Yes
Art Jewelry magazine associate editor Jill Erickson shares some tips on using a rotary tumbler with stainless steel shot to polish and harden metal. Visit www.artjewelrymag.com/howto for more information and videos.  Wet tumblers use stainless steel media. The preferred media is 0.040 diameter by .250 long, 300-series stainless steel pins. The pins are smooth; they will not erode or work-harden the brass, and they can be reused indefinitely. This month, we'll take a look at wet tumbling with stainless steel media. Unlike dry 'tumbling' which uses a vibratory bowl cleaner, wet tumbling uses an actual tumbler, similar to the kind that were originally designed for polishing rocks. Work hardening, also known as strain hardening or cold working, is the strengthening of a metal by plastic deformation. This strengthening occurs because of dislocation movements and dislocation generation within the crystal structure of the material.  Precious metal clay— Silver or gold, PMC, PMC+, and PMC3 are easily finished with a tumbler. To brighten and work harden, process in a rotary tumbler with stainless steel for 30 minutes to 1 hour. If you wish to smooth your piece, carefully run for 1 or 2 hours in a light-weight plastic abrasive in a small vibratory tumbler prior to burnishing in the steel.  The media for wet tumbling is also significantly more expense - $8 per pound for stainless steel as opposed to $0.50 per pound for corn cob. You will recoup this investment in the long run, but it won't do you any good if you can't afford it to begin with. This month, we'll take a look at wet tumbling with stainless steel media. Unlike dry 'tumbling' which uses a vibratory bowl cleaner, wet tumbling uses an actual tumbler, similar to the kind that were originally designed for polishing rocks. July 25, 2010 at 9:27 am. Tumbling is a great way to work harden and polish your pieces. However you should not tumble any piece that has soft materials or stones with a Mohs hardness of 5 or less. This would include pears, mother of pearl, opals and some turquoise.  Summary: This article shows how to clean brass inside and out using small stainless steel pins from STM, Stainless Tumbling Media. This does not harm the cartridge brass and the results are excellent. A water-tight, rotary tumbler is required along with the stainless media. After tumbling the brass, drain as much of the used, dirty water as possible out of the drum without losing any brass or pins. 5. Next, separate the brass from the steel media, and then rinse off the brass with warm water. (The rinsing stage is important to avoid spots on your now shiny brass). 6. I decided to give to give the stainless media a shot. It would require an investment, not only in media ($49.99 for 5 lbs.), but a new rotary tumbler ($179.99). The stainless media does not work in conventional vibratory tumblers. After tumbling the brass, drain as much of the used, dirty water as possible out of the drum without losing any brass or pins. 5. Next, separate the brass from the steel media, and then rinse off the brass with warm water. (The rinsing stage is important to avoid spots on your now shiny brass). Summary: This article shows how to clean brass inside and out using small stainless steel pins from STM, Stainless Tumbling Media. This does not harm the cartridge brass and the results are excellent. After tumbling the brass, drain as much of the used, dirty water as possible out of the drum without losing any brass or pins. 5. Next, separate the brass from the steel media, and then rinse off the brass with warm water. (The rinsing stage is important to avoid spots on your now shiny brass). This article shows how to clean brass inside and out using small stainless steel pins from STM, Stainless Tumbling Media. This does not harm the cartridge brass and the results are excellent. A water-tight, rotary tumbler is required along with the stainless media. Interesting, that is the first case I have heard of work hardening from this process. I always thought it was accepted wisdom that to some small degree a conventional tumbler could work harden brass-again, slightly-. If that is the case then steel media would have to do the same or worse.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyBa-y3fEjY http://www.massreloading.com/reloading_wet_tumbling.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_hardening http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/tumble-tip.htm http://www.massreloading.com/reloading_wet_tumbling.html https://www.wirejewelry.com/jewelry-making-blog/2906/tumbling-article/ http://www.longrangehunting.com/articles/brass-cleaning-stainless-tumbling-media-review-1.php http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/reloading/brass-cleaning-with-stainless-media/ http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/reloading/brass-cleaning-with-stainless-media/ http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f93/brass-cleaning-using-stainless-tumbling-media-system-review-68500/
does tumbling work harden stainless steel