Deburring and Cleaning Brass

These brass parts needed to be tumbled after machining to remove the burrs and discoloration on the surface. The challenge is removing the burrs on the slots without rolling them into the slot and making sure that the surface finish meets the specification.

You can see the rough edge and heavy burrs in the part on the left. There is also lots of discoloration and surface imperfection that needs to be cleaned up. A wet vibratory tumbling process using Ceramic Tumbling Media removed the burrs and cleaned up the surface. The key to the success is using a smaller media that will abrade the burr away and a Finishing Compound that will enhance the color of the metal rather than darken or stain the surface.

While this particular test did not require a polished finish, an additional dry tumbling step using a Premium Treated Tumbling Media will result in a near-mirror, highly polished finish.