Walnut shell polishing media is made from crushed or ground walnut. The particle size is designed for cleaning / polishing in a rotary or vibratory tumbler It is used for metals such as aluminium, bronze and brass Main use is for cleaning purposed and used for around 3-5 hours. It is only used DRY- never add water or any cleaning / polishing / burnishing compound. Advantages of Walnut Shell Media: Excellent durability Biodegradable Non Toxic Preserves micro finishes Reduces cycle time of finishing operations. The main benefit of using a tumbler is the amount of time you will save compared to polishing by hand. As you can make a batch of jewellery, tumble polish & get on with something else. It will also get into nooks & crannies that polishing mops won’t be able to reach quickly & easily. Generally magnetic tumblers are quicker than rotary tumblers , they use very fine specialised pins. These get into very hard to reach spots without causing too much damage to your piece. This uses a constant speed in one direction only. The used for short runs of around 30-180min with water & a special cleaning solution. Rotary tumblers are more heavy duty ( compared to magnetic tumblers & vibratory tumblers) generally steel media is used to create the desired burnish, rotary tumblers generally have 3 directional settings, various speeds & a timer. Flat plate & very fine basket wire work is not always ideal for rotary tumbling. A mix of 3 different shot is ideal & must be used with the polishing powder. You do get various other wet or dry barrels for rotary where your drum can be changed from ceramic balls, abrasive triangles, walnut or porcelain shot to get different stages of finishing. Lastly you get vibrating tumblers where similar media’s are used to the rotary tumbler & also give the similar finish, these are generally very large drums. Media Tumble Shell 1kg March 27th, 2026Terri
