Summary for black oxide barrel Discussion
Black oxide using a barrel is described as a common, straightforward process for parts that can tolerate being tumbled together. James Watts notes that the term "tumbling barrel" is usually associated with mass finishing or deburring, while "barrel plating" is the more normal term for wet processing; he also suggests checking the Metal Finishing Guidebook for vendors and more information. The editor adds that "tumbling" can be misleading because it implies mechanical finishing, and that "horizontal barrels" may be a clearer phrase. Tom Walen says barrel black oxiding is very common and simple, with barrels available as electric-driven or manually cranked units, and that manual versions are much less expensive. He recommends making the barrel from cold rolled steel and says the barrel process can significantly reduce, or even eliminate, nesting of parts.
Q. I am new to the process of black oxiding and I have a question. Right now we place small parts in a basket and put them into our black oxide tank. I was wondering if we could put these parts into a tumbling barrel and black oxide that way. We seem to get a lot of nesting the way we do it now and I thought that if we tumbled them we could eliminate this problem. I would appreciate any help I could get. Thank you very much in advance. Terry
Terry Murphy
– Bridgeport,Connecticut USA
2000
A. Terry – Absolutely! Using a barrel for black oxide is a great way to process parts. Although you mention it in relation to using a basket, nesting can sometimes be a problem with barrels too. It will take some experimentation on your part to find the proper load size and/or mixture of parts to minimize nesting. Good luck!
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Dan Brewer
chemical process supplier – Gurnee, Illinois
A. Tumbling barrel is a term normally used for mass finishing, IE: deburr. Barrel plating is a more normal term. Barrels are frequently used for black oxide on parts that can stand the repeated banging together of the parts. Look in the metal finishing guidebook for more information and vendors.
James Watts
– Navarre, Florida
Ed. note: James is correct, including about the semantics of “tumbling” — that particular word isn’t used because, by convention, it implies mechanical finishing rather than wet processing 🙂
Maybe ‘horizontal barrels’ would be the best phrase to not derail things 🙂
A. Barrel black oxiding is very common and quite simple. Barrels can be electric driven or manually cranked. The manual being much less expensive. We recommend the barrel be made of cold rolled steel. Nesting of parts can be reduced significantly if not eliminated completely with the barrel process.
Tom Walen
Springfield, Massachusetts
 | Q. Outside of using barrel or baskets for e-coat mass finishing of small parts does anyone know of any other methods such as conveyor type machines. Please advise. Jack Lofstrom A. Hi Jack. Please search the site for “e-coat” or “CED” or “electropaint” — we have numerous threads on that subject. One way of employing a conveyor-type machine for wet-processing of small parts would be to use what is called a “finger plater” or “valve plater” for individual pieces. Another approach would be to hang the parts on racks and use either an “RTM” (return-type machine) or a “walking beam” straight-line machine. Luck & Regards,
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