Electric Tumblers are ideal for polishing jewellery and metals and smoothing and polishing glass, rocks, and stones. They're very popular for putting a final lustre onto anything made from Art Clay, bronze clay, copper clay, and PMC metal clays, and for adding a gloss or matte finish to beach glass and small pebbles.

You can also create attractive finishes on brass, bronze, coins, copper, fingerprint keepsakes. glass, gold, jewellery, metals, minerals, model parts, rocks, shells, silver, small treasures, and stones. And there are diverse archeological, engineering, geological, and home-hobby applications.

Anyone who has found shiny fragments of glass, beautifully rounded pebbles, or highly polished shells on a beach, has seen how continual fine random abrasion can shape and polish even the roughest surfaces. These beach treasures have probably been in the sea for years.

Fortunately, electric tumblers are a thousand times quicker, and a lot more convenient. Broadly, there are three types: rotary tumblers, magnetic polishers, and ultrasonic cleaners.

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The Kitiki Tumbler Kit 1 And 2

The Kitiki Tumbler Kit 3.

The Kitiki Tumbler Kit 4.

The Kitiki Tumbler Kit 4 With Two Drums.

The Kitiki Plastic Drum.

The Kitiki Rubber Drum.

The Kitiki Magnetic Polisher.

The Kitiki Ultrasonic Cleaner.

A rotary tumbler for jewellery and metals has a motor base unit, and a revolving barrel part-filled with water, mixed steel-shapes, and cleaner. As the drum rotates, the mixed steel-shapes repeatedly fall onto the material to be polished and their collective tiny impacts gradually harden, polish, and burnish the surface.

A rotary tumbler for glass, rocks, and stones has a motor base unit, and a revolving barrel part-filled with water, and grits. As the drum rotates, the grit particles repeatedly fall onto the material to be polished and the collective tiny impacts and scratches gradually polish the surface.

Rotary tumblers are often called barrel polishers, lapidary tumblers, jewellery tumblers, rock tumblers, or stone tumblers. The practice of cutting and polishing stones, minerals, and gems is called lapidary.

A magnetic polisher for jewellery and metals has a motor base with a stationary pot part-filled with water, mixed steel-pins, and cleaner. A rotating magnetic field makes the pins jump randomly and the collective tiny impacts and scratches gradually polish and burnish the surface. Magnetic polishers are sometimes called vibratory polishers or oscillating polishers.

An ultrasonic cleaner has a fixed stationary chamber, part-filled with water and cleaner: no shot, no grit. Electronically generated ultrasonic waves create minute bubbles which, during the low pressure part of each wave, grow until, during the high pressure part of the wave, they're compressed and implode. The energy released cleans the objects inside. Ultrasonic cleaners are sometimes called jewellery polishers or jewellery cleaners.

Generally, electric rotary tumblers are used to refine the surface of brass, bronze, coins, copper, glass, gold, jewellery, low-profile fingerprint keepsakes. metals, minerals, model parts, rocks, shells, silver, small treasures, and stones. They're very popular for putting a lustre on Art Clay, bronze clay, copper clay, and PMC metal clays. and there are archeological, engineering, and geological applications.

For metals, you need a tumbler body, a removable barrel, shot, and cleaner: for glass and stones, a tumbler body, a removable barrel, a set of graded grits, polish, and plastic pellets to distribute the polish. Either way, you need all the components to begin work. Although you can buy the components seaparately, most people buy a complete kit.

Shot is the generic name for the small metal shapes used to polish and burnish. Generally, it's made of rust-resistant stainless steel as a mix of differenty-sized balls, planetoids, pins, and rods. As the drum rotates, the mixed metal-shapes repeatedly fall onto the material to be polished and their collective tiny impacts gradually harden, polish, and burnish the surface.

Grit is the generic name for the abrasive particles used to grind and polish. Generally, it's graded silicon carbide: an angular, hard, sharp, material which fractures into smaller angular particles, making it an effective abrasive. As the drum rotates, the grit particles repeatedly fall onto the material to be polished and the collective tiny scratches and impacts gradually polish the surface. However, unlike shot, it does need replacing eventually.

They all use water. However, as pure water is a poor cleaner, a small amount of special detergent is usually added. This detergent is called barelling compound, gallay compound, drum cleaner, or just tumbler cleaner.

The Kitiki Rotary Tumbler Kit 1 is a small economy tumbler, ideal for polishing jewellery and metals. It's very popular for adding a final lustre to anything made from Art Clay, bronze clay, copper clay, and PMC metal clays. It consists of an electric motor base, a 700gm plastic barrel, 500gms of mixed-shape rust-resistant stainless-steel shot, and 225cc of barrelling compound to keep the drum and your work clean.

The Kitiki Rotary Tumbler Kit 2 is a small economy tumbler, ideal for polishing glass and stones. It's very popular for adding a gloss or matte finish to beach glass and small pebbles. It consists of an electric motor base, a 700gm plastic barrel, a set of three graded abrasive grits, cerium oxide polish, and plastic pellets.

The Kitiki Rotary Tumbler Kit 3 is a studio tumbler, ideal for polishing jewellery and metals. It's very popular for adding a final lustre to anything made from Art Clay, bronze clay, copper clay, and PMC metal clays. It consists of an electric motor base, a 950gm rubber barrel, 1000gms of mixed-shape rust-resistant stainless-steel shot, and 225cc of barrelling compound to keep the drum and your work clean. The motor base is longer than that in Kits 1 and 2 so it can hold two 510gm rubber drums, but not two 700gm plastic drums.

The Kitiki Rotary Tumbler Kit 4 is a studio tumbler, ideal for polishing glass and stones. It's very popular for adding a gloss or matte finish to beach glass and small pebbles. It consists of an electric motor base, a 950gm rubber barrel, a set of three graded abrasive grits, cerium oxide polish, and plastic pellets. The motor base is longer than that in Kits 1 and 2 so it can hold two 510gm rubber drums, but not two 700gm plastic drums.

A magnetic polisher has a motor base with a removable stationary drum part-filled with water, mixed stainless-steel pins, and cleaner. A rotating magnetic field makes the pins jump randomly and the collective tiny scratches and impacts gradually polish and burnish the surface.

Generally, magnetic polishers are used for small, delicate, intricate shapes that don't need a lot of finishing: jewellery, brass, bronze, copper, gold, silver, model parts, small treasures, and low-profile fingerprint keepsakes. They hold less than rotary tumblers, but are quieter, quicker, and simpler to fill and empty.

The Kitiki Magnetic Polisher Kit 1 is ideal for Art Clay, bronze clay, copper clay, and PMC metal clays, copper, gold, jewellery, and silver. It consists of a magnetic motor base, a lift-off acrylic drum, a plastic lid, and 45gms of tiny stainless steel pins.

An ultrasonic cleaner has a fixed stationary chamber, and a removable plastic basket part-filled with water and cleaner: no shot, no grit. Electronically generated ultrasonic waves create minute bubbles which, during the low pressure part of each wave, grow until, during the high pressure part of the wave, they're compressed and implode. The energy released cleans the objects inside.

The Kitiki Ultrasonic Cleaner is ideal for cleaning jewellery and other objects, restoring their sparkle. It won't put a shine on a rough surface. However, they're inexpensive and very quick. It consists of a container base and a lift-out basket.

The auminium motor bases are simply and robustly built, with plastic feet to stop the tumbler scratching your work-top, or creeping across and falling off. The motor is under the drum rather than at the end, so the tumbler takes up less space.

The motor base used for kits 1 and 2 is a low-cost small unit that can hold one small barrel, plastic or rubber, although it works perfectly well. It has an ajustable soft neoprene belt, and plain barrel end stops.

The motor base used for kits 3 and 4 is better-engineered and longer, so it can hold one large barrel or two small. It has an adjustable, toothed, non-slip, nylon-re-inforced drive belt, and roller-ball barrel end stops.

The belt drives run for years so, apart from a drop of oil on the roller bearings occasionally, you won't have to attend to them.

The economy part of kits 1 and 2 is that they come with a small plastic drum. However, it's well worth upgrading to a rubber drum:

Plastic drum lids need to stand in hot water to make them easier to push on. When they are on, the whole drum needs to be squeezed to expel as much air as possible because, during prolonged tumbling, the air warms up and expands and can cause the drum to leak.

To free the lids. the whole drum has to stand in hot water. Prising them off is a good way to break your nails and there's a slight risk that, as you pull the lid off, you'll spill your work, shot or grit, and soapy water.

Plastic drums are noisy, if you have to work in the same room: especially as glass and stones might need to tumble for days, even weeks.

Rubber drums use a different lid mechanism: at one end there's an inner metal lid, a rubber sealing ring, an outer metal lid, and a retaining threaded collar. They're better, quieter, and simpler to fill and empty than plastic drums.

If you want to do shot-tumbling and grit-tumbling, use two barrels: marked so that you don't mix them up. One stray grit particle caught in the shot-drum will scratch your work: and the scratches are quite hard to remove.

Ideally, and budget constraints aside, use four drums for the three grit grades and the polish: marked so that you don't mix them up. Four drums make cleaning and storing easier, especially as the three grits look similar and the polish must be kept grit-free. It also makes more sense to use the larger kit 3 tumbler so that you can use two smaller drums, with different abrasives, at the same time.

If you've bought Kit 1, but now want to polish glass and stones, you'll need a grit pack: 200gms of 80 grit, 200gms of 220 grit, 200gms of 400 grit, 150 gms of cerium oxide polish, and one pack of plastic pellets. They're in the on-line shop.

Shot is the generic name for the small metal shapes used to polish and burnish. Generally, it's a mix of differenty-sized balls, planetoids, pins, and rods.

As the drum rotates, the mixed metal-shapes repeatedly fall onto the material to be polished and their collective tiny impacts gradually harden, polish, and burnish the surface.

Most of the plain steel and stainless steel shot in the UK, and probably the EU, came from several suppliers in India. It used to be adequately made but, over the years, the quality, shapes, and mix of balls, planetoids, pins, and rods, deteriorated, especially as the raw-metal price increased.

Our shot is made for us: from expensive stain-resistant magnetic steel in four ball sizes, two planetoid sizes, four pin sizes, and two rod sizes. It's a tested and reliable mix designed to deal with the diverse range of contours on jewellery. It's made in the same factory that makes our pliers, cutters, polishers, small kilns, and other tools.

Although it's rust-resistant steel, don't leave it lying around wet: either leave it immersed in the tumbler mix of water and cleaner, or rinse it and dry it carefully.

If you need to replace the shot, don't economise and buy plain or mixed steel: unless you're meticulous about cleaning and drying it every time, it'll soon rust, make a mess, and ruin your work.

To give you some flexibility, the 1000gm of shot comes in two parts: 2 x 250gm of mixed balls and planetoids, and 2 x 250gm of mixed pins and rods. If your pieces have a lot of fine detail work, try more pins. However, once you mixed them, you won't be able to un-mix them easily, so you might want to use two drums.

Cleaner, sometimes called barrelling compound or gallay compound, is a special mix of detergents and corrosion inhibitors used to keep the barrel and shot or pins clean, lubricate the tumbling, and help the polishing action.

The cleaner comes in a white plastic screw-top pot for convenience and safety: not a plastic bag, and not a pot that can't be closed properly once the seal has been broken.

Complete kits include a 225cc pot. Although it's filled to the brim during packing, powders settle and it may not look quite full when you open it. It's plainly much easier to fill a pot with a fixed volume than to measure out a fixed weight every time. 1000cc pots are in the on-line shop.

Grit is the generic name for the abrasive particles used to grind and polish. Generally, it's graded silicon carbide: an angular, hard, sharp, material which fractures into smaller angular particles, making it an effective abrasive. However, unlike shot, it does need replacing eventually.

As the drum rotates, the grit particles repeatedly fall over the material to be polished and their collective tiny scratches gradually polish the surface.

Grit sizes are confusing, for example: 400 grit particles are not twice the size or half the size of 200 grit particles. 80 grit is classed as medium, 220 as fine, and 400 as very fine. However, most users refer to them as coarse, medium, and fine, and you'll soon learn which grits to use, and for how long, for different materials, shapes, and finishes.

You need three grades of grit for glass and stones, not two: just a coarse and a fine are a false economy as the fine won't remove the scratches from the coarse. The final polish, zinc oxide, needs added plastic pellets to distribute it, otherwise it will just stick to the walls of the barrel.

Grit should be handled and stored carefully to prevent contamination from stray larger particles that will scratch. Keep the tubs sealed until you need to use them. In use, transfer a small amount into a working container, to minimize the risk of contaminating the whole tub. And wash the drums thoroughly before and after use.

When you've finished, empty the grit into a cloth-lined sieve, rinse it thoroughly, and spread it on some cloth to dry. Be careful not to flush away any grit as it may collect in the basin trap.

The grits and polish come in white plastic screw-top pots for convenience and safety: not plastic bags, and not pots that can't be closed properly once the seal has been broken.

The final phase for polishing glass and stones uses a very fine Zinc Oxide paste mixed with small plastic pellets to help distribute it and stop it forming one lump. Although it can produce a highly-polished surface, some glass artists prefer the slighty matte surface that the finer grits produce.

Some polishes use Cerium Oxide. Cerium belongs to the group of elements known as the rare earth elements. To produce the polishing powder, about 80% of cerium oxide and 20% of other rare earths are used, resulting in a pink-ish powder. Unfortunately, it's more expensive but doesn't work any better.

Remember that, as polishing is the final step in the process, it won't remove working marks or grit scratches left from previous phases.

Most of the plain steel and stainless steel pins in the UK, and probably the EU, came from several suppliers in India. They used to be adequately made but, over the years, the quality, cuts, and mix of sizes deteriorated, especially as the raw-metal price increased.

Our pins are made for us: from expensive stain-resistant magnetic-steel wire. Cutting thin wire into 5mm lengths needs a precision guillotine with a carefully controlled feed mechanism or the cut will shear leaving a point that will scratch rather than polish your work. The size was chosen, after considerable experiment, to best polish the diverse range of contours on jewellery. They're made in the same factory that makes our pliers, cutters, polishers, small kilns, and other tools.

Initially, the stainless steel pins will have straight-cut ends, so it's a good idea to run the polisher with some scrap metal for an hour to begin to round them off slightly. Then, either keep them in the water or take them out and dry them. Some people lift the pot off to keep the pins away from the magnet when not using it.

Although it's rust-resistant steel, don't leave it lying around wet: either leave it immersed in the tumbler mix of water and cleaner, or rinse it and dry it carefully.

If you need to replace the shot, don't economise and buy plain or mixed steel: unless you're meticulous about cleaning and drying it every time, it'll soon rust, make a mess, and ruin your work.

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There are 112 different types of stainless steel, better called stain-resistant steel, It's a versatile, durable, steel alloy, used in familiar domestic and industrial products. Here's a promotional video for stainless steel.

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