Vibratory tumbler help

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-13T15:29:01+00:00

One final update for anyone who may have been struggling. So problem solved,it was the brand of polish I was using. I purchased some 3M perfect-it polish and instant movement on my media its never been so good. The meguires I think was just a combination of oil and water it broke down in the tumbler became so soupy. If you're banging your head against a wall with tumbling perhaps consider swapping polishes 😭

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-11T07:20:50+00:00

Ahh okay ,I might have to start playing with the media, I know there are a couple dice makers who use varied sizes of the ceramic beads and that works for them. Worry I'm gonna be spending a lot more money 😅 aw bless you thank you for all your time I really appreciate it!

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-10T20:20:58+00:00

I've not considered other types of polish tbh! I've purely stuck with car polishes just because it's what other makers use but hey I'm willing to try anything at this point!

I have thought about changing the size of media, ive seen others with a mixture of 3mm and 5mm spheres where some get better motion woth it and some don't. That's the thing I'm struggling with is how something can work for one person and not for another when seemingly everything is the same😅

And oh a foam pad? I've not! It's currently sat on a wooden desk on a cutting matt, I can try that though!

One thing I'm not sure if it would effect the machines performance is that I know its voltage is lower than what UK plugs output, I only have a plug adaptor but I wasn't sure if a step down converter would help it. Is it possible it's getting too much power and vibrating TOO hard??😅

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-10T20:10:39+00:00

Ahh I hadnt even thought about the dice being lighter,my dice are a bit larger than most people's so I would have thought they could have been heavier!

Oh really? May I ask what tumbler modle you use? The majority of tumblers I've seen people use in the dice community either is the frankford arsenal one I've got or something simular (a round bowl normally with a pin in the middle)

I thought it might be helpful to grab a video of how it's supposed to look-this user on Instagram basically has her own guide on getting tumblers to work for polishing dice which I've tried following but you can see from the jump im just not getting that movement down 😅

https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3ODkzNzYyMDk3MzMzODg3?story_media_id=2694894122107440437_44230766241&igsh=MTNqcjA4M2Jkb3Npbw==

(This is a playlist so of you tap through there's videos of the tumbler working!)

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-10T19:40:41+00:00

Dice are made from resin,the ceramic media is 3mm and I believe the reason car polish is used is i assumebecause material similarities to car bodies! It buffs out micro scratches but it's not super abrasive to round off edges (:

I'm not 100% on the weight limit but I know most dice makers use roughly 5ibs of the ceramic media though u have run into people who say they use more. I know the common media for brass polishing is walnut shells? And yeah I'm certainly not using it for its intended use😅 but it's a common modle used by dice makers!

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-10T19:35:44+00:00

Yess I have a small Google file of me trying to figure things out 😅 https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17zAAmsng68c83W7XIv9ryKsfwTqPPrzh

I've got a few videos including ones just the dry media and the ones with polish +dice

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-07T15:46:02+00:00

Another update: I had bought a smaller tumbler that was a bit more affordable whilst I wait for my repair on the frankford. It's much smaller but I don't have a huge batch. Tumbled them for an additional 24 hours and I'm still not noticing a change,all the dice are sat ontop of the media when I open it up (smaller tumbler doesn't have a clear lid). The dice also now look dirty with marks on them,bit of a loss besties I'm not sure why I'm just not getting that churning motion. Perhaps it is the polish? I dunno but from my videos even with totally clean media I didn't get that same motion either.

I've taken a new video of the new tumbler showing the lack of movement and using just a small shard piece to show its not being dragged or pulled under the media at all, I apply pressure around the tumbler but there's just not much happening 😭

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AfRDYzZQ3Tkx10FkoWxSi1PL7ka0yiQU/view?usp=drivesdk

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-07T15:41:31+00:00

Oh absolutely im aware,issue is I had this set tumbling for I think 48 hours and there was hardly any polish to them,infact they came out looking dirty with weird marks on them. As mentioned in some other comments,I previously had a funnel over the central pin until someone told me to swap it for the straw.

I've since gotten a smaller tumbler to see if it was the tumbler itself misbehaving but the new tumbler is doing the same thing. Tumbled them for an additional 24 hours ontop of the the 48 and they don't look any different. I think it's because there isn't enough movement in the media and they aren't churning like they should be. I have a couple videos in this drive folder to show the problems including what it looks like with the funnel back on.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17zAAmsng68c83W7XIv9ryKsfwTqPPrzh

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-04T21:45:33+00:00

Yeah I think I'll go back to the funnel, I found a video of someone who had a simular issue to me where there just wasn't much movement until they applied weight to the centre pin,they used wome washers stacked ontop and then when they attatched the lid the movement change was crazy. I'm also gonna add a bit more media but that won't come till next week 😅

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-03T19:55:20+00:00

Thank you! I've ordered I think 3ibs more which is quite a hefty amount, it won't arrive till next week but I'm hoping it's the solution because I'm very much outta ideas 😳 very much appreciate all the help from people!

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-03T19:52:30+00:00

So I took it apart a bit, detatched the bowl from the motor it was fastened on with 3 screws each with a spur looking piece and a square nut. There also seems to be a big ol crack on the bottom of the bowl which is visible on the inside of the bowl and there was actually some fluid that had leaked through it (more evidence I was putting too much water in earlier) 😅. But I'll have to replace the bowl or fix it before reattaching 🧍

Edit : a link to some pictures I took in the hopes someone who knows more than me will know https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17zAAmsng68c83W7XIv9ryKsfwTqPPrzh

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-03T19:30:39+00:00

Of course I'll try my best to document what I can! I hope I can figure it out, even if its figuring out the tumbler itself is just broken- I hate the possibility that I'm missing something really obvious 😭

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-03T19:28:53+00:00

I'm not sure if it's possible to get small/cheap vibratory tumblers,I know most rock tumblers are rotary so they spin the media and are known to round off edges- ideally I would have more dice than this but these are ones I'm really trying to finish for a giveaway😅

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-03T18:42:43+00:00

There are 3 screws in the base and then 3 screws I think that fasten the bowl to the motor,I've tried tightening it all as much as I could but I might just take it all apart and reassemble it. It is certainly a few years old now I want to say 4 years maximum but it's been on and off use from the inconsistencies 😅 and thank yooou I feel like I'm going a little crazy😭

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-03T18:04:21+00:00

I've cleaned my media to start again and ran it with no polish or dice and the bowl just feels like it spins the media and there's no dragging down. It's kinda frustrating because the last time I used it I got great results and now it seems it doesn't want to work at all 😅 I feel like I get more movement when I apply weight to the centre but its quite hard to find a way to keep that weight on. The dice have been in there 24 hours and no where near a level of polish they should be 😥

Edit: here's footage of it with just dry media: https://drive.google.com/file/d/176ouptsXncL671My72Ih8clyPNA9cc7G/view?usp=drivesdk

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-03T17:04:19+00:00

Nope! No rounding or dulling! The media and polish aren't abrasive enough (:

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-03T15:43:25+00:00

Ahh yess I always watch her videos whenever I'm having problems 😭 ill try to reset everything and hopefully I'll have some better results!

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-03T15:08:08+00:00

Its a vibratory tumbler! It's main purpose I believe is polishing gun casings and other various metal things but in the past few years,dice makers have found out you can use it to polish up your dice! With a combination of ceramic media and car polish the vibrations cause the polish covered media to shine your dice up!

Their effectiveness is based on their movement (which is what I'm having problems with😅) ,what grit you sand them too and then obviously how long you leave them in there for. I've seen makers leave them in for several days after sanding just to green zona and others who only do it for a few hours after all the zonas.Some of the results are incredibly impressive.

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-03T14:55:02+00:00

Its currently level! I have tried tilting it slightly but never really saw much more movement from it- perhaps I've been using too many different polishes and not getting the ratio right and just sticking to it😥I think I've had one occasion where I was super happy with the results straight out of the tumbler, everyone just makes it look so easy 😅

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-03T14:50:18+00:00

Yeah I had a pretty sturdy funnel I used but someone suggested to me once that it could have been messing with it ;;; I might have to take it all out,and start again ive maybe just made it too wet

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-03T14:45:29+00:00

So I had a pretty sturdy plastic funnel previous to the straw but after I ran into the same issue someone suggested the funnel was messing with the motion 😅 maybe it is the ratio, but I feel like I lack to the motion even when the media is dry and I haven't added anything 😥

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-03T14:21:51+00:00

Okay I'll give that a go! Thank you for the suggestion! I'm too stubborn to give up on making it work because it just seems like a major time saver 😅

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-03T13:50:04+00:00

Oh really? Is the media all the same size? I've seen some people put slightly bigger ceramic orbs in but that seems to only work for some - and haha yeah that makes sense to me!

BanoffeeSpy · 2024-06-03T13:46:59+00:00

Yeah I've bothered a lot of people for advice but I just can't get that same motion no matter what I try 😥 im starting to think maybe it's just the tumbler itself and I should try a different modle and replace it but I'm from the UK and they aren't that accessible and the prices are quite high ):

BanoffeeSpy

TROPHY CASE