Media blasting has long been the go-to method for cleaning rust and grime off old car parts, but it’s not always the best solution for every restoration project. An alternative to the blast cabinet is the vibratory tumbler, which shakes your pieces in a bowl of specialized abrasive media. This method is a hands-off way to clean up rusty nuts, bolts, and smaller parts. And it not only cleans but also polishes, making your hardware look as good as new—or even better.
Vibratory tumbling isn’t necessarily a replacement for traditional blasting, but rather an alternative for certain jobs. Let’s dive into the advantages and best uses for a vibratory tumbler for your restoration project to achieve professional-grade results.
How Vibratory Tumbling Works
A vibratory tumbler is a machine designed to clean, polish, and deburr metal parts. It consists of an enclosed bowl mounted to a vibrating motor assembly. The bowl is filled with a abrasive tumbling media (which can be ceramic, plastic, or other materials) and the metal parts to be cleaned or polished.
When the tumbler is switched on, the bowl vibrates at high speed, causing the abrasive media to rub against the metal parts. The vibration causes the media to move in a circular motion, which gently but effectively cleans the metal surfaces. Different results are possible by changing the type of media, the intensity of the vibrations, and the duration of the cycle.
Ideal Uses
Vibratory tumblers are ideal for cleaning and polishing small to medium-sized parts like nuts, bolts, washers, screws, and other hardware. They also provide a gentler alternative when working with delicate parts that could be damaged by the force of media blasting.
Parts that require a smooth, polished finish also benefit from this process. Polishing removes minor imperfections and delivers a consistent surface finish. Finally, the tumbler is efficient for processing multiple small parts at once, making it ideal for batch cleaning or polishing.
Limitations
Vibratory tumbling generally takes longer than traditional media blasting. Depending on the condition of the parts, it can take several hours or even days to achieve the desired results. However, it’s a great way to work on some projects in a hands-off manner while working on other tasks that require closer attention.
The size of the tumbler itself will limit the size of the parts that can be processed. A small 5-pound tumbler will be fine if you’re working only on smaller hardware. A larger 18-pound tumbler will be better suited to larger pieces like brackets and small assemblies. Larger parts, or those more oddly shaped, may not even fit or be effectively cleaned in a vibratory tumbler.
Vibratory tumbling is typically gentler than media blasting. However, it may still cause damage to very delicate or thin materials, especially if the wrong media is used. Conversely, the process is not as aggressive as media blasting and may not be suitable for removing heavy rust in a timely manner.
Tips and Tricks
- Take inventory before you begin tumbling. Lay out your parts and make a list of what’s going in. Better still, take a picture. You can then keep track as you unload the bowl to ensure you get everything out.
- Go magnet fishing if you must. If you can’t find some of your small parts among the media, run a strong magnet through the bowl to find them. This obviously only works with ferrous metals, but chances are that’s what you’re tumbling anyway.
- A tech tip from one of our former product managers was to grate a little bit of white buffing compound into the bowl before polishing with the Dri Shine (ground corncob) media. He swore it helped put a brighter shine on the finished pieces.
@Ron Fischer – Great tip! Thanks for sharing.
I add Evaporust to the tumbler. Keeps the dust down and really aids in the rust removal. Also help keep the media working longer, don’t have to change it as often.