DRY
TUMBLING CREAMS
A process called "mass finishing" most economically polishes
small metal or plastic objects. Although there are different variations
to this process, it always involves the rubbing of abrasive particles
against surfaces to be polished. The rubbing motion may be induced
by simple tumbling in a rotating barrel, by dragging the objects
to be polished through abrasive media, or by vibrations in a vibratory
finisher.
For the purpose of producing the brightest possible
surface on metals and plastics the process is conducted dry, in
the presence of a polishing cream and coarse particle carrier hardwood
pegs are used and so are ground walnut shells and chopped bamboo.
Creams come in three grades for the polishing of
plastics: CUTTER, MEDIUM CUT, AND BRIGHT. The CUTTER is available
as a formulated cream but normally mixed by the customer by using
pumice and oil. MEDIUM CUT cream produces a shiny surface, nearly
good enough as a final finish. The final finish is obtained by using
TUMBLING CREAM BRIGHT, producing a bright, smear free surface without
the need for further cleaning. Metals normally require only two
polishing stages, the cutting stage and the brightness stage, using
CUTTER cream and BRIGHT cream.
For exceptional applications where an extremely
bright surface is required, such as for jewellery and for precious
metals we recommend our TUMBLING CREAM EXTRA BRIGHT. This polish
is used for wedding rings, other jewellery and components of brass
musical instruments. To appreciate the surface finish produced by
this polish we recommend to use a dedicated tumbling barrel or polishing
machine, not contaminated by other polishing creams.
The
main purpose of compounds added to mass finishing operations is
to keep work pieces and also the abrasive media free from abraded
metal and to retain broken down abrasive particles and metallic
fines in suspension, thus preventing re-deposition.
Depending
on the type of compound, emphasis has been put on other functions
such as detergency, lubricity, corrosion inhibition, abrasiveness,
hard water tolerance and other chemical parameters such as acidity,
alkalinity, oxidising or reducing conditions and film forming potential.
The following products are available as vibrato finishing additives:
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