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Ever seen a vibratory tumbler/polisher in OZ?


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I've been there and done that. You've got a couple of choices:

 

1. Order the Berrys tumbler from Pinrestore.com. Expect to pay around $US35 freight, for a landed cost of around $130 - $140.

2. 17ackley sells them on Ebay. See here. Budget $15 for freight, so don't go over $125. He has them on all the time, and I've seen them go for $110 up to $170 - don't be afraid to skip an auction and wait for another. I waited for about 4 auctions before I got mine for $118. These tumblers are exactly the same as the Berrys ones. They even come with a Berrys compliance sheet. Berrys license them to Graf, 17ackley buys them from Graf.

3. Make your own. A friend of mine did that and it's a superior tumbler to the Berrys. Made the bowl out of fibreglass etc. When I costed it (given I didn't have the various things on hand that he did), it turned out pretty close to buying a Berrys tumbler.

 

Hope this helps.

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I have been looking for one to at the right price too. I was also told to try jewellry/gemstone people as they sometimes use them.

Can you get the walnut shells and polishing compound locally?

And is it possible to polish things like ramps etc I would of thought these would be too big?

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I understand that the rotational tumblers used for gemstones etc generally don't give as good a finish as the vibratory ones, although I don't have the practical experience to say. I use crushed walnut shells for media. You can get this from a decent size pet store (forget the ones in shopping centres - you're wasting your time with them as they're only good for selling cats and rabbits).

 

A tumbler won't get ball trails out of metal ramps. You need to sand them out. I remove the mounting pins (that go through the playfield), then hit them with my proprietary upside-down-belt-sander-mounted-with-ubolts-on-the-bench tool. I then re-rivet the mounting pins back on, and we're ready to go. Mind you, for all this effort, it doesn't take long for the trails to come back but it makes the machine look spectacular in the mean time.

 

For plastic ramps, flame polishing is the way to go, but my balls aren't big enough yet to try it ;)

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Gemstone polishers work well. Leave the buggers running for ages.the longer they run.the better the polish.

they are easy to make. i remember giving my dad a hand build one when i was a kid.im sure if you go googling you will find examples of diy polishers

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Thanks for the info Dialogpimp, i may look at option 2 for a tumbler.

 

Wheres the best place to buy the media locally ? And which media is the best? Walnut ?

 

Get into the flame polishing, the ramps come up like glass as im sure youve seen and they take alot more heat than you'd think. You dont need one of the huge fuck off blowtorches like in TOP either i used the torch bit that game with my butane soldering iron. The results were AMAZING :)

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Im thinking more along the lines of dumping all the metal posts, screws, ramp guards etc into a tumbler during a restore i wonder how much fits in one load i usually replace the balls

 

Mark, What kind of tumbler and media do you use ?

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I use crushed walnut media in mine with some Brasso and a squirt or three of Novus 2 in the mix. The media I use is Desert Blend Lizard Litter from a pet shop (Kellyville Pets, in Sydney). Some people use corncob media but I've not tried that myself.

 

Vibratory tumblers are excellent on metal posts, balls, screws, etc. Flat pieces tend to take longer.

 

Also, don't mix a bunch of posts and screws when you're polishing balls or flat sided parts as you'll create tiny "pits" in the ball surface from the other parts in the tumbler. Just do them separately.

 

As mentioned before, here's the one I made;

 

http://members.iinet.com.au/~davidjordan/pins/

 

Follow the 'tumbler' link down.

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they sell them at Mick Smith's gun shop in sydney - near central - about $190 i think (when I investigated about 18 months ago)

 

remember if you buy from USA you will need a step down transformer unless it has a 240V setting - something with a mototr like that will have high wattage = expensive step down transformer.

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Im thinking more along the lines of dumping all the metal posts, screws, ramp guards etc into a tumbler during a restore i wonder how much fits in one load i usually replace the balls

 

Mark, What kind of tumbler and media do you use ?

 

 

I will get brand in the morning when I go to work and advise

 

 

for some reason iu just cant remember the name but JW has helped that tonight LOL

 

mark

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they sell them at Mick Smith's gun shop in sydney - near central - about $190 i think (when I investigated about 18 months ago)

 

remember if you buy from USA you will need a step down transformer unless it has a 240V setting - something with a mototr like that will have high wattage = expensive step down transformer.

If you buy a Berrys tumbler from Pinrestore, you can specify that you want 220v, so no need for a step down tranny.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Bought one today from Adelaide Gun Store in Morphett St. Lyman Turbo 1200. It came with Corn Cob media included and I bought some Tuff Nut media as well.

Runs fairly quitely and doesnt move around at all.

 

I chucked some old dull balls and some pitted balls in there when I got home. The dull ball came up to a mirror finish in about 4 hours, the pitted balls were now shiny but still had some corrosion on them. I have left them in there till I go to bed tonight and I will see how they go. I will experiment with other articles as time goes on.

 

First impressions though is that it works very nicely.

 

Price $179 + $21 (discounted from $25) for the extra media.

 

Rifle Association of SA at Wingfield has them for $140 (last list price, subject to change) if you can catch them when they are open.

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technically anywhere that sells ball-bearings (not sur eof size but it is on the net)

 

otherwise - locally - bumper / mr pinball /maybe highway

 

os - PBR, Bay Area, Marco Pinball life, pinball heaven

 

only thing to check is depending on your game you may need magnetised or non-magnetised - eg Apollo 13

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os - PBR, Bay Area, Marco Pinball life, pinball heaven

 

 

I recently bought some balls (amoungst other things) from BAA, and they were brown with rust, even the placcy bag they were in was brown. But seeing as the package cost US$20 to send and I only paid $10, I didnt complain.

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I had the same experience with BAA a couple of years ago now. I ordered 3 balls and they were dull and dirty. It was part of a big order and i was new to the hobby so i let it slide. Ive had a few orders from BAA since then and have since learnt that they have very good customer service. Terry, i would contact Rick at BAA about the balls he answers emails quickly. I have used pinballlife for general parts gear ever since.
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If you havn't got a tumbler you might try a polish called Brite Shine by kenco. It is a cotton wadding impregnated with "stuff" and does a pretty good job on most metal . They describe it as a Mag Polish. Hard to find. About $10 a can. Can recomend it if you are into polishing by hand. The Army used it for soldiers to polish thier brass. I was in the cadets in the 60's and had beautifull brass. Check the net for more details or buy at ttps://www.americanautos.com.au/cgi-bin/fccgi.exe?w3exec=aap.control&formname=makemodel&newform=prices&option=acc-acc-pmi
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