Hi Lynn - definately yes. (short answer)
We recently retired a 40 yr old Lortone small tumbler we bought for out boys when they were young - it wore out!
I bought a pound of stainless steel shot (dif. shapes) and use about 3/4 of the total in my small barrel, add items to shine up and clean, then add water to cover, and a drop (only) of dish soap. Add the lid and put in the tumbler and turn it on.

At first, I think it wise to check the contents often - like every 10-15 mins - to see the progress of shining up and cleaning accumulated gunk off the item. Once you've tumbled a few items, you'll begin to learn how long something will take to do what you want, whether to debur some newly cut jumprings or clean and shine an often worn chain bracelet.

Others on the list could answer better and more about items with wire and stones or beads - how they do them - I've only dealt with wire chains I've made, ear wires, some wire wrapping, etc.

Hope that helps you!
Nancy B

Hi Lynn,

Wanted to add that you should get a new "barrel" for the tumbler BEFORE you put any jewelry in there! You certainly do not want to run the risk of any contaminants (grit used for the rocks) from when it was used for the rock tumbling days.

It's much cheaper to get a new barrel than to ruin a beautiful stone/piece of jewelry!

Beth
maltesergr8 ;)

Yes! do use it. I have one caution, but if you have tumbled rocks before this will be easy. You need to meticulously clean the barrel. When you think it is clean run it with some Dawn dish detergent and water in it. Dump it out, add your stainless steel shot, run again with Dawn and water. You should be good to go.

GLO

So where can I get some stainless steel shot? Thanks Lynn

Hi Lynn,

You can get Stainless Steel Shot from a lot of suppliers through the internet -- go to GOOGLE and type in Stainless Steel Shot... you'll be amazed at how many suppliers come up!

Word of caution... be careful NOT to get plain Steel Shot as it can and will eventually rust (I did this at one time and learned the hard way; had to re-tumble everything after I cleaned the barrel, etc. from the shot getting dirty/rusting). Plain Steel Shot is much cheaper, but not worth the money in my opinion. I always try to get the BEST that I can for my $$, and Stainless Steel Shot should last you a lifetime ;)

If you have any local craft/lapidary stores, they might be able to order Stainless Steel Shot for you or perhaps they have it in stock. Also note that SS Shot comes in different "shapes", so you'll want to be sure to get the shapes that suit you.

Any more questions, please feel free to ask.

Beth
maltesergr8 ;)

Ditto to Beth.

If you don't have a local rock/jewelry supply shop go to Monsterslayer.com

They are very good to deal with, reasonably priced and quick.

GLO

Hi Lynn! Here's an article I posted a few months ago...perhaps it will help too. http://www.jewelrylessons.com/article/lets-talk-about-tumbling

Stacy :)
hodgepodgerie