Vibratory finishing prior to electropolishing question

How big are your parts?  Are you looking to vibe them with an abrasive powder or another type of media?  Are you trying to use regular vibe bowls or use high-energy vibe systems?  What final finish are you looking for?  What is the starting finish condition?

In my plant, we use regular vibe bowls to polish hardened hand tools (sockets).  We also use the vibe process to clean off the heat treating scale.  Our smaller sockets go into bowls with an abrasive aluminum oxide powder for a few hours.  Our mid-to-large sockets get run with a chemical accelarant along with a high-density non-abrasive media.  The finish on these bowls is outstanding (for us at least) with an Ra measurement between 5-12.  In the past, we've also used an abrasive plastic media along with the accelerant, but the finish wasn't as good.  We are transitioning away from that stuff and going to the ceramic nonabrasive stuff.  We typically start with an Ra as high as 25 and get it down to the 5-12 range within 2-3 hours (including burnish and rust preventative cycle time).

Our vibe chemical supplier is second to none.  I can send you his contact info to see if you'd like?  I'm not sure Ohio is in his territory, but he's a wealth of knowledge nonetheless.