Mini-Sonic Vibratory Tumblers
Benefits
Diamond Pacific's Mini-Sonic Tumbler series is the best all-around tumbler on the market when it comes to performance, easy operation, and long-lasting service of your lapidary equipment investment.
You can tumble polish almost any kind of stone, from opal to topaz, delicate carvings and preforms, as well as metal items such as coins, jewelry findings, shell casings, or other small stone and metal objects. The unique vibratory tumbling operation is the key to the high performance of the Mini-Sonic tumblers. The vibratory motion is achieved without any moving parts. It improves the polishing process and uses only a small amount of abrasives compared to ordinary tumblers. The hoppers are made of cast plastisol and give exceptionally long wear. With no motor, belts, or pulleys to worry about, you have a tumbler built for years of worry-free service.
How to Choose Your Tumbler
You do not necessarily have to limit the number of hoppers you select to the options shown. Having extra hoppers, especially during the polishing stage, is recommended to prevent contamination between grits. Load capacity for the MT-4 base is approximately 4 lbs including stone, fillers and abrasives and increase with larger bases and hoppers. You control the rotation and intensity of the tumbler operation with reliable solid-state electronic control dials.
There are three tumbler base sizes with a variety of hoppers.
- MT-4 includes a single Hopper-4
- MT-10 available in two configurations:
- a single Hopper-10 or;
- dual Hopper-4
- MT-14 available in three configurations:
- a single Hopper-14 or;
- a single Hopper-10 and single Hopper-4 or;
- triple Hopper-4
For commercial or industrial vibratory tumbling of larger loads, the Diamond Pacific Vibro-Sonic VSV series are a medium-duty tumblers using these same hoppers in capacities up to 50 lbs, and the VT series are ultra-heavy-duty tumblers built to withstand serious processing duties using cast-aluminum reinforced Viking Hoppers.
Usage & Operation
Only a small amount of abrasives and polishes are required in the Mini-Sonic tumbling process compared to ordinary rotary rock tumblers. As the abrasive begins to pulverize or break down and combines with rock dust and water, a slurry or coating mixture is formed, and it is this coating which should be maintained throughout all the tumbling processes. Too much water or too much abrasives will cause materials to collect in the bottom of the hopper and not rotate properly. It is only necessary to maintain a thin coating of abrasive slurry between the materials in the load to keep the polishing process working properly.
- When getting started, purchase a starter grit kit and top off with bulk silicon carbide grits or other tumbling abrasives and polishes as needed.
- If you use Diamond Pacific's Vibra-Dry+ tumbling compounds, no water is required and you will not have the above-described slurry during grinding and polishing. These compounds can be reused to save material.
- It is advisable to purchase an extra hopper to use exclusively for polishing to absolutely minimize the chance of cross-contamination.
Specifications & Construction
The Mini-Sonic tumblers operate without shafts, belts, pulleys, eccentric weight or even a motor—no moving parts, so your tumbler will far outlast other types of tumblers. It operates on a unique principle employing interrupted electrical current that provides vibration as the driving force powering the rotation of the load. Operating frequency is 3600 vibrations per minute on 60Hz models and 3000 vibrations per minute in 50Hz Export models.
Rotation and intensity is adjustable with solid-state electronic controls. During rotation, the tumbling load is alternately separated and compacted during each vibratory cycle. This improves the tumbling process and allows fresh abrasive to be drawn in between materials in the tumbler hopper. Only the contents inside the hopper actually rotate while the hopper itself remains practically motionless except for the driving arc of motion.
⚙️ Genuine Diamond Pacific replacement and spare parts and routine Tune-up Kits are also available for your Mini-Sonic tumbler.
Approximate hopper dimensions:
- MT-4 hopper: 3-3/4 x 3-3/4"
- MT-10 hopper: 3-3/4 x 9-3/8 x 6-5/8"
- MT-14 hopper: 3-3/4 x 13-1/8 x 6-1/4"
