Thread: New Idea??? Experimentation....

Originally Posted by AlexJade

D2T where did you get your CrO to load your media with?

I got it from Rio Grande. It was about $20 for a quart. I used maybe 1/3 of it for two loads of media (1 corncob, 1 walnut).

Originally Posted by Joe777

Byron u said u used turtle wax compound,is the 1 in my pic the 1 u used i already had this in my garage if not do u think this would be okay to use .I was unable to find wallnut localy so i am using corncob that is what i could find localy at a pet store. I dont know if this is good for this i will have to wait and see what my results are. The razor is not really in bad condition so shoud be okay i guess.

Yeah, I used exactly that to "treat" my walnut media. BTW, I do see a big difference in pet store media versus tumbling media (based on your picture). My corn cob media is finely ground - smaller than sesame seed size, but it looks like the pet store stuff is just plain corn kernels.

If I were going to use that, I would be checking my razor quite often to start. It might work better, it may not work as well. I imagine that at the very least it will have issues with affecting the smaller, harder to penetrate areas (shoulder threshold, tang junction, etc.).

Remember to post your results in here!

Thx byron, i had no idea about the corn cob, i ran it about 5 hours with the small blade u see in the pic,so far no damage also not much improvement either.I removed it since i just found english walnut media at a pet store i added the other half of the turtle compound.I see what u mean about the size, the walnut i picked up is about the size of sesame seeds.I still have about a 1/2 a bag of the cob left over that is untreated i might try it with some metal polish or maas after i remove the blade from the walnut, i will post my results Thx

Maybe try running the large corn cob through a coffee grinder? Just a thought.

Originally Posted by Joe777

Thx byron, i had no idea about the corn cob, i ran it about 5 hours with the small blade u see in the pic,so far no damage also not much improvement either.I removed it since i just found english walnut media at a pet store i added the other half of the turtle compound.I see what u mean about the size, the walnut i picked up is about the size of sesame seeds.I still have about a 1/2 a bag of the cob left over that is untreated i might try it with some metal polish or maas after i remove the blade from the walnut, i will post my results Thx

Let me know how the English walnut works out for you. I wanted to use the black harder walnut but couldn't find any in Canada. I just ordered
the English walnut and should be getting it in the next couple of weeks.
It was ordered from a pet store also. I'll be adding a powder red rouge & blue magic to it.


Gary

I'm still playing around with the media and tried aquarium gravel recently. Seemed to work okay but probably not worth the effort unless trying to remove lots of rust.
Also just got some of the smaller ceramic media from Harbor Freight, smaller being the 7/8 x 5/16 and it is the loudest stuff I have ever heard.
I would say the decibel level of this stuff in the tumbler is well over 100.
Have to shut it off when I am out there or wear ear plugs.
That said the stuff works quite well and is aggressive for the bigger stuff.
Still haven't found anything that will get all of the black pits out but it will get almost anything to a satin finish with some residual staining.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=97027

WOW, I have just read each & every post & there are some excellent results. Pity some of the pics have disappeared.
My boss uses one of these tumbler types as he makes model steam engines ~ lots of brass ~ I will ask him what he uses as he is a perfectionist. He also machines tiny rivets, nuts & bolts not sure what the smallest are but do know they are measured in BA
....momma

As an aside:
Also was interesting reading about who reloads ~ my father worked at a munitions factory & he designed & tested a lot of powders. Stuff for shooters plus big stuff for the Australian Navy. My husband works at the same plant now.

Originally Posted by Arora Borealis

Let me know how the English walnut works out for you. I wanted to use the black harder walnut but couldn't find any in Canada. I just ordered
the English walnut and should be getting it in the next couple of weeks.
It was ordered from a pet store also. I'll be adding a powder red rouge & blue magic to it.


Gary

I will let u know how it works out,this is the walnut i orderd look Here http://www.zilla-rules.com/products/...nut-shells.htm it is taking me much longer because i dont want to leave it running in my house when i am not home.

Originally Posted by Joe777

I will let u know how it works out,this is the walnut i orderd look Here http://www.zilla-rules.com/products/...nut-shells.htm it is taking me much longer because i dont want to leave it running in my house when i am not home.

Joe that's the exact same brand and size I ordered from Mayer's Pet shop in Toronto. We'll be using different additives so I'll let you know how my mixture turns out also.

Gary

Originally Posted by yul b. nekst

I've currently done four razors in the tumbler. There'll be no pictures from me, so you'll have to go on my interpretation. I'm using an RCBS tumbler with Lyman Tuff Nut Walnut media, and Lyman green (Chromium Oxide?)treated Corn Cob media. I've done two razors at one time with no problem. By using nothing less than 400 grit for minor rust and stain removal, I got a mirror finish on two razors. One razor that needed major pre-cleaning had reflective lines in the mirror finish from the 220 grit. This was really only noticeable at certain light angles. The fourth razor had some major pitting and staining going on. It polished up nicely, but unless there was some pre-grinding on my part, which there wasn't, this razor may have been unsalvageable if not for the tumbler. At least now it has some nice scales and will find a new home as someone's shave ready straight. All razors get 48 hours in both walnut and then corn cob. As a yearling newbie, this is my take: The time spent while razors were being tumbler polished was used on complete scale manufacturing for these straights, which to me, means more. I can spend more time creating and practicing on wood scale ideas that I wouldn't have alloted to me otherwise due to the time constraints of major metal restoration. Some guys may like working with metal more. I guess that's why schools have both Metal Shop and Wood Shop.

Thanks for the post!

I'm just getting in to this and, not being a reloader, I have been all over the Internet looking at both brass polishers and rock polishers. Prices ranged from $50.00 to $750.00.

Anyway, my big question was, "would a Vibratory Tumbler work better for carbon steel than the regular tumblers used for the softer brass"? You answered my question and I just ordered the RCBS Vibratory Tumbler from Cabela's.

I have some of the Walnut shells and corn cob media coming from a vendor on Ebay. I have not decided what kind of polish I am going to add to my corn cob media. I'm still in the research stage of this program.

Here are my thoughts: Everything out there is geared toward the polishing of either brass, jewelery, or rocks, not hard carbon steel. My thoughts are to start the walnut shells out at a relatively coarse grit, such as 08-12(I haven't figured out what those numbers represent. I just know it is coarser then 12-20, 20-30, or 30-100). I would want the first stages of polishing to be aggressive. The shells will become a finer grit during usage anyway, therefore, it seems logical to start with coarser shells.

I think I will call a few vendors that are in this business of polishing and see what they can recommend as a polishing media for carbon steel.

Thanks again for turning me on to the Vibratory Tumbler. This is a good start!

Steve