Tumbling vs. sandblasting

[alexmin]

Guys,

will a tumbler from Harbor Freight be a good substitution of a sandblasting setup for folders blades and titanium liners?

Thanks,
Alex

 

[gixxer]

Well, beisdes the time difference between blasting and tumbling, I believe the finish is different, since tumbling goes not impart pitting like blasting. The two do look similar though. Blasted has a rougher surface. If somebody had a blasted close up, you can compare it to this. Ignore the scratches, this was a test and the blade was only finished to 120 before I tumbled.

 

[Walt2]

What did you use for media to tumble it in?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Sand blasting is a simple process with fairly simple equipment. Tumbling requires specific media and (for knife blades) specialized equipment. A setup for knives will set you back from $500 to $5000. And it requires a lot of attention (not like a rock tumbler). Stick with blasting until you are doing batches of 100 blades at a time - week in and week out.
Stacy

 

[gixxer]

Here is my ongoing thread... I will hopefully have at least one of those blades done in 3 weeks. They are getting cooked in Idaho as we speak.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=449951&highlight=tumbled+finish