Polishing a piece of jewelry is often the last step in its manufacture. If it has been well designed, it is relatively easy to polish it. However, it becomes a bit more complicated if you have used too much solder, or if the sanding has not been done well.
This article is intended to be a summary of the different ways to polish a piece of jewelry, as well as how to prepare it for optimal polishing.
I want to make it clear that polishing is a profession in itself, which is why I can’t cover everything in one article. However, I did my best to give you as much information as possible ?
BEFORE POLISHING A PIECE OF JEWELRY
Emerying is certainly the most important phase in preparing a piece of jewelry for polishing. This allows you to remove any marks that could have been left by the tools. The traces of pliers for example, of files, or the marks caused by the mallet.
SUMMARIZE WITH A CABRON
To properly emery a flat or convex surface like the top of a ring, we use carbon.
This tool is simply made of a piece of wood about 30 cm long. Its rectangular profile can be variable. However, the ones I use are 20mm by 9mm.
The stick is then wrapped very tightly in emery paper (or sandpaper), and this is held in place by adhesive tape or a rubber band.
The ideal is to make three, to have three different grains for the grinding, that is to say, a coarse grain, a medium, and a fine.
EMBRACE THE INSIDE OF THE RINGS
To sand, the inside of a ring body, an exerciser (also called a fly) is used. This tool consists of a small mandrel that is placed on the suspended motor, around which a strip of emery paper has been wound.
By turning, the bearded man can clean the inside of the ring. However, it is important not to stand still with this one, otherwise, you risk digging into the metal. You must therefore follow the inner contour of the ring at all times when the engine is running.
Again, it can be useful to have multiple emperors to be able to switch from grain to grain.
