New finishing process

Since I started this little business I’ve always givin the “standard” option on most of my beads and quick releases. Standard as in a high shine machine finish. Think of it like a shiny brushed option. If I’ve offered something with a polished finish it was because I am polishing them individually, one at a time. The first 10 or 20 aren’t so bad but at some point it gets boring, painful, and sometimes dangerous. My fingers can only take so much abuse. If you’ve ever had a bead shot at you at 80 mph you’d have a little reservation as well.

What I’ve been experimenting with is a tumbler vs a virbratory tumbler. In the industry they are also called shakers, polisher, stonewash, media tumbler, etc. I’ve been using small cheap bullet casing tumblers that have limits. The first I tried was a industrial vibratory tumbler off eBay and gave it a try. The unit they sent had more than just issues. It was used so I expected some issues. Out of the box it didn’t even work. Found that “refurbished” was more of a dream they had. After about 2 hours I got it running but it didn’t work like I needed it to. The seller offered to refund me 100% if I returned it so back it went.

I’ve been watching for a good used raytech machine and they are hard to get! Sure I could buy a new one and be ready to go but the unit I wanted has been out of stock. I don’t want a little one, I want a big one I can call an upgrade. Finally I found one on eBay and it came with a bunch of extras. It arrived and works great but some of the extras don’t work with the unit so I’m working with the seller to resolve it.
This thing can process a lot of parts! I was processing 20-30 at a time in my old tumblers but this thing will handle 100-200 parts! Wow! It came with some different polishing media I have found to be very effective! Mirror finish! It deburrs better, polishes better and does it at a high volume. I’m hopeful to get one or 2 more to keep me from having to swap media and waste time washing and cleaning so much.

Keep an eye out for the Polished versions I’ll be adding to some beads. They are super shiny!

Have a good weekend everyone.
-Dustin