Polishing Resin or Epoxy

Jewelry Discussion
1

It’s been a long time since I asked for help on this site but I have
been following the e-mails and increasing my knowledge thanks to all
of you. Now I need some help. I have a pendent that I am repairing
that has resin filled into a bezel on each side of the main form. I
need to polish it and just don’t think I can put it into the tumble
or vibrator for the final polishing. How do you polish a bezel that
is filled with resin or epoxy??

Thanks for you help.
Dee Lewis

2

Most resins take a reasonable polish with metal polishes. Try to kep
the heat from friction down otherwise you smear the surface.

Nick

3

I’m not clear whether you are trying to polish both the epoxy resin
and the bezel, or just the bezel.

If the former, you need to use different polishing compounds and
techniques for each. Epoxy can be polished, though it will bear
minute scratches from the process. It’s best done under water with
two or three grits of fine sandpaper, like 400/600/1200 and then
finishing with a Fabulustre-type rouge. Don’t use colored rouge, as
it will stain the epoxy. You can use polishing sticks, cloths or
buffs on a flexshaft. If you use the flexshaft for the final polish,
run it real slow and keep the surface watered. Be careful not to
overpolish; the resin can be quite soft.

If you are trying to avoid touching the epoxy and just polish the
bezel, little rubberized wheels and masking tape work well.

As to tumbling, the only medium I’ve found that’s reliably safe on
epoxy is dry corn meal.

John Walbaum

4

Some resin enamels don’t take to polishing at all, and it is
impossible to know this without knowing the type of hardener that
was used to create your resin. But…general polishing rules are
making sure that no heat is applied because that will pop the enamel
from the base. Working under water, progress up the scale from 220
to 400 to 600 and finish off with a polishing compound such as the
blue platinum bar on a soft wheel. Just be cautious and keep
everything cool.

Sandi Graves, Beadin’ Up A Storm
Stormcloud Trading Co (Beadstorm)
http://www.beadstorm.com