Inovatec MachineryYour Best Plastic Tumbling Media Manufacturer in China

Plastic Tumbling Media

Plastic tumbler media is one of the most used media in precision finishing.

Below is the most popular application of plastic tumbling media:

• Soft metals deburring and smoothing, for example, aluminum, brass, copper
• Plastic parts deburring and de-flashing
• Delicate and fragile pieces, thin workpieces deburring
• Zinc (zamak3) casting parts pre plating finishing

The main composition of the plastic tumbling medium is polyester resin and abrasives.

50% of the structure is resin, while the rest 50% is abrasives. Inovatec developed a series of recipes, including light cutting, medium cutting, and dense cutting plastic media.

Each year, we output 10,000 tons of plastic tumbling media and export all over the world.

The most popular shape is a cone, pyramid, paraboloid, lens, tetrahedron, tri-star, etc.

Over the past 20 years, Inovatec has continued to develop high-quality plastic tumbling media.

Because of the consistent performance, our plastic tumbler medium is popular in mass finishing workshop.

Here is how we do it:

• Quality raw material from DIC and Akzo Nobel
• Automatic casting machine to the ideal production parameter control
• Plastic mold to get the right size and shape, no shrinking
• Keep plastic media at a higher temperature, allow polymer cross-linking reaction 100% complete
• Pre-tumbling to remove flashes before packaging

Inovatec does not just offer the plastic tumbling media for tumbling metal parts and ceramic parts, but also provides complete surface finishing solutions, including media, vibratory finishing compound, and industrial tumbler machines.

Our process engineer will help you to select the right media size, shape, and type for your parts.

We promise to get you satisfied, finishing the result at an affordable cost.

Contact us today and get the free quote now!

Plastic Tumbling Media FAQ Guide

1. How do you control plastic tumbling media quality?

There are two reasons for our high-quality plastic tumbling media: high-quality raw materials and strict process control.

First of all, we use high-quality, polyester raw material from the Japan DIC group.

And we use hardeners from the Akzo Nobel group.

Besides, the abrasives, for example, silica is made to exact mesh size, 320# mesh.

Also, we make strict process parameter controls.

Before casting, polyester, abrasives are mixed according to the recipe and feed into a stirring machine.

The mixing process lasts for one hour, ensuring no agglomeration and no precipitation.

After mixing, we add a hardener into the mixture.

The hardener is also called a “crosslink agent.”

Therefore, a “polymerization” chemical reaction happens, and the liquid gradually solidifies.

So our operators pour the liquid into the mold and wait for the fluid becomes solid media.

At Inovatec, we use a silicone mold and plastic mold. The silicone mold is softer and ideal for mass production, while the plastic mold is rigid and perfect for smaller-scale production.

We make daily inspections of the mold before output.

If the mold is broken or deformed, we will not use it for production. Therefore, our plastic tumbling media has always the same size, from batches to batches.

In winder time, room temperature is low.

So we need a longer time to cast the plastic media.

In the summertime, room temperature is higher. So we need a shorter time to solidify — the casting time versus room temperature recorded in the workshop.

Therefore, our plastic vibratory tumbling medium quality is the same, whether made in winter or summer.

After casting, the plastic media is de-molded and stored in the insulation room for over 24 hours.

We keep the room temperature at 40-50 degrees so that the chemical crosslinking reaction is 100% complete.

With this procedure, plastic tumbling media increases 40% of service life.

The final step of production is self-tumbling.

We remove excessive burrs, grease, and dirt from the plastic media surface in a vibratory finishing machine.

After that, we pack the media in bags.

2. How do you check plastic tumbling media quality?

Before shipment, we check plastic tumbling media quality according to the following standard:

1)    Size: plastic media size should be bigger or smaller than 1mm of the standard size. For example, 20mm cone media size is allowed between 19-21mm

2)    Wearing and cutting: we carry out a test of plastic media in a centrifugal barrel tumbler machine. The plastic media is tumbled against an aluminum cylinder and brass cylinder. We measure the metal loss and plastic media weight loss. We make a record for every batch of media.

3)    Appearance: plastic abrasive media no sticking, no cracking, no bubble, and no undersized media.

We only ship the qualified plastic tumbling media to our customers.

3. Do you manufacture Urea tumbling media?

The Urea tumbling media is also called synthetic plastic tumbling media.

It is made from formaldehyde which is hazardous for health.

In China, Urea tumbling media production is not allowed.

Therefore, we don’t manufacture urea plastic tumbling media.

4. What is the largest and smallest size plastic media you manufacture?

The biggest size plastic media we can make is 100mm Cone and Tetrahedron plastic tumbling media.

The smallest shape plastic media we can make is 6mm pyramid shape, and 6mm bullet shape plastic tumbling media.

Before you order, please check with us the available mold.

If we don’t have the mold, we can design it for you. That will take about one month.

In the future, we keep your mold and only produce this size media for you.

5. What shape of plastic tumbling media do you manufacture?

We make various shapes of plastic media, including cone shape, pyramid shape, tetrahedron shape, paraboloid shape, tri-star shape, lens shape, nipple shape, and triangle shape.

If you need a particular shape for your application, please contact us to check before your order.

6. What is plastic tumbling media?

Plastic Tumbling Media is specially formulated to smoothen surfaces of sensitive workpieces.

However, some special types can be aggressive enough for deburring aluminum, brass, and other metals.

Essentially, plastic tumbling media produces more even finishing workpieces than Ceramic Tumbling Media does.

They are very light than ceramic media, making them ideal for soft, thread-like parts.

Moreso, they don’t discolor parts or peen on burrs.

7. What are plastic tumbling media typically made of?

Plastic tumbling media are typically made of abrasives and polyester resins, usually in equal proportion.

The most popular abrasive material used in making them is Silica.

Other popular choices are alumina, corundum, zirconia, among others.

The importance of the nature and percentage of abrasives used is that it determines the finishing performance and quality.

So, depending on one’s needs, it’s possible to make special requests for a different or higher abrasive composition.

Take note though, that higher cutting power results in higher media wear rate.

That is, the size of a plastic media that deburrs quickly will reduce drastically over a short period of usage

8. What are plastic tumbling media used for?

Owing to its soft nature, plastic tumbling media is perfect for various surface finishing processes.

This is because they generate low RA surface finishing which makes workpieces ready for anodizing, plating, etc.

Some of their major functionalities include:

Deburring:

Deburring is the process of removing sharp edges or burrs on metals, which occurred during previous processing.

A common deburring example is using plastic tumbling media to smoothen a very sharp corner into a rounded one.

This process happens inside the deburring tumbler.

Descaling:

This process is similar to deburring. Descaling helps to evenly spread out the finishes on a part.

It removes the machine lines sustained during milling and shape-cutting of metallic workpieces.

Polishing:

Polishing –or burnishing: takes a workpiece to the next level of smoothness.

It makes workpieces shiny, giving them an overall mirrored look.

Degreasing/Cleaning:

Additionally, plastic tumbling media can help purify parts from dirt and stains.

Such dirt/stain may include dust, greases, or other residues stuck on the workpiece.

These may have been gotten from previous processing or human transportation.

9. How does a plastic tumbling media finish workpieces?

To guarantee efficiency, these media are best loaded into the industrial parts tumbler machine, before the machine starts operation.

Once the machine starts operation, the plastic tumbling media become kick into action.

The finishing energy generated by the machine’s motor also helps to facilitate the media action.

The media action involves rubbing-off against workpieces to fine-tune the workpiece surfaces.

This rubbing process continues until the desired surface finishing is achieved, or the machine reaches the end of its built-in finishing cycle.

10. What are the shapes or sizes of plastic tumbling media available?

Plastic tumbling media come in several shapes and sizes.

Their varying shapes include pyramids, sharp-edged stars, cones, and cylindrical wedges. It also includes pyramids, tetrahedrons, triangles, tri-stars, wedges, etc.

Importantly, the shape of the workpiece determines the plastic tumbling media shape or size to be used.

For general use scenarios, cylindrical, oval, and round plastic tumbling media are preferred.

This is because their rounded surfaces wear well and have lesser chances of getting stuck in workpieces, than sharp-edged media.

Not to mention their lower wear & tear rates.

However, sharp-edged media shapes like arrowheads, tri-star, and triangular plastic tumbling shapes, are suited for complex workpieces with hard-to-reach parts.

But they wear faster and are more susceptible to chipping.

The place of media sizes too, cannot be overemphasized when choosing plastic tumbling media.

Smaller plastic tumbling media usually have more contact with the workpiece’s surface area than larger ones.

This makes them produce smoother and more attractive surfaces.

Larger plastic media on its part is popular for its more aggressive grinding nature.

This facilitates the rapid removal of burrs and the radiusing of sharp edges in workpieces.

11. Which finishing equipment can successfully use plastic tumbling media?

Plastic tumbling media can be used with any type of mass finishing machine.

It doesn’t matter whether it is an Industrial Barrel Tumbler Machine, Industrial Vibratory Tumbler Bowl, or a Centrifugal Disc/Barrel Finishing Machine.

Plastic tumbling media is compatible with any of them.

12. What are the application industries of plastic tumbling media?

Plastic tumbling media can be used in virtually all manufacturing sectors that there is.

This is because product manufacturers would always require low-cut surface finishing.

Some popular industries where plastic vibratory tumbler media are used include:

General Job Shop:

At general machine shops, plastic tumbling media are loaded into finishing machines.

This is because they help provide cost-effective, qualitative finishing for different categories of workpieces.

Jewelry:

Pieces of jewelry that have been neglected or improperly kept, accumulate impurities over time.

These impurities often combine to disfigure their surfaces.

Because of the fragile nature of pieces of jewelry, plastic vibratory finishing media are used for returning them to good conditions.

Textile:

Due to the fragile nature of textiles, plastic tumbling media can also be used for tumble polishing and enhancement.

13. What types of workpieces are suitable for plastic media tumbling?

Plastic tumbling media is usually of low or medium abrasive quality.

This makes them an acceptable choice for low or medium abrasive cutting.

In simpler words, they are the top choice when working with fragile and soft parts.

Even if a workpiece is hard, plastic media is the go-to, when one desires slow but high-quality polish.

14. Are there distinctive reasons why plastic tumbling media should be chosen over other tumbling media types?

Yes, there are. The reasons include:

Thorough Cleaning

Plastic tumbling media are specially designed to efficiently clean workpieces thoroughly

No workpiece damage

Plastic tumbling media slowly but effectively rub-off on workpieces.

Because of this, they don’t damage the soft, fragile workpieces that they work on.

Long usability

Because of their slow finishing action, plastic tumbling media do not wear out easily!

If used appropriately, you can be guaranteed a very long period of usage.

15. How long does a typical plastic tumbling media last?

There is no standard length of time that plastic tumbling media are expected to last before replacement.

As with all other industrial elements, it depends on the frequency of usage.

So, when you frequently use plastic media to finish parts, it’ll quickly reduce in size and efficacy.

So, when you start noticing a huge reduction in media sizes and or they start wedging themselves in workpiece holes, the time of replacement is very near.

You can also try to filter your media to distinguish and replace the ones that fall through.

It’s also possible that a media doesn’t reduce in size, but its efficiency starts to reduce.

You’ll notice this when workpiece finishing time begins to stretch longer than when you first purchased the media.

At this stage, it’s recommended that you start adding fresh media to maintain optimum performance.

The lifespan of the plastic media will be more than the organic media that include the walnut shell media and the corn cob tumbling media.

16. How much do plastic tumbling media cost?

Depends on size and cutting speed

Usually, the smaller size is more expensive. Fast cutting media cost higher than fine cutting plastic media.

17. What are the factors to consider when selecting plastic tumbling media?

When considering your selection of plastic tumbling media type, you should consider the following factors:

Step 1. Consider the media shape and size that’ll help achieve the needed finish

(a) Use plastic tumbler media sizes that will not get lodged in holes.

Go for plastic media shapes that’ll be able to reach and finish all surfaces.

(b) If you are contemplating the usage of small plastic tumbling media, decide whether it should be supported by large tumbling media.

Doing this helps increase their finishing speed.

Often, tumbling media are mixed at a ratio of two small media to one large media.

Step 2. What is the needed surface finishing?

(i) Large plastic tumbling media mostly give rapid but coarse surface finishing.

They are best used when surface finishing isn’t so important.

(ii) Small plastic tumbling media are popular for their slower cuts and finer surfaces.

They are recommended for high-quality finishes.

Step 3. Can the chosen plastic tumbling media be separated from the workpiece?

(a) Go for a plastic tumbling media size that has the ability to be separated from workpieces easily

(b) Consider the wear potential of the tumbling media when checking for the possibility of frequent hole-jamming or wedging.

18. What are the different types of plastic tumbling media available on the market?

Low Cutting/Low Density: This is a very lightweight type of plastic tumbling media with low abrasive composition.

It produces a very smooth and excellent pre-plate finish. Additionally, they take a long while before they wear out or reduce in size.

Fast Cutting/High Density: These are super-fast plastic tumbling media that leave an excellent finish on workpieces.

However, they tend to wear out very fast –or reduce in size- after a short period of usage, because of the speed with which they finished workpieces.