The bowl vibratory machine is a horizontal urethane lined donut shaped container with an open top and driven by a powerful vibratory motor. The media mass rotates around the center column in a rolling forward feed motion. The machine can be built with a variety of overall diameters.

The bowl vibratory machine tends to be a better finishing machine than the tub type machine, it does a better job of keeping parts relatively orientated to minimize damage to the components than a tub.

The most significant advantage of a bowl type machine over a tub type is that the screens that come standard with the machine allow for separation of the parts from the media and out of the machine.