New jeweler here. I’ve been shopping for small detail sanding sticks for pre-polish work in tight spaces. They’re pretty expensive to buy, considering what you’re getting for your money. I was thinking of making my own from rock tumbler abrasive powders, toothpicks, and epoxy. I’m unsure which epoxy would be best for this.
I would be grateful for advise on whether to make my own, or just buy commercially made sanding twigs. I would also be grateful for advise on the best adhesive to use for sticking abrasive powder to the toothpick, along with any other advise on this topic anyone is willing to share.
I make them out of tooth picks, chop sticks any kind of stick that I can cut into the right shape. You can buy small sample packs of tumbling media and then glue it on with super glue, 2 part resin or UV resin. You might also look at small ceramic polishing sticks. They can be shaped on a grinding wheel…Rob
Thanks for the suggestion! I hadn’t thought of ceramic abrasives. But don’t they quickly clog and become useless due to the soft, sticky nature of precious metals and copper as compared with steel?
I have a number of ceramic files in my machine shop for sharpening steel edge tools. I guess I’ll have to experiment.
Thanks for your response! I also use double sided tape to stick abrasive paper to hack saw blades. I have also ground the teeth off old needle files, ground them to custom shapes, then stuck abrasive paper to them when I needed a custom shaped polishing file. That works great in a lot of situations. Unfortunately, bot the hacksaw blade and the needle file are a bit too thick for really tight spots, which is why I began looking to use toothpicks. Wood is far easier to shape than metal…
Changing the subject slightly, anyone know where to get abrasive polishing thread? I was watching this video:
I use abrasive shop rolls in my machine shop when polishing on the lathe and for other tasks. I’ve never seen abrasive thread for jewelry polishing. I suppose one could make one’s own by pulling thread across sticks of polishing compound, but I’ve never tried. Again, I guess I’ll have to experiment.
For jewelry one simply charges thread or ribbon with polishing compound. The polisher in the Van Cleef video shows that she does just that (at 1:47).
The abrasive cords used in machining are too aggressive for jewelry.
I didn’t see this word used in the video, but the technique with the polishing strings is called, thrumming. (probably my favorite word in jewelry making)
Another thrumming idea for pre-finishing (before polishing) is to use dental sanding film. I got some from a dental supply company, but you can get it from Amazon or other sources. It’s very fine sanding grit on thin plastic film. You can use the film as is or cut it into narrower widths. It’s kind of gross to think about, but it’s designed to sand between teeth, so it goes from fine to super fine. You’d use it the same way you use the polishing string.
Here’s an Orchid thread that talks about the dental sanding film along with other sanding/polishing tips.
I keep a clump of 2 foot lengths of butcher string knotted and tied to a hook screwed into the edge of my bench. I have pre-charged it with tripoli. I pick out however many lengths will fill the space being polished and carefully pull the string or the piece, whatever works, such that the string has a chance to polish the part of the piece that otherwise would not be polished. Seems like old school, burt it works…Rob
I actually have some dental sanding film made by 3M. I never tried cutting it into narrow widths because the plastic it’s made from does not look to me to be strong enough to handle being “thrummed” (luthier’s term?). I’ll have to give the suggestion a try and just see if it works. Thanks!
I really like the butcher string idea. Cheap, readily available, strong, and appears to have a consistency that would hold polishing compound extremely well. I like the idea of using multiple screw eyes screwed into different sections of my bench, each holding a bundle of cords with a specific grit as shown in the video. Simple, effective, keeps the polishing threads out of the way when not in use, but they’re immediately available when needed. I will definitely be giving this idea a try!
I love burnishers and have several! Some are commercially made from steel, others from agate. I also have quite a few that I made from drill rod. For those unfamiliar, drill rod is widely used by machinists for much more than just making twist drills. It is sold annealed so that it can easily be worked with normal tools. However, it’s made from O-1 oil hardening steel, so it can be heat treated to 60 RC which is harder than most bench files a.k.a. hard as hen’s teeth, then tempered to make them tougher than woodpecker lips. I have used drill rod to make many custom tools for use at my jeweler’s bench, including burnishers in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. I harden and polish them to a bright mirror finish.
Although I love burnishers and use them for all sorts of tasks, they can be difficult to impossible to get into tight spaces such as the backside of stone mounting claws that remain visible for certain types of settings (solitaire rings, for example). This is where I see polishing threads might really shine, if you’ll pardon the pun…
In addition to string, I use bias tape from my sewing room. Like others, I have the attached to my bench and charge them by rubbing Tripoli or rouge on the tape. I like the flat profile from the tape. Being bias material, the harder you pull, the thinner the tape. Judy H
I assume you use the single fold type? Width 1/4"? Or do they make smaller bias tape? I rarely sew and have never made clothing, so this is an area in which my knowledge is extremely limited…
Actually, I just use whatever, but mostly double fold. It takes very little to shred the edges so they hold more compound. I also use all kinds of string - kite, kitchen etc.
judy
