Nerding out about my tumbler

I'm writing a bit of a detailed deep dive into setting up my "KT 6808 3kg mini tumbler" as I imagine there are other tumbler novices out there who were probably daunted about their set up at first. I had purchased the tumbler from Walsh when I was travelling through England, but discovered upon my return that this is actually a really common unit sold in Hong Kong..for less! Anyway, at least the machines had come with english instructions, but they were rather basic and less specific to the particular unit.

Walsh also sold me some tumbler shots. I had not researched shots prior to the buy, but have since read reviews which suggest that stainless steel shots are more durable. Steel shots oxidise and rust much faster if not kept dry or in an appropriate solution. Meanwhile, my bag was unmarked, so how do you know if your shots are steel or stainless steel? Put a magnet in, stainless are not magnetic.

The tumbler also came with some "Barrel Brite compound" and instructions to mix this in with some ammonia. This proved to be a Hong Kong challenge. Cloudy ammonia or household ammonia is rarely sold in supermarkets, chemists, cleaning or hardware stores here. I found a specialist chemical store in Sheung Wan, which sells ammonia in it's strongest form by the gallon. This is a very strong chemical that needs to be handled with gloves, mask and goggles in a very well ventilated area (I learned this the hard way). To make the "household ammonia" which the tumbler instructions required, the industrial strength solution needs to be diluted to about 10 percent to 90 percent water. I emptied a water bottle, funnelled in a small amount of the strong ammonia, and topped up the remaining 90 percent with "distilled water". Water qualities differ throughout the world and often has chlorine in it which might have in an unwanted chemical reaction with the ammonia and metal, so distilled water is a good neutral option. Followed the suggested shots to water ratio (1kg of shots and distilled water an inch above the shot level), I poured in a tea spoon of "Barrel Brite" and a large shot of my now "household ammonia" and ran the barrel several times for half an hour on speed 2. The instructions told me that i should clean my shots this way "until the foam comes out snow white". After 3 water and solution changes and hours of puzzling why my water wasn't coming out clear (no snow white in sight), I reduced the Barrel Brite solution to a quarter of a tea spoon, adjusted my expectations of "snow white" foam, threw in some silver and things came out super sparkly!

A "shot" of ammonia (I used half a small jar) and a 1/4 of a teaspoon of Barrel Brite.

Chains and silver came out shiny and Liver of Sulphur patina was preserved.

I kept my shots in this same Barrel Brite, ammonia, distilled water solution for 2 weeks without use and they held up well, no rust, although the water got a bit darker. Once i knew that i would not be using them for a longer period of time I emptied the barrel shots onto a towel, rubbed them dry, and then stored them in an air tight container with a water absorbent bead pack which you can get at the supermarket.

The truth of tumbling is that it doesn't get to all of those hard to reach places of your jewellery, I still have to use a fine rotary brush to high polish my piece and the bits that the shots do not reach. A magnetic tumbler would be more precise as it's more delicate and uses finer needle shots (these shots do not work within a tumbler as they would leave sharp scratches upon impact with your piece). Tumbling will not super harden your jewellery, it hardens the surface layer but not all the way through, and the achieved polish is a burnished shine which will not last as long as a good hand polished piece would.

Now go forth and happy tumbling!

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