Here is something I made some time ago: A Stonewashing tumbler. I was experimenting with different finishes and wanted to try some stonewashing. As I did not want to spend much on it I quickly slapped something together with Materials found in the shop.
I guess it could be done much nicer than that but it has run about 80+ hours now without complaint and so I thought to share it.
An old motor from a wet grinder, drive wheels are just wood circles , for grippieness I nailed some bycicle inner tubing onto it. Drive shaft is a piece of aluminium tubing, the other end is a screw on with i fixed a small Ballbearing that just fits inside the tubing. It runs the container at a speed of 60rpm.
Containers are some pieces of drainage pipe, bottom glued in, lined with sone rubber mat (for cars) and paddles are some plastic angles. Because of the rubber mat the holes for the screwed in paddles are self sealing. I started with 5 paddles but found that 2-3 is enough. Lining with rubber cuts down considerably on the noise level as well. Because the lid is hard to remove I added a "Valve" to the lid. When I want to open I overpressure the interior with a bycicle pump util the lid pops. Much easier this way.:3:
As for tumling media - there is a whole plethora of commercial media out there cubes, triangles, rods, ceramic, plastic with impregnated grit ...whatever. This is a science of its own.
I wanted to keep it simple and cheap and since its "stonewashing" I use just that = stones. I experimented with different cheap materials ,broken ceramic tiles for example do work fairly well but they dull relatively quick. The best results I still get with these (mostly quartz, I think) pebbles of different sizes.
You can pick them up on the nearest riverbank, the smaller ones were from the gaden center.
The large ones are the most agressive of cause and the very fine grit gives a more matte finish.
There is also much talk about "compounds" to add and whatnot - I use just water with SSteel and when I do carbon steels (yes you can also do carbon) I add a cup of white vinegar. This way I get a acid-stonewash with a nice used look. Water alone will just rust your blades if made from carbon steel. The finish is not more prone to rust than a blade etched with vinegar alone. The fluid level is important, I add water until I can just see it through the stones. Too much and the action is dampened - too less and the stones can "jam" and wont tumble properly.
So here are some results: My photographic skills are not the very best - these look even nicer in reality.
The medium stones:
the large stones:
a carbon steel blade (52100)with added vinegar. Nice dark and worn look.
So that it so far, maybe this is helpful for someone who wants to try his hands at a stonewash finish and does not want to spend the money for a commercial solution.
Best regards
Rolynd
I guess it could be done much nicer than that but it has run about 80+ hours now without complaint and so I thought to share it.
An old motor from a wet grinder, drive wheels are just wood circles , for grippieness I nailed some bycicle inner tubing onto it. Drive shaft is a piece of aluminium tubing, the other end is a screw on with i fixed a small Ballbearing that just fits inside the tubing. It runs the container at a speed of 60rpm.
Containers are some pieces of drainage pipe, bottom glued in, lined with sone rubber mat (for cars) and paddles are some plastic angles. Because of the rubber mat the holes for the screwed in paddles are self sealing. I started with 5 paddles but found that 2-3 is enough. Lining with rubber cuts down considerably on the noise level as well. Because the lid is hard to remove I added a "Valve" to the lid. When I want to open I overpressure the interior with a bycicle pump util the lid pops. Much easier this way.:3:
As for tumling media - there is a whole plethora of commercial media out there cubes, triangles, rods, ceramic, plastic with impregnated grit ...whatever. This is a science of its own.
I wanted to keep it simple and cheap and since its "stonewashing" I use just that = stones. I experimented with different cheap materials ,broken ceramic tiles for example do work fairly well but they dull relatively quick. The best results I still get with these (mostly quartz, I think) pebbles of different sizes.
You can pick them up on the nearest riverbank, the smaller ones were from the gaden center.
The large ones are the most agressive of cause and the very fine grit gives a more matte finish.
There is also much talk about "compounds" to add and whatnot - I use just water with SSteel and when I do carbon steels (yes you can also do carbon) I add a cup of white vinegar. This way I get a acid-stonewash with a nice used look. Water alone will just rust your blades if made from carbon steel. The finish is not more prone to rust than a blade etched with vinegar alone. The fluid level is important, I add water until I can just see it through the stones. Too much and the action is dampened - too less and the stones can "jam" and wont tumble properly.
So here are some results: My photographic skills are not the very best - these look even nicer in reality.
The medium stones:
the large stones:
a carbon steel blade (52100)with added vinegar. Nice dark and worn look.
So that it so far, maybe this is helpful for someone who wants to try his hands at a stonewash finish and does not want to spend the money for a commercial solution.
Best regards
Rolynd
