Start with a Solid Foundation Polishing is one of the final steps in the jewelry making process. While it’s tempting to get to the end as quickly as possible and see your shiny new piece of jewelry, it’s important to remember that you won’t get a mirror finish if you have any scratches or scuffs in the metal. As a matter of fact, all you’ll do is polish those scratches right on up to a mirror finish. So, before you start polishing, make sure that your piece is free of all scratches and scuffs. It’s a good idea to check your piece in a bright light, holding it at an angle to see any remaining scratches. You can also run your fingernail across the surface of your piece. If you feel any drag or resistance when you do so, then there are still scratches that you need to remove. Use your jeweler’s file and a series of abrasives to remove any remaining scratches, working from coarse to fine until your piece has a uniform, matte finish.
Don’t Press Down Harder It’s easy to want to press really hard against the buffing wheel when you’re polishing, especially if you’re having a hard time getting a mirror finish on your piece. However, applying too much pressure against the wheel will generate excessive friction, which can heat the buff and the metal. When the buff gets too hot, it will start leaving streaks of buffing compound all over your piece. When the metal gets too hot, it will become misshapen and start to fold over on itself. In this way, you can actually end up rounding and folding your details over just by applying too much pressure to your buffing wheel. Instead, allow the buffing compound to do the work for you. Hold your piece gently against the wheel and use your fingers to guide it as you work. Try to always move the buffing wheel down and away from any details or edges. If you do catch an edge or a detail and fold it over, it will usually require a fair amount of work with your jeweler’s file to repair, so it’s best to just avoid folding your edges up in the first place.
Check Your Progress Frequently As you work, stop frequently to inspect your piece under a good light. This will help you avoid over-polishing and make sure that your details aren’t getting rounded or distorted. Keep in mind that it’s really easy to miss subtle distortions when you’re looking at an entire piece of jewelry. If you only polish one area at a time, it’s easier to keep track of what you’re doing and avoid over-polishing. If you’re new to polishing and are concerned about over-polishing, you might consider practicing on an inconspicuous area of your piece first, or even just practicing on a scrap until you get the hang of things. Here’s a quick exercise to help you polish safely and effectively: Exercise: Polishing an Edge Take a scrap piece of metal and draw a line all the way across it with a scribe or an engraver.
Alternatively, you can use a defined inside or outside corner as a test area. Polish for just one minute on one side of the line or inside corner, using a medium or high speed buffing wheel and a pre-polish or final polish buffing compound. Then stop and use your hand lens or a loupe to compare the polished area with the unpolished area. Start polishing again and repeat the process every minute until you have a full fifteen minutes of polish time elapsed. As you work, pay careful attention to the line that defines the edge of the polished area. Notice when the entire area becomes bright and shiny. Notice when the definition between the polished and unpolished area starts to become less sharp.
With a little practice, you should be able to get a bright polish without allowing the polished area to spread at all. This is the ideal with any polish job: a nice, bright finish without any loss of detail or texture.