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The finish of a product speaks volumes about it and hence it assumes a lot of importance. How to achieve the best possible finish? Using walnut shell media and corn cob media and finishing compounds, of course! Finishing media and finishing compounds as the names suggest are materials used for providing the desired ‘finish’ or ‘polish’ to an object or part using vibratory finishing machines and centrifugal barrel machines and more.

Finishing compounds come in 2 main varieties – wet compounds and dry compounds. There products for different purposes including cleaning, rust proofing, burnishing, colouring and ferrous cutting. These finishing compounds also come in standard packaging sizes of 5 gallons and 55 gallons. Dry finishing compounds (which are in powder form) are typically used in burnishing, colouring, cleaning and cutting. BC-311 produces heavy lather and is used in tumbling barrels for burnishing all kinds of equipment like deburring machines and centrifugal barrel machines. Mass finishing can be best described as processes in which a number of parts are simultaneously finished. The mass finishing involves burnishing, deburring, cleaning, removing rust, polishing etc of the parts. The two main types of mass finishing are tumbling barrels or barrel finishing and vibratory finishing machines.

Mass finishing is an art while being a science because the processes involve random action. The mass finishing process could be organized as batch processes, continuous processes or sequential processes. Media are used in mass finishing to accomplish one of four things - cut, luster, parts separation and scrubbing of surfaces. The media could be aluminium media, preformed walnut shell media, preformed resin bonded media, preformed shapes in steel, synthetic random shaped media, natural media in random shapes like rocks, corn cob media, ceramic etc. Vibratory finishing machines are used in the vibratory finishing machines process. This vibratory finishing machines process involves using components like water, finishing media and finishing compounds. Vibratory finishing machines are designed to produce highly smooth surfaces and can act inside deep cavities like tubes. It can be used on varied parts - for delicate parts or large surfaces, which may not be possible in a tumbling barrels process. Loading and unloading vibratory finishing machines is easy. They also have the advantage of lesser cycle times, better cleaning and better color maintenance. Vibratory finishing machines typically do not have speed control; however, a few of them do. The usual speed is 1700 vibrations per second; for lesser speeds, the parts may sink to the bottom making the finishing process less effective. Vibratory finishing machines work at optimum level when they are between 75% and 90% full. Three parts walnut shell media to every part metal can be used for delicate parts.

Finishing media and finishing compounds can be defined as material that are used to remove sharp edges and burrs from parts to make them smooth and provide a good finish and polish effect. There are deburring machines, vibratory finishing machines, mass finishing machines, tumblers and spinning machines among others that are used to produce the finish. The finishing compounds and corn cob media are used in these machines for varying periods of time to give the desired finish or polish.

Corn cob media come under the dry finishing media type. It is treated corn cob media that is powdered to different dimensions depending on the finish requirements including vibratory finishing machines. They can be used to achieve very fine finishes in the 1 Ra range and meet any requirements for a decorative finish. Corn cob media is environment friendly as it is made from the hardened cob ring and is organic in nature. It has the advantage of being capable of use in tumbling barrels and vibratory finishing machines and can absorb oils, grease and dirt. It can be used to dry parts while keeping their surface safe. Corn cob media also finds use as a burnishing grit for soft metals like brass and bronze. The weight and type of the part to be finished determine the size of the corn grit in the corn cob media.

The corn cob media are re-usable and long lasting as they do not break down easily. Deburring machines is the process of removing jagged edges or protrusions from parts, mostly wooden and metal parts. Deburring machines are used to accomplish the process of deburring. Primarily two types of deburring machines used – tumbling barrels or centrifugal barrel machines and vibratory finishing machines. Tumblers are used for mass finishing of parts. They can be used for wet as well as dry finishing. These systems are well suited for fast and efficient deburring of plastic and metal parts or components. There are models that are available in different sizes from compact bench models to big barrels that can be fixed on floors. Tumbling barrels systems are very important deburring machines in use. They are typically used where heavy deburring is required. Barrels are ideal for heavy loads. Dry tumbling barrels is used when delicate deburring machines are called for and produces a smooth finish. Wet barrelling is used for metal processing to remove excess material as well as to provide a polish.

Vibratory deburring machines are also used for mass finishing. They function by shaking or vibrating the processing vessel, which causes the walnut shell media and parts to scrape against each other thus accomplishing a deburr and producing a polish. These deburing machines are precise and can deburr even recesses in the parts and hence they are very well adapted for delicate and intricate components. They can also be used on large surfaces because they have very short strokes and high speeds. These centrifugal barrel machines can be automated quite easily compared to tumblers. Walnut shell media come under the category of dry finishing media. The walnut shell media can be used in cleaning and finishing applications. They are ideal for tumble finishing of metals like brass, bronze and aluminium. Walnut shell grit finds use in oil well drilling, to keep the circulation going. Walnut shell media is made by crushing the walnut – it is hard and fibrous in nature. They are long lasting, angular and have many faces. They are mildly abrasive. The main advantage of walnut shell media is bio degradability. It is there fore environment friendly and non toxic. It can be reused many times over. It suits both tumbling barrels and vibratory finishing machines and reduces finishing operations time substantially.

Mass finishing is a terminology used to identify the procedure of deburring, cutting, smoothing, polishing, cleaning and separating of parts as a group. This procedure involves the loading of parts to be finished into finishing machines like the tumbling barrels , vibratory machines and centrifugal barrel machines. Along with the parts, finishing media and/ or finishing compounds can also be loaded with or without water. Once the finishing machines starts execution, the parts graze alongside the media while being suspended in the finishing compounds. The media and compounds have coarse properties which cause the excess metal (or any other material with which the parts are made) to be abraded away.

The manner of mass finishing might use tumbling machines that are barrels which are prepared to swivel or vibratory machines which are tubs that quiver at very high speeds with short strokes. The finishing media used might be natural media like the corn cob media and walnut shell media or imitation media like plastic deburring media and ceramic media. While natural media present soft abrasive action on the parts, the artificial media are used for intermediate to heavy deburring. Plastic media being lighter compared to ceramic media are used with delicate and fragile parts while the ceramic media is used with heavy loads that need cutting. They come in all sorts of shapes to handle different sizes and patterns in the parts being finished like conical, pyramidal, cylindrical, triangular and so on.

Finishing compounds are used in the mass finishing process to increase media efficiency. They give additional abrasive property and more cutting power. They prevent glaze formation in the loads so that the media can work better on the parts. These compounds could have alkaline or acidic properties and come in the liquid, powdered or cream forms. When cleaning of parts is needed during the mass finishing, compounds come in very handy. They are good cleaning agents that can degrease, de-scale and de-oxidize. They can also be used to impart properties like anti-rust and anti-corrosion in the parts by using certain chemicals especially for this purpose.

Centrifugal barrel machines are finishing machines used in finishing of parts. They typically have one or more barrels mounted on turrets. These barrels are made to rotate at very high speeds so that the principle of centrifugal force comes into play inside the barrels. The load in the barrels is thrown to the walls of the barrel because of the centrifugal force that acts on them at the barrel center. The parts and media that have been put together thus rub with each other continuously at a very high rate of speed producing the desired deburring and cutting action.

The centrifugal barrel machines take less time to finish parts as compared to standard barrels or vibratory machines. They have safety latches to keep the loads safely inside when rotating. They are easy to load and unload. Centrifugal barrel machines come in different capacities, different horse power for motors, electrical powers and shipping weights to suit different finishing operations.

Mass finishing refers to the finishing procedure on numerous parts simultaneously. Finishing involves the deburing, polishing, smoothing, cleaning and separating of parts. The finishing method is carried out in a tumbling or vibratory machine, with finishing media, finishing compounds and the parts to be mass finished thrown in collectively.

Depending upon the nature of the parts that call for mass finishing, the finishing machine, finishing media and finishing compounds should be selected. In tumbling machines, parts can be tumbled with or without media. These machines are well suitable for aggressive cutting and producing glistening polishes; they are good for working on edges and rounded corners. Vibratory machines are appropriate for shaking parts and media at a elevated rate of speed; they are secure for use on frail parts and these machines supply very smooth finishes even in parts with holes and deep recesses. Natural media like corn cob media and walnut shell media are used when a soft abrasive outcome is vital. For heavier abrasive needs, man made media like plastic and ceramic media can be used.

When common deburring has to be completed, ceramic media is very effective. Hard ceramic media are used for light deburring and polishing. Softer ceramic media that have more abrasive ingredients are used when more rapidly cutting is needed. If frail parts are subjected to mass finishing, plastic media can be used to give very smooth finishes without much shine. Because plastic media are much lighter compared to ceramic media, they do not hurt fragile parts. It is imperative to use the right quantity of media for the volume of parts being finished so that the parts remain safe. Finishing compounds are used to enhance the efficiency of the finishing media being used and to improve finishing cycle times. Compounds could be alkaline or acidic; they are very effective in de-greasing and de-scaling and they also help in increasing cutting speeds.

Vibratory finishing machines are used in mass finishing of parts. They comprise of tubs called finishing or processing tubs that are vibrated at high speeds. The parts to be finished are put into the tub along with finishing media and when the tub vibrates, the parts and media graze against each other. This abrasive action produces the deburring of parts. The cutting action that happens in a vibratory system is precise and thorough. Compounds particularly suited for vibratory systems can be used to provide better performance.

The vibratory finishing machines run at high speeds and very short strokes. So, they are powerful; yet, because of the short strokes, they do not place any undue stress on the parts. They can therefore be safely used on large parts like wing spans and landing struts. The vibratory finishing machines effortlessly dislodge material from holes and recesses in parts like bores and can work very fragile parts without causing any damage. The vibratory machines can be automated very easily – a full automation can be done for a finishing process that is sequential in nature. It can also be used as part of a large batch finishing process.