Reading ForestGirl’s post about scroll saw woods triggered a question I’ve had for a long time. Like her, I’d like to make some small and inexpensive, but nice, gifts.
Finishing is the tough part of small objects. But, when I worked in the Metal Finishing Development Group at a major jet engine manufacturer, we used tumblers (and more sophistocated abrasive machines) to deburr and finish small parts.
Has anyone been successful at tumbling wood? What did you use for an abrasive and for the wood? Did you use a cushioning material? Did you rub out finishes with a tumber?
Thanks for any wisdom.
Replies
Mike, (is your name Mike?) -- I've actually read reader's tips about making tumbling- or rocking-style sanding doo-dahs for sanding small parts, specifically round ones if I recall correctly. It was a long time ago though.
I'm going to go on a massive search through mags soon to get some project ideas. I'll keep my eye out for those tips.
PS: Sorry, this post is devoid of wisdom, LOL!
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Mike indeed. Thanks for looking. No woodwork this weekend - I'm working on the shop (not IN the shop). Painted the new siding and trim on the east side and put up gutters (mostly) today).
Later, we're headed for the coast for some hiking, camping, and canoeing.
"Later, we're headed for the coast for some hiking, camping, and canoeing." Sounds like v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n to me!
I keep thinking I'm gonna get back in the shop, but it's still in the 60's here -- weird weather -- and I can't seem to stop finding things to do out in the yard. Today, I cut down an ugly skinny tree that was blocking my view to the towering Doug firs up the hill from the back of the house. I've been hacking a trail through the huckleberry and salal, so I can walk up there to a place that's a small, fairly flat, area in the midst of about 5 of these firs. Next summer, it should be a pleasant place to take a break!
Enjoy your recreating!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Several years ago there was a small piece in FWW about a guy that made a chest out of wood that was eroded and polished by placing the boards in grain chute at a rail loading terminal. I think wheat was the "media'. Is am still intrigued about the possibilites of tumble finishing for the same reasons you are. My brainstorming so far centers on using an old clothes dryer with 3 plywood fins to center a 5 gal drywall mud bucket. The mud buckets are cheap, would contain the mess and allow switching to different media for different stages of finishing. The buckets might need fins inside to induce tumbling just like the dryer. Sand blasting sand for initial sanding, well rock for a polished distressed finish, ground walnut shell for rubbing out film finishes, glass beads, rottenstone, pumice, ??? The sky is the limit.John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne
Wheat.......hmmmmmm. Brings to mind rice hulls -- they are very abrasive, but fine. Just another item to add to your list! With a medium as light as they are, you could leave the object stationary, in an enclosed space, and use blowers and ducts to create a "tornado" inside. forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Small pieces of sandpaper is all you need as an abrasive for tumbling wood.
I used 1" and 2" squares of 220 grit cloth sandpaper to sand poplar KEVA/KAPLA blocks (two brand names, same size blocks 7.8mm x 23.4mm x 117mm) in a tumbler roughly 6 inches in diameter. Fill mostly full, alternate mixing the sandpaper (maybe 200 small squares and 100 large ones) and blocks. Two hours is plenty for poplar. So long as the pieces are tumbling and not dropping, you are good.
Years ago I put larger blocks into a clothes dryer and all the corners just disappeared as there were not enough pieces to tumble and it was a 15" drop. Mounted a 5 gallon bucket in the dryer and lined it with sandpaper which worked better, but still too aggressive.
Ideally the pieces just roll around. The small barrel is ok, but the batches are too small, maybe 30-40 blocks at at time. I am going to use a larger barrel so the batches are 200-250. For the larger batch I am going to mix walnut shells and sandpaper.
19 years... a new record?
Well that's how long the tumbling took. If you dropped some wood pieces into the sea of Japan you could grab them when they tumbled to the west coast of California. That would only take about 3 years.
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