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- Tumbler
- Tumbling media
- Water
- Soap
- Sieve/Colander
- Metal scrap
- Jewelry prepared for polishing
- Cake pan and wooden blocks (optional)
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please see the Annual Buyers' Directory.
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Have you ever tried tumble-polishing
your handmade metal jewelry? It is a much cleaner process than buffing on a wheel
and is generally less time-consuming - in one step, tumble-polishing can produce
a near-mirror finish. It cleans the jewelry, burnishing it all over, including
hard-to-reach places like the insides of ring shanks and the backs and sides of
pins, and gives a uniform finish suitable for use or sale as is. It is also a
safe way to polish chains and other types of jewelry that are either difficult
or unsafe to polish on a buffing wheel. In addition, there is no buffing compound
residue to clean off either you or the jewelry. My own experience is mostly with
tumble-polishing base metal jewelry (brass, copper, nickel-silver) but the concepts
presented here work with precious metals, too. Since
I usually construct larger pieces of jewelry, I use the Model 45C Lortone tumbler
(it has lasted for 15 years). Smaller tumblers also work, but they must be run
for longer periods of time to get the same polishing effect.
The tumbling media I prefer is a porcelain
type used for final finishing. An example is Rio Grande's Sunsheen porcelain media.
I use the 4mm size because smaller sizes might get stuck in the crevices of my
jewelry, necessitating time-consuming removal after tumbling. Five pounds of the
media is more than enough for the Model 45C tumbler. For the last 15 years, I
used a wonderful media called
Cerambits, which, unfortunately, I can
no longer find. Tumble-polishing works well on designs that include stones, so
long as the stones are not the softer varieties like marble, which will become
dulled or pitted.
Mother-of-pearl also is not suitable
for tumble-polishing. If you buy a string of beads, test-tumble one or two to
see if they change in appearance. Some things, such as horn or apple coral, can
be tumbled for shorter times (e.g., 2-4 hours) without much change, but I'd avoid
it if possible. Glass beads, including the African sand-cast beads, seem to stand
up to tumble-polishing very well. But they, too, should be tested in advance.
The plating on metal beads and jump-rings
tends to be removed partially or completely by tumble-polishing. Tumble a few
such items in advance, if you are unsure whether they are plated. You can also
hold a magnet up to them - if they are magnetic, they are almost certainly plated
steel. Gold-filled jewelry should not be tumbled for long.
Don't polish large metal beads by tumbling
unless you cover their holes somehow, since the media may find its way inside
the beads, and getting it out is a real job! Stringing the beads on a thick thread
before tumbling may prevent this.
If you want a matte finish on your jewelry
pieces, use an abrasive cutting media. If you change your mind and the matte finish
is not too rough, you can burnish it away by tumbling in the burnishing media.
When you use the same tumbler for both processes, be sure to rinse out the barrel
very well before adding the burnishing media.
I have not used stainless steel
shot very often, partly because it requires a little more care than the porcelain
media which does not need to be dried or stored in special conditions. In addition,
shot is too heavy to use in the appropriate quantity in this particular tumbler.
Buy this Project as an Instant Reprint!
Price: $4.00
Judy Bjorkman is a self-taught artisan who has
made multimetal jewelry in Syracuse, NY, for the last 20 years. Her work has appeared
at local galleries. She also teaches courses in metalworking and lectures on the
history and literature of the Ancient Near East. She can be reached via e-mail
at JLBjorkman@aol.com. |
