Dear All,
I have started casting animal figurines in sterling silver and am
having a few problems polishing them to a satisfacory finish due to
the legs, tails and etc. Do any of you have any suggestions as to
the best approach as to type of machine - bench or handheld - as well
as type of buffs and compounds. Thanks very much for your help.
Mark Quigley
Use a tumbler with small media. The machine doesn’t care how hard it
is to get between little parts. Consider both the smoothing with
abrasive media and then the burnishing steps. There is a short sharp
learning curve when using tumblers, but after that, it’s clear
sailing.
Judy Hoch
I’ve been tumbling jewelry for decades and still learning and
experimenting with different media and additives. If your new to
tumbling or you just want to compare notes and possibly improve your
finishing… Judy Hoch’s inexpensive book “Tumble Finishing for
Handmade Jewelry: Mass Finishing on a Small Scale” is worth every
penny. It really got me thinking about alternatives to my present
system and where I could cut the finishing time without losing on
the quality.
Greg Miller,
Vancouver
I’d go with 3M sanding disks. They can get into tight spaced and you
don’t need any compound with them. I’ve use them to buff to a high,
high shine in a small, small space. 
Michele
Greg,
I have to agree with you on this book I actually have 3rd and 4th
additions, along with other books and articles which have helped me
in my previous job in R&D researching for different alternatives in
mass finishing.
Chris