Inovatec MachineryThe Best Vibratory Parts Cleaner Manufacturer in China

Vibratory Parts Cleaner

Vibratory parts cleaner also called vibro cleaning machine, vibrating parts washer or tumbler cleaner.

A vibratory parts cleaner is an effective cleaning solution for all your metal parts.

It’s a batch finishing process that offers a significant advantage over manual cleaning by hand.

You’ll be able to clean hundreds of workpieces at once while you clean just one by hand.

A vibratory finishing machine does a lot more than just cleaning.

It can deburr, polish, burnish and shine the surfaces of your workpieces.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to vibratory parts cleaner.

It can be automotive parts, medical equipment, transmission parts, sand casting parts, forged parts and so on.

The reason why industrial vibratory tumbler bowls are so popular is because of their cost-effectiveness.

You are saving time and money at the same time by cleaning in batches rather than one at a time.

Most of the machines require minimum to none manual input.

You can accelerate the process even more by adding separators. So, you don’t have to separate the vibratory tumbler media from the parts.

Vibratory parts cleaners work on all kinds of metal parts including stainless steel, brass, titanium, aluminum, copper, gold, silver and so on.

You can get anything from aggressive deburring to high luster finish, all with the same equipment.

Other than the vibratory machines, you can use the industrial rotary tumblers to clean your parts as well.

Rotary tumblers are even cheaper than the industrial vibratory tumblers. But there’s a catch.

Rotary tumblers take significantly longer to finish the parts.

So, if you have work on tight deadlines, an industrial rotary tumbler might not be an ideal choice for you.

The equipment from Inovatec lasts ages.

We have over 20 years of experience in manufacturing mass finishing machines.

We are proud to say that we have perfected the art of perfecting every production.

If maintained properly, our equipment is very unlikely to fail you.

To boost your confidence, we offer free mass finishing samples. All you have to do is send us your parts.

We’ll finish the parts according to your needs using your equipment and send the finished parts within 24 hours.

Then you decide whether to trust us or not.

Vibratory Parts Cleaner FAQ Guide

1. What is a Vibratory Parts Cleaner?

To understand the cleaning process properly, you have to understand the mass finishing industry first.

In mass finishing, a multitude of equipment is used to achieve the necessary finishing results.

The most common task in mass finishing is tumbling.

Tumbling is the process of smoothing a part’s surface with the help of the parts tumbler media.

Now, when the process is done in batches, it saves time and operating costs. Also, machine finishes are usually better than hand finishes.

With that said, a vibratory parts cleaner is nothing but a piece of equipment to clean to the surface of the parts.

Why do they need cleaning? It can be for a variety of reasons. If the parts are machined, it’s necessary that the surface is cleaned for further treatment.

Suppose, your parts have been sitting for a long time.

There can be rust or other dust-related coatings over the parts. You can’t process the parts with a corrosive layer on top.

To remove the layer, you use vibratory parts cleaner.

It can be done with a vibratory finishing machine or a rotary tumbler.

In a vibratory finisher, the vibration from an offset motor is used to create the vibration.

On the other hand, on a rotary tumbler, the rotation of the barrel is used to create necessary friction between the rotary tumbler media and the parts.

2. How does a vibratory parts cleaner work?

We’ve already established that the cleaning of the parts is done with the vibration of the machine.

There is a bowl where the parts and media are poured before each processing cycle.

The motor then creates the vibration sits directly below the bowl.

The bowl is the strongest part of the vibratory parts tumbler deburring machine. The inside of the bowl has hard PU lining to prevent it from damaging.

You start the process by putting the parts and media in a specific ration.

Then you add the compound if you don’t have a dosing pump.

There are two ways a tumbling or cleaning session can go.

There are wet cleaning and dry cleaning. Wet cleaning is better in terms of metal parts cleaning.

Dry cleaning can cause the metal to become black.

So, for wet tumbling, you add the water at the end.

The smoother you want, the more water you pour. It’s the general rule for wet tumbling.

Then you cover the bowl and start the motor.

It can take from 30 minutes to hours depending on the condition of the parts.

3. How do you choose media for the tumbling process?

When it comes to media selection for the cleaning process, you can go one of two ways.

You can either use ceramic media or you can use synthetic media like plastic.

It depends on the material of your parts and the type of finish you are looking for.

If your parts are made of relatively softer materials like Aluminum or brass, you should stick to plastic media.

Plastic media is non-abrasive and it eliminates the change of accidentally damaging the parts.

The degree of the impact remains in check while the life expectancy of the parts increases.

Plastic media is also perfect for parts that don’t require a lot of finishing.

If the parts are already in good shape, you can get away with plastic media.

Plastic media is very lightweight and faster in processing.

Ceramic media comes into play when the fate of hard metal is at stake.

Hard metal like stainless steel, titanium, carbon steel, cast iron, etc.

Ceramic is often very abrasive and cuts aggressively through any surface.

The quality of finishing is always better with ceramic than plastic.

As ceramic is abrasive it can do a lot of material removal.

As a result, the surface of the parts looks very shiny and better smoothness.

Once you are done with the media types, it comes to the size and shape of the media.

Choosing the wrong size for media will ruin the entire batch.

If you choose too big of a media, you’ll ruin the entire batch.

Bigger media cuts very aggressively and it can remove more material than required.

As a result, the integrity of the parts will be compromised.

The case is just the opposite when it comes to small media.

Small media will wear down very fast in contact with large parts.

It’s not cost-effective and is a waste of time.

Pay attention to which media you are a selection. The right choice of media goes a long way.

4. What is a vibratory bowl?

The vibratory bowl is the rectangular or round bowl where you put the media and the parts to be tumbled.

It’s very important for the vibratory parts cleaner.

Without it, all the other features and functions of the polishing tumbler machine mean nothing.

The difference between a vibratory bowl and a rotary bowl is the way media flows.

In a rotary barrel, there are separate segments where the parts are placed.

The media flows from segments to segments through tiny holes.

Vibratory bowls have an edge over rotary barrels because you can tumble a wide variety of sizes and shapes which is a little tough on barrels.

Vibratory finishers provide amazing smooth surface within a very short.

The vibratory bowls are manufactured for maximum strength.

The inside is coated with hard PU lining to take the abuse for years.

Inovatec is the best vibratory bowl manufacturer in China.

We can ship the product anywhere in the world once you place the order to us.

5. Can stainless steel be cleaned?

Like most other metals, stainless steel parts require cleaning from time to time.

As the stainless steel infused with carbon, the possibilities of rust are non-existing.

Stainless steel is a very hard metal so you need appropriate media to ensure the proper cleaning.

As we’ve already stated, ceramic is the perfect media for cleaning hard metals.

Stainless steel is already quite shiny.

But the parts might lose the shine after years of exposure to weather.

Cleaning parts with a vibratory parts cleaner can bring the lost luster back.

Load the vibratory bowl with stainless steel parts and pour media in a 3:1 manner where you put 3 parts stainless steel parts against 1-part ceramic media.

You can use high-density fast-cutting media if you want to do deburring at the same time.

Once the primary cleaning is done with ceramic media, you can top it off with plastic media.

Plastic media is non-abrasive and provides excellent polishing results.

6. Are vibratory parts cleaners expensive to use?

The answer is it depends. Vibratory finishers are quite modern mass finishing equipment.

They have a lot of functionalities that can add up to the final price of the metal polishing tumbler machine itself.

However, for faster batch processing results, there is no alternative to vibratory finishes.

Then comes the cost of media.

The general-purpose media are priced in alignment with the effectiveness.

In general, the media is a cost-effective solution over hand deburring or polishing.

But specific-purpose media can cost a little more. But they offer a higher quality finish so, in the end, it’s all worth it.

Bottom line is, if you know which equipment to use under what circumstances, the cost is not going to be an issue for you.

If you decide to get a vibratory parts cleaner, make sure to go for the features you absolutely need.

Maintain the machine properly to eliminate unexpected breakdowns.

7. Can I dry clean my metal parts?

There is nothing that you cannot do. It’s a matter of whether you should or not.

For metal parts, dry tumbling is not a very good idea for a multitude of reasons.

The dryness of the environment will do more harm than good.

Firstly, the heat generated from dry tumbling your media and parts will have no way to escape.

As a result, the parts will get damaged internally.

Moreover, you risk the parts have to micro scratches from all the debris.

If you’re determined you are going to dry tumble your parts to clean them, use organic media like walnut shell grit or corn cob.

They can clean metal surfaces inside a vibratory parts cleaner without damaging the surface.

You can use sand to dial down the abrasiveness of the media.

Finally, don’t forget to run your parts under running water as soon as you are done with the tumbling. Don’t let the debris settle.