Finishing & Polishing

[Scotswummin288]

Can anyone tell me how to get rid of the outline that appears when you solder another metal onto a piece for decorative purposes? I have a couple of items which have this line around them where the barrel polisher just doesn't seem to reach. It seems almost impossible to get in to all the nooks and crannies of a piece and I'm a bit of a nit-picker, so it's driving me made because I can see the flaws!

[Dennis]

When you say the outline, I presume you mean the unpolished part close to the raised addition.

Its tricky, but:
Make sure the back plate is well polished before soldering on your addition.
Gently bevel the lower edges of your addition, to hold back the solder.
Then if you can predict where the pins cant reach, try to polish that prior to tumbling, using a a soft rotary brush with compound, or a set of radial disks, or simply a pointed burnisher.
The tumbler should then give a more even result. Dennis.

[Scotswummin288]

I did polish the back plate before I added the decoration, but I still get this kind of halo effect around the addition. It's so annoying! I will try with the burnisher or brush to see if I can reduce it a bit and stick it in the polisher again. As ever Dennis, thanks for your assistance. Gaby.

[mizgeorge]

Is the 'halo' from excess solder? It may be that you're using more than you really need, which is very easy to do, and that it's flowing rather further than it should.

[Scotswummin288]

George - that did occur to me on thinking about it further. It could well be that I am a little generous with the solder - it's a bit of a pest getting tiny amounts with my cutters, but I will try. Thanks for your advice. Gaby

[Dennis]

Flat additions are more easily soldered on by melting it onto the underneath of the addition, then holding it in place and reheating until a fine silvery seam can be detected all round. (sweat soldering)

Hence my suggestion above to bevel the lower edge of the addition slightly, which helps to prevent solder escaping. Dennis.