Polishing woes - Advice needed!

[Nick martin]

Ignore the bristle brush question James as I've just noticed you use it with Tripoli. Cheers.

[Nick martin]

Thanks Dennis. Tumbling isn't an option for me as I don't own a machine, plus the first bracelet has a Sapphire set in it which would be damaged I'm sure.

Going to give the toothbrush idea a go though to see if it helps.

Nick

[Goldsmith]

Nick, the idea of pre polishing is to take out all of the scratches, pickling won't put them back on the piece, the heating and pickling will dull the metal but the shine will return on the final rouge polish. Obviousely I don't know what torch you use for soldering, I use a little torch and when soldering the linking jump rings,the small flame on my torch would not heat the main bracelet links much. If you do have a larger flame torch then I would suggest you use small soldering clamps to hold the jump rings clear of the bracelet links while soldering.
The T shaped soldering clamps I have posted about before are ideal for this. Like this one.



James

[mizgeorge]

Just for reference Nick, a sapphire (which is 9 on the mohs scale) is fine in a tumbler - as is anything above about 5.5 on the mohs scale.

Looking at the specific pieces, I think you'd benefit enormously from investing in a magnetic polisher, however - a small one is pretty inexpensive, and would certainly be by far the easiest way to bring a good shine to such intricate surfaces. Take a look at a bumblebee - http://www.technicalsupermarket.com/...id,0/Itemid,4/

Otherwise, I think radial discs might be a good option for getting into some of those awkward spaces without having to do one tiny bit at a time with a point - I use a stack of four or five at a time and often need no other polishing afterwards.

[Nick martin]

I use a large Sievert torch for melting metal and casting it, but for small soldering jobs like we're discussing here I use a small torch ( Dremel Versatip ) which I find is excellent and doesn't heat the main piece as you say.

Following on from your posts about the Titanium clamps, I also use these for soldering the individual links as per your advice.. So I'm completely with you on those two points.

So to clarify things, you'd advocate pre-polishing the components before assembling using a bristle brush & Tripoli ( horsehair mop or steel bristled one? ) followed by soldering the links etc, pickling, then the rouge using a soft swansdown mop?

Nick

[caroleallen]

If it were me, I'd put both in the tumbler for a couple of hours, then I'd rub back the larger surfaces a bit and polish them with a mop. That way you get the best of both worlds. The difficult to get to bits are polished by the shot and the flat bits are uber shiny!

[caroleallen]

Sorry, I've just read the bit about the sapphire, so you can't tumble, even if you had a tumbler. I would set the stone after everything's super shiny.

[ps_bond]

BUT if you tumble then set, you've work hardened the setting...

[Nick martin]

All the advice given is helpful and appreciated folks.

Apart from the 'workflow' element that I need to get to grips with, especially regarding polishing, I'm trying to find a way to rescue the toe pieces I've made as there's been a fair bit of time invested in them!

Nick

[Nick martin]

A magnetic polisher?

Hadn't even heard of one before your suggestion but I'll look into that. Your info on the stones / tumbler question is also very useful, thanks!

Nick