Building a vibratory tumbler... (nope, probably buying one instead)

The Mr. Deburr machines do a really nice finish. Don't worry about the media cost or quantity. For knife making purposes you will probably never replace them. Buying them by the bucket is also a lot cheaper. Shop around, you are not restricted to just the ones from the machine manufacturer.
 
bladsmth said:
The Mr. Deburr machines do a really nice finish. Don't worry about the media cost or quantity. For knife making purposes you will probably never replace them. Buying them by the bucket is also a lot cheaper. Shop around, you are not restricted to just the ones from the machine manufacturer.
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From what I've seen C&M topline seem to have one of the best overall ranges of media and also very reasonable prices, right around $1 per lb for pretty much all their media, and that's their max pricing, it's cheaper if you buy in bulk or with a machine as far as I can tell.

Good point about not really having to replace the media.

The Mr Deburr machine would definitely be the most overall future-proof machine. I can stonewash for my current fixed blades and for future folders, as well as doing burnished finishes for future kitchen knives... Over the next 6 months or so I'm definitely going to be facing more machinery investments, so I guess I'd better just get used to it.

Will post regarding what I end up with!
 
Aaron, thanks for the kind words! The C&M Topline machines were the ones I was thinking of... great thread as always!
 
If you haven't taken a look at the Thumlers Tumblers UV-45, I think you should. I have been running one for years. I used to use it to deburr all the parts coming out of my VMC when I had it. I've run blades up to 9-1/2" without problem and think it could go larger. The bowl diameter is 2-1/2" less than the TLV75 but it is about half the price. Just throwing that out as an option.

Bob
 
I have seen the Mr. Deburr in professional bladesmith and blacksmith shops. They turn out great finishes on odd shapes and larger pieces. I have seen pokers and even andirons cleaned up in one. Knives were satin finished. When I switch over to retirement smithing and start churning out production kitchen knives, I can't imaging doing it without one. I will try and build one, but may well end up buying one if the process isn't going to be worth the time and effort. That said, I like designing and building things. Commercial tools are often made to do many things well, custom built tools can be engineered to do one thing nearly perfectly, and other things well.
 
RangerBobTX said:
If you haven't taken a look at the Thumlers Tumblers UV-45, I think you should. I have been running one for years. I used to use it to deburr all the parts coming out of my VMC when I had it. I've run blades up to 9-1/2" without problem and think it could go larger. The bowl diameter is 2-1/2" less than the TLV75 but it is about half the price. Just throwing that out as an option.

Bob
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Hey Bob!
Thanks for the input!

What kind of media do you run in your machine? I'm worried because I notice that machine has a much smaller motor than the C&M machines, so I'm wondering if it runs ok with heavy media like ceramic or porcelain.

Cheers mate!
 
bladsmth said:
I have seen the Mr. Deburr in professional bladesmith and blacksmith shops. They turn out great finishes on odd shapes and larger pieces. I have seen pokers and even andirons cleaned up in one. Knives were satin finished. When I switch over to retirement smithing and start churning out production kitchen knives, I can't imaging doing it without one. I will try and build one, but may well end up buying one if the process isn't going to be worth the time and effort. That said, I like designing and building things. Commercial tools are often made to do many things well, custom built tools can be engineered to do one thing nearly perfectly, and other things well.
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Hey Stacy!
I'm curious what your main uses would be for the machine when smithing... Would it mainly be for descaling? Or would you use it for finishing?

One thing I'm mulling over at the moment is whether people would even want a kitchen knife finished in a tumbler. The reason I'm thinking about this is because that was the main reason I'd be getting the bigger machine, to do burnished finishes on future kitchen models. I haven't seen many finished that way, that's for sure. I like the idea of a working knife with a finish that hides wear... But it would be silly to buy the extra big machine and then find out people aren't interested in kitchen knives finished that way.

For hard-use fixed blades and folders there seems to be no question that people like the finish, not sure if that's going to translate though.

Thoughts from anyone are welcome!
 
It sure would be an uncommon finish. How would some touch it up if there was a deep scratch?
 
Omega Leather Works said:
Aaron, hope you don't mind. I asked in the kitchen knives forum.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1222063

Every time I wonder about what the customer thinks about this or that I just ask em. Thing is, it gives you exactly what you need to know and people really seem to like it when you ask for their likes and dislikes. Hopefully there will be some useful comments.
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Haha, I actually did the same thing in the general knife section: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...Stonewash-finish-on-kitchen-knives-Yea-or-Nay
 
Tumbling doesn't have to be the final finish; it can be used as an intermediate step to save some man-hours. Also, a "stonewashed" finish isn't the only finish you can get from a tumbler. With various media and/or compounds, you can get all kinds of polishes. Before I built my tumbler, I outsourced the process. This pic shows a knife they did for me to demonstrate a high-polish process.
11245690114_e71d04edc7_o.jpg
 
P.Brewster said:
Tumbling doesn't have to be the final finish; it can be used as an intermediate step to save some man-hours. Also, a "stonewashed" finish isn't the only finish you can get from a tumbler. With various media and/or compounds, you can get all kinds of polishes. Before I built my tumbler, I outsourced the process. This pic shows a knife they did for me to demonstrate a high-polish process.
View attachment 475815
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For sure, both of the quotes I've received include a couple of different types of media. The main one I'm excited about (besides the standard ceramic media) is a porcelain media that doesn't have any abrasive (burnishing media) I'd be very interested to see what that does to a 600 grit satin finish after a few hours!

Thanks for the photo! Always good see other options.
 
aarongough said:
Hey Bob!
Thanks for the input!

What kind of media do you run in your machine? I'm worried because I notice that machine has a much smaller motor than the C&M machines, so I'm wondering if it runs ok with heavy media like ceramic or porcelain.

Cheers mate!
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The main thing I've run in mine has been 25lbs of 3/4" plastic cylinders with about 15lbs of 6061 aluminum parts. For blades, I tried the plastic media first and they did a pretty nice polishing job over 24 hours but almost no cutting or deburring. I then added #80 S/C grit and got some cutting and deburring but it broke the plastic cylinders down more rapidly than I liked and tended to settle on the bottom too much. I have 20lbs of used ceramic cylinders on order and should be delivered tomorrow. I chose the used cylinders because they don't have sharp edges and I'm really just looking for a surface finish and not much cutting action. I will report back on how this goes.

Also, I think the point about the larger motor is a valid one. I bought my tumbler used locally through craigslist. The guy I bought it from said he knows his dad had it at least five years but didn't have any idea how much he used it. I brought it home and used it hard for about nine months when the motor gave out. New motor cost me about $100. I used it pretty hard for about three more years before it got set aside when I quit running my VMC. It's only been getting occasional use since I got into knifemaking.

Bob
 
RangerBobTX said:
The main thing I've run in mine has been 25lbs of 3/4" plastic cylinders with about 15lbs of 6061 aluminum parts. For blades, I tried the plastic media first and they did a pretty nice polishing job over 24 hours but almost no cutting or deburring. I then added #80 S/C grit and got some cutting and deburring but it broke the plastic cylinders down more rapidly than I liked and tended to settle on the bottom too much. I have 20lbs of used ceramic cylinders on order and should be delivered tomorrow. I chose the used cylinders because they don't have sharp edges and I'm really just looking for a surface finish and not much cutting action. I will report back on how this goes.

Also, I think the point about the larger motor is a valid one. I bought my tumbler used locally through craigslist. The guy I bought it from said he knows his dad had it at least five years but didn't have any idea how much he used it. I brought it home and used it hard for about nine months when the motor gave out. New motor cost me about $100. I used it pretty hard for about three more years before it got set aside when I quit running my VMC. It's only been getting occasional use since I got into knifemaking.

Bob
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Thanks for the answer Bob!

Sounds like the larger machine from Topline might still be a good bet, as it's designed specifically to run with the heaver ceramic media. I'm sure that must be part of the reason why it has a much larger motor...
 
I meant after the customer received it. I think there are a lot of green scotch brite pads on sponges and that at least leaves consistent scratches. you might want to see hour the scotch brite effects the finished product. it would be weird to have a kitchen knife that congress with a warning to not use a certain sponge that is in many kitchens.
 
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