Polishing ( Da pretty silva bit )
 

Ok boys and girls ( and pat ) here is the promised polishing tut. Hope it is worth waiting for.



Okay this is what we have after or hitting things with our nice chasing hammer. If we have been good and kept at a constant angle whilst using our pretty hammer we should have a nice clean face to work with without to many nicks and bangs.



Now this is top secret. Dont tell a sole ( mm think thats a shoe ). These little beuties are called Silicon Carbide Brownies and Greenies and are produced by the shofu dental company. They are a clean eficient way of polishing without a liquid polish. I dont show the brownies here but lower you will see them. Im more showing the shapes i use.

Note * Always use some type of mask when polishing with these just in case. *



Here are the two grades i use the brownie which gives you a satin finish and the greenie which gives you a verynice finish like a rouge polish. I have only shown three shapes there are five that i know of by this manufacturer. Of the three i have shown i have found for the inserts the bullet shape to be the best for me but try other shapes for your self.



I use a dremel but anything will do as long as the job gets done . I do the centre first with the brownie which is the coarser of the two.



Then move onto the face of the dome. Ive found that using the bullet shaped bit at right angles to the face then going from side to side works nicely but experiment and see. I have never had a problem of when going of the edge onto the bead in scratching the bead but once again check for your self on a old bead or a glass rod.



This is what we end up with after the coarser brownie, not bad a satin finish. If you wanted you could simply leave it there.



Here we swap from the brownie to the greenie (sounds like a ecological campaign ) being the finer of the two and rinse and repeat.



Ok after the fine we end up with a very nice finish. I would say its very close to a rouge finish. Now you can go two ways here and purchase the super greenies which are a better finish again or ( drum roll )



This is what i like to use. I have been using this polish for longer than i can remember and i find it to be the best final polish for metal ive ever used.





I apply this with a soft lint free cloth and it takes very little effort to get a brilliant finish.



So there we have it, not hard and a awesome finish. I have done a little research for you guys and found that you can get the polishing tips from here. They have there own range which i might try myself :). Now with the Autosol id say any auto shop or walmart.

Hope this helps you guys out. Thanks for looking.

Regards

Andrew.

The Rivet Tutorial can be found here

:) Reserved :)

Andrew...thank you so much for both tutorials...hands clapping...I know there was a major effort put into making them and I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge...now I'm going to buy some of your beads, thanks again...Lenora(obsessionwoman)

Awesome, Andrew! I have a great dremel, and several of the bullets already; I like the look of that polish...I think I needs me some!

DeAnne in CA

wow. Thanks so much for this 2nd tut....that was SO much simpler than i thought it was going to be (bad polishing memories from past silversmithing classes)! I think i even have those bits in my dremel kit...

couple questions:

-could i get this same level of finish by tossing the lined beads into the tumbler overnite?
-can i use that final metal polish with a buffing tip and the dremel?

Thank you from the bottom of my heart and a fantastic pick probale my favorite at the moment its on its way. :)

Nice one give it a go :)

Now that is a great question. I have had a short cut on my desk top to buy a tumbler for six months now and keep putting it of. Only way to find out is try both and see. :)

Most certainly you can do that, i dont normaly bother as it only takes twenty seconds, but give it a go and see how it looks.

Thanks guys for looking and commenting.

regards
Andrew.

Uh, Andrew(A name I love..it was my Grandfather's)....you said boys and girls (and Pat).................as in ...............well, evidently you know me better than I thought!!!HAHAHA...Thanks again for all your wonderful words and pictures. I am going to get up bright and early and make a fat finger and get the polish. I have two beads ready. I will put the other one in my tumbler and take some pictures...pat

Oh cool pat, i cant wait to see the results. Something i have been going to do for ages is purchase one to do a comparison.

regards
Andrew.

Thanks for this great tutorial Andrew!!!

I'm going to get that to polish my scratched jewelry!! YAY!

:) great idea helen, highly recomend it.

Thank you for the compliment

Regards
Andrew

Hello and all is well!! Not really...I have had two cored beads in the tumbler for about 2 hours. They really look great, but for some reason my camera will not pick up the coring and make it look shiny. It looks brassy.
I got great pix of silver bracelets, so any ideas out there? I think they will be shiny enough. I will keep trying to get a good pix.
pat

try holding them on a angle away from the light

This one doesn't look too bad. I will try your suggestion now. Thanks, Andrew.......

sorry about the bigggg image!! This is the first time I have uploaded a pix. Guess I need to make it a thumbnail first. pat

good job

take a very close photo (macro setting if you have it )

then crop it in whatever software you are using.

Resize it to say about 400*400 dpi and and just below 80 kilobytes and if you already know that sorry for jumping in :)

That is ok, Andrew..I need all the help I can get. I am using macro, and I have tried to crop it and resize it. I think I have been playing with this "stuff" all day and need a break!!! I will try again for a better pix tomorrow.
If anyone else has tumbled, please jump on in here......pat

Here is another place to buy fromzz;




https://www.riogrande.com/home/Membe...e=332790&cid=1

Hi Pat!

Not sure what third-party host you might be using for your photos (if any), but I use Photobucket. It's free, and they have a new, very easy-to-use "built in" program to resize and crop your photos. If you haven't given them it look, it might be worth checking out:

http://photobucket.com

I'm a real dolt when it comes to photo programs...I have Photoshop, but I usually have to bribe one or both of my kids to help me out even on simple tasks (need more practice on it, for sure!) With Photobucket, it's amazingly easy!!! And I don't have to empty my pockets or drive it through McDonald's either!

Just a thought!

~De

Bummer wont let me log onto it. Oh well ive spent enough money this year :)

Thanks, De...I will try that. I am having really good luck with my other bead pictures, but not this one for some reason. I am using the free Photoshop Express. It is really easy too. I think I will have a try at Photobucket today.
Thanks again, pat

Thanks for another great tutorial, Andrew. I sure appreciate all the hard work you put into these. They are so thorough and professional.

You Rock!!

Thank you. I can see you are no stranger to hard work and attention. Awesome work on your site. I love Crazy the pendant. I have one on the bench that uses wire to secure the cab and also adds to the look. No were as amazing as that though.

Regards
Andrew

For those following my saga of tumbling and picture taking, I think just maybe the pictures don't lie and there are more scratches than the naked eye can see. I have decided to tumble them for about 8 hours, which is what I do for chainmaille. Then I will see...maybe do the extra Autosol polishing on one and not the other and then pix.
pat

What type of tumbler do you have Pat and with your chainmaille do you do anything to it before putting it in the tumbler?

Asking as i have no idea on prep for the tumbler.

Regards
Andrew.

Thanks for the great tutorials!

Leah

Thank you muchly Leah :)

Hi Andrew, No prep for the tumbler, really, just a little shavings of Ivory soap and half full of water with a pound of bits and pieces of stainless steel shot. It will take any sharp edges off of the jumprings (which of course I don't have any!! yeah, right!HAHA) and bring the sterling to a really bright finish. I bought the cheaper model from Harbor Freight, Chicago Rotary Tumbler, and it came with the shot. A lot of the beaders have a more expensive one, but so far this has worked for me. There are a couple of good threads about tumblers when you get ready to buy one.
pat

Thank you Andrew. You are the best. I will try as soon as the mess is picked up and the shelf is installed. Then back to doing all the goodies and lining beads. You are the one and only that can do this. Well not. But close.

Ok, Andrew, and anyone else that can answer, please...I have looked all over for the Autosol...not listed in my True Value, local hardware store, etc...Did any of you find it????
I did find a product called Maas...
Thanks, pat

OUR SITE IS CURRENTLY BEING UPDATED. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON OUR PRODUCTS, PLEASE SEND US AN E-MAIL TO INFO@AUTOSOL.COM OR CALL US AT 1-800-314-5545.
Autosol® is a registered trademark of Dursol-Fabrik.
Copyright Autosol, LLC 1998-2004. All rights reserved.

Give the toll free one a shot and ask for a close shop. That is the American site i believe.

http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/p..._mmc=undefined
Another online one think they are In P A

Regards
Andrew