For this week’s
#tooltalktuesday I’m excited to show off the plastic media I frequently use to achieve a matte finish in a tumbler! This specific media is from our friends at
@ottofrei1930 they were designed to be used in a vibratory tumbler but I’ve been using them in a rotary tumbler for years! For this review I wanted to show off a side by side of these three different tumbler media: Coarse Cut Brown 1/4" Plastic Pyramids (Part # 147.750), Medium Cut Dark Green 1/4" Plastic Pyramids (Part # 147.753) and my favorite- Fine Cut Light Green 1/4" Plastic Pyramids (Part # 147.756) I started out with three identical castings and brought them all up to a mirror finish and then tumbled each casting in one of the three media for approximately 60 minutes. Using the media is easy you just fill your rotary barrel about 2/3 of the way with pyramids add water until you are covering the media by about 1.5” and add a few drops of dish soap! (I’m releasing an IGTV showing the process off as well! 😉) As you can see each of these media actually gave a similar result but the light green is the finest satin finish (while the others are a bit more brushed looking) for my work
@corkieboltonjewelry I often finish with this media. They are $9 each and will last you forever so they are totally worth experimenting with! I often get asked about whether you should tumble pieces with stones and I’ll share the same advice I do with steel shots, err on the side of caution. I personally only tumble pieces that have diamonds or sapphires, they are high on the MOH scale and I’ve never had an issue. Back in the day I damaged opals, lapis and a whole plethora of stones 🤦♀️ the media is abrasive and can take finishes off a polished cabochon! I also wanted to mention the tumbler that was used it is a Thumler’s Tumbler Model A-R1 (Part # 147.781KIT) great tumbler made in the USA. Huge thank you to
@ottofrei1930 for sponsoring this post! Head over to my stories where I will link the media if you are interested in experimenting with a super easy, even matte finish! Remember to use code MMS719 to save 5% and when you support a Society sponsor you are also supporting the page!
☺️#sponsored
