I know that polishing is a complicated matter, but can someone please
clarify what to use to get a high shine on argentium? I am confused
as to which disc to use with my flex-shaft. The only experience I
have, from one class, is to sand with progressively finer papers,
then we used a red/brown wheel, then a green bar and muslin wheel to
polish. I don’t even know what the green bar is. Thanks!! I do have a
brass bristle brush for a fine finish.
Karen
Hi Karen,
As I suspect you’ll soon find out everyone has their own way of
getting the polish they want on their work and Argentium Silver (AS)
is no exception.
Since sandpaper is fast I use that for most pre-polish work. Basic
polishing is done with tripoli and rouge.
I’m pretty religious about ensuring that AS gets the best possible
tarnish resistance “activation” so I anneal then bake almost all my
stuff before the final polish. (see the info on “precipitation
hardening” in the Orchid Archives or in my blog at my website).
After the bake I pickle off whatever discoloration there might be
and move to the final polish. Here I use Godard’s Long Term Polish
products (they’ve been proven to increase the tarnish resistance of
AS). The blue cloths are great, the liquid polish is even better.
Where possible I apply a little of the liquid polish to a soft felt
or cotton cloth buff and use that to really bring out a hard,
brilliant shine on AS.
In cases where cloth or buff polishing isn’t practical (especially
chains) I do a light tumble with stainless shot in soapy water.
Cheers,
Trevor F.
in The City of Light
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