Inovatec MachineryYour Best Jewelry Tumbling Media Manufacturer in China

Jewelry Tumbling Media

The jewelry tumbling media is usually in small sizes.

With perfect de-flashing and smoothing of the high value-added parts, they provide your parts most top-quality esthetics while guaranteeing functionality.

The plastic tumbling media is also called plastic grounding chips.

With polyester bonding, plastic resin chips are used for fine grinding precious metals like silver and gold.

Usually, plastic abrasive media for jewelry use small sizes like 10mm, 12mm cone, and pyramid.

The ceramic tumbling media bonded with brown corundum abrasives.

It is a highly abrasive media used for grinding steels.

Ceramic tumbling media triangles and the cylinder are the most popular ones.

Stainless steel tumbling media includes stainless steel ball, ball-cone (satellite shape), and pins.

These media are non-abrasive media with very little wear. Therefore, they create a high luster finish on the jewelry surface.

Besides, stainless steel pins are used with magnetic polishers that polish deep holes and slots in jewelry accessories.

Zirconia balls are sturdy and long-lasting materials.

They use either industrial vibratory tumbler machines or centrifugal disc finisher.

Because of the high specific gravity, zirconia balls replace steel tumbling media in some applications without rusting.

Dry tumbling media is used for dry polishing jewelry parts. It is the final step of jewelry polishing.

The dry tumbling media is made of corn cob granule, walnut shell granule, wood chips, and bamboo chips.

These media will help to create a mirror finish on the surface of the parts during the tumbling machine process.

Inovatec has developed jewelry tumbling media for over 20 years.

So our precious industrial know-how promises you the right solution and excellent surface finishing.

Contact us today and get a fast quotation and answers!

Tumbling Media For Jewelry FAQ Guide

1. Which are the tumbling media for jewelry?

The jewelry tumbling process is a sensitive task and it requires precision.

To achieve precision, you can use ceramic tumbling media and stainless steel burnishing media for maximum effects.

You can also use plastic, walnut shells, corn cob grit, or porcelain tumbling media to tumble your jewelry as well.

2. How does tumbling media for jewelry work?

Tumbling media for jewelry works similarly to other tumbling media.

It utilizes friction to smooth out the surface of your jewelry parts and make them shiny.

3. Do I tumble the jewelry wet or dry?

Jewelry tumbling is done wet.

Wet tumbling prevents the media from creating a matte finish on your parts and it keeps the dust level low as well.

Dry tumbling is the final step of tumbling if you need a mirror finish.

4. How do I know if a tumbling media for jewelry is right for me?

By far, stainless steel burnishing media is considered to be the best tumbling media for jewelry.

But as we already stated, you can use ceramic, plastic, or walnut shell media as well. All of these tumbling media come with their own set of advantages and disadvantages.

Ceramic can give a great shiny finish while walnut shell media can create the luster you want.

You need to play with different media to find out what works best for you.

5. Will tumbling media for jewelry damage any of my intricate designs?

Damaging parts while tumbling is a pretty common phenomenon.

The primary cause behind it is using the wrong media.

When you are certain that you are using the right media, you need to concentrate on the shape.

If the shape is also right, there is practically no chance of damaging any of your intricate designs.

6. How long should I tumble my jewelry to get the right shine?

Jewelry tumbling can take anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours.

It all depends on the condition of your parts and how you want them to look once you are finished.

The ideal path to take would be to tumble the jewelry for 30-minute pulses.

7. How long does tumbling media for jewelry last?

Different tumbling media for jewelry has a different threshold for wear and tear.

While ceramic and stainless steel media will last a long time, plastic and walnut media will get exhausted pretty quickly.

8. What size of tumbling media for jewelry should I buy?

The size of tumbling media for jewelry depends on the size of the jewelry.

In general, jewelry parts are small and agile.

You should stick with small tumbling media unless your parts require something different.

Stainless steel pins are the perfect choice for jewelry tumbling.

9. What shape of tumbling media for jewelry should I buy?

When it comes to jewelry, there are no shape suggestions.

Every batch of jewelry looks different and they require different treatments as well.

Your primary goal should be to ensure that no media is lodging in the jewelry parts.

Try as many shapes as possible if you don’t know what works best for you.

10. Do I need to clean the parts after using tumbling media for jewelry?

It’s always a good practice to clean the parts after tumbling.

Especially for jewelry, you want them to shine as much as possible.

If they are covered in a thin layer of media dust, it’s not going to happen.

So, hold the parts under running water for a few minutes once you are done with the tumbling media for jewelry.

11. Does plastic work as a tumbling media for jewelry?

There are multiple variants of plastic tumbling media that you can use for jewelry tumbling.

Usually, pyramid-shaped plastic tumbling media works best as a tumbling media for jewelry.

12. What amount of tumbling media is needed for one cycle of jewelry parts tumbling?

It totally depends on your application.

If you have a vibratory tumbler machine and using organic vibratory tumbler media like walnut shell grit or corn cob media, it’s not likely to overuse it.

But if you’re using ceramic or stainless steel tumbling media, choosing the right amount is very important.

13. Can I use ceramic as a tumbling media for jewelry?

Ceramic tumbling media is a fast cutting media that works great in tumbling jewelry.

You need to figure out the right shape and size of the media before you approach the ceramic media route.

Also, choosing media with low abrasive properties is also essential. If you select an aggressive ceramic tumbling media, then more material will be removed from the jewelry part.

14. Is using tumbling media for jewelry more cost-effective than polishing by hand?

Of course. Polishing jewelry by hand is one of the dumbest things you can do if you operate on a large scale.

It’s not only time-consuming, but it’s also expensive.

You’ll lose a lot of time and money if you polish your parts by hand.

You can do manual finishing on the parts that don’t look as you want them to.

15. How do I keep the media from lodging in my jewelry?

Using the right shape tumbling media for jewelry parts will ensure that you don’t lodge your parts.

There are various shapes of media available on the market. You can also get media designed specifically for jewelry tumbling.

16. Can I use stainless steel media for jewelry tumbling in a vibratory tumbler bowl?

No, we strongly suggest not to use stainless steel tumbling media in a vibratory industrial tumbler machine.

Stainless steel media is designed to be used in rotary tumblers.

So, if you don’t have a rotary parts tumbler, you should invest in other tumbling media for jewelry like ceramic or plastic.

17. Does walnut shell grit or corn cob media work as tumbling media for jewelry?

Walnut shell media or corn cob media has great polishing properties.

You shouldn’t rely only on these media to take care of your jewelry parts but you can definitely add a nice finishing touch to your parts with both walnut shell and corn cob tumbling media.

18. Why SS shots are used in jewelry tumbling?

SS shots are specialized media purposefully designed for jewelry tumbling.

They look like tiny steel balls and have great polishing and burnishing properties.

They are generally more expensive than traditional media. So, if you have the budget, you can go for SS shots.