The Kitiki Rotary Kit 1 is a home-use rotary tumbler, ideal for metal clays such as Art Clay, Bronze Clay, Copper Clay, and PMC, jewellery, and silver. It consists of an electric motor base, a 700gm plastic barrel, 1000gms of mixed stainless steel shot and shapes, and 175gms of barrelling compound to keep the drum clean.

The CE-marked fully-enclosed motor is rated at 230V 15W, so can use a regular mains socket. Since the tumbler uses less power than a fridge bulb, the cost of using it is less than a penny a day. It measures 143mm x 122mm x 205mm, weighs less than 1kg, and comes with a 1.8 metre cable ending in a UK plug.

The plastic barrel has a push-fit lid, and revolves on two rubber rollers with the roller end-stops keeping it on the rollers. The drive belt is soft neoprene.

To make sure that the instructions are always up-to-date, we don't put anything in the box. The latest version is free, and can be printed here, using the instructions link below the menu bar near the top of the page.

You can shop here now: on line or by phone with a card, or by post with a cheque. Prices include UK VAT and duty, and insured door-to-door UK-mainland delivery: there are no other charges. For other destinations, mail or call.

All the products mentioned on these pages are in the on-line shop: use the shop link below the menu bar near the top of the page.

As you can see in the photo, a 700gm plastic drum uses the full width of the tumbler body, so you can't use a large drum or two smaller drums. The 700gm drum is often called a half-size or 1.5lb drum.

If you want a larger tumbler, look at Rotary Kit 3. If you want to tumble glass and stones, you need a grit-tumbler: so look at Rotary Kit 2 or the larger Rotary Kit 4.

To look at a larger photo, hold your mouse over the zoom button below. The photo is 480px x 360px and about 60KB so, if you're not on broadband, it'll take a short while to download.

Kitiki Rotary Tumbler Kit 1.

Rotary Kit 1 is a small, inexpensive, home-use, jewellery and metal tumbler. However, unless you're economising, you should upgrade the barrel and the ammount of shot. Here's why:

A plastic drum is quite noisy: important if you want to work in the same room. When fitting the lid, it needs to stand in hot water to make it easier to push on. To free the lid, the whole drum needs to stand in hot water. There's a slight risk that, as you prise the lid off, you'll spill your work, shot or grit, and soapy water.

Rubber drums have a different lid: at one end there's an inner metal lid, a rubber sealing ring, a metal outer lid, and a screw-on retainer. They're easier and simpler to work with than plastic drums, and don't leak.

Although Kit 1 includes 500gms of stainless steel shot, enough to tumble a few items, the drum is large enough to hold 1000gms: much better and much quicker.

If you've bought Kit 1, but now want to polish glass and stones, you'll need a grit pack: 200gms of 80 grit, 200gms of 220 grit, 200gms of 400 grit, 150 gms of cerium oxide polish, and one pack of plastic pellets. You can buy these now, or later, in the on-line shop.

Most of the stainless steel shot in the UK, and probably the EU, comes from two or three factories. Over the years, the quality and shapes of the pins, planetoids, rods, and spheres, has gradually deteriorated. We now have our own shot made: better quality, better shaping, and a better mix, chosen to deal with the diverse range of contours on jewellery.

To give you some flexibility, the 1.0kg of shot comes in two parts: 0.5kg of mixed pins and rods, and 0.5kg of mixed balls and planetoids. If your pieces have a lot of fine detail work, or you're using a magnetic polisher, try the pins. However, once you mixed them, you won't be able to un-mix them easily, so you might want to use two drums.

Although the shot is 100% rust-resistant steel, don't leave it lying around wet: either leave it immersed in the tumbler mix of water and cleaner, or rinse it and dry it carefully.

If you need to replace the shot, don't economise and buy plain or mixed steel: unless you're meticulous about cleaning and drying it every time, it'll soon rust, make a mess, and ruin your work.

Grit is the generic name for the abrasive particles used to grind and polish. Generally, it's silicon carbide: a hard, sharp, angular material which gradually fractures into smaller angular particles, making it an effective abrasive. However, unlike shot, it does need replacing eventually.

80 grit is classed as medium, 220 as fine, and 400 as very fine. However, you'll soon learn which grits to use, and for how long, for different materials, shapes, and finishes.

If you're intending to tumble a lot of glass and stones, four drums make cleaning and storing easier, especially as the three grits look similar and the polish must be kept grit-free. However, it makes more sense to use a larger tumbler so that you can use two drums, with different abrasives, at the same time.

If you want to do shot-tumbling and grit-tumbling, you should use two barrels: marked so that you don't mixed them up. One stray grit particle caught in the drum will scratch your shot-tumbled work: the scratches are quite hard to remove.

A silicon lubricant is used during the manufacture of rubber drums. Before use, clean the drum with a scouring pad and some washing-up liquid.

The Kitiki Studio currently offers jewellery-making classes, demonstrations, masterclasses, and workshops, and Art Clay Levels One and Two courses taught by Aida-certified teachers, in the pretty village of Corfe Castle, in Dorset, England.

There are also classes for related products and techniques, art events, craft demonstrations, guest-teacher classes, the local arts weeks, studio open-days, and general jewellery-making opportunities. If you're interested, mail or call.

To learn more about jewellery-making, transfer to The Kitiki Studio using the Kitiki link above the menu bar near the top of the page.

Electric Kilns is a Cherry Heaven on-line shop and an EU distributor, sales, spares, support, and repair centre for kilns: it's not a bead, ceramics, crafts, glass, or metal-clay shop, selling a few kilns to a market niche.

Although it's an internet resource, you can still mail or call an engineer about kilns, power supplies, home diagnostics, repairs, spares, safety issues, a special project, or reselling opportunities.

To learn more about kilns, transfer now to Electric Kilns using the Electric Kilns link above the menu bar near the top of the page.