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Originally Posted by piscator
Norm, I've never used a tumbler. Do you tumble parts individually or in batches? And for how long?
I think I've got the same blast cabinet that you have. To blast small parts, I stick them on a big chunk of magnet that I found. I blast the the parts on the magnet. Re-arrange them and blast again. I can do 4-6 small parts pretty easily this way. For a single part I just hold it in my gloved fingers, using the magnet only as a parts container.
Another thing I did with the blast cabinet, is remove the bottom interior grate. That gives me a lot more room to work. Most of the time, I just use the magnet to prevent losing the part in the media. If a certain part needs a shelf to sit on, I cut one to size out of plywood.
My best blasting upgrade was getting a professional gun made out of bronze. It triggers off a foot-switch that I got through Amazon. It NEVER clogs or jams. The gun is compact, so it's easier to manuever in the cabinet. It cost as much as the entire HF cabinet set -- but was WELL worth it!
I'm about to go into the shop and make my first tests with the Caswell chemistry. Thanks for your insights!
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Well there’s a new one, never thought about a magnet. Don’t blast into your glove, you’ll go through it fairly quickly and they’re not cheap. I run an industrial blast cabinet with aluminum oxide. Tumbler is 8+ hrs however you just turn it on and leave. One thing for sure is blast and tumble produce very different results. Blasted parts will turn out duller and the grainy texture of the blast will come through the plating process. Tumbled parts come out like OEM.