What is the tumbling deburring machine?

About Tumbling Deburring Machine

  • 1．What is the tumbling deburring machine?
  • The tumbling deburring machine is also called a mass finishing machine, polishing tumbler. It uses mechanical methods to automatically and efficiently deburr and descale parts and products and workpieces in large quantities. It’s a machinery and equipment for surface treatment processes such as derusting, deflashing, cleaning, chamfering, degreasing, decontaminating, polishing, brightening. It works by combining the products that need polishing with abrasive media. Put it into the working barrel of the machine and let the abrasive and the workpiece tumble and rotate together, forcing the tumbling chip and the workpiece to collide and rub against each other to achieve the surface cutting effect.
    According to different operating modes, tumbling deburring machines are divided into the following four types:

    1.1 Vibrating deburring machine. It uses three-dimensional spiral vibration to drive the deburring media and the workpiece to move together to achieve the deburring effect.

    1.2 Centrifugal barrel deburring machine. Similar to the operation of a Ferris wheel, the motor drives the large centrifugal disk to rotate, causing the four barrels on the disk to rotate at high speed, driving the deburring media and the workpiece to move together to achieve the deburring effect.

    1.3 Centrifugal disc deburring machine. The chassis drives the barrel to rotate at a high speed on the horizontal plane, and the deburring media and workpieces also tumble and rotate in the barrel to achieve the deburring effect.

    1.4 Tumbling barrel deburring machine. It is the simplest structure of deburring motion. The barrel rolls around the central X-axis, and the deburring media in the barrel rolls together with the workpiece to achieve the deburring effect.

    ShineTec's tumbling deburring machine
  • 2. What is the difference between tumbling deburring and other deburring processes?
  • The main difference is that tumbling deburring is the lowest-cost automated batch mechanical finishing process.
    The advantage of this deburring method is that it can be applied to surface deburring treatments such as irregular and complex-shaped product parts, finishing of the inner and outer surfaces of workpieces. The materials processed range from non-ferrous metals, ferrous metals, powder metallurgy, plastics, acrylic, rubber, bamboo, stone, glass and other materials. It can be said that there is almost no material that cannot be processed.

    In addition, the operation is simple. As long as the loading and unloading are completed, the machine can be started unattended. No special technical training is required.
    Other deburring and polishing processes, such as manual deburring and polishing, robot deburring and polishing, chemical deburring and polishing, electrolytic deburring and polishing, etc., either require professional training, or the working environment is harsh and harmful to the environment, or the efficiency is not high. Therefore, this process is the most widely used surface deburring treatment method.

  • 3．Can you tell me how a tumbling deburring machine works?
  • Put the tumbling deburring media, product workpiece to be polished, water, and finishing liquid into the tumbling machine according to the corresponding proportions, and use mechanical movements such as vibrating, centrifugal barrel, disc, tumbling to cause the deburring media and workpieces to collide and rub against each other, automatically complete the cutting process, reduce the surface roughness of the product, and achieve surface effects such as deburring, descaling, deflashing, chamfering, brightening and improving surface gloss and brightness. It is currently the polishing solution with the lowest cost, the most mature technology and the most widely used. If you don’t know where to find the best deburring and polishing methods for product parts and workpieces, you may wish to contact us, maybe we can help you solve your problem.
    tumbling deburring process
  • 4. What are the benefits of using a tumbling deburring machine to polish parts?
  • Compared with manual polishing, there are definitely many advantages:

    4.1 Automatic large-scale mechanized deburring and polishing. Although the barrel deburring machine takes a relatively long time to finish and polish at one time, dozens hundreds or even tons of workpieces can be put into a batch, making the unit processing time advantage greater.

    4.2 Automatically remove rust and scale. Surface problems such as turning lines and mold lines can also be removed. This is the same as other tumbling finishing machines.

    4.3 Automatic chamfering. Products can be chamfered quickly.

    4.4 Improve surface finish and increase brightness. Make the product surface smoother and brighter. This is the strength of the barrel polishing machine. Its surface finish is of the highest quality.

    4.5 Automatic cleaning and degreasing. It can automatically remove dust, dirt, sludge and other phenomena adsorbed on the surface of the workpiece.

  • 5. Is the operating cost of a tumbling deburring machine high?
  • Compared with manual finishing and polishing, the cost of rotary barrel tumbling machine can be said to be very low.
    This is the cheapest automatic finishing and polishing equipment. The one-time purchase cost of the machine can start from several thousand dollars, and it can generally be used for many years. The choice of ordinary abrasive media depends on the actual situation of the product parts that need to be processed, and the price ranges from a few dollars per kilogram to more than ten dollars. Etc., buying a few hundred kilograms at a time can generally last for months or even years. The amount of polishing liquid is very small and the cost is almost negligible.
    The product workpiece can be fed with about tens of kilograms of material at a time in the smallest tumbling deburring machine. The finishing processing time for a batch is generally 2 hours. The direct cost of deburring and polishing when evenly distributed to each product is minimal.

    On the other hand, the advantage of using a barrel tumbling deburring machine is even greater in terms of saving labor costs. As long as workers need to handle it when loading and unloading materials, the machine can be operated unattended, which greatly saves labor costs.

  • 6. What optional configurations are available for ShineTec’s tumbling deburring machine?
  • 6.1 Sound hood. Can be used in vibrating deburring machines and centrifugal disc deburring machines. Reduce machine noise and prevent foam splashing caused by deburring fluid during work.

    6.2 Automatic separating of deburring media and workpieces. It can be built into centrifugal barrel and disc deburring machines, or can be configured separately as an auxiliary equipment for vibrating deburring machines and barrel tumbling deburring machines.

    6.3 Quantitative automatic filling of clean water and finishing fluid. The mixed solution of water and finishing fluid can be pumped into the machine at a fixed speed and quantitatively, and the filling amount of different batches of polishing can be completely controlled to achieve a completely balanced surface quality.

    6.4 Frequency conversion speed regulation function. A frequency converter is also installed in the electrical control box, which is suitable for adjusting the different operating speeds of vibration finishing machines, centrifugal finishing machines, and barrel finishing machines. The centrifugal disc finishing machine is not used because it is originally equipped with a speed-adjustable motor.

    vibratory deburring machine with sound hood
  • 7．Which model of tumbling deburring machine should I choose?
  • You should choose which type of tumbling deburring machine based on the shape, size, material, surface quality requirements, processing quantity and other factors of your product parts.

    7.1 Vibratory deburring machineis a general-purpose deburring machine. If the longest dimension of your product is within 500mm, and the product requires a large amount of processing per day, such as hundreds of kilograms to several tons, then it is most appropriate to choose a vibratory deburring machine.

    7.2 Centrifugal barrel deburring machinesare suitable for processing small precision parts. If your product size is within 100mm and the daily processing quantity is tens of kilograms, then the centrifugal barrel deburring machine is most suitable.

    7.3 Centrifugal disc deburring machinehas the highest deburring efficiency. If your product size is within 200mm, is not afraid of impact deformation, and the daily processing volume is within one to two hundred kilograms, then the centrifugal disc deburring machine is very suitable.

    7.4 Tumbling barrel deburring machineis the deburring machine with the lowest polishing efficiency but the best polishing quality. If you have high requirements for the surface brightness and gloss of the product and hope to achieve an effect close to mirror polishing, then the barrel polishing machine can do the job.

    7.5 Rectangular tub deburring machine, It is a type of vibrating polishing machine, suitable for processing workpieces with a length of more than 500mm. The grinding efficiency is higher than that of barrel polishing machine but lower than that of ordinary vibrating bowl finishing machine.

  • 8. How does ShineTec ensure the quality of the tumbling deburring machine?
  • 8.1 Quality assurance of raw materials. Because the lining of the working barrel of the machine can be rubber or PU, this lining is a wearing part and needs to be replaced regularly. The wear resistance of the colloid is a key quality indicator. The raw materials of our colloids come from major domestic manufacturers and products from Dow Chemical of the United States, so the quality can be guaranteed.

    8.2 Reliable motor quality. The motor is a key component related to product quality. The three-phase asynchronous motors used in our barrel deburring machines all come from well-known professional motor manufacturers in Shanghai, and there is no problem with their quality.

    8.3 Electrical accessories. All are purchased from domestic first-tier manufacturers such as Chint and Delixi.

    8.4 Steel plate profiles. Purchased from Shanghai Baosteel Products.

    8.5 Manufacturing Guaranteed. Product production is controlled by skilled workers with many years of front-line production experience, adhering to the spirit of craftsmanship to ensure product quality.

  • 9. How to order a tumbling deburring machine?
  • Please confirm the following basic requirements first:

    9.1 Please send samples first and we will conduct samples testing to determine the best finishing and polishing process.

    9.2 Evaluate the quantity of your product components and workpieces that need to be processed every day? What surface quality is required?

    9.3 Choose the appropriate machine processing capacity, provide the space size of your work area, and determine the machine model.

    9.4 Confirm whether additional auxiliary equipment is required, such as vibratory separator, additional wearing spare parts, etc.

    9.5 The commonly used power supply for the machine is 380V/3-phase/50Hz. Are there any special power requirements?
    After clarifying the above details, you can place an order.

  • 10．What abrasive media can be used in tumbling deburring machines?
  • Abrasive media for rough finishing, fine finishing and polishing:

    10.1 The abrasive used for rough finishing is mainly ceramic deburring media, which is divided into heavy cutting force, medium cutting force and light cutting force.

    10.2 Abrasives for fine fininishing include white corundum finishing media, chrome corundum finishing media, 3P finishing media, etc. Since the grit size of the micropowder contained in them is very fine, some of which are nearly 2000-3000 mesh, it can continuously polish the workpiece surface. Continuous micro-cutting creates a more delicate surface roughness.

    10.3 Polishing media include high-alumina porcelain media, high-density porcelain media (high-alumina porcelain polishing media with an alumina content of more than 95%), stainless steel media, corncob media, walnut shell media, bamboo grain chip, wood grain chip. The main purpose is to improve the gloss and brightness of the workpiece surface.

  • 11. What kind of power supply does the tumbling deburring machine use?
  • In China, it is generally 380V/3-phase/50Hz.
  • 12．What is the daily maintenance of the barrel finishing machine?
  • Routine maintenance of the tumbling deburring machine is crucial to extending the service life of the machine. Routine maintenance includes the following:

    12.1 Inspection of the lining on the inner wall of the working barrel. Daily use of the machine will cause wear and tear on the lining in the barrel. Do you need to regularly check whether the lining on the inner wall has any holes or wear? If this happens, it needs to be replaced immediately, otherwise it will cause damage to the barrel.

    12.2 After each loading, check whether the water added in the barrel is too little or too much. The water surface of the barrel polishing machine should not exceed the material by 20mm. Too much water will buffer the force exerted by the abrasive on the workpiece surface and reduce the deburring efficiency; Too little water will cause damage to the surface of the workpiece, the abrasive will easily break and the colloid in the barrel will wear too quickly.

    12.3 Loading capacity of tumbling finishing media and workpiece. We recommend that the ratio of abrasives to workpieces is 3:1. Too little abrasives will cause collisions between workpieces and damage the product surface; too much abrasives will reduce the grinding efficiency of the product.
    Note that the overall volume of materials and water in the working barrel does not exceed 60% of the inner volume of the barrel.

    12.4 Check the abrasive media debris for stuck holes and seams. The abrasives in the barrel will become smaller and smaller after long-term use. In addition, a lot of debris formed by the workpiece and the abrasives will be produced during the grinding process. If the width of these impurities is less than 1mm, they may block the holes and seams inside the parts, affecting the deburring and polishing effect of the workpiece. If stuck holes occur, the tumbling finishing media should be screened to remove the debris and impurities, and the machine should be restarted.

    12.5 Water temperature detection. Long-term operation of the machine will cause the temperature inside the working barrel to become very high. Excessively high water temperature will accelerate the aging rate of the colloid, so if your product needs to be polished for more than ten hours, please use a rubber-lined barrel, because the high temperature resistance of rubber is better than that of PU lining.
  • 13．What industries can the tumbling deburring machine be used in?
  • Tumbling deburring machines are widely used in automotive parts, aerospace, medical equipment, mechanical parts, plastic products, 3C digital, metal casting, electronic devices, hardware parts, kitchen supplies, 3D printing, textile workpieces, powder metallurgy, electrical components, It is widely used in industries such as minting, jewelry, instrumentation, and handicraft accessories.
  • 14．Are there any disadvantages to tumbling deburring machines?
  • The main disadvantage is that it cannot control a specific part of the surface of the finishing product, because it is an overall grinding process. For example, for a product with inconsistent sizes at both ends, you want to make the two ends of the product uniform in size by finishing only the large end, but this is not possible.

    The surface quality cannot achieve the effect of mirror polishing.

    Some inner holes and cross holes that are too deep and too thin, such as inner surfaces exceeding 50mm, cannot be finished and polished.

    Too long burrs and flash cannot be processed. For example, burrs and flash exceeding 2mm.

    It is not suitable for some workpiece that are easy to deform and are afraid of being bumped.

  • 15. Does the tumbling deburring machine require specially trained technicians to operate it?
  • Unnecessary. The operation of this machine is very simple. Just put the abrasive media, workpiece, water and appropriate amount of chemical finishing liquid into the barrel. The machine has a timing function. After starting the machine, the worker can leave to handle other matters. When the set time is up, the machine will automatically shut down. All that is needed is to unload the material and take out the workpiece to complete the finishing and polishing process. Therefore no special technical training is required for employees.
  • 16. What surface treatments can the tumbling deburring machine perform?
  • 16.1 Deburring, deflashing, chamfering. Defects caused during workpiece processing that may cause harm to users can be automatically removed in batches.

    16.2 Derusting and descaling. Surface problems such as turning lines and mold lines can also be removed.

    16.3 Improve surface finish and increase brightness. Make the product surface smoother and brighter.

    16.4 Cleaning and degreasing. It can automatically remove dust, dirt, sludge and other phenomena adsorbed on the surface of the workpiece.

  • 17．What are the tumbling media suitable for tumbling deburring machines?
  • Depending on the shape, material, specifications and sizes of your parts, you need to choose different types of abrasive media. Abrasives that can be used in the machine are: tumbling deburring media, tumbling porcelain media, high-density porcelain media, polyester media, white corundum finishing media, 3P precise finishing media, walnut shell mirror polishing media , corncob drying media,etc.
    Improper selection of abrasives during the finishing process will affect grinding efficiency and may even cause damage to the workpiece.