I clean my pieces with a child’s toothbrush and warm soapy water. Lot of our pieces use turquoise and opals and other softer stones so I’m afraid of using steam to clean them but maybe that is an unrealistic fear?
What do you use to get off the buildup from the polishing machine?
I’m not using the same toothbrush to clean my kids teeth either! Don’t worry!
I have always used ammonia, dawn and very hot water. However, soft stones are treated very carefully. I have found, in the last couple years, that pumice free goop works well to get rid of polishing dirt on my hands, metal and stones. I too use a well worn toothbrush. I have also found that a wooden tooth pick works well to get into tiny spaces. I do have a new ultrasonic, but it doesn’t get the heavy deposits of polishing compounds off like I hoped it would. I would like to try a steam cleaner, but I don’t know much about them. That’s about it up here where it is snowing in Central NY…Rob
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Yep! What Rob said!
There’s charts out there with what you can and can’t do with gemstones. You can find them through Google. They’re handy to have posted somewhere in your studio.
With opals and turquoise all you can do is soak them in warm water and dish soap. Just like Rob wrote Dawn dish soap has the best reputation for this task. You’re definitely not supposed to steam turquoise or opal.
I’ve found the soaking method works great, but it does take time. 1-2 or more hours.
Remember that buffing compound bars are a water or oil based binder plus some kind of abrasive mineral or oxide. I’ve heard the binder described as manmade wax that melts with the spinning wheel heat. I think of it like dirty dishes. Sometimes you have to let them soak for a while.
I actually don’t have running water in my studio, so I often let delicate stone jewelry sit in my heated ultrasonic without turning on the sonic part. It does the same thing.
I don’t know if this ultrasonic fluid is any better than the many other options out there, but I use the ottosonic solution from Otto Frei. It’s advertised as gentle, biodegradable and non-ammonia based. It seems to do a good job both with the soaking-only method and with sonic turned on.
One last thing. In a recent thread we talked about advantages of rubberized abrasives like Shofu and EVE wheels. Some of those wheels will give close to a mirror finish without any buffing compound mess.
That’s another path.
Jeff
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Jeff…The best upgrade that I have made in my shop in a long time is adding a utility sink. Since it was below the sewer outlet, I had to also install a grinder pump, but it was worth the extra expense to be able to wash my dirty hands and jewelry in something other than the kitchen sink. My wife is also a lot happier. Might make a good Christmas gift to yourself…Rob
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As I get closer to Christmas I find I am washing polish of more and more stuff. I suppose that stands to reason. When I built my new shop space I included a bar sink and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Rob and I grew up with the dish soap, ammonia, and water method and it’s hard to beat. The cost alone of a steamer is enough to keep it last on my list of expensive tools to buy. I haven’t tried goop my self but Rob has suggested it along with a growing list of other smiths I have spoken with. Typically I will hit a finished piece with a blast or two of Dawn Power wash and let it sit awhile until I am ready to boil a batch of metal.
Don Meixner
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I use diluted ZEP cleaner (the orange one) to soak the piece. It has not bothered stones (I never put pearls in it, or opals) and instead of a toothbrush, I use soft paintbrushes. With the softer stones, I try to get all the cleanup done before I place the pearls in the piece and may finish up with the finest rubber wheel. Hope this helps…
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Hi,
i was told not to ask equipment (ultrasonic) to do more than it is designed to do, and to learn to come off the buffing machine relatively compound free…
i dont like to leave pieces in the ultrasonic too long, and they dont seem to really get heavy compound off in my experience
i like steamers because they blast any small particles off, but more so because they heat the piece and it dries instantly
i tried the corncob pile to dry, i feel like that or any cloth or towel (or toothbrush for cleaning) scratches my finish…(on sterling silver)
julie
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Thanks for the suggestion Rob! It would be nice. Unfortunately, running water to the building on my property where my studio is located is complicated. Maybe it’ll happen someday.
Thanks again!!
Jeff