What do you use to tumble silver...

[Cabanlet]

I have a lot of Bali that I need to polish. I have a tumbler and was wondering what I need to use to polish it. What I have is too coarse and now I really need to polish my silver!!!

Thanks,
Amy

[PurpleCatJewels]

I use jewelry shot and a squirt of original Dawn dishsoap. I got my jewelry shot last year from Thunderbird Supply. I think Rio Grande also has it. It's a little expensive, but properly cared for it lasts a very long time.

Regular buckshot (like for shooting) rusts and makes a mess. Jewelry shot is stainless steel and resists rust if it is cleaned and dried after use.

~Rachelle

[BeadBlossoms]

Make sure you get stainless steel shot only, and the mix with the pins is the best to polish silver. Cool Tools has great shot (cooltools.us). Also, be aware that some of the darker areas of oxidation may come off during tumbling, and beads may come out a bright shiny silver bead. Nice, but if you don't want that, I'd suggest tumbling one bead and see what happens.

[Starrr]

I use ss shot, a drop of dish soap and plastic pellets to cushion the silver during tumbling.

I know this might seem obvious, but it wasn't for me the first time, but string your Bali,(with a little slack), before you tumble! It makes it much easier to rinse and dry.

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by Starrr

I know this might seem obvious, but it wasn't for me the first time, but string your Bali,(with a little slack), before you tumble! It makes it much easier to rinse and dry.

Omigod you just saved me so much time! No, not obvious to the oblivious.

[SadiesJewels]

Definitely stainless steel shot ... that saves a whole bunch of time and aggro with rusted shot, and yes the pins mixed with the general mix is the best. However ... I have a slightly more comples rountine before the steel shot.

I have some abrasive ceramic media - from Rio - I have medium (pink) and fine (blue) but find I just use the fine anyway.

So tumble 1 (Judy Hoch has a great booklet on achieving a good finish) is a tumble with blue ceramic media and a deburring compound (also available from Rio). This is a very nice finish in itself sometimes.

Tumble 2 - stainless steel shot - Dawn dishsoap works great - fill with water to just above the shot. Good for toughening up the silver (burnishes it so work hardens it) a bit - not great for flat surfaces. For that hand polishing (with electric wheels) can't be beat!

[mtbeader]

I use stainless steel shot, a mixture of balls and pins, and a little dishwashing soap in warm water. Tumble for about an hour and your Bali will sparkle.

[Cabanlet]

Great suggestions!!! Thanks everyone.

Amy

[PixieFireBeads]

I use the aforementioned jewelry shot and a few slivers from a bar of regular Ivory soap. When I first got ready to tumble I did a lot of research here on the forum and thought I had to use "original" Dawn for some reason. Not being able to find that I tried the Ivory which also works really well.

[squid]

Do not use the ultra dawn - it does something weird and everything comes out gray and slimy. If you can't find regular Dawn, use the Ivory

[Lea Zinke]

I use the stainless steel shot as well -- the type with the balls & pins, works really well. The one thing I'd advise though is to dry it carefully between uses. I live in Florida and the humidty causes problem even though it was purchased as "stainless"! I roll it in paper towels and dry it in the sun before storing it and that keeps it nicely.

I, too, learned to use the original Dawn dishwashing liquid -- wonder why it's better than any other liquid!?!?

Does anyone have any favorites when it comes to other tumbling mediums, i.e., ceramic, etc. For instance, in tumbling "beach glass"?

Thanks,
Lea

[Smurfy5]

Original dawn doesn't seem to be made anymore... so I was a little nervous to try the "ultra concentrated" but it did work. I use much less soap than I would have with the original, like maybe a half teaspoon or so... I tumble my PMC work for like 6 hours with mixed stainless steel shot and I get a mirror shine. You might want to test it with just a couple beads first though before committing to doing this with all of them just incase you don't like the finish.
Just a side note: I have been to a few different stores and all of the dish soaps I found said "ultra concentrated" on them somewhere

[squid]

Originally Posted by Smurfy5

Original dawn doesn't seem to be made anymore... so I was a little nervous to try the "ultra concentrated" but it did work. I use much less soap than I would have with the original, like maybe a half teaspoon or so... I tumble my PMC work for like 6 hours with mixed stainless steel shot and I get a mirror shine. You might want to test it with just a couple beads first though before committing to doing this with all of them just incase you don't like the finish.
Just a side note: I have been to a few different stores and all of the dish soaps I found said "ultra concentrated" on them somewhere

Huh - Tink used the ultra Dawn and got a mess - strange.

[Smurfy5]

Yeah, I was a little nervous using it because I had read that some people had trouble... but I couldn't find any soap that is not concentrated so I thought I would try. I think maybe you just have to use a very tiny bit.

[Cabanlet]

I just thought of another question! I lost a lot of the "black in the cracks" of the Bali. Is there a way of reoxidizing and retumbling so it is black in the cracks and shiny on top?

Amy

[Keewin]

For a 3lb. barrel, how much shot should I use?

[PurpleCatJewels]

I bought three pounds thinking, "three pound barrel, three pounds of shot..."

Not so. You really only want to fill the tumbler about 2/3 full which includes shot and pieces to be tumbled. I would have been just as well off buying 1 1/2 or 2 pounds. I have never used all three pounds in the tumbler at once...wish I had known...that jewelry shot cost me around $30 a pound! (at Thunderbird Supply one year ago). It's good stuff, tho'.

~Rachelle

[PurpleCatJewels]

Originally Posted by Cabanlet

I just thought of another question! I lost a lot of the "black in the cracks" of the Bali. Is there a way of reoxidizing and retumbling so it is black in the cracks and shiny on top?

Just dunk the Bali beads back into a solution of liver-of-sulfur, or similar solution like Black Max (from Rio Grande). They will turn completely matte black. Tumbling may not remove enough of this black, I'm not sure because I then go over the "high spots" with extra fine steel wool to remove some of the black. Then I tumble and everything comes out nice and shiny, yet with that neat antique "oxidized" look.

This also works for copper and even brass, but not so much for gold.

Hope this helps.

~Rachelle

[PurpleCatJewels]

Originally Posted by Smurfy5

Original dawn doesn't seem to be made anymore...

I get mine at Super WalMart. Original Dawn. Not at eye-level and always in the small bottles (which is all they have). I have purchased two bottles in the last year. I don't use that much for tumbling so I also use it for dishes, laundry, soaking beads off mandrels (not sure if it actually helps or not) and other miscellaneous uses. It's the real deal, not ultra-concentrated or just "original scent".

~Rachelle

(sorry, being a thread hog...I'm getting of my "soap box" now...lol...)

[Keewin]

Originally Posted by Smurfy5

Original dawn doesn't seem to be made anymore...(

Originally Posted by PurpleCatJewels

I get mine at Super WalMart. Original Dawn. Not at eye-level and always in the small bottles (which is all they have). I have purchased two bottles in the last year.

I just bought a bottle of the Original Dawn, small bottle, at Walgreens last week. The main grocery stores seem to only carry the ultra concentrate stuff.

[Keewin]

Originally Posted by PurpleCatJewels

I bought three pounds thinking, "three pound barrel, three pounds of shot..."

Not so. You really only want to fill the tumbler about 2/3 full which includes shot and pieces to be tumbled. I would have been just as well off buying 1 1/2 or 2 pounds. I have never used all three pounds in the tumbler at once...wish I had known...that jewelry shot cost me around $30 a pound! (at Thunderbird Supply one year ago). It's good stuff, tho'.

~Rachelle

Thanks! I'd only bought a pound so will need to get another (figures! )

[Gundula]

I got my Stainless Steel Shot form Monsterslayer, good price $ 18.50/lb, and reasonable and fast shipping:

http://www.monsterslayer.com/Pages/L.../Lapidary.aspx

scroll down to Tumbling Media.

Don't overfill the barrel with beads, shot and water, the belt will wear out faster if it's too heavy ( as I just found out.....)
Gundi
www.glassbygundula.com
My Etsy: www.glassbygundula.etsy.com

[kiko]

Simple green also works great for tumbling with S.S. shot. Just a few tablespoons will do ya'!

[luluviolet]

You can also use white rice (uncooked) for a gentle polishing action in a tumbler. Good for oxidised silver as it doesn't remove the black colouration but polishes the high spots
Trish

[PurpleCatJewels]

For anyone keeping score...my two bottles of "original" Dawn, purchased at two different WalMarts in two different states, both during the last year...

One actually says "classic" Dawn on the front logo, one doesn't. Both say "original scent". On the back it actually says "non-ultra" Dawn.

For use in the tumbler, only 3 or 4 DROPS is all that is needed. I do like the shaved Ivory soap idea also, but I wonder about residue.

~Rachelle

[Cabanlet]

I like the rice idea! Thanks, I did end up using black magic and then retumbling them and it worked really nicley. Thanks to everyone. I had a lot of silver and did not want to spend four year buffing each little bead.


Amy

[Starrr]

Originally Posted by Keewin

For a 3lb. barrel, how much shot should I use?

I only use enough shot in a 3lb barrel to about 1 1/2" from the bottom of the tumbler, so maybe 3/4 of a cup.

During my busy show months my tumbler is going all day, and sometimes all night when I forget, 5 days a week and everything comes out great.

[Ro]

i did the aluminum foil one the other day for a show, wow it worked great.
take a pan, line it with foil shiny side up. lay silver in (mine had beads too) then boil water and add 1 cup per 1 gallon of baking soda. i did it in a deep pot as it foams up when you add the baking soda, then pour it over the silver and let soak a bit. wow it worked great and i didnt have to do much. just run a polish cloth over it. one day i will get a tumbler, but for now i want to do all my silver in my jewelry box this way.
ro

[Cabanlet]

That sounds like a great solution. I am going to try it since I have 20 pounds of silver...

[ginko]

Regular woolite works really well. It is low sudsing and super slick.