Burr removal. Edge breaking. High volume.

Tumbling: parts submerged in wet abrasive media, media flows slowly around parts, gentle removal over hours. Works on all surfaces simultaneously including internal bores. Sand blasting: high-velocity media sprayed at parts, fast aggressive removal, only hits surfaces directly facing the blast nozzle. Tumbling is slower but more uniform. Sand blasting is faster for visible surfaces. Choose based on need.

Parts with critical tolerances at the burr location — tumbling can dimensionally affect edges (round a 0.05 mm chamfer into a 0.1 mm rounded edge). Parts with precision threads — media can deform thread crests. Parts requiring specific edge radii — tumbling rounds edges unpredictably. Fragile thin-wall parts — can deform under tumbling action. For these cases, manual deburring or alternative process preferred.

Ceramic media: aggressive abrasion, suited for deburring hard parts (steel, stainless). Leaves slight cosmetic matte finish. Plastic media: gentle abrasion with color (commonly brown pyramids), suited for cosmetic finishing of aluminum and softer metals. Produces matte or slight shine depending on media type. For most CNC machined parts: ceramic for deburring, plastic for cosmetic finish — two-stage process.

Small parts in production quantities (100-1000 per batch): $0.20-1 per part. Medium parts (1000-5000 per batch): $0.10-0.50 per part. Larger parts one-at-a-time: manual deburring usually cheaper than dedicated tumbling cycle. Tumbling scales with volume — economic at production quantities, expensive for prototyping individual parts.

Tumbling has limited access to blind holes and internal cavities. Media cannot efficiently flow through small blind holes — deburring quality limited inside. For parts with critical blind-hole deburring, alternatives: manual deburring with tools, sand blasting through masking, or chemical deburring. Specify cavity deburring requirements explicitly — we can recommend best approach.

Tumbling is usually a 1-day process (4–8 hour cycle plus setup/cleanup). Added to overall manufacturing workflow. For rush orders, tumbling does not meaningfully delay shipment. For cosmetic-critical production (consumer electronics, decorative hardware), tumbling is a core part of the workflow, not an add-on.