# Stainless steel burnishing media

Stainless mass-finishing shapes, exact supplier grade and size examples, and limits of hardness, density, corrosion, and surface-performance claims.

Reviewed: 2026-10-29

Tags: abrasives, mass-finishing, burnishing, stainless-steel

## Identity and process boundary

Rösler lists **304, 420 and 316** for RESK balls and SAT satellites, and **304 and 420** for RESA pins. SAT 03/05 is **3/5 mm** (a/b) and RESA 01/05 is **1 mm diameter × 5 mm length**. These are formed mass-finishing media for polishing and pressure deburring. [Rösler Consumables, September 2024, pages 7 and 23](https://www.rosler.com/index.php?eID=downloadFile&f=1202&token=173d447bb24271b2990a42fbf347c1e779abfe79)

Kramer uses “shot” for its burnishing media and lists blasting shot and grit separately. [Kramer steel burnishing guide](https://kramerindustriesonline.com/resources/burnishing-with-steel-shot/)

Washington Mills distinguishes DURAMEDIA Stainless Steel 304ss from its carbon-steel 1013 product. Its non-abrasive category also includes ceramic products, so "non-abrasive" does not itself mean stainless steel. The supplier describes significant metal removal as limited unless acid accelerants are involved. [Washington Mills non-abrasive products](https://www.washingtonmillsceramics.com/resources/guides/non-abrasive-products/).

Synthesis. A smooth steel shape, a bonded ceramic or resin abrasive chip, angular blasting grit, and steel wool describe different contact bodies. Their names do not imply interchangeable cutting action, size grading, machine compatibility, or contamination behavior. Burnishing denotes surface working by contact rather than a specified abrasive cutting rate. Neither that distinction nor an abrasive-free designation establishes zero workpiece loss.

## Exact supplier shapes and grade labels

Rösler's complete stainless-media table follows. Dimensions are in millimeters; paired values retain its `a/b` diagram notation. [Rösler Consumables, page 23](https://www.rosler.com/index.php?eID=downloadFile&f=1202&token=173d447bb24271b2990a42fbf347c1e779abfe79).

| Shape and designations | Supplier material alternatives | Listed dimensions |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Balls, RESK 2.0, 2.8, 3.2, 3.9, 4.5, 5.0 | 1.4301 = AISI 304; 1.4034 = AISI 420; 1.4401 = AISI 316 | Diameters 2.0, 2.8, 3.2, 3.9, 4.5, 5.0 |
| Satellites, SAT 03/05, 05/07, 07/10, 08/12 | Same three alternatives | a/b = 3/5, 5/7, 7/10, 8/12 |
| Pins, RESA 01/05, 01/09, 1.6/07, 02/05, 03/03, 03/09 | 1.4301 = AISI 304; 1.4034 = AISI 420 | Diameter/length = 1/5, 1/9, 1.6/7, 2/5, 3/3, 3/9 |

Other dimensions and steel qualities are available on request. The table supplies no tolerances, chemistry assay, heat treatment, hardness, or density. Supplier grade equivalences are catalog identities. Synthesis. They are not heat certificates or proof of conformance to every AISI, SAE, or EN product specification. [Rösler Consumables, page 23](https://www.rosler.com/index.php?eID=downloadFile&f=1202&token=173d447bb24271b2990a42fbf347c1e779abfe79).

Shape names also vary by supplier. Kramer describes eclipse balls as balls with flattened poles and pins as tapering to pointed ends. Its nominal ballcone size of 1/8 inch has overall dimensions 0.125 × 0.170 inch. A nominal name therefore need not give every overall dimension. [Kramer stainless steel tumbling media, shape descriptions and size tables](https://kramerindustriesonline.com/product/stainless-steel-tumbling-media/).

## Hardness, magnetism, and density evidence

These examples retain the exact product context. An omitted property is unknown within the cited source, rather than zero or a generic stainless value.

| Supplier and product context | Alloy and shape evidence | Hardness evidence | Density evidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Rösler RESK, SAT, RESA | Alternatives and dimensions above | Not stated for these rows | Not stated for these rows |
| Taian Hengda, Burnishing Media page, table titled "General Grinding Media Specifications" | AISI 420 balls, 0.5 to 76.2 mm; labeled magnetic | HRC 50 | Not stated |
| Same Hengda table | AISI 304/316 balls, 0.5 to 76.2 mm; one row labeled nonmagnetic | HRC 30 in one row; a second AISI 304/316 row gives NA | Not stated |
| Bel Air SS Bruni Mix 1 | Stainless steel mix; dimension A lists 1/8 and 5/32 inch; no alloy grade or blend fractions | Not stated | 300 lb/ft³, labeled only "Density" |

Sources for the comparison are [Rösler page 23](https://www.rosler.com/index.php?eID=downloadFile&f=1202&token=173d447bb24271b2990a42fbf347c1e779abfe79), [Hengda's complete media table](https://www.hdsteelballs.com/materials/media/), and [Bel Air's exact SS Bruni Mix 1 specifications](https://shop.belairfinishing.com/products/steel-stainless-steel-media-part-ss-bruni-mix-1).

Hengda supplies no hardness test standard, specimen preparation, location, tolerance, or typical-versus-guaranteed designation. Its ballcone, barrel, oval, diagonal, pin, and flat-pin rows share HRC 60 across carbon and SS402/304/316 alternatives. The printed SS402 label remains unresolved. Those grouped entries do not establish the hardness of every stainless shape or of Rösler media. The two 304/316 rows remain distinct; NA is not a second hardness measurement. [Hengda media table](https://www.hdsteelballs.com/materials/media/).

Synthesis. HRC identifies the Rockwell C scale. A Vickers value needs its load designation and test basis; a Brinell value needs its own test conditions. Bare HRC, HV, and HB numbers are not interchangeable, and this reference makes no hardness conversions. A value for a ball does not establish a pin's heat treatment, microstructure, or through-hardness. A stainless grade label alone does not establish that the media were hardened.

Stainless is not synonymous with nonmagnetic. ASSDA explains that annealed wrought 304 and 316 are generally regarded as nonmagnetic, but cold work can introduce magnetic martensite. Martensitic 420 is strongly attracted to a magnet even when annealed. Those general material relationships do not establish the condition of a supplied media lot. [ASSDA Technical FAQ 3, magnetic effects of stainless steels](https://assda.asn.au/publications/technical-faqs/magnetic-effects-of-stainless-steels).

Material density uses the volume of the solid metal. Bulk density uses an occupied volume containing pieces and interpiece voids. A poured or tapped bulk value also depends on packing. Synthesis. Bel Air's 300 lb/ft³ cannot be assigned to either basis from its label alone; the page gives no density method or tolerance. It cannot establish the mass of another shape or a different supplier's charge. [Bel Air SS Bruni Mix 1](https://shop.belairfinishing.com/products/steel-stainless-steel-media-part-ss-bruni-mix-1).

Kramer's linked three-page SDS, revised June 1, 2015, identifies the product as Steel Tumbling Media. Its physical-properties table prints specific gravity, water = 1, as "85-90." It gives no alloy assay or hardness. That unresolved entry is not adopted as a material or bulk density, and no decimal correction is assumed. [Kramer stainless-linked SDS, pages 1 to 3](https://kramerindustriesonline.com/wp-content/uploads/stainless_steel.pdf).

## Contact, separation, wear, and compound limits

Synthesis. Broad contact can brighten an exposed surface while a narrow shape reaches a recess. Access does not establish uniform treatment, and a piece that enters a hole may lodge there in another orientation. Fresh nominal dimensions do not describe worn pieces, fragments, or the full size distribution. Separation depends on both workpiece and media geometry. Magnetic separation additionally depends on the actual magnetic response of both materials; a stainless label alone does not establish selectivity.

Kramer describes ballcones as reaching corners and recesses and pointed pins as reaching grooves and threaded areas. Its product page also claims work hardening, increased wear resistance, and reduced porosity. These are application claims without matched before-and-after measurements, uncertainty, or a complete comparative test basis on that page. They are not quantitative results for an arbitrary alloy or incoming surface. [Kramer stainless steel media](https://kramerindustriesonline.com/product/stainless-steel-tumbling-media/).

Washington Mills describes its 304ss media for small-burr removal, polishing, and brightening and promotes corrosion and contamination advantages over carbon steel. Its page supplies no corrosion-test environment, transferred-metal measurement, wear-rate denominator, or downstream cleanliness criterion. Those statements cannot establish corrosionproof media, indefinite life, no residue, or no iron transfer under every process condition. [Washington Mills DURAMEDIA Steel](https://www.washingtonmillsceramics.com/products/duramedia-steel/).

Compound identity remains separate from the metal shape. Bel Air lists MB#104 and MB#56 with SS Bruni Mix 1 in wet operation. This is an exact-product pairing, not evidence that either compound suits every stainless alloy, workpiece, coating, water supply, or subsequent operation. [Bel Air SS Bruni Mix 1](https://shop.belairfinishing.com/products/steel-stainless-steel-media-part-ss-bruni-mix-1).

Synthesis. Surface brightness, roughness, dimensional change, workpiece mass loss, media wear, residual stress, hardness depth, corrosion response, and chemical cleanliness are different outcomes. Evidence for one does not establish the others. A burnishing description does not qualify plating adhesion, passivation, food contact, medical use, or customer acceptance. No operating cycle or chemical cleaning recipe follows from these comparisons.

## Source coverage and remaining uncertainty

Reviewed October 29, 2026 PDT. Rösler EN.130.36 has status September 2024 and reserves technical changes. Coverage includes its selection and ball-burnishing text and complete stainless table and diagrams. The other cited product pages are retrieval snapshots without a technical revision identifier; Kramer's product page displays October 8, 2015. A page date does not establish a supplied lot's age or condition.

The cited Kramer SDS was read in full. Washington Mills' public stainless SDS link returned 404 during this review, while its technical-sheet portal requires registration or customer login. No inaccessible sheet is treated as reviewed evidence. [Washington Mills non-abrasive page and SDS link](https://www.washingtonmillsceramics.com/resources/guides/non-abrasive-products/), [technical-sheet access page](https://www.washingtonmillsceramics.com/resources/technical-data/).

No cited source supplies a heat-specific certificate or complete process qualification for the compared products. Chemistry tolerances, guaranteed mechanical properties, measured magnetic permeability, dimensional distributions, density methods, and matched workpiece performance remain outside this evidence. The article establishes no customer capability, approved production settings, or publication decision.

Related references cover [Finishing process references](../../processes/finishing/index.md), [ceramic vibratory media](ceramic-vibratory-media.md), and [resin-bonded vibratory media](resin-bonded-vibratory-media.md).