I have been experimenting with Luxi blue and white compounds on
silver to see if they are cleaner and produce less fuzz than
traditional tripoli and red rouge. I like the blue very much. It
seems to cut and smooth as well if not better than tripoli. It is
also a lot easier to clean up. The White doesn't seem to be much of
an improvement over red rouge, but it is cleaner. I started with
clean new buffs and gloves. I only have treated buffs and am curious
how this impacts the process as Luxi states that you should use
untreated cotton or felt buffs. I would appreciate comments
regarding other experiences with Luxi compounds and specifically the
impact of treated vs untreated buffs. I am also looking for a source
for 6" diameter by 1" wide tightly spiral sewn cotton buffs. I have
not seen them in years. If anyone has a suggestion for a source, I
would appreciate hearing about it. As always, thanks. Rob
Rob Meixner
robmeixner.com
Hi all
DO NOT use rouge on silver the iron oxide embeds into the surface of
the silver and makes it tarnish more easily.
I now just use blue hubble for polishing only need to polish once.
all the best
Richard
Hello Richard,
Rouge will embed itself in sterling if too much compound and
pressure are applied from the buff.
It's called "rouge burn" and will show itself as firestain in color.
Proper polishing technique won't leave iron oxide embedded. A lightly
rouged buff should only kiss the surface of the piece being polished.
Jeff Herman
hermansilver.com
Jeff. I have occassionaly seen what you describe when I have been a
bit aggressive with rouge. I also will sometimes get a dark smear
that is hard to remove until the buff and piece that I am polishing
warm up. This seems to be more likely to happen when the shop is also
cold. I would be interested in your comments on Luxi and similar
compounds. I like the blue as a tripoli replacement. It seem to be a
lot easier to clean up and there is less wheel duff produced. The
white doesn't seem to work any better than rouge. I get an initial
white haze on the piece that will polish off leaving the same quality
of polish as rouge. I suspect that I still have a lot to learn. Also,
do you have a source for 6" tightly spiral sewn cotton wheels that
are fairly wide. Divine makes them, but I have to buy 100. Thanks for
your comments. Rob
Rob Meixner
robmeixner.com
Thanx for the Jeffrey. I have found that using blue
hubble a light touch is all that is needed to get good results.
all the best
Richard
Hello Rob,
A short time ago I switched to the Luxi line of compounds because of
their density (the bars last a long time), their wide section of
finishes, and their ease of residual polish removal. I still widely
use Zam because of its cut-and-polish qualities. I use unsewn
leather center fine muslin buffs for final polishing.
Contenti has a nice selection of buffs:
http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/ep81x1
Jeff Herman
Hermansilver.com
Have tried the polish by Menard by Stuller from France. Leaves
beautiful shine and works great on stainless watch bands
Andy
Another cool thing about the Luxi compounds is that they contain no
crystalline silica that is harmful to breathe. So the pre-polish
like Luxi gray and black are not toxic and will do major scratch
removal safely. Also theycontain water soluble vegetable binder so
very easy to clean up. One more advantage to the Luxi pre-polish is
less metal loss as it uses aluminasinstead of silica.
Silica is a course media and must cut and scrape metal to remove
scratches. Aluminas are flatter platelets and actually cut and
burnish as it removes scratches, the result is less metal loss and
less detail is loss.
Sessin Durgham
Rio Grande
