Tumbler Recommendation for Small Shop?

I'm a garage level machine shop with a cnc lathe and Bridgeport. I'm machining rectangular fittings 1x1x5 inch major dimensions and I've been asked to tumble deburr for aesthetics. Is there a general rule how big a tumbler must be relative to the parts in work? I've heard that parts will bind against each other and be damaged when they're too big for the bin. Is this also a concern with a rotary tumbler?

I have two default bargain options in mind:
1. Northern Tool 1.25 cft tumbler for $850
2. 6" or 8" pvc container to spin on my 10" Logan 825 lathe

I don't have the operating cash to spend more than $1000 on a tumbler right now. I have money on paper, but not until I get repaid on materials and work...

Any recommendation what media to get for said tumbler options above? 6061-T6 rectangular fittings to be tumbled. The main goals are smooth aesthetic appearance, deburr edges, and not to cause stress riser features.

Thanks in advance,
Kevin

Send it out. I use an outfit called Burr Tech (Burr Technology - Little Canada, Minnesota). I ship them the parts. Magically a day or two later I get deburred parts back. They apparently have lots of machines and their turn around time doesn't seem to vary between getting 1 part and a few pallets of parts.

Or at least do that for a bit while you are trying to get up and running and saving up some capital.

I have been using the C&M topline 3 cubic foot tank type for 20+ years and really like them, There not as fast as the round tumblers but there also not rough on the parts,,, I run about 20 hours a week and in all the years of use have spent about $100 for new bearings and a belt.. there about $2,300 new but I have seen a lot of used ones for about 1k and it the poly liner is in good shape your good to go ... as for media it all have to do with part shape, hole size in the parts and finish you want on the parts, for 99% of the parts I have done over the years just the ceramic 7/8" Tri-Star or the 1"x3/4" green wedge works good ,,, FYI the green wears down fast so you might want to run alum parts in the ceramic then do a 20 min finish tumble in the green to save on time and get a good finish ,,, for a part like the 1"x1"x5" your asking about it could do about 30 to 40 parts every two hours. I have found changing the water out about every hour works better than running soap. With soap you can run for the full 2 hours with out flushing the tank but the parts don't get as good of a finish as just plain water.

The C&M 3 cubic foot size is kinda like a Bridgeport mill ,,, for most work its the best size,,

This may be too small for you but someone else seeing this thread and wanting advice may be able to use this.
Dillon the reloading people make 2 tumblers their large one is about a 1/4 cubic foot. They are made for using with dry media, but by pulling the screws and sealing with silicon seal we have used them with liquid compounds. They cost less than $200.00 each and will last for years. Most of our part only need an hour or so of tumbling so we tumble for nearly that dump the liquid compound and replaces with clean compound or water for the last few minutes to make the parts cleaner.

The one from Northern Tool that you picked out looks good for the money. Mainly because of the large size. You could run just about anything in it. 3/4 HP should be plenty of power. The Harbor Freight bowls are a lot cheaper but have a much smaller channel, can't do very big parts, and don't have the power. I have customers that run parts forever with those trying to get them done. Any then it wears thru the bowl. You are going to have to learn about media and compound. That's where the pretty finish comes from. Rick 501-897-1110

Sounds like you parts will work well in that size. Unless they are shaped like hooks they wont bind together or tangle much.

I would not want the long dimension to have much less than its length for clearance if possible but it depends on how many parts your doing at once.

I have a used Nova 500. I have done pistol frames up to 7" long in it.

Nova vibratory tumbler usually goes for <$1k

eBay - Page Not Found

the northern tool unit looks right.

I would not even consider the lathe hack.

dsergison said:

I would not even consider the lathe hack.

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That's how I feel. Hacks usually mean 3x the work for 1/2 the result. The only thing going for it is $80 materials for a 6" pvc tumbler. AN 8" version would be $235. I'd be running the little lathe forever.

Any media recommendations with a vibratory tumbler and aluminum? Any good online stores to shop media?

Plastic is nice, ceramic cuts twice as fast and lasts twice as long. You haven't really said what finish the customer wants. Is there a burr to cut off? Burnish finish is the best (shiniest) but that takes steel media and that machine most likely won't handle that. But it would handle polishing spheres. They would make the parts shiny. Lots of options here. You will probably want to try different media. Luckily on a small machine that won't cost much. I have some prices on my website. Vibratory Finishing Mass Finishing Ball Burnishing Deburring Media Compound Equipment

rickseeman said:

Plastic is nice, ceramic cuts twice as fast and lasts twice as long. You haven't really said what finish the customer wants. Is there a burr to cut off? Burnish finish is the best (shiniest) but that takes steel media and that machine most likely won't handle that. But it would handle polishing spheres. They would make the parts shiny. Lots of options here. You will probably want to try different media. Luckily on a small machine that won't cost much. I have some prices on my website. Vibratory Finishing Mass Finishing Ball Burnishing Deburring Media Compound Equipment

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The customer wants the parts to look uniform in finish, basically obscure the mill finish and milling marks. I hand deburred the parts in the past, but there's not a large edge generally. Just normal sharp edges after milling on the bridgeport with an end mill. Example photos below of a recent batch. The upper left group of parts when laid out, or middle row when stacked are the parts he's making a larger order for. Should I look at a pointed shape or smaller size something to get the interior radius surface?

A small ceramic with points of some kind to get in where it needs to would work. Small media for a finer finish. But what I'm really thinking is plastic wedges. Because of the slots and holes. Small ceramic will wear down and get lodged in there. Larger plastic wedges would be better as far as getting lodged. But the ceramic would get the machine marks out better/faster. It's going to take a little experimenting. Vibratory finishing is not all cut and dried.

The last one I bought was a $50 used cement mixer. It’s no where near perfect and I wouldn’t want to run it more than a few hours a week but it does the job. I use a ice cream make for small stuff. The last one I bought was $5 at the veteran thrift store.

I got a $200 bowl tumbler, and loaded up to eight 5" parts at a time, or about sixteen 2" parts at a time with good results. It was a good setup for the small parts in modest quantity.

Your choice on rotary vs. vibratory, but if you go with the rotary style then it would be hard to beat C&M Topline in that price range. I don't know how many thousand hours I have on mine, and it still runs like it will last my lifetime. I have three drums of different sizes, and the only thing I have replaced is one stopper.