Choosing Tumbling Media

Choosing to proper tumbling media for a specific part can be challenging enough. When you are producing a variety of parts, the decision can be overwhelming. The following steps will provide a guideline for moving through this process as effectively as possible:

1. Identify the results you need to accomplish - deburring, polishing, surface profile.
2. Calculate the desired cycle time and the volume of parts you need finish per unit time.
3. Determine the type of equipment you need (i.e., barrel vs. vibratory tumbling; wet vs. dry, etc.).
4. Review the part size and geometry for all the parts that need to be finished.
5. Select the proper media and compound to achieve the desired results with these parts.
6. Confirm the process and media selections with testing.

And just to make the decision more difficult, there are many surface finishing options such as abrasive blasting, high energy tumbling, shot blasting and others that may result in as good a process or even better.