire and need this added step to harden the wire.)

Procedure:

The first thing to do with your tumbler is to remove the barrel from its stand and open it up. A thorough cleaning of the inside of the drum needs to be done, using a baking soda paste and a toothbrush. Why? The rubber usually has a coating on it, which will cause the first tumbling to turn the water black and your jewelry pieces a gray color. So scrub the drum out thoroughly and rinse it out with clean water a couple of times.

The size of the tumbler you are using will determine the amount of stainless steel shot you will need. The stainless steel shot, that all I spoke with used, is what is referred to as a “jewelers mix” consisting of pin, oval, and elliptical shapes, which in turn ensure that all the little nooks and crannies of your work will receive a good polish.

For a small tumbler, usually you will fill about a 1/3 of the tumbler barrel with shot. You need to be absolutely sure that it is stainless steel shot and not the less expensive carbon steel shot. I made this mistake by purchasing a bag from a gun shop and my first (and last) tumbling experiment ended up with rusted and blackened items that I ended up throwing away completely. (Thank goodness they were copper items and not sterling silver!) Even the “stainless shot” was a rusted pile of pellets and went into the trash as well. Oh, and let me add, the tumbler was also not water tight, so I ended up with a large wet spot on my work bench. (Sigh, live and learn, as they say.)

Once the shot is loaded into the barrel of the tumbler, you will need to add a “burnishing compound” to it. The simplest and least expensive is Dawn dishwashing liquid. Add a couple of good drops of the detergent to the shot. This detergent works great at removing oil and grim from the surfaces of your jewelry.

Next, put in the jewelry pieces you want to clean and then add just enough water to cover the shot and jewelry. (Avoid adding too much water, as it will dilute the detergent too much.) You don’t want too much water. The whole tub should not be over halfway full, as there needs to be room for the shot and the jewelry to move around freely while tumbling. Just make sure a thin layer of water covers everything inside. Check the edges of the drum and if water is beading around the opening, wipe it dry before inserting the drum lid. Depending on the model you are using, attach and tighten down any additional outer lid and slip the drum into its mounting place.

The amount of time you allow the tumbler to run can vary depending on how many pieces you have loaded and what type of stones, etc. you have wrapped. If there are no sensitive stones in you work, you could safely allow it to run for a couple of hours. From the questions I asked, most folks recommend just one hour of tumbling time. However all of them did state that if you are unsure of the hardness of any jewelry item, check it after 20-30 minutes to see how it looks. (To avoid possible disaster, I would suggest that before putting any finished piece with a questionable material into a tumbler that you take the time to experiment with an individual stone or gemstone bead to see how it looks after tumbling.)

Retrieving your items can be done several ways. If they are large enough, simply reach into the drum and remove them. If you have tumbled a variety of items, then using a small holed, plastic colander works great. To dump the drum out, take some preventive steps first. Put the sink plug in and as added protection use one of those flat, plastic drain seals over the plug. Even using a small wire strainer (found at a hardware store) over the sink opening to catch anything small, as well as any shot that gets away from you, is a good idea instead of the plastic stopper.

Now, gently pour the contents of the drum into the colander, draining out all of the water. From there, it is easy enough to set the colander on a folded towel on the countertop and begin sorting thru the shot for your jewelry. Be sure to take the time to dry off your shot too, either by rolling it up in a towel and removing the moisture or by laying it out on the towel and letting it air dry, before using it again.

I hope this does explain to you, the use of a rotary tumbler to polish jewelry.

From what I have collected in opinions, the lapidary vibratory tumbler does work as well, using basically the same steps. Some people prefer using the vibratory tumbler purchased from a gun shop, and choose to use a dry medium of crushed walnut shells that have been “charged” with a red jeweler’s rouge, or a finer polish made of medium corncobs ground up with green polishing compound added.

36 Comments

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  6. avatar

    pauline white

    July 26, 2010 at 2:16 am

    Thanks Mary for all this information it is excellent and has cleared up many questions I have been trying to find answers for.
    Pauline

  7. avatar

    Carolynne

    July 30, 2010 at 7:49 pm

    Thank you for the information – I’ve wanted this detailed info and you’ve answer all my questions!

  8. avatar

    Sherry

    August 12, 2010 at 5:37 pm

    Dale,
    Have you ever heard of Desert polished apache tears? If so what do you know about them?
    Thanks,
    Sherry
    w/Sherry’s Jewelry

    • avatar

      dalecgr

      August 12, 2010 at 10:56 pm

      Hi Sherry, when an item is referred to as being ‘desert polished’, it means that the subject, such as the obsidian Apache tears you mention, has been smoothed and polished by the sand particles blown in the wind. This process is similar to a stone that has been ‘water polished’; meaning tumbled about in the water and sand of a creek or such.

      Nature’s polishing methods and agents are the same as those we humans replicate with our variety of tumbling machinery. Personally, I have collected several agate nodules that are desert polished, appearing to have been in a tumbler almost to the final stage. (Although my husband would love to cut them they remain as shelf specimens.)

  9. avatar

    Copper Nut

    November 19, 2010 at 4:06 am

    You have done a terrific job communicating your message. I totally agree with your opinion.

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  11. avatar

    Nancy Keane

    January 6, 2011 at 8:09 am

    Excellent article. One caution,though: be sure to use only ORIGINAL Dawn (the blue Dawn.) I was warned about that and have had no problem, but others have used different types of Dawn with not-so-good results.

    Also, as you know, you only need a small squirt.

    I would be lost without my tumbler! It’s amazing how beautiful jewelry looks after tumbling!

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  15. avatar

    Craig

    February 13, 2011 at 9:30 am

    Thank you for the information…I am just starting out and had no idea that you could tumble items to harden them. I really hate the extra expense to start off with, but oh well, you gotta do what you gotta do! I do wonder though, how harsh is it going to be on my fine art pieces with thin and/or delicate areas? I hope it won’t be too costly to find out.

  16. avatar

    D.Doody

    March 6, 2011 at 7:28 pm

    Thanx for the article. I’m now ready to get this tumbler going. I have made about 2 dozen pieces for the spring shows and am new at tumbling. I have had all I can take of rouge on the walls and floors. I got my tumbler on friday and will get it up and running by monday morning. I feel confident that I will be an expert in no time at all.

    • avatar

      dalecgr

      March 6, 2011 at 7:36 pm

      You are so welcome D. Rouge is more than messy!

  17. avatar

    Dot

    May 15, 2011 at 4:42 pm

    Craig, I would suggest that you not tumble if you have real thin or delicate pieces. I have seen tumbling done with thin silver clay pieces and sometimes parts break off.

  18. avatar

    John

    September 10, 2011 at 4:35 pm

    I use the plastic pellets they use for filler in the drums when you do not have enough product for your drum. To polish copper wire. Besides cleaning the the sculpture it will also knock off the burs. Down side it – takes about a week in a tumbler.

    • avatar

      MetalGrannie

      February 26, 2012 at 1:30 am

      Read your comment with interest, John. What plastic pellets? I am using copper – right now I’m making S type clasps in 14 gauge copper wire, and the pliers are leaving a mark. Will tumbling remove the marring? These are supposed to be “no marr” pliers I’m using!

  19. avatar

    Bibba

    May 9, 2012 at 7:16 am

    Dear All,

    I find rotating tumbler very useful and use wet with, some water, borax ans stainless shot of various shapes mostly balls, spindles and cones, in order to allow a better coverage of the pieces you want to polish. I use it mainly to remove mat patina accumulated on the metal surface after annealing and acid bath. Annealing is softening the metal with fire torch to soften it what causes fire stains, which can be removed in acid bath which makes metal mat. Tumbling makes metal burnished and polish to a high gloss and harden it back to its starting point.
    Summarising, if you don’t work with torches and acid you don’t have to tumble your pieces I would think. Unless you want a very high polish. And last thing is, I wouldn’t worry about destroying my pieces in the tumbler(especially a small one) unless they are very structural and made of super thin, soft wire.

  20. avatar

    Dorothy Garner

    May 23, 2012 at 12:22 pm

    what is shot for the tumbler ? you mean we can put any finishded jewelry in it ?

    Dorothy

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  22. avatar

    Website

    December 29, 2013 at 6:50 pm

    Hello! I could have sworn I’ve visited this website before
    but after browsing through a few of the posts I realized
    it’s new to me. Anyhow, I’m certainly delighted I
    found it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back
    often!

  23. avatar

    Karen

    September 2, 2014 at 10:04 am

    I’ve been following your tips for several years now and always learn new things. I believe I read somewhere that you need to use a separate tumbler and separate shot for tumbling oxidized pieces because it will darken jewelry that has not been oxidized. Can someone help me out with this? Thanks to all my artsy friends.

  24. avatar

    Barbara

    October 9, 2014 at 8:37 am

    In a Facebook group I belong to, I was given the advice of putting very delicate items in a baby sock before putting into the tumbler. I haven\’t tried that yet but plan to soon as I have a couple of things to tumble that have delicate parts.

  25. avatar

    Grace

    February 27, 2015 at 6:30 pm

    I’ve looked everywhere for instructions to tumble polish jewelry. Thank you for the information. Now I have to find a tumbler I can afford. I only do things for special occasions for my family.

  26. avatar

    Dianna DeRosa

    March 9, 2015 at 5:11 pm

    When I first started using a tumbler, I was told not to empty the water from the tumbler into the sink, but put it in a container and get rid of it when you take your toxic wastes to the dump. It protects the land and water,and is much safer for your pipes.

  27. avatar

    LYNDA BRYANT

    March 18, 2015 at 7:02 am

    When draining my liquid from the tumbler I use a coffee filter inside the strainer. The filter catches any shot that goes through the strainer.
    Also there are some types of stone that cannot be tumbled.

  28. avatar

    Marsha

    July 16, 2015 at 6:58 am

    Super article. I need to invest in one and would get so confused everytime I looked.

  29. avatar

    connie

    August 25, 2015 at 10:30 am

    I use a rolling tumbler and put in a bunch of dirty and rusted stuff we found metal detecting and it really did a number on the stainless steel shot and the water was black and very dirty and the shot was gray. I used room temperature coke that had gone flat to clean it up again. Did a good job. Never again will I do that again in the tumbler that I use for polishing my jewelry. Just add enough coke to cover the shot and let it run for an hour or so, You may have to do it a few times.

  30. avatar

    Kathy Scott

    June 23, 2016 at 7:02 am

    Thank you for the wonderful advice on tumbling, but I have a question on the effects it will have on copper that has had LOS used to age it.Will it remove the ageing process that I put on the copper? Thanks for all of your tips. Kathy Scott

  31. avatar

    Donna

    August 27, 2016 at 3:16 am

    Kathy
    I suspect it would remove after extended use, but perhaps an initial cleaning only would be ok. After all, it is also called a rock tumbler since it will remove rough surfaces, albeit this takes a long time. I have successfully used the tumbler after making brass/copper findings that I patina with a torch. And I also used it to clean my blackened sterling. I say “blackened” because I used an egg instead of LOS. However, the stainless shot would eventually wear off top layers. You could always test it with a sample piece. You can probably find others who have done so via web. The only issue I’ve had is with copper findings I purchased from India. They had added a top layer to these findings to extend the shine. The tumbler gave them a weird color, and I learned a lesson! But that’s all part of the creative process.

  32. avatar

    Judi Morningstar

    October 5, 2016 at 9:34 pm

    I’ve just used my tumbler a few times but was concerned with getting the shot completely dry after using it. After I rinsed it and towel dried it, I put it on a baking sheet & stuck it in the oven I had preheated & turned off. It dried the shot nicely & I could put it away sooner.

    My mother used to do this with her hand meat grinder & blades after washing it as the parts on it would tend to rust if they weren’t completely dried.

  33. avatar

    judith nowak

    December 30, 2016 at 1:22 pm

    I’m in love with my tumbler! I was very leery about using it and tried it out with some expendable pieces first. Wow, was I blown away. I couldn’t wait to try Dales’ patterned rings. Could not believe my eyes and the ‘feel’ of the pieces. All the rough spots were gone, like magic. I have arthritis and hand polishing was a real chore for me. Never again. Thank you!for pushing me to try it.