WOW......Mitty is THE MAN!

I'll say it again....MITTY... YOU DA MAN!

The quote below is an excerpt from another thread asking about Tumbling Aluminum. To which Mitty replied......


Well Frank S. in Tennessee.....I took your advice to heart and here's the results..............

Here's some parts we had to make for one of our customers that build forensic testing equipment. A short run in our Haas VMC, 50pcs made out of 6061 that required a "Buff & Polish" finish. The parts you see here just came out of our large vibratory deburring machine in which we use 5/8 plastic media to deburr the parts and give them a uniform matte finish. Parts are .750" x 1.00" x 1.188" lg.





We looked up the website Mitty recommended www.GravesCompany.com and selected 5lbs of the "Tumble Dry Green" media, and VOILA.........$35.00, and three days later, the media arrived via my favorite man in the brown uniform!
Like a little kid opening his presents on Christmas day I hastily opened the package,.....DAMN.......peanuts........I hate those things!! You ever try to grab a handful and throw them away and they stick to your hand from static electricity, and no matter how hard you try they just won't fall into the basket so you grab them with your other hand, but they stick to that hand too? Oh well, never mind......I hate peanuts! Anyways.....once I cleared a path to the goods inside I retrieved two lovely green pouches of ground walnut shells. Now I don't know about you guys, but I LOVE walnuts, and could not wait to open one of the bags and take in the heavenly aroma of freshly ground walnut shells...........but man was I wrong.....that stuff smells like CRAP!



I poured the two pouches of media into our small 18" Tumbler and added half the lot of parts which was 26pcs, and turned it on. My first reaction was "Peaceful!"......you heard me, "peaceful". The quiet whir of the motor running was all you could hear.........not the usual loud battering taking place inside the tub from the plastic media bouncing about inside beating the parts into a completely deburred submission......this was nice,...... and most of all, quiet.
Our large Tumbler is kept in a different area of the shop due to the tremendous noise it makes......it's a love/hate relationship.......I love the work it does, but hate the noise it makes!


Our small tumbler at work with the Tumble Dry Green media in it. To the side is the 3/8 plastic media we normally use in that tumbler for the smaller parts, but I think now I will have to get another tumbler and keep this one for polishing parts.




In this pic you see the parts circulating inside the media.




I checked on the progress of the parts every couple of hours, and kept note of the time for future reference. This lot of 26 pieces took 11 hours. In the picture below you can see the before and after difference. For those of you who may have had a few cocktails before viewing this (it is afterall the weekend!) the before is on the left, and the after is on the right!




One final pic showing a close up of the finished product......I'm quite sure my customer will be very pleased!


So, in a "NUTSHELL"........oh!...couldn't resist that one.....that wraps up this whole process which was so simple using this technique. The whole manufacturing process went as follows:
Sawcut, Machine, Vibratory Deburr, Vibratory Polish. Thanks again Mitty for your awesome advice! It saved us a lot of time and manual work, because I was planning on having to polish all these by hand on a buffing wheel.......ahhh....correction.......I was planning on having my WIFE polish all these by hand on the buffing wheel!

Best Regards,
Russ

Ya know, that *looks* like a simple part, but it really isn't. I'm curious what steps and setups you used to machine it, looks like at least 2 ops, maybe 3 or 4.

Like name that tune:

"I can make that part in 4 ops."

"I can make that part in 3 ops."

"ok, make that part!"

Looks to me like 3. Or 2 if you have a C axis lathe with love tooling.

Never tumbled before, just curious. Will this process take off the oxide finish of aluminum, i.e. bar straight from the distributor?

Parts were made out of 1" Sq. 6061 sawcut 1.312" lg.
Parts finished at .750" x 1" x 1.188" lg. Radius = .500"

1st Handling = Set in vise in Haas holding by .187" deep in vise, mill outside profile complete, chamfer profile, drill/tap thru 5/16-18, and c'bore.

2nd Handling = Flip piece. Rgh/Fin. facemill to .750" thick, chamfer profile.

3rd Handling = Drill/Tap two 10-32's

Parts were then put in Tumbler with 5/8 plastic media for approx. 2 hours to deburr and clean, then dried and put in Tumbler with Tumble Dry Green for 11 hours to polish.

Hope that answers your questions on......"Name The Number Of Ops!"

Later,
Russ

JDPN
The finish on new bar is aluminum oxide, so that makes it tough. I don't think you would have much luck with the plastic media. I think you would have to start with some ceramic cones, then finish with plastic.

Russ,
Walnut being so light, is one of the reasons that it takes a while to polish. If you want to cheat a little... ....those little vibratory units have a counter weight clamped on the bottom of the shaft. Flip it over and take it off. Then drill and tap a 10/32 hole on the far end. then you can experiment with adding more weight with a screw. Might need a 1/4 28 to get the effect you want.
Of course I have never done such a thing
Gary

Man awesome!
I want to try that stuff after seeing this.

Be sure and do a /slight/ piss & moan when you deliver and "unveil" those to your customer....and remark how much TLC and effort you put into that polish.......JUST FOR THEM!
Score some points!
Everybody loves smooth & shiny......and it costs more (they pay more) too.

nice job


dk

Hi Russ


Those DO look very nice. That is what is nice about this forum, that we can share our experiences and maybe save someone grief and aggravation. It doesn't do any good to just constantly be trying to get the parts looking right.

Everyone thinks that finishing parts is a black art when it's just a matter of process. I learned the hard way what works and what doesn't and in the several posts in that thread I tried very hard to layout what really works and what is B.S.

Just for grins, throw an extra part in the tumbler for 24-48 hrs and see if they don't look like chrome when they come out. Then ya can drop and give me twenty .

It always feels good to get that epiphany moment. I had that one night after looking at the G code on the screen at the machine. It dawned on me that I knew what most of that crap meant.

You should charge extra for the finish. Just curious, did you wash them in the dishwasher with some Palmolive Gel soap? That makes them really sparkle (shiny clean).

Frank S. in Tennessee

The arm part of this was done on a buffing wheel because I don't have a vibe bowl large enough to run it without it rubbing the bowl from time to time and screwing up the finish in certain places. The round parts, pedal and hub, went straight from the lathe to the vibe running walnut shells with rouge and stayed there for 72 hrs. The vibe sure is cleaner and easier

Attached Thumbnails

 

Very nice results.

We always new Mitty was nuts!

Now I want something else. Do you think I could survive getting SWMBO one of those for mothers day?

Ok....not up on the jargon here.....what the heck is SWMBO?

Later,
Russ

Hey Frank......no....haven't washed them yet, that was straight out of the tumbler. I do have a couple extra, so I will leave one in for a day and check the result, but believe me the pics I put up don't do the parts justice....they're smooth as glass and have a mirror finish!! Thanks again for that trade secret! By the way......how long does that media last? Have you figured out a useful life span? Also love reading about the machine...though gotta admit....VERY jealous!!

Later,
Russ

She Who Must Be Obeyed :-)

Hi Russ

Like anything in life it all depends on how well you take care of it. I have plastic media that has lasted for a couple of years. On the wet stuff I use a recirculating system that is charged with a fairly stiff Simple Green and luke warm water mixture. Amazing how much sludge comes off the system and settles in the bucket. On mine I used a Harbor freight pump for a long time but switched to a more robust pump that I purchased at Lowes. I also mount the pump up off the bottom of the bucket so it's not pumping the sludge (pumps last longer).

For the dry, the media will last quite a while, but it's dirt cheap compared to the quality of part that you get. probably the best indicator is how long it takes to polish. The fact that you were able to get them polished in 11 hours is in a word... spectacular. Now all you need to do is wrap them individually in a tissue paper like the finish is fragile and charge them for all the hard work your tumbler did.

I don't know if ARB is talking about getting his wife (SWMBO) one of your artistry pieces or getting her a vibratory finisher. Somewhere there is a perverse joke or thought in there somewhere and I'll leave it to your imagination. You just want to be carefull about letting SWMBO near the Vibratory finisher, you may find her hugging it or trying to sit on it. Kind of like the Washing Machine thing. Can I use that many Emoticons in one paragraph (LOL).

Writing about the machine is almost like The Chronicles of Frank and the Litz - a machining saga. But hey life is good and the orders for product keep pouring in. Gods many blessings for you all on this Sunday.

Frank S. in Tennessee

I was indeed thinking of getting a vibratory device.
I think it would fit right in next to the Kitchen Aid mixer.


LOL

Well I looked at Vibratory Finishers lately and there are few good used deals out there. You don't know how much more life is in a lining etc.

I currently use a rebuilt Nova 1000 that I put new springs on and added a big honkin' 1hp 1ph 1750 RPM motor (follow the Tim Allen theory - more power). It sits on a stand with room for a 5 gal bucket below for the water / Simple Green mix. Keeping things simple is the whole idea. But......

If I were going to buy new - this is the one I would get (http://www.massfinish.com.au/) unless...I ran across a sweet deal on a used one that I know the history about. I bought the Nova 1000 from a shop that thought it was broken and didn't take time to fix it, so I offered them pity money ($100) to take it off their hands along with the ceramic media. Took just a few casual nights to fix it.

Frank S. in Tennessee

If SWMBO wants to add handles and a seat belt to your finisher, you might as well move it into the house next to the KitchenAid. Besides, being close to the dishwasher is nice. Remember though that Stainless Steel Commercial Hobart Dishwashers are what you want - $900.00 includes a built in water heater and uses about 4-5 gals for a three minute cycle. Run those parts.

Here is a nice sized unit. You might want to turn down the sound..before the video loads
mitty,
They are just around the bend from you in Little Rock..
http://www.vibratoryfinishing.com/MOV00323.MPG
http://www.vibratoryfinishing.com/MOV00324.MPG

Oh man, this thread kicks ass. It's been way too long since I was last mulling around on this site

So I want to tumble polish my motorcycle side covers. I'm thinking I can build a tumbler out of a 5 gallon pail and run it with an old furnace motor I have kickin around. Any ideas or recommendations? Will I have to use a primary media or can I start straight away with a walnut media? I'm pretty sure I will have to use a paint remover on them first as I'm willing to bet they have a factory clear coat over the Al.

Hey Wrustle, How was it getting the media out of the holes?

Man I swear, the longer I stare at this damn picture, it starts to look like the parts are moving.....optical delullusions I guess.