Blade tumbler with steel balls?

MaxTheKnife

MaxTheKnife

Joined
Aug 19, 2000
Messages
643
Ok, I'm working on this hair'brained idea. And before I get too far, I was hoping someone else could give me some feedback coming from personal experience or just share your thoughts and opinions with me about this little project.

Basically, I plan to get an 18" long section of 6" schedule 40 pipe and put a cap on one end and a clean-out with screw in plug on the other end. I'm going to put 120 3/4" steel balls from roller ball bearings and a quart of Quaker State motor oil inside. Then, after forging a blade to shape and annealing it, I'll put the blade inside the pipe with the bearings and oil and put the cap on and set it in a wooden frame with a gear reduction motor drive and turn it on.

Do you have any idea what the result should be? I had a rock polisher when I was a kid and it always amazed me what happened to those rocks after a few days. Maybe I should put some kind of polishing compound in there too?

Either encourage me or tell me I'm a lame bastid. I know I'm sick. I belong to the Kit Carson Knifeaholics Club. Opinions anyone?

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M.Ogg

"It's better to be thought a fool and remain silent, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt"
 
Your plan reminds me of an old method of finishing pocketknife blades. I think it was called a barrel finish. It was a smooth finish with no directional polishing marks. Of course they did not use the heavy weight tumbling medium you plan.
 
I don't have any experience with tumblers or that sort of finishing. But I'd be kind of worried that using that size of bearings would either not give a good finish, or would damage the blade. It might give a bad finish because the size of the bearings would keep them from making lots of contact points with the blade. Instead each bearing would only hit a small section on the blade, and each section would be about 3/4" apart.And using such heavy bearings ,along with the fact that a bearing is going to be much harder than an annealed blade, might mean that it will be hell on the thinner parts of the blade and mess up the profile.
I would go with something much smaller in size, like steel airgun shot (BB's 4.5mm in diameter or .177). Sure it would take about a million of them but their cheap, fairly hard, and would be less likely to mangle the blade.
Just my two cents and it isn't worth much.

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It'll feel better when it stops hurting.
 
It seems that there is something used in silver finishing like that.
Smaller shaped metal objects are used and its run dry. I believe that finish is called a pitina finish.
try some scrap.
for what it's worth
Tj
 
If you tumble long nough you will get a mirror finish
To keep it cheap call a stamping house and have them chop the soft ss scrap up into little pieces. Then use it for a media.
Add some water and polishing compound ...


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Web Site At www.darrelralph.com
 
Thanks Darrel. This rig is still in the planning stages, but I have almost everyting I need to make it work. I'm going to use an old bar-b-que rotissire motor for the rotation. It shouldn't cost too much to put it all together. The most expensive material will be the pvc pipe and fittings. But, when the pvc wears out, just make a new one. Easy.

You said to put polishing compound in it with water. You think the oil is a bad idea? And you don't like the idea of the 3/4" steel balls? I'm thinking it will cause an unusual finish. Thats the way I like things. Unusual.

Thanks for the input everybody. I'll let you know how my little project turns out. Might even post a pic if it looks goofy enough.

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M.Ogg

"It's better to be thought a fool and remain silent, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt"
 
If you want the ball bearings to tumble you will have to put some baffles inside the pipe. If you don't the bearings will just stay in the bottom and roll with the pipe.
Voice of experience.
TJ
 
LOL
biggrin.gif
When I read the post, I thought we were talking about a circus act!!

Hey Max, one of the Saltfork newsletters had a five gallon bucket rigged up. lined the bucket with indoor/outdoor carpet, couple angle irons to make the material tumble.
Then he lined the dryer with foam rubber and packed the bucket in the center.
CAUTION, procedure not to be done when your wife is home! Uh, no heat either.

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Sola Fide
 
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