Polishing Dilemmas!

[Emms]

I've recently finished uni and set up my own workshop and everythings going great except when it comes to finishing pieces. We weren't really taught that much about finishing as it was more of a design based course and i've had to learn from scratch. So if anyone can shine a light on what i'm doing wrong that would be so so great...

When I polish my work I end up with lots of lines on my pieces. They are mostly pierced out flat silver sheet. I've been using a polishing motor, doing the initial polish with a calico wheel and hyfin polish then a final polish with a linen wheel and blue dialux. I polish it against a piece of plastic sheet so it doesn't catch on the wheel. The plastic is clean and not scratched so i don't think it's that. Sometimes the end result is perfect but more often then not it's uneven and liney. I always wet and dry and pumice out any scratches and make sure the surface is clean beforehand. So why cant i get an evenly polished surface? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I also like to leave a matt finish on some pieces by just pumicing. However they mark easily with peoples greasy fingers etc. Is there a way to protect the matt finish somehow? or at least a way to care for matt work?

ps- sorry its a long winded over-detailed question I just really don't know whats going wrong!

[Petal]

Hi Emms,
Although I can't answer your question, there are other polishing 'masters', who I'm sure will come along and help you out.... just hang in there!

Love
Jules x

[Solunar Silver Studio]

Hi Emms, I know nothing at all about polishing but from a purely textile perspective I have always thought of linen as being quite a coarse fibre so I am surprised that you are using it for a final polish. I think wool is considered a better option for that final shine.... But wait for the 'Hi-Shine' mob to log on...they will have all the low-down!!

[Emerald]

Hi Em

Sometimes with pierced items you get drag marks from the polishing process. I would suggest a soft wool mop and rouge for your final polish, make sure you remove the previous polish though before you start on your final polish. The only way to stop greasy hands is to laquer and you dont really want to do that to silver so use a soft jewellery cloth these are impregnated with polish and just wipe your pieces over.

[caroleallen]

Jo's right. The final polish should be with a soft mop and rouge. Alternatively, if you're after a textured finish, you could do the texturing and then polish in a tumbler with stainless steel shot. There's loads of info about tumblers on here.

[ps_bond]

Is it liney-scratched or liney-rippled?

How far are you going through grits with the wet & dry? At what point are you using pumice (and is that being used wet or dry?)?

Is there any possibility of buff contamination?

I don't use Hyfin, so I can't comment on that specifically; calico wheels are generally quite hard though and in combination with the Hyfin (which is more for stainless, IIRC) you'll be shifting quite a bit of material. Stitched linen mops are probably not what I'd choose for colour - might use loose ones for cut though. Shouldn't be a problem with using Dialux Blue, but I'd go softer on the mop.

In general, I'd use a wool mop with Tripoli and then a swansdown mop with rouge - however, for flat surfaces, I'd probably use a felt wheel with the Tripoli. No hard & fast rules, really.

As for matt textures and pawmarks - give it a coat of Renaissance wax and it'll stay "pregreased".

Oh - and clean everything thoroughly between polishing stages!

[glen]

Silver is very difficult to polish without some sort of drag. In order to polish silver to a decent degree one would need a very high speed polisher.
The best thing I can advise when polishing plate is either try order it already polished or experiment with different mediums as I found technique is as important as the tools you use.
When you get to the final polishing stages try not press to hard, use lots of polish and try polishing at different angles as you go. The grain of drag generally would follow the direction of the polishing wheels spin.

[caroleallen]

"As for matt textures and pawmarks - give it a coat of Renaissance wax and it'll stay "pregreased"."

Can you see that an item has been waxed and is it quite hard-wearing?

[ps_bond]

Can you see that an item has been waxed and is it quite hard-wearing?

It will change the appearance slightly once it's on, but you won't see it is there for a thin coat. It is fairly hard wearing; I probably wouldn't use it for something like a ring though.

The guys at the Royal Armouries advocate applying it with a paintbrush and a hair dryer - warm the piece and the paintbrush simultaneously until the polish on the brush starts to flow, then apply & allow to set. They're usually using it on quite large pieces though.

[Emms]

Is it liney-scratched or liney-rippled?

How far are you going through grits with the wet & dry? At what point are you using pumice (and is that being used wet or dry?)?

Is there any possibility of buff contamination?

I don't use Hyfin, so I can't comment on that specifically; calico wheels are generally quite hard though and in combination with the Hyfin (which is more for stainless, IIRC) you'll be shifting quite a bit of material. Stitched linen mops are probably not what I'd choose for colour - might use loose ones for cut though. Shouldn't be a problem with using Dialux Blue, but I'd go softer on the mop.

In general, I'd use a wool mop with Tripoli and then a swansdown mop with rouge - however, for flat surfaces, I'd probably use a felt wheel with the Tripoli. No hard & fast rules, really.

As for matt textures and pawmarks - give it a coat of Renaissance wax and it'll stay "pregreased".

Oh - and clean everything thoroughly between polishing stages!

It's more liney rippled then liney scratched. I use the wet and dry dry going 600, 800, 1200 and then pumice it wet and then clean it with soap and water before polishing. Is that right or wrong?

Thank-you for all the advice i'm going to buy some different mops and polishes and definately some renaissance wax!