How to Choose the Right Media for Jewelry Polishing

Choosing the correct tumbling and polishing media is the difference between a rough, rounded surface and a crisp, mirror finish. Use this quick guide to match media type and shape to your jewelry, then dial in cycle times and maintenance for consistent, professional results.

Media Types & When to Use Them

• Ceramic Media – Best for deburring, edge smoothing, and aggressive cutting, especially on stainless steel, carbon steel, and cast iron.
• Plastic Media – Delivers a smoother, shinier pre-polish on softer metals like aluminum, brass, and plastics. Note: requires a 1–2 hour break-in before first use. Color grades guide aggressiveness: White (very fine), Green (light cut), Brown (medium cut).
• Walnut Shell Media – Ideal for polishing non-ferrous metals, jewelry alloys, titanium, and steel when you want a bright, mirror-like finish.
• Porcelain Balls – Excellent for burnishing and adding shine in later stages.

How Media Size Influences Results

Smaller media increases contact points on the workpiece and produces a smoother, more attractive finish, but requires gentler processing and longer cycle times. Larger media cuts faster, is more aggressive, and rounds edges more readily.

Pick the Right Media Shape

• Cones – Reach remote areas and holes while resisting lodging.
• Angle-Cut Cylinders – Burnish/polish concave surfaces and edges; helpful on parts with holes.
• Pyramids – Most aggressive cutting; reach into holes and slots.
• Triangles – General-purpose, high surface contact, minimal lodging; great for corners and slotted areas.
• Polyhedrons – Efficient, slow-wearing, and designed to reduce lodging.
• V-Cut Cylinders – Access hard-to-finish corners, slots, and angles; helps eliminate lodging issues.

OTEC Walnut Shell Media: Fast Facts

• Impregnated with polishing paste – No extra compound needed for the first 3–4 cycles. Refresh with OTEC Polishing Paste 147.697 thereafter.
• H1/100 grain size: 1.7–2.4 mm (medium) – Use as the first dry pre-polish step.
• Cycle time – About 2 hours in a high-speed OTEC disc finisher; longer in standard vibratory tumblers.
• Max item weight – 7–8 g per piece for best results.
• Multi-piece runs – Suspend items with the OTEC Drag Finishing attachment to avoid denting and piece-to-piece strikes.

Pro Tips for Cleaner, Consistent Finishes

• Rinse media and workpieces every ~3 hours to prevent contamination and maintain cutting and polishing performance.
• Match media type to the task: Deburr with ceramic; smooth/shine with plastic; polish/burnish with walnut shell or porcelain.
• For small, fragile jewelry, favor smaller media to reduce impact while improving surface refinement.

Save on Media: Mix & Match Tiers

Many of our abrasive and polishing media are on sale right now:

• 3+ → 5% off
• 5+ → 10% off
• 10+ → 12% off

Shop media on sale

Quick Reference: Match Workpiece → Media

• Deburring / aggressive cut – Ceramic.
• Polishing / mirror finish – Walnut shells or porcelain balls.
• Smoother, shinier pre-polish on soft metals – Plastic.
• Stainless / steel / cast iron – Ceramic.
• Aluminum / brass / plastics – Plastic.