Tips & Tricks
Finishing With The Best Results
Dec
Sanding, Polishing & Finishing
One of the most important aspects of working in the jewellery trade is the process of sanding, polishing & finishing in order to create a finished workpiece.
Sanding:
Use sanding to prepare your workpiece for polishing. You can either use sandpaper for more control, getting into hard-to-reach areas or sanding sticks, which is best suited for machining components with lots of contours, hard-to-reach areas and narrow slots. They are excellently suited for use in many fields and industries. The range consists of an extensive selection of grits from grit size 80 to 1500, meaning that different surface qualities from rough to very fine can be successively achieved.
- Sandpaper is easier to do more precision sanding on specific spots on your workpiece.
- You may also wrap the sandpaper around a stick or a piece of wood to create a “buff stick”
- This provides a hard backing for quicker sanding results.
- Use with water or oil for best finish and getting the best longevity out of your sandpaper.
- Sanding & polishing sticks are also easy & convenient to use.
- By using these sticks, there is no need to take time wrapping sandpaper around a wooden stick you might not even have.
- Work through the different grits from low to high with easy colour coding.
- Change the direction you are sanding to help show marks that could become a problem.
- Keep sanding, while working through different grits until the surface is smooth.
Polishing:
There are different types of polish for different types of metals, Dialux Polish & Unipol Polish Bars or pastes. We have a large selection of bristle brushes , cloths , mops & polishing machines.
Dialux Polish is a quality polish bar used for various metals.
Green – Recommended for bright polishing of hard alloys such as platinum, white gold, chrome cobalt and stainless steel.
Blue – All-purpose compound for all types of metal.
Red – The brightest shine for yellow gold. Also produces a brilliant shine on silver.
White – Bright polishing of Titanium, Steel & other hard metals.
Unipol Combined pre-finish and final finish compound. One application allows you to polish to final stage without scratching.
• Eliminates light damage caused by wear and tear
• Removes light oxidisation
• Achieves a bright, long-lasting gloss
• Chrome • Stainless steel • Aluminium • Copper • Brass • Gold • Silver Pewter Steel Perspex
Hand Polishing
- Polishing by hand will give you more control over how fast or slow you polish, which might take a bit longer.
- It is best for beginners to use polishing paper to polish by hand, making it easier to get into the hard-to-reach places.
- 3M Polishing papers are especially effective on metal, perspex and clays.
- Similar to sanding sheets, you can glue the sheets of sandpaper to a flat piece of wood for better results.
Flexshaft Polishing
- Using a rotatory tool for fast results will require more experienced hands to control the spinning mops, paper rolls, etc.
- When using a mop on the flexshaft like a Foredom or Dremel Tool, there is no need to use excessive pressure when polishing.
- Keep changing the angle or direction you are polishing with the mini mount for the best results.
Ceramics:
- Used for reaching difficult areas of your workpiece, when polishing & finishing.
- For increased precision, make use of PoliLuster Sticks, PoliLuster Pencils or Cera Stone Polishers.
Machinery:
You can use a polishing machine, such as the Bench Polishing Motor or the Tumbler, to finish off your pieces.
- The Bench Polishing Motor is a simple, easy-to-use machine to be used with buffs.
- Tumblers are great tools for jewellers & craftsman to use for cleaning empty bullet shells, polishing jewellery, dental laboratory uses, engineered spare parts, cleaning rust & more.
- Always use the correct barrel with the correct motor & media.
- Then pair it with the correct polishing / burnishing compound in order to get the best results.
- The main advantage to using a tumbler is the amount of time that is saved, compared to polishing by hand.
