by Mary

Chain variations that Mary has worked on since the President’s Challenge, a bracelet and necklace.

Views from Thierry

You can get these 100mm magnetic tumblers on Ebay for about $300, supplied with and acrylic bowl, and 100 grams of 0.3 mm x 5 mm stainless steel pins. You still need to purchase some Tumblex Gleam powder ($20 for a jar at AJS).

Italian Brand name made in China. The tumbler is basically a magnet stirring the steel pins in the acrylic bowl.

These machines are perfect for tumbling intricate textured pieces and chains as the tiny pins can go and burnish every spot, unlike a traditional steel shot burnisher as the shots are much bigger. But these machines have a few quicks and drawbacks

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• You still need to purchase some Tumblex Gleam powder ($20 for a jar at AJS)
• The acrylic bowl is of poor quality in my view, with the base cracking and leaking over time. Sourcing a replacement bowl at a reasonable cost is virtually impossible. So, I use a Pyrex Simply Store 2 Cup Round Storage Dish (11.4cm x 5cm) – $10 at BigW
• The 100 grams worth of pins is ample enough, but sourcing additional pins is difficult in small quantity
• The supplied pins look clean, but they are very dirty from the manufacturing. I tumble them twice before tumbling any jewellery pieces
• You must leave the pins in a Tumblex Gleam solution to prevent any oxidation when not in use
• You never ever leave the pins after use on the machine or your pins will get magnetised and become totally useless
• Cleaning the pins is not easy their tiny size, I gently clean them under running hot water
• As they clean/polish much more in details, chains notably, the solution gets dirty faster than a traditional burnisher. I clean and replace the Tumblex at every use
• You will end up having pin marks on your pieces if you burnish for too long. 30 minutes is enough or 10-15 mins for recleaning a chain

So, this is my method for using it, you may decide on your preference once you start using it

• First use, clean the pins twice before use
• In the glass bowl, put the 100 grams of pins, a quarter of a teaspoon of Tumblex Gleam and about 15-20mm of water in the Pyrex bowl. No need to stir the powder
• Put your pieces (they should have been cleaned up to start with)
• Close the lid and vacuum seal the lid.
• Set the speed control to 4 – Maximum. I never bothered trailing different speeds
• Set the green button to oscillate – it will change direction every couple of minutes
• Put the glass bowl on the unit
• Adjust the time control – 30 mins is ample
• Switch power on
• Keep an eye on it, to make sure to remove the bowl once finished
• Once finished, wipe any water spill on the unit
• Open the lid gently, place the bowl in a sink, gently run hot water over the lid into the bowl to rinse it in case there is some pins stuck under the lid. Gently run the hot water over the bowl to rinse the liquid, gently moving the media and pieces to dislodge any dirt. Once the water is clear, remove a piece at a time and rinse over the bowl to drop the pins back into the bowl. Once finish remove the excess water and leave 15-20 mm of water in the bowl. Collect any runaway pins back into the bowl. Add a quarter of a teaspoon of Tumblex Gleam. Dry the lid and vacuum seal close the bowl. Store on the side of from the machine (not on it!)

Overall an excellent machine if you use it properly. Perfect for home but not ideal in a club as you need supervision to make sure people don’t overfill or leave it on the machine after use.

I use it all the time at home and it is a god send, notably for burnishing chains and castings. I first clean my pieces in an ultra-sonic cleaner and/or use a toothbrush and dishwashing liquid.