Polishing Your Metal Jewellery Pieces in a Tumbler

Tumbling is an easy and effective way to polish your finished metal jewellery pieces. Tumble BEFORE setting stones. A minimum of 2 lbs. of jeweller’s mix shot is best for effective tumbling. Simply place the shot into the drum of your tumbler, add water so that the shot is covered by about 3/4″, add either burnishing compound or Ivory Bar Soap (about 2 tablespoons shaved off into the drum), add your pieces to be tumbled, and tumble for about 2 hours – that’s it! Your pieces will come out highly polished and work hardened due to the tumbling action. Even 20 gauge wire can be safely tumbled. If “antiquing” your piece, oxydize first, then tumble. After tumbling, rinse and put the shot back into the tumbler drum, add clean water, add new soap, and shake well to mix in the soap.

For best results: Sterling silver ring shanks need to be “prepared” (sanded, smoothed with a medium course silicone bullet, and/or filed with a 4 cut file) prior to tumbling.

We sell the best tumbler on the market – Lortone – available in our TOOLS section. We also sell jeweller’s mix carbon steel shot – available in our SUPPLIES section – and give you a FREE bar of Ivory Soap with each 2 lb. bag of shot purchased.lortone tumbler

Note: Carbon Steel Shot is just as effective as Stainless Steel Shot at a much lower price. However, carbon steel shot will rust if not properly taken care of. See “Taking Care of Your Carbon Steel Shot”.