Hi Sharon,
I believe the key ingredient in tripoli is diatomaceous earth in
some sort of a binding compound.
Dave Sebaste
Sebaste Studio
Charlotte, NC (USA)
dave@sebaste.com
http://www.sebaste.com
De De, I never high polish. I raise the fine silver and brass
brush for a nice matte finish. You can also use pumice.Also,
after you raise the fine silver take like 80 grit sandpaper and
sand very lightly in little circles. This is one of my
favorites.We gotta get the public to appreciate something other
than a high polish. Yuck! People are like crows though. they love
shiny stuff…
I believe the key ingredient in tripoli is diatomaceous earth in some sort of a binding compound.
G’day: I scraped off a bit of my tripoli bar, got rid of the
matrix with hot water, dried the powdery stuff and peered at it
with a 40x and a 100x lens in my microscope. There were
irregularly shaped particles, but no diatoms I’m afraid.
Cheers, –
/\
/ / John Burgess,
/ /
/ //\ @John_Burgess2
/ / \ \
/ (___) \
(_________)
I’m really interested in the sandblasting tecnique. In a
previous post I read about someone using an airbrush to
sandblast. I have an old one that I would like to convert to a
blaster but don’t know how to go about it. Do I need a special
tip? What kind of sand or bead would I put in it? Thanks for
any help! Lisa@harborside.com
- a really coarse 8" steel brush for a nice rough surface
- a worn 6" steel brush for matt
- a 3M scotchbrite 8" disc for soft satin
Dear Brian and everyone else:
I am so excited that everyone is giving me suggestions!!!But
Brian, what kind of steel brushes do I use???
Thanks for the input!!!..
DeDe
DeDe Sullivan
Producer
Manhattan Transfer Graphics
Tel: 212-907-1204
FAX: 212-370-9346
E Mail: @dede
Dear Jess:
I never use the “blue wheel” (with my flexible shaft). A friend
of mine calls it the “evil blue wheel”. Unless I have a hunk of
something I need to get off piece, I would rather use sand paper
to smooth stuff out. I have accidentally (on several occasions)
created horrible indentations with a blink of an eye with the
"evil blue wheel"…Thanks for your input!!!I love getting
feedback!!!
Dede
DeDe Sullivan
Producer
Manhattan Transfer Graphics
Tel: 212-907-1204
FAX: 212-370-9346
E Mail: @dede
Matte finishes can be simple and can be used to finish off the
back-side of a piece you really don’t want to finish anyway. The
easiest matte finish is to lightly sandblast the piece. Next try
a brass brush and soapy water. Emory paper run in one direction
only. I get a heavy texture tapping coarse sandpaper with a small
hammer. Matte finishes hold polish and dirt and can be difficult
to clean.
Dear Bill:
Thanks for the Info!!! I never tried tapping course sandpaper
with a small hammer before to enhance a finish…BUT what do you
mean by sandblast??? I have never done that before…Can you
please explain in detail for me??
Much appreciated!!!
DeDe
DeDe Sullivan
Producer
Manhattan Transfer Graphics
Tel: 212-907-1204
FAX: 212-370-9346
E Mail: @dede
You’re right! The seem to consider the HIGH polish stuff as
being superior to the hand finished kind. (shaking my head . …)
I use flex shaft abrasives all the time- my favorites are a grey
wheel and a brown thin wheel. You do have to keep them moving
over the surface to avoid carving depressions in the metal.
What, pray tell, is the “evil blue wheel”?
Rick
Richard D. Hamilton
Fabricated 14k, 18k, and platinum Jewelry
wax carving, modelmaking, jewelry photography
<http://www.rick-hamilton.com
@rick_hamilton
Lisa, go to a good office supply or art supply company. There
is an item called an air eraser. It is used by draftsmen to
erase their drawings. The appearance of the eraser is similar to
an airbrush but is not the same. I do not believe yo can modify
an air brush to do sand blasting but the little air eraser will
do a great job. You can also modify the tip to allow the fitting
of a hypodermic needle onto the tip to allow an extended tip.
This is handy for getting into small areas for detail work.
This works well, I have one and like it.
Lewis Elrod
I'm really interested in the sandblasting tecnique. In a previous post I read about someone using an airbrush to sandblast. I have an old one that I would like to convert to a blaster but don't know how to go about it. Do I need a special tip? What kind of sand or bead would I put in it? Thanks for any help! Lisa@harborside.com
Lisa, I use an air eraser for sand blasting, attached to a small
airbrush compressor. I use eraser (aluminum oxide) compound for a
dull flat surface and glass beads for a brighter flat finish.
Don’t know if you can alter an airbrush for the same use. Luck
Frank
Dear Rick: I guess the grey will could be the blue wheel . The
wheel I was talking about is the very light blue one - I have had
a couple of pieces marred by depressions using it…
DeDe, I usually take a jewelry making class at
Palomar College in San Marcos, California.
Palomar has an outstanding Art Department. They also teach the
art of glass blowing.
One of the pieces of equipment at the school is a sandblasting
machine. It is about 4feet by four feet and about seven feet
high. It has a glass window in the front, and a small door at
the side. Opening the door gives you access to the inside
chamber. There is a screen material shelf inside. You put
your work piece on the shelf. Go around to the front. There are
two built-in heavy rubber gloves which allow you to pick up the
piece you put on the shelf without putting your flesh and blood
on line and in the way of injury. You turn on the light, the
reclaimer switch and the air supply (not to exceed 80 pounds of
line pressure) and from the outside with the rubber gloves pick
up your piece from the shelf on the inside pick up the hose
with nozzle also laying on the shelf. Stepping on the foot
switch releases an air driven jet of sand against the work
piece. Voila, “Sandblasting”. Spent sand falls to the bottom of
the machine and is cycled around for use again. Wait a few so
the air is cleansed of sand before opening the door to retrieve
your jewelry.
There are small home utility machines as well using
the same general principal and not nearly as large or
expensive. The students use this big machine to clean large
bronze castings or to sandblast glass. It gives the glass an
etched appearance and can be very lovely. Some students protect
the glass in places, sandblast, move the protective paper,
sandblast and on and on. The result is a pattern in various
depths.
It gives the silver a gray textured finish and also work- hardens
it. Any polish from the front that gets onto the back if
difficult to just wash off as it gets into the minute
irregularities caused by the sandblasting. Findings must be
protected with masking tape. This process will play havoc on the
points of pins and kiss fine detail goodbye. I have only used it
on the backside of pieces I was too lazy to clean properly.
Hope this makes it a little easier to envision the school
machine and the process.
Bill
Ginkgo Designs
@WILLIAM_I_EISENBERG
You will have to be more specific… The grey wheel I like is a
rubber based abrasive wheel, as is the thin brown floppy wheel. I
use a coarse abrasive block to shape these wheels to whatever
contour I am polishing.
Sounds like you are using a mizzy or hard silicon based wheel-
much less forgiving than the brightboy type abrasives.
If you ever find yourself on Martha’s Vineyard, drop by.
Rick
Richard D. Hamilton
Fabricated 14k, 18k, and platinum Jewelry
wax carving, modelmaking, jewelry photography
Lisa, go to a good office supply or art supply company. There is an item called an air eraser. It is used by draftsmen to erase their drawings. The appearance of the eraser is similar to an airbrush but is not the same. I do not believe yo can modify an air brush to do sand blasting but the little air eraser will do a great job. You can also modify the tip to allow the fitting of a hypodermic needle onto the tip to allow an extended tip. This is handy for getting into small areas for detail work. This works well, I have one and like it.
Lewis, I also use an air eraser. How did you modify for the
hypodermic needle and what guage needle do you use?? Thanks great
idea!!
Frank
Dede:
I know the wheels can ruin a real flat surface — just look at
your reflection in it the way we cab cutters look at the polish
on a cab to see if it’s smooth. Files, sandpaper, hand buffs
probably better. However, my blue wheel isn’t that coarse. Mine
go white, black, blue, pink and the blue will actually put a
shine on the gold about like tripoli or better. However, if
you’re real skillful with it . . . you can get away with using
it some. Now remember, this is coming from a guy who used his
wheels to polish scratches out of his plastic sunglasses, then
shined them up with Linde A on a felt wheel. Seem to have lost
the touch this year, though. Leave that wheel in one spot a
fraction too long and you’ll burn a groove in the glasses in a
heartbeat.
Frank, there is available a carbide tip for the eraser. get
this and grind away the outside surface of the tip so it will
"wedge" into the hypo needle. you will need to experiment a
little to determine which size needle works best with your setup
and media. You want to get a needle which has a large and heavy
end which mounts onto the syringe by friction. You also want a
brand which is available in several gauges. The needle will
slowly wear away and you just stick on a new one. This is not my
idea. I read about this in some magazine a number of years ago
and it seemed like a good idea to me as well. You can also do
carving and selective sandblasting with this arrangement. By
use of the small needle you can control the area to “hit” with
the sand stream and thus get fairly fine detail. I once saw a
large, low grade, ruby carved in this manner. The detail was
lovely. Fossil people use this to clean many of their fossils
such as the fossil fish from out West. The sand blaster will cut
away the junk and stains slowly enough not to damage the fossil.
Good luck.
I should have paid attention.
Where does one buy an air eraser? Tried Office Depot and Michaels
with no luck, just blank stares from the help.
Thanks,
Bill
Ginkgo Designs
@WILLIAM_I_EISENBERG
Another question about sandblasting? Is this the last step to
do? I have found that after I do it, if I have to go back and
polish part of the piece, that I cannot remove any polishing
residue from the sandblasted area! It hangs onto the rough
finish. Also, the snadblasted area looks nice and sparkly (I’m
using snad, not glass beads) for awhile, then it seems to fade to
flat grey. Any suggestions?
Where does one buy an air eraser? Tried Office Depot and Michaels with no luck, just blank stares from the help.
Bill, Try an arts store where they sell air brushes. Its used
with glass bead blasting media and sand etc. to create a matt
finish on jewelry.
Frank