Hi all, I have a little question. I made a ring in wax and am unsure
as to how to proceed. The idea is to give a part of the shank a sand
texture. Hiroshi Tsuyuki and Yoko Ohba (in ‘Practical Wax Modeling,
Advanced Techniques for Wax Modelers’, 1999, p. 127) write that such
a texture can be obtained by using a warm needle and that, when
densely applied, the contrast will improve a bright finish - which is
desired in this case. I tumble my pieces in a vibratory tumbler
(first with plastic media and then with walnut and rouge (for gold)
or with wood and simichrome (for silver)). If I want an ultra-bright
finish, I end with the finest silicon wheel and with 3M paper. I
don’t know what the tumbler will do to my sand texture. Can I still
use it or do I need to do something else? I cannot apply the texture
in the metal, because I do not have a sandblaster. Thank you for
reading. Best, Will
I think that in the next few days you’ll find there are as many
thoughts about your question as there are orchidians----LOL. I have
a couple: True sandblast is a matte finish, UN-polished, (almost)
always put on last. I would define your “warm pin” method not as
sandblast (though it may be “sandy”), but as stipple. In place of
sandblast (lacking the machine), you can do a “satin finish” by using
fairly coarse sandpaper, applied carefully. Sandblast is a spray,
and sanding is linear, but it is matte. An elbow saver for your type
of stipple is a dremel engraver, like used for marking possesions
with your SSN-cheap. A more generic thought—instead of struggling
to get something you like but don’t have tooling for, do what you ARE
set up for, and ask yourself, “Is this pleasing?” There’s no "Right"
texture - it’s your piece----