Luxi polishing compound

Jewelry Discussion
1

I’m thinking about swithing to another polishing compound.
I always used the regular stuff like rouge etc.

Now I’m thinking to make a change to this newer silica-free compound from Luxi.
Any reviews, pros or cons concerning this polishing compound?

Thanks in advance

Pedro

2

We are now carrying an excellent polish called Luxor made in France… what are you looking for a finishing one or 1st stage polish.

Andy “The Tool Guy” Kroungold
Director Tool Sales & Stuller Bench
Stuller Inc.
P 1-800-877-7777 ext 4191 or 4194

3

I switched to Luxi two years ago after 40 years of using tripoli and red rouge. Luxi blue cuts as well as tripoli and is a lot cleaner to use. Luxi white is a nice finish color. Start with new wheels (and gloves if you use them)…Rob

4

I believe you Andy but having your product shipped to Belgium will cost more then the product is worth it talking about taxes, handling and import costs. I’m doing this as a hobby meaning there is no tax reduction.

I’m looking into fine polish more then cutting compound. I believe in working jewelry down in al the neccesary steps using sanding paper and then finish pieces with a very high luster using rouge or whatever fits for gold, sterling silver, argentium etc. I do use different compounds for different metals. Old school never dies I quess.

Thank you anyway, always nice to hear your opinion and solutions.

5

Hi,

For sterling silver, i get good results with:

pre-polish (tripoli phase)- I use luxi blue on a yellow treated or tight weave muslin buff

final polish (rouge phase)- I use picasso blue platinum polish on balloon cloth buff

I have recently started running my polishing lathe at the low speed (1725 rpm) and have been experiencing less issues with surface defects, undercuting, comet tails, etc…

Julie

6

Love it! Find I mostly use the Luxi Orange. I also like Dialux Blue from Rio as a ‘one step’ for copper
Aurora

7

Is that Luxi stuff really so easy to clean of?

8

Yes, I find it much easier to clean off than tripoli or rouge
Aurora

9

Buy the Luxi sample kit from Rio. You will be convinced. Very easy to remove and… WTH? NEVER use gloves when polishing. We’ve been over this a hundred times.

1 Like
10

Hello,

Regarding ease of clean up of compounds, I picked up some advice years ago here on Orchid that has proven very helpful.

The advice was to improve polishing technique in order to come off the buff clean, and not task the ultrasonic to do more than what it was designed to do.

Some (I forget who) have even commented that they come off the buff so clean that they move straight from tripoli to rouge without the need for ultrasonic/ cleaning. I have never tried this myself as I am too fastidious to attempt it…

Julie

11

Aside from occasionally using Zam, Luxi has replaced all my compounds.

12

I rarely clean between cutting and coloring, regardless of what compounds I use. I do when there is a lot of build up of the cutting compound. When I do clean, I use very hot water and ammonia with a touch of Dawn. I rarely use my ultrasonic, mainly because it doesn’t work very well (it was cheap). I would enjoy a discussion of ultrasonics. Maybe I would be moved to buy a better one…Rob

13

Hi Rob,

I have used the small diamond back ultrasonics from Rio Grande. They are about $125(?) and have lasted me many years…I would say at least 8+ years lifespan…?..

I run two units (one for pre-polish, and one for final polish).

They have worked especially well when used in conjumnction with myReimer’s steamer (I could not live without a steamer!) as it blows off any errant debris, as well as drying the piece instantaneously.

I bought my steamer used from a friend,…they seem to last decades!

Julie

14

I think there is less knowledge around and more flim flam about regarding buffing and buffing compounds than any aspect of Jewellery making. Because I work primarily with stainless steel (I’m a watch maker) and gold I’ve tried many different compounds and here’s what I think:

  1. Learn how to clean your buffing wheel properly and do it before you buff every time.
  2. Learn what the different stitching of buffing wheels are meant for. There’s a world of difference between a tightly stitched buff and a floppy one.
  3. Use one buffing wheel for one type of compound only. Once you are done using a buffing wheel put it away in a plastic
    bag where it can get mixed up with other buffing wheels.
  4. I’ve tried a number of different synthetic compounds for use on gold (I rarely have to buff silver) and found that rouge or Tripoli works better than any of the synthetics I’ve tried so far.
  5. For stainless steel, I like Menzerna 457 an industrial quality buffing compound.

I wish there was a book out there that told everything a professional polisher should know about buffing.

1 Like
15

Mark Nelson with Rio Grande recently did a couple of short videos on Youtube, one explaining the different kinds of buffs and their uses and effects, and one on several Luxi compounds.

He covers which compound to use when, but he only covers a few of them. (There seem to be dozens.)

I’d been looking for something like that a long time and I found them both very informative.

I’d link to them here, but I’m not sure if that’s ok or not.

A quick search should do the trick.

Tricia

16

I use Andy’s Luxor as the final polish and it is incredible. I go through about five stages and finish off the yellow gold with Luxor orange with .1 micron grit. Even after a thorough polish with zam and red rouge, I can see a dazzle with the Luxor. I have been thinking of taking pictures with never polishes and showing the stage of difference. Even finished pieces I buy if I give a good hit with the Luxor, it transforms it from mass produced electro polished/stripped to looking more like a hand finished piece. It’s all about that first impression when the customer opens their gift or puts the ring on the other’s finger.
Charlie

17

I’m neither impressed nor unimpressed by Luxor. I think if you learn how to use it, then it will give as good a polish as any other buffing compound. As a watch maker I find that there is a poverty of brands of buffing compounds sold by most jewelry supply houses. Watch making supply houses usually have several different types. You might want to take a look. There are good compounds made in Germany and Switzerland for both stainless and gold. BTW a word to the wise: lots of these new synthetic buffing compounds for gold are very hard on the lungs and you should keep work place safety in mind when you use them. You should wear professionally rated masks and breathing and eye protection whenever you use them to avoid damaging your lungs or other organs of your body. Some of the Swiss compounds I use come with OHSA warning pamphlets. Its been an eye opener.

18

When I first started learning how to polish , we came up with a book we purchased at Caswell ( who has lots of info on the subject).

The book was NOT written for jewelers , but car restorers- but of course the principals are the same .
I found it helpful.
" Custom Metal Polishing "

Patty
Live Oak Studios

19

You’re right there are two or three books ,as well as CDs & YouTube for car restorers about buffing. They’re a good place to start in the sense they’ll demystified you about what a sisal buff is and other basic points. But I found very little that was really applicable beyond that to jewelery. Ganoksin used to have a good introduction too (do they still?) which I also found very useful. There are several technical books on buffing and polishing published in the UK. Although way too technical and often over my head Grinding and Polishing, Theory and Practice published by Portcullis Press, while aimed at industrial users often had places that were enlightening. They have a small but useful section specifically on hand polishing. Two notes of caution about this book: it is for engineers building larges scale industrial applications. Also, it is translated from German where the word Schleifen has a vast multitude of meanings concerning surface finishing beyond the simplistic translation of “grinding” it is given in this book. If you keep in mind that what is mistranslated as “grinding” in this book quite often means rough finishing or initial finishing in the sense of buffing and has nothing to do with grinding at all, you’ll find the book a lot more valuable than it looks on first glance.

20

Do your know the grit size of luxi compounds?