Mass Finishing Basics (Part 3)

Vibratory tumblers come in all different shapes and sizes. Bowl style vibes include both round bowl and oval-bowl shapes. Tub style systems look kind of like bathtubs. In general, vibes are produced in sizes as small as 1-2 gallons up to 150 gallons (and much larger). Both systems force the tumbling media and parts to vibrate and rotate around the vibe.

Tub style vibes force the parts (and media) to vibrate and rotate around the center axis of the tub. This creates a similar sliding and rolling action to a barrel tumbler but adds the additional vibratory energy working against the parts resulting in shorter cycle times. Since tub style vibes can be very long in length and diameter extremely large large parts can be tumbled.

Bowl vibes add circular movement around the bowl in addition to the typical tumbling and vibrating. Since the entire load is moving around the bowl, this system allows the option for a separating screen (either above or below the load) to automatically remove the parts from the media. Unlike tub style systems, bowl vibes can only process parts smaller than the bowl channel width.