tumble finishing
Tumble Finishing
We often make things that involve large quantities of tiny wooden parts. Sanding and finishing these small parts quickly becomes prohibitively time consuming to do by hand. We developed a tumble finish system to help us with this process. First, we barrel tumble a batch of small parts in a blend of corn cob grit and course walnut shells - our medium of choice. This removes any fuzz left over from the machining and milling process and finishes the wood surface to a super smooth 320 grit equivalent surface finish. Next we move the parts to the second barrel, which contains chunks of carnauba wax and corn cob grit. In the barrel, the corn cob grit serves as a medium to deliver the wax to the surface of the wooden pieces. After tumbling, the parts are gathered from the tumbler and have a nice semi-shiny sheen and incredibly durable and completely natural and non-toxic finish. This finish wears very well over time.
