Thumler's UV-18 Vibratory Tumbler
Industrial Version for Polishing Rocks
| Age Recommendation This is a large-capacity tumbler that should be used by adults.Find out why. |
Thumler's Model UV-18
| We don't know when this tumbler will be available.More Information Adult signature required upon delivery. |
Thumler's Ultra-Vibe 18 Industrial Rock Tumbler / Brass Cleaner and Polisher
This is the industrial version of Thumler's UV-18 vibratory tumbler that is designed for tumble polishing rocks or finishing metal parts. It has a heavier duty motor, springs and bowl than the light duty version designed for cleaning brass and jewelry. That is why it costs significantly more than the light-duty version supplied with a yellow striped bowl. (Learn the differences between the Industrial vs. Standard models here.)
A vibratory tumbler is a much faster and more economical way to polish stones when compared to a rotary tumbler. Thumler's UV-18 tumbler can process more material than a Model B rotary tumbler in about half the time while using significantly less grit. A large grit savings comes from not using coarse grit. The first step in vibratory tumbling is medium grit. You then go to fine grit and finish up in polish.
This tumbler will also work great for polishing brass cartridge cases. It can clean and polish between 200 and 700 cases, depending on their caliber. Polishing brass requires the use of corncob or walnut shell media.
We have a UV vibratory tumbler guide with information to help you get the most out of your UV-18 tumbler. The guide includes information for loading the barrel properly, how much grit to use and best practices for maintaining the machine and its components.
What Size Rough Can It Handle?
This tumbler's bowl can handle some good size pieces of rough. To fit into the bowl one dimension of your rough must be smaller than 2 7/8 inches. That is the size of the opening between the raised center and the bowl's top opening. The other dimension of the rough should not exceed about 3 1/2 inches. When processing pieces of this size we suggest only two or three per batch. The rest of the bowl's capacity should be filled with smaller material. This smaller material can be ceramic media or rough with a range of sizes between 1/4 inch up to about 1 1/2 inches. If you tumble only large pieces they will bruise one another and possibly damage the machine.
| UV-18 Industrial Bowl Dimensions | ||
| Exterior Dimensions | Height: 4 3/4 inches | Diameter: 11 1/2 inches |
| Lid Dimensions | Diameter: 8 1/2 inches | Height (with foam): 1 1/8 inch |
| This bowl can process approximately 18 pounds of material. | ||
| Rough Size: One dimension of the rough must be less than 2 7/8 inches to fit into the bowl. The other dimension should not be more than 3 1/2 inches. | ||
We Use Both Vibratory and Rotary Tumblers
We prefer our finished stones to be more rounded than what a vibratory tumbler produces. So we will run our stones in a Thumler's Model B rotary tumbler using coarse grit to get the nice rounded shape we desire. Then we take advantage of the time and grit savings that you get with a vibratory tumbler. Before we start with the next step we add ceramic media to the bowl to bring it up to recommended capacity. We then run medium grit for two days, fine grit for one or two days and polish for two days in our UV-18 vibratory tumbler.