The authoritative public forum
  for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Barrel Tumbling

2002

I am a 4th yr Biomedical Engineering Student from Sydney university. I have recently been given an assignment that requires me to research and present a detailed analysis of the tumbling process. At present, I am struggling to find any literature that details the use of different cutting/finishing chips to effectively smooth the edges of the workpiece. I also need to identify how suitable this process is for large quantities of product, and concurrently, if there is a more efficient way of achieving the same effect (smoothed edges).

If anyone has any information they may be willing to divulge, or any websites/literature they may be able to suggest, it would be very much appreciated.

Thanks for your time,

Tom Prichard
- NSW, Australia

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2002

Tom,

I'm not sure why you used the word barrel tumbling in your question; however generally speaking I know what you are looking for. The information you want is out there, but it is piece meal. Meaning there is no good one source book for the info you are looking for. There are the AESF, SME, and a couple of other organizations (see home page of this website)that are suppose to aid people with this technology, but sometimes they are not too helpful. Again, there is no good, one source, hands-on type book. I have a 300 page book coming out soon, but it covers all deburring systems. If you can be more specific, maybe I can give you what you need. Your question only involves one type of machine system and one application. Is that what you want?

AF Kenton
retired business owner - Hatboro, Pennsylvania

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It's a widely used cleaning process in many cast iron foundries. Perhaps you can contact such foundries in Sydney and arrange to visit them. They may not have technical data on hand, but if you can see the equipment operating and talk to the users, you might get information that is useful to you.

Bill Reynolds [deceased]
consultant metallurgist - Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
We sadly relate the news that Bill passed away on Jan. 29, 2010.
2002