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Post by hermatite on Dec 5, 2003 9:41:39 GMT -5
A woman in my jewelrymaking class put a bracelet with a denim lapis set stone in the tumbler to polish up the silver. It took the finish off the stone however. Is there some way of repolishing the stone once it's set in a bezel?
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Noah
starting to spend too much on rocks
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Member since November 2003
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Post by Noah on Dec 5, 2003 11:34:05 GMT -5
only way I have ever done that is with a dremel...set it with a polishing bit, and mix up a bit of tin oxide and water, and make a loose paste with it, then just go at polishing the little bugger. Also for future note tumbling silver is useless. Your better off with a Silver buffing rag...they bring out a beautiful shine and only cost about 4 bucks.
-Noah-
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Post by hermatite on Dec 5, 2003 11:39:21 GMT -5
Thanks Noah! Though we polish up all our silver creations that way...it's not technically a tumbler tumbler...it's filled with water, metal shot and soap in a tumbler barrel... 20 minutes in there and the silver looks GORGEOUS. Apparently it's murder on lapis though.
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Noah
starting to spend too much on rocks
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Member since November 2003
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Post by Noah on Dec 5, 2003 11:43:05 GMT -5
Hmm must be like an active silver de-tarnishing agent...like noxon or something...I might have to look into that...
-Noah-
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Post by hermatite on Dec 5, 2003 12:25:02 GMT -5
Whoooooooooa there Noah (I had way too much fun typing that)...I don't want you to misunderstand me. When you solder silver there's gunk (okay yes...there's a technical name for it...it's Friday...I'm tired...cut me some slack) on the silver... So you dump the silver in a chemical pickle then the polishing tumbler. It comes out lovely. The polisher works just about any jewelry...at class we all dump in our wedding rings every weeks just to shine em up. There's no anti-tarnish in the tumbler...just metal shot, water and a bit of dish soap. I'd hate for you to misinterpret and wreck a piece of jewelry by using something else.
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Noah
starting to spend too much on rocks
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Member since November 2003
Posts: 102
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Post by Noah on Dec 5, 2003 15:04:07 GMT -5
reply only reason I'm saying is if you've read some of my posts I make jewelry as well. I have something similar that i do i use an etching tank and its filled with i believe the proper term is "Baronic calenium" not exactly sure, but its a 13.5 on the ph scale and it blazes away tarnish pretty nice...just gotta beware it on your skin.
-Noah-
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Post by docone31 on Dec 5, 2003 19:29:49 GMT -5
The pickle removes the flux and firescale. When you metal shot in a tumbler, with soap, the phosphate and related compounds work with the burnishing effect of the shot. By the by, ammonia, which I use to clean sterling after soldering and pickling, will really trash a stone. It is great for under crystals. In most cases, jewelers rouge and time with an high speed tool, with an hard muslin wheel will repolish the surface. It is extremely messy. Rouge is iron oxide. If jewelers rouge is accidently introduced to the pickle, it will be absorbed and become a plating agent for copper. All the work will pick up the copper in the solution. A lot of polished stones use a parrafin base to shine up the finished stone. A lot of turquoise is done this way. The trick to working on the piece without excess firescale is to flux the entire piece. I use a 90% alcohol and borax paste. I ignite the piece and solder after it burns off. Self pickling flux is another alternative. The reason the shot ruins the stone, and polish does not fix it in the tumbler, I believe, is the silver or gold protects the stone so the tumble doesn't polish effectively. A good lesson for budding jewelers, never, never tumble finished jewelery! If cleaning is required, ultrasonic cleaning and steam cleaning is the answer. I never learn from my successes. I learn valuable lessons from the error of my ways. Guess who also learned the hard way on a valuable piece of Zuni.
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Post by hermatite on Dec 5, 2003 21:54:06 GMT -5
oh my GOD...so I guess putting my many MANY thousand dollar engagement ring in a tumbler like this is NOT a good idea. Thank goodness no harm was done and I won't do it again. Some lessons are well learned (and needless to say BETTER learned before you have to break the news to one's spouse about a ruined engagement ring) YIKES.
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Post by docone31 on Dec 5, 2003 23:00:17 GMT -5
I would check the setting on the ring, if you have tumbled it. Diamond is the hardest material known, but it can shatter just like tanzanite. In a tumbler, the diamond being so hard, if it can move actually cuts into the setting. Also, peening is a way I work harden material for certain applications. Materials used in jewelery manufacture, silver, gold, platinum, when work hardened develop differing hardness layers. Stelletite, ammontite, and the other slips this freeze dried hippy brain, are components of work hardening. Each has their use in differing work elements. Annealing relocates the work hardened points. Gold prongs for example are easier to wear when they are hard. Gold, the noble metal, is soft. When it is hardened, it will wear more in the contact spots. Avoid chlorine at all costs! It makes gold brittle. Diamond rings can be soldered with the stone in the setting. Diamonds can also melt. I routinely melt diamond chips when I melt scrap for a casting. They flow off with the flux. Check the baguette settings, and the top stones for loose settings. Quite probably you did not tumble for any legth of time, so I would not lose any sleep. I use a denture ultra-sonic cleaner for routine cleaning with sudsy amonia, and the ultra-sonic with pickle for soldering cleaning. I get some daggoned clean solder joints. I used to have to mechanically clean the joints when the firescale entered the joint. The ultra-sonic cleaner really helps. I use the cleaner for repairing rings with stones. If there is a little stearic acid from the skin, or lint, etc., the stone can be discoloured when heat is introduced. Congrats on your engagement. I hope you will know the fulfillment of life I have known. It is not easy, but it is better and more full.
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